Day Sixteen — The Joys of DVR

Yesterday was madness.  Work / firewall at work prevented me from watching USA v Finland in real-time.  And so I imposed on the workmates what I referred to as the Cone of Silence.  Trouble was that I — not being a person who has ever watched an episode of Get Smart — had no idea that the Cone of Silence was totally useless.  And thus rumors about a decent start began to trickle through.  And yet…. I was all the same uttlerly dumbfounded at the 6-spot Team USA-USA-USA laid on the Finnish squad in the first period.  (The boys are simply not that overpowering.)

Still: this was the whole Olympics in the Internet Age wrapped up in a nutshell — total insulation from news as it happens is literally impossible.  Which makes the question of who will pick up the teevee contract for 2014 forward somewhat curious.  Rumors are that its down to Fox (FX, Fox News, Fox Business (sorry — they won’t be around for much longer) and tons of regional cable sports nets that can be commandeered) and ABC/ESPN (ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes).  But in four years, the internet will probably be able to throw snow or chlorine-infused water right through your screen.  Steve Jobs is working on it right freaking now.  It’ll be like Smell-O-Vision, only messier.  (The implications for viewers of teh pron will of course be staggering.)  So: prestige v total irrelevance — place your bets!

Anyway: the balance of the Games are all prologue to USA v Canada II — The Reckoning — on Sunday afternoon.  Competing for interest today?  The big fellas on the track for four-man bobsled, men’s slalom, and speed skating pursuit (more hardware for U.S. Americans is assured).  The gold medal game of men’s curling (Canada v Norway and their fancy pants) is over on CNBC at 1800 ET.  Slovakia and Finland go for bronze at 2200 ET on MSNBC.  And the exhibition gala for figure skating — which means only that figure skating finds a way to be even more useless.

40 Comments

I was very disappointed in Apolo blaming his DQ on the Canadia judges last night. Boooo.

Saw Linday on Colbert. Chick is a dumb jock. Her German girl friend won the gold in slalom.

Ruettner for the silver on the short track. Very attractive.

The URML Lobos take on JNOV’s BYU Cougars for dominance of the Mighty Mountain West Conference, 1 PM Olympic time. People in Albuquerque would kill for the opportunity to sit in my living room in front of the fire and watch it on the Versus channel, which no one has unless you like hunting and fishing shows. I’ll be skiing with Son of RML today, however.

Laters, y’all. Have a great day. Back in time for the men’s slalom. Black Power fist to Manchu.

I’m awake and hurt like hell.

First off, it’s not cancer. It turns out that I had appendicitis for 4 YEARS. My inflamed bladder mass was caused by leaking (yes) appendix.

The weird part is that I survived almost 4 years with an inflamed appendix.

The docs removed part of my small intestine, my appendix and part of my bladder. On a epidural.

Ever wake up to a code blue? I did last night. The annoying lady next to me had problems breathing and the next thing I know there are 30 medical staff running around. The weird part is that they took my glasses because they thought they were hers.

Canada City HC fail (just kidding.)

I took SFL’s suggestion and brought the laptop and plugged into the local wifi.

Sorry for any spelling errors till I get my glasses back.

@ManchuCandidate: Doesn’t your evil socialist health care believe in pain meds? ;->
Glad it’s not the big C, but I can’t imagine 4 years of appendicitis. I had it twice, and the second time they yanked the bugger out. I still remember how much pain I was in–you must be incredibly stoic.
Now I just need to hear that SFL has been safely evacuated from Waikiki and I can relax for the day.

@Mistress Cynica:
Yes they do, but the nurses made me get up. No amount of drugs can help that pain.

Truth is, that it only flared up twice on me and I somehow drove myself to the hospital both times, but the docs couldn’t figure it out. Instead I had to deal with bladder flareups.

I never thought I did have a high pain tolerance but it seems I do. Also discovered that my appendix is on my left side, not right.

@ManchuCandidate:

Definitely something that highlights the difference between Canadian HC and American. I got a super-nasty flu bug back in ’08 that left me unable to keep down *water*. Waited 9 hrs in the ER (the joys of having no insurance) and then got an absolutely ridiculous battery of tests. Apparently, presenting with non-specific abdominal pain is a great way to run up $15k in tests (CAT scan + ultrasound) and then get sent home with some nausea + pain meds.

Why all the tests? Some research after-the-fact showed there are a number of rare but nasty conditions with similar symptoms (intestinal obstruction, for one) that can be potentially life-threatening but hard to detect. Defensive medicine, ahoy!

