Last night the Mrs took me to my first official 'tweet-up'. Seems that is a gathering of people that meet at a specific location not because they are close personal friends but because someone on twitter sent out a message saying that a lot of people should show up at this one location for a dinner/drink session to actually put a human face to a twitter name. I was told that it was a pretty good showing of about 40-50 people through-out the night. It was definitly interesting to watch and be there that was for sure.
Everyone was definitly friendly and mingled with others and learned their first names. I remember hearing around the table once when someone asked if they had seen 'Bill' there and that question was met with a confused look on the other persons face. However, once it was asked if they had seen the guy who goes by a certain screen name, understanding dawned on the person and they said that no they had not seen this certain screen name present. People would walk around the room and introduce themselves first by their screen name and then by their birth name. Being an anti-tweeter I had no name so I either came across as rude or just plain mysterious when I only gave my birth name and they just looked at me expecting more to come that never did. Like when someone starts a story with no finish/punch line like "yeah, I went to the mall yesterday..wow" and you stand there for a second expecting a finish that will never come. Perhaps it was also like when you meet a business contact for the first time and they usually give you their full name and you just shake their hand and go "Jim" like you really don't want to give out too much personal information to this person after they told you their personal info.
I also found it amusing watching the Mrs and the lady that was sitting with us because when we first got there we sat down, introduced ourselves, found out that the lady was a new tweeter of only a month and had a few laughs. After the initial sit down chat the Mrs pulls out her cell phone and starts to check her tweets. The lady does this as well, either checking the updated tweets or any text messages that she has received. One guy, after hearing the Mrs tale of woe about not having a certain type of phone that can attach to the internet, pulls out his laptop and offers it to her to check the internet. We had trouble getting logged on to the internet connection because we didnt have the password but a friend of the server managed to get the password written on a piece of paper that suddenly circulated the room like a bag of crack in a college kids dorm. People were walking up to others that were sitting there, leaning in gently and going "psst...you got the password? need the password do ya?" and the table having been disconnected from the internet so long brightened up at the prospect of this 'password' being delivered. However, the connection was bad and the laptop kept getting disconnected so it was pushed aside and only the cell phone was used.
"do you follow me?" was the question on everyone's lips that night. It seemed that the common way of introducing yourself would be, "hi, I'm ScreamingMuskrat12 also known as Jim...do you follow me?". To which the responce would be "hi, I'm SmootheringMama145 also known as Carol..this is my husband BadgeredMale239 also known as Bruce...oh yeah, I have read your tweets...do you follow us?" After a bit of hearing that my mind kicked in and I had a thought. It seems that in twitter world it is called 'following', in the real world it would have been called 'stalking'. Guess each world has their own definitions huh?
All in all it was definitly an interesting and enjoyable evening. The Mrs really had fun meeting all the people that she reads on twitter and putting a face to their tweets. She met a few new people that I am sure she has added to her follow list and I am sure she has been added to many other follow lists around the city as well. Being the social hermit that I am I wasn't as friendly and personable the evening through however I did have an interesting discussion on books with one rather interesting gentleman and managed to see a table sit magician perform some slight of hand tricks with red foam balls and a deck of playing cards. He didn't make the table disappear or anything disappear and reappear in his arm like Chris Angel does but he did do his tricks rather well and had me wanting to see it again and again so that I could see the slight of hand and where the ball went during the trick.
So I would say that the tweet-up would have been classed as a good success for the evening. Think everyone had a good time and no one went away disappointed at the whole night. Though this evening still doesn't make me want to get a cell phone and definitly I do not want to get attached to twitter.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Business of Pleasure
Ever get one of those customer appreciation surveys in a restaurant or theatre show? Yeah, me too.
Ever get to the point in the survey that doesn't apply to you (EX. 'company name' when you don't have one)? Yeah, me too....
Ever put in something funny and, in your opinion, amusing just to sort of spice it up a little? yeah, me too...
Ever actually have the funny little joke come back to embarrass the heck out of you? yeah, me too.
I have always loved putting in a few little funny things in any type of survey that I get. When I go for spa treatments I give answers to make the person reading it do a double take. There is the standard one where it asks for "sex:" and you write in "yes, please, as often as I can" My personal favorite is when it asks "are you pregnant?" to which I usually respond "If I am I would be written up in medical journals right now". Well, today I found out that one from my past came back to haunt me.