That situation also reminds me of how silly the “consumer awareness” proposals the Repugs keep yapping about are – when it was time to get ready for the CAT scan (serious $$$ there) I’d been in the ER for about 14 hours straight and was on an unspecified amount of IV morphine. They could have told me the test cost a million bucks and I wouldn’t have cared, I was so out of it.

Of course, I’m also told that appendicitis hurts WAY more than what I had, which makes the thought of going years with it unimaginable. Glad to hear it’s sorted.

Hey Manchu – be careful broadcasting your undiagnosed appendicitis or u will become the posterchild for US Merikan Republitards bitching about socialized medicine.

@Cynica: We are fine. See my update on other thread. xoxo
ADD: any word on Mr Cynica’s Jr and his ex?

@SanFranLefty:
Possibly so, but it turns out I’m a freak. Appendix was on my left side and even the ultrasound I had couldn’t see the inflamed appendix.

They won’t like what I’ve paid out of pocket.

So far it’s $300+ and that’s pretty much it. I got raped for parking, but it seems to be the case at any hospital.

@al2o3cr:
I can’t imagine if I lived in US America. The problem isn’t just the cost of insurance, but the out of pocket stuff too.

@SanFranLefty: be careful broadcasting your undiagnosed appendicitis

We’re covered. My uninsured US Merikan ass had undiagnosed appendicitis for eight or nine months in 1985 — “undiagnosed” because I put off paying a doctor to check it out as long as possible.

Took a local because I wouldn’t need to pay for as many hospital days as a general. And, as I love to recount, my itemized bill included $2 for warm green footies.

@SanFranLefty: Mr Cyn Jr and family live up on the hillside, so they are OK and offering refuge to friends in the evacuation zone.

@SanFranLefty: Glad you’re OK. Just the thing to have to make your vacation complete.

@ManchuCandidate: Glad it all went well.

At my hospital of choice here where we have the best care in the world as can be proved by all the Canadians coming here for treatment the parking is free. As in $00000000. And with my insurance I don’t get much in the way of co-pays. Of course, the trick is to have insurance. And to have insurance that actually covers something. I think there is such a wide disconnect here in the States about this. If you have insurance, and if your employer pays for it, you don’t perceive how costly it is. And if you’re like me and live in a semi-rural area or suburb with really good hospitals nearby you can get very good service and it all seems to be free.

It’s when you either don’t have insurance or have to pay for insurance yourself that you understand what it all costs. Or if you’re an employer trying to figure out how the hell you build in the cost of your employees insurance into the cost of your product – hello GM.

Of course, the topic about which all the Boomers keep themselves in blissful ignorance is the cost of long-term care should you need it. This is fantastically expensive. Unless you hire a lawyer to make you go legally broke first.

But glad you’re OK. And we always knew you were a freak. So.

@Benedick: Back when I was Associate Hack at the alumni magazine, I had the pleasure of reviewing the budget. That’s where I learned about a cool acronym called “OPE”, which wasn’t shorthand for Ron Howard, but “Other Payroll Expenses.”

OPE included employer taxes and retirement kick-ins, but it was primarily health insurance.

And it amounted to 33 percent of salary. In 1990.

Yes, you really don’t have a fucking clue until you see it on a spreadsheet. And you can’t go back to Fantasyland after you do.

@ManchuCandidate: The weird part is that I survived almost 4 years with an inflamed appendix.

Golly, I only lasted eight months, and that was hell enough. Then again, mine wasn’t inflamed, but dripping.

Looks like a shriveled pinky when they yank it. Or the most demonic chili pepper you’ve seen.

Speaking of Chile, re: Tsunami. Looks like Hilo is expected to take the brunt of it — after a 1960 wave wiped out its downtown.

I had a friend from Hilo growing up, one of those discolored types that Sarah Palin fears (and who taught me “haole”). Never mentioned the 1960 tsunami that I recall, although he would have been an infant at the time. But I now wonder when and why his folks moved to Oregon.

Rick Sanchez just identified the Galapogos Islands as Hawaii. Fucking moron. Tsunami forecast to hit Waikiki in 50 minutes, should hit Hilo in 20 minutes.

@SanFranLefty: Sounds like you want to be watching KHON, if you aren’t already.

Still calling another half-hour for Honolulu; nothing at Hilo yet, which will get hit first.

@nojo: The payroll stuff is fierce: in a play with four actors there is the equivalent of an additional what? 2 and three quarter payrolls for health and retirement. No wonder we can’t compete.