December 16th was the Mrs and my 3rd wedding anniversary. We had a great day of just lazing around the house watching a couple movies followed by a nice dinner out at a great Indian place called Khazana (best briyani rice she has had since coming to Canada) and then a nice walk home in a rather surprising mild evening. We had gotten a call a week ago from Jubilation's dinner theatre mentioning how we are on file, somehow, showing our wedding anniversary on the 16th and that they would like to give us a 25% off for us and any of our guests to come to a dinner theatre evening 30 days after our anniversary. So today, after contacting a couple friends and seeing if they were interested in coming out with us, I called the Jubilation's to set up the reservation. Here is how it went:
(J)ubilation's: Good morning, Jubilation's dinner theatre, how may I help you?
(M)e: Yes, good morning, I was wondering if I could make reservations for the 30th.
J: certainly, can I get your name?
M: Umm, I was wondering, our anniversary was yesterday...
J: happy anniversary
M: thanks...umm, yeah we got a call a week ago saying that we could get a discount cause of our anniversary. Is that still available?
J: of course, you have 30 days after your anniversary to use it.
** a minute of gathering information like what show we are interested in, what date we want, how many people will be attending, the price, seating locations available and gathering of my phone number **
J: Ok, so we are showing *name* with *last name* Business of Pleasure, is this correct?
M: umm...oh...ummm..yeah...yeah, that is me.
J: do you have a corporate account?
M: umm, no..no I don't.
J: well, you would be eligible for a corporate rate so you can have a discount on all your reservations. Just something to keep in mind.
M: Thank you, I will have to keep that in mind.
** we confirm cost, dates and times and say our farewells **
Turns out once when I was filling out the customer appreciation cards at the end of a show a few months ago I happened to put in, for a laugh, under the 'company name' the Business of Pleasure name. I used that name on an answering machine long ago when I was going to college. The answering machine announcement went like:
"Thank you for calling *LAST NAME* Business of Pleasure. None of our service representatives can come to the phone right now because they are out pleasing other clients but if you leave your name and number we will get back to you as soon as possible. And remember, here at *LAST NAME* Business of Pleasure, your pleasure is our business"
So, when I was filling out the form I put it in and I guess they took it seriously and put it down on their file. I mentioned this to the Mrs and she laughed really hard. She kept telling me that I had to post this. I hope that you all find it as amusing as the two of us did.
Ever get to the point in the survey that doesn't apply to you (EX. 'company name' when you don't have one)? Yeah, me too....
Ever put in something funny and, in your opinion, amusing just to sort of spice it up a little? yeah, me too...
Ever actually have the funny little joke come back to embarrass the heck out of you? yeah, me too.
I have always loved putting in a few little funny things in any type of survey that I get. When I go for spa treatments I give answers to make the person reading it do a double take. There is the standard one where it asks for "sex:" and you write in "yes, please, as often as I can" My personal favorite is when it asks "are you pregnant?" to which I usually respond "If I am I would be written up in medical journals right now". Well, today I found out that one from my past came back to haunt me.
December 16th was the Mrs and my 3rd wedding anniversary. We had a great day of just lazing around the house watching a couple movies followed by a nice dinner out at a great Indian place called Khazana (best briyani rice she has had since coming to Canada) and then a nice walk home in a rather surprising mild evening. We had gotten a call a week ago from Jubilation's dinner theatre mentioning how we are on file, somehow, showing our wedding anniversary on the 16th and that they would like to give us a 25% off for us and any of our guests to come to a dinner theatre evening 30 days after our anniversary. So today, after contacting a couple friends and seeing if they were interested in coming out with us, I called the Jubilation's to set up the reservation. Here is how it went:
(J)ubilation's: Good morning, Jubilation's dinner theatre, how may I help you?
(M)e: Yes, good morning, I was wondering if I could make reservations for the 30th.
J: certainly, can I get your name?
M: Umm, I was wondering, our anniversary was yesterday...
J: happy anniversary
M: thanks...umm, yeah we got a call a week ago saying that we could get a discount cause of our anniversary. Is that still available?
J: of course, you have 30 days after your anniversary to use it.
** a minute of gathering information like what show we are interested in, what date we want, how many people will be attending, the price, seating locations available and gathering of my phone number **
J: Ok, so we are showing *name* with *last name* Business of Pleasure, is this correct?
M: umm...oh...ummm..yeah...yeah, that is me.
J: do you have a corporate account?
M: umm, no..no I don't.
J: well, you would be eligible for a corporate rate so you can have a discount on all your reservations. Just something to keep in mind.
M: Thank you, I will have to keep that in mind.
** we confirm cost, dates and times and say our farewells **
Turns out once when I was filling out the customer appreciation cards at the end of a show a few months ago I happened to put in, for a laugh, under the 'company name' the Business of Pleasure name. I used that name on an answering machine long ago when I was going to college. The answering machine announcement went like:
"Thank you for calling *LAST NAME* Business of Pleasure. None of our service representatives can come to the phone right now because they are out pleasing other clients but if you leave your name and number we will get back to you as soon as possible. And remember, here at *LAST NAME* Business of Pleasure, your pleasure is our business"
So, when I was filling out the form I put it in and I guess they took it seriously and put it down on their file. I mentioned this to the Mrs and she laughed really hard. She kept telling me that I had to post this. I hope that you all find it as amusing as the two of us did.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
McDonalds new treats
Just thought I would give people out there a big heads up on the new treats at McDs these days. In particular just two, the S'mores pie and creme brulee McFlurry.
The first one to mention is the S'mores pie and right off the bat it was going to be a disappointment. Not because of the chocolate or marshmellow but because it is simply a McDs pie. I remember the good old days when I was growing up when they deep fried the pies. Back in the good old days when the burgers came in stryofoam containers and the toys were actually kind of cool. Back in the days when the pies were actually sweet and good and the filling was hot. The filling was so hot that the 'caution: filling may be hot' was misleading and it should have read 'caution: filling is molten lava'. The filling was just to the point of melted and I guess I had it standing up in the bag because the first two bites had me eating nothing but dry and tasteless dough. It was then I realized that all the filling had oozed down to the botttom 1/4 of the pie so I turned it around and took a big bite. The filling wasnt too bad though I would have enjoyed it a bit hotter and the fact that I had 1/4 of a pie with actual filling and then 3/4 of over baked, dry and tasteless pie dough. S'mores pie, big disappointment.
Then there was the creme brulee McFlurry. Only thing I can say about this is that it is just soft serve ice cream with a butterscotch sauce whipped into it and bits of toffee in it (sort of like the Skor bits). It wasn't that bad though after having tried the Blizzards at DQ, McDs was a big disappointment.
So far all I can say is that McDs has disappointment me this holiday season when it comes to the new treats and desserts put out so far.
The first one to mention is the S'mores pie and right off the bat it was going to be a disappointment. Not because of the chocolate or marshmellow but because it is simply a McDs pie. I remember the good old days when I was growing up when they deep fried the pies. Back in the good old days when the burgers came in stryofoam containers and the toys were actually kind of cool. Back in the days when the pies were actually sweet and good and the filling was hot. The filling was so hot that the 'caution: filling may be hot' was misleading and it should have read 'caution: filling is molten lava'. The filling was just to the point of melted and I guess I had it standing up in the bag because the first two bites had me eating nothing but dry and tasteless dough. It was then I realized that all the filling had oozed down to the botttom 1/4 of the pie so I turned it around and took a big bite. The filling wasnt too bad though I would have enjoyed it a bit hotter and the fact that I had 1/4 of a pie with actual filling and then 3/4 of over baked, dry and tasteless pie dough. S'mores pie, big disappointment.
Then there was the creme brulee McFlurry. Only thing I can say about this is that it is just soft serve ice cream with a butterscotch sauce whipped into it and bits of toffee in it (sort of like the Skor bits). It wasn't that bad though after having tried the Blizzards at DQ, McDs was a big disappointment.
So far all I can say is that McDs has disappointment me this holiday season when it comes to the new treats and desserts put out so far.
Monday, December 7, 2009
didnt' mention
I forgot to mention, or at least I think I forgot to mention, the best part of my surgery. According to the eye surgeon, I won the 'tightest clencher of the month' award. I seem to have clenched my eyes on the clamp more than anyone else this month so far. Granted, since it was only the 5th day of the month I am hoping that a bigger wuss will come through their doors in the month of December. When I was out in the recovery area and I told this to the guy who was putting the drops in my eyes, he asked if I squeezed so hard that the clamp went flying across the room and I said no and he responded with "you arent the worst so far then".
So I guess there are some redeeming factors to this story.*G*
So I guess there are some redeeming factors to this story.*G*
Sunday, December 6, 2009
total wuss
well, first off the good news. I got my call back to return to work. I got a call asking if I wanted to return to work on Dec 16th and work till Jan 20th but due to the holiday plans coming up I couldn't take them up on that offer so had to decline. The result being that I am to return work on January 2nd. So am looking forward to it though on the down side I have been trying to cook here on my time out and so far I have been extremely disappointed with the results. I dont know what it is but everything that I seem to attempt flops. About the only thing that seems to come out decently are the premade 'just add water/milk' things. Really disappointing but am hoping that it is just practice and once I get back to the kitchen I can get back my kitchen groove/mojo. So, yeah me! going back to work. Good thing to because I have been unemployed for nearly 6 weeks now and I think the government has almost decided to grant my EI. Good to know that in a pinch the government pays quickly on the insurance that I pay into on a regular basis everytime I work.