@ManchuCandidate: Appendix on the left? Doesn’t that mean you are a Klingon?

@SanFranLefty: I’ve got a local Hawaii TV channel on the intertubes. They are saying that nothing has hit yet.

@nojo:
@Benedick:

Only reason why health care is affordable in Canada City, no profit margin and low bureaucratic overhead.

Funny, the Teabagging GOPers get all huffy about bureaucrats, but not about the ones who are parasites to the system.

@Nojo: I’m watching KHNL with the crazy weatherman. Cameras showing major receding of ocean in Hilo.

@SanFranLefty: Are you near the beach? Do you have a camera? Oh, and for safety, a really tall painter’s ladder?

@FCS: half block from Waikiki beach. Watching weird tidal shifts from 20 stories up.

@SanFranLefty: If you see the tide suddenly recede really quickly, please promise us you’ll get on the roof ASAP. And bring the ladder.

@ManchuCandidate: Four years of running around with appendicitis is the outer limits of ultrabadness in pain tolerance. I mean, where do you go from there?

I had a railroad spike punched through my left eye socket and out the other side of my skull f0r 10 years. Goth chicks really dug it. The really twisted ones could wait to sit on my face.

@FCS: I’ve been watching three cycles in the past 15 minutes of water receding and each time coming back higher. Still clear though while tv showing the ocean turning dirty in Hilo and in Kaileah (sp? Maui city)

@Dodger: I thought Kailua was on Oahu. I had lunch there yesterday. In any event we just got the all clear.

@FCS: photos aren’t that dramatic, thankfully.

Well here in Australia they’ve closed the beaches on the east coast from Tasmania up to South Queensland.

But We are expecting only a .7 metre wave, bur the currents are all a bit iffy and idiots are in the water on their surfboards. I just hope the life-savers/guards don’t get their speedos in a knot saving them if they get into trouble.

@Manchu: you get the fucking Stinque Cluster award for serious badassness; appendix on the left must mean your entire GI tract is turned around, which begs the question: do you have to wipe your belly button after using the terlit (do not laugh)?

@SFL: good news, counselor. Mr. SFL must totally geek out on this stuff. Soon’s I heard I started watching the waves out my window, but there is enough land mass between me and the Pacific to keep any appreciable swells (in the ocean…) down.

@redmanlaw: p.s. Finally starting “World War Z”. Totally awesome.

@SanFranLefty: Rick Sanchez just identified the Galapogos Islands as Hawaii

If there is a god, Rick will go live, on a surfboard, in Honolulu.

How bad is this guy? This guy is so ultrabad he makes his gin and tonics with battery acid!

@Nabisco: And the “Honorary Indian Award for Stoic-ness”

@SanFranLefty: *whew*

Pacific Rim wine quandry: We chose the Aussie shiraz over the Chilean malbec for tonight to go with the ribeyes.

Three ice-packs-on the knee day on the ski hill today. Son of RML took his first black diamond (expert) trail today.

@redmanlaw: Well, the “honorary indian” award, whenever I see a full blooded native american, how can you not see the asian genetics, my man, the americas were settled by peoples from Manchu’s ancestral home. That stoicism is as well known among the asians as among the native americans.

@redmanlaw: Three ice-packs-on the knee day on the ski hill today. Fenomenal, esse. I skied Taos only once for a full day, first and only time on real knee deep powder (east coast ice humper, dontcha know), and used about fifty muscles I didn’t even realize I had. Could barely move the next day. Our power breakfast before hitting the slopes was a then-well-known breakfast burrito place.

I had a Chilean merlot last night with my curry.

@Promnight: Well, that’s what the “scientists” say. .

@Nabisco: That’s where I learned to ski as a little dude ($10 a week for lifts, lessons and rentals in the school ski club). Spent a winter there flipping burgers as a college dropout. Son of RML and I have a routine now where we get the chorizo breakfast burritos, gas up, score some snacks and jam to metal or hard rock on the way up to Santa Fe ski area (best of Marilyn Manson today – glam and big on 80’s music). The burritos keep us going all day. My buddy said we have the most snow in the southwest now.

I was so cashed at the end of the day that my legs began to cramp up on my last cruiser run of the day, then I had to walk back to the truck with my knee on fire. Fell asleep in the chair after dinner and missed Bode’s run and Lindsay’s interview. Hot bath now. The fitness and weight lifting regimen is really paying off, though.

@redmanlaw: I can walk to Russia from my house!

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