Also, I finally got fed up with my glasses and got LASIK surgery. I was always fed up working in the kitchen when I would look down to see what I was cutting and my glasses would slid down to the end of my nose and I would constantly have to push them up with my shoulder or elbow. There were also the times when I would be asked to go and bring out some stuff from the freezer and, after spending about 3-4 minutes searching for the item, would walk out to a hot and moist kitchen and be totally blind for a good 2 minutes while my glasses defogged, all the while trying to carry 3 boxes full of meat and find a counter to put them down on. There were even a couple times when glasses nearly slid right off my face into the dressings or salads I was making at the time. So when I heard that LASIK had a $499/eye promotion, I jumped at the chance to get an appointment to be looked over.
Though my first lesson with that $499 is just like the cable or internet services that say "$5.99/month" that price usually only applies to them looking at your cable and going "yep, looks like you need our $500/month package". I am pretty sure that the $499/eye price that they are quoting is for people who have 20/20 vision right now but seem to think that they dont and the doctor just brings them in, puts drops in their eyes, tells them to lie on their back and wave a flash light in front of their face to make them think that they had an operation. Won't go quoting numbers, but lets just say that the $499/eye was on the way low end. However, being so fed up with glasses and having them wave 20/20 vision in front of me I signed up. Thus I learned that I am a wuss, total and complete wuss.
I went through the eye test with ease and actually found my dialated pupils really funky. I had to laugh because my pupils were dialated at the beginning of the exam. In this phase they basically took a picture of my inner eye, did a quick eye chart test, flashed lights in my eye and took measurements. I went to the second phase which was a more indepth eye chart test along with colour test before I was told that I was a candidate for LASIK and, lucky luck me, I was also a candidate for the ADVANCED LASIK, what a coincidence. So, not only was I open for an operation that was 2.5 times that of the $499/eye promotion but I was also available for a chance to get the advanced one that would be 3.5 times the promotion.
Difference between the LASIK and the ADVANCED, if you are interested, is that (and this is paraphrased that I sort of put it into my vocabulary cause with me it seems to be easier to just put it into simple phrases than the complex) with the LASIK they basically look into your eye and treat it like a cantalope and scoop out the flesh with a ice cream scoop to make the whole cantalope smooth and even. When it comes to the ADVANCED they take a picture of the whole cantalope and then see what parts need to be smoothed out and brought down to the right level. As you can guess, the ADVANCED is better for future operations since they only scrap off the level of cornea/melon that needs to come out to level it off leaving more cornea/melon available to be scraped out at a later date if needed for correction. The regular LASIK might take more of the melon/cornea down to the point that the cornea/melon might be too thin that it can't be shaved down at a later time.
Anyways, after I finished with my second phase and was put to the third and most enjoyable phase (the price and payment discussion) my eyes were fully dialated meaning that everything, even with my glasses on, had a sort of fuzzy/blurry look to it. I went in to the third phase, meet with a rather blurred faced lady and she started to go through the paperwork for the procedure, first by putting down a post-operative plan for what I should expect of the whole procedure. She calmly picked up all the papers, put one in front of me and started to talk about it, I leaned forward and took a look at a totally blurred piece of paper and leaned back and I guess I had the look of "what the heck are you doing?" (similiar to the look that you might get if you accidentally handed a deaf individual a set of headphones on the airplane) cause she just asked "you had your eyes dialated, didnt you?". With a nod and "yep" she started to read the papers to me and explain it all.
I was in to have my eye test on the Thursday and had my operation on Saturday. I know, rather quick but the next dates were the 19th and 28th of Dec and I wanted to get it down quickly so that I could heal while I was still out of camp. Here is where I know that I am a complete and total wuss when it comes to eye surgery. I have to admit that I have had dental work, stitches sewed into my flesh (as my parents will tell me with much fondess I pretty much had a usual room in the childs section emergency ward in the hospital I was such a curious little kid) and even had two surgeries that required actual flesh cutting and I did not feel as much as 1/4 of the anxiety and stress I felt going through the laser eye surgery. Guess I just dont like having people mess with my eyes, or even put eye drops in my eyes.
During the paper work part of the process one of the assistants asked if I wanted some form of muscle relaxant or anything to help with the anxiety. I said I did so she gave me this little white pill to put under my tongue. Now, they told me it was a an anxiety drug but for all the good it did at the moment I needed it I am sure it was a sugar pill. The lead up was no problem but once I got in the room and they put me on my back the whole thing went nutty. I remember laying on my back and the assistant giving me two 'stress balls', you know the ones that are filled with the beans or some sort of foam that you are to squeeze when you feel stress to help you relax, to hold for the operation. They taped up my left eye and got out an piece of eye equipment that I forget the name of to spread open my eye so I cant blink. Think a spreader that clamps under each lid and then by dialing a screw the spreader opens wider to the point that the doc can work. Then they press a piece of plastic over the eye and apply some pressure to your eye and your vision goes dark. You can experience this by just pushing on your eye till all goes black and you see those wonderful little stars in front of your eyes.
So, the doctor started to put the clamp in my eye and calmly said "ok, now you can start to squeeze on the.....oh, I see you are already doing that". I think from the moment that the assistant had the balls in my hand I instantly had them gripped in a death grip so tight that I was surprised that they didnt break or have my fingers permanantly indented in them. After that it was basically all a blur except for the times that the doctor had to say "ok, you are going to have to breath. Stop clenching your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Breath.....Ok, don't hyperventalate, slow down your breathing...ok, doing good...remember to breath...breath...in and out...breath...dont hyperventalate" and back and forth through the whole operation. I wish he would just make up his mind. I breath or dont breath...sheesh.
Once my eyes were opened and drops put in with the laser aimed, after a brief buzz and a smell of burning hair (though personally it smelt more like that smell that you get when the dentist drills your fillings/tooth but doesnt put enough lube on the drill and you start to see smoke rising from your tooth), he took it all out and I was done in that eye and, oh joy oh joy, got to do it all again on the next eye.
When the whole operation was finished I guess the assistant figures I was a fainting risk because instead of just going "ok, lets go over to the microscope and take a look now" I got the "ok, whenever you are ready...just breath...when you are ready we can go over to that chair...now right now...whenever you are ready...how are you feeling?....ready? think you can walk?" Personally I was so thrilled to have the clamps out of my eyes that I was ready to walk anywhere they wanted me to to get out of that room as quickly as possible.
So in the end it was done. We were there for about 5 hours, most of it waiting, and the whole thing was done. The Mrs stayed with me the whole time which was really good of her. Granted once I was out of surgery and she heard the above story she got herself a good laugh over it all. After it was all said and done we got a cab home and I got my 2 hour nap, followed by 4 hours of card playing and then back to bed for the night. Now, after my first check up, I am think I am at 20/20 vision. It was so funny when I woke up with the Mrs and I walking around the house putting things up a distance away from me and I was reading boxes and beer bottles from varying distances to prove that my eyes were good. Now I just have 6 more days of putting drops in my eyes on a regular basis and I will be back to normal and not have any more glasses. Well, no more glasses until I turn 40 and need reading glasses as my M-I-L points out to me. *G*
so yeah, that is where I am at the moment. Heading back to work in 4 weeks, parents coming down in about 2 and half weeks and christmas coming up as well. Oh, how I love the holidays*G*
Also, I finally got fed up with my glasses and got LASIK surgery. I was always fed up working in the kitchen when I would look down to see what I was cutting and my glasses would slid down to the end of my nose and I would constantly have to push them up with my shoulder or elbow. There were also the times when I would be asked to go and bring out some stuff from the freezer and, after spending about 3-4 minutes searching for the item, would walk out to a hot and moist kitchen and be totally blind for a good 2 minutes while my glasses defogged, all the while trying to carry 3 boxes full of meat and find a counter to put them down on. There were even a couple times when glasses nearly slid right off my face into the dressings or salads I was making at the time. So when I heard that LASIK had a $499/eye promotion, I jumped at the chance to get an appointment to be looked over.
Though my first lesson with that $499 is just like the cable or internet services that say "$5.99/month" that price usually only applies to them looking at your cable and going "yep, looks like you need our $500/month package". I am pretty sure that the $499/eye price that they are quoting is for people who have 20/20 vision right now but seem to think that they dont and the doctor just brings them in, puts drops in their eyes, tells them to lie on their back and wave a flash light in front of their face to make them think that they had an operation. Won't go quoting numbers, but lets just say that the $499/eye was on the way low end. However, being so fed up with glasses and having them wave 20/20 vision in front of me I signed up. Thus I learned that I am a wuss, total and complete wuss.
I went through the eye test with ease and actually found my dialated pupils really funky. I had to laugh because my pupils were dialated at the beginning of the exam. In this phase they basically took a picture of my inner eye, did a quick eye chart test, flashed lights in my eye and took measurements. I went to the second phase which was a more indepth eye chart test along with colour test before I was told that I was a candidate for LASIK and, lucky luck me, I was also a candidate for the ADVANCED LASIK, what a coincidence. So, not only was I open for an operation that was 2.5 times that of the $499/eye promotion but I was also available for a chance to get the advanced one that would be 3.5 times the promotion.
Difference between the LASIK and the ADVANCED, if you are interested, is that (and this is paraphrased that I sort of put it into my vocabulary cause with me it seems to be easier to just put it into simple phrases than the complex) with the LASIK they basically look into your eye and treat it like a cantalope and scoop out the flesh with a ice cream scoop to make the whole cantalope smooth and even. When it comes to the ADVANCED they take a picture of the whole cantalope and then see what parts need to be smoothed out and brought down to the right level. As you can guess, the ADVANCED is better for future operations since they only scrap off the level of cornea/melon that needs to come out to level it off leaving more cornea/melon available to be scraped out at a later date if needed for correction. The regular LASIK might take more of the melon/cornea down to the point that the cornea/melon might be too thin that it can't be shaved down at a later time.
Anyways, after I finished with my second phase and was put to the third and most enjoyable phase (the price and payment discussion) my eyes were fully dialated meaning that everything, even with my glasses on, had a sort of fuzzy/blurry look to it. I went in to the third phase, meet with a rather blurred faced lady and she started to go through the paperwork for the procedure, first by putting down a post-operative plan for what I should expect of the whole procedure. She calmly picked up all the papers, put one in front of me and started to talk about it, I leaned forward and took a look at a totally blurred piece of paper and leaned back and I guess I had the look of "what the heck are you doing?" (similiar to the look that you might get if you accidentally handed a deaf individual a set of headphones on the airplane) cause she just asked "you had your eyes dialated, didnt you?". With a nod and "yep" she started to read the papers to me and explain it all.
I was in to have my eye test on the Thursday and had my operation on Saturday. I know, rather quick but the next dates were the 19th and 28th of Dec and I wanted to get it down quickly so that I could heal while I was still out of camp. Here is where I know that I am a complete and total wuss when it comes to eye surgery. I have to admit that I have had dental work, stitches sewed into my flesh (as my parents will tell me with much fondess I pretty much had a usual room in the childs section emergency ward in the hospital I was such a curious little kid) and even had two surgeries that required actual flesh cutting and I did not feel as much as 1/4 of the anxiety and stress I felt going through the laser eye surgery. Guess I just dont like having people mess with my eyes, or even put eye drops in my eyes.
During the paper work part of the process one of the assistants asked if I wanted some form of muscle relaxant or anything to help with the anxiety. I said I did so she gave me this little white pill to put under my tongue. Now, they told me it was a an anxiety drug but for all the good it did at the moment I needed it I am sure it was a sugar pill. The lead up was no problem but once I got in the room and they put me on my back the whole thing went nutty. I remember laying on my back and the assistant giving me two 'stress balls', you know the ones that are filled with the beans or some sort of foam that you are to squeeze when you feel stress to help you relax, to hold for the operation. They taped up my left eye and got out an piece of eye equipment that I forget the name of to spread open my eye so I cant blink. Think a spreader that clamps under each lid and then by dialing a screw the spreader opens wider to the point that the doc can work. Then they press a piece of plastic over the eye and apply some pressure to your eye and your vision goes dark. You can experience this by just pushing on your eye till all goes black and you see those wonderful little stars in front of your eyes.
So, the doctor started to put the clamp in my eye and calmly said "ok, now you can start to squeeze on the.....oh, I see you are already doing that". I think from the moment that the assistant had the balls in my hand I instantly had them gripped in a death grip so tight that I was surprised that they didnt break or have my fingers permanantly indented in them. After that it was basically all a blur except for the times that the doctor had to say "ok, you are going to have to breath. Stop clenching your eyes and concentrate on your breathing. Breath.....Ok, don't hyperventalate, slow down your breathing...ok, doing good...remember to breath...breath...in and out...breath...dont hyperventalate" and back and forth through the whole operation. I wish he would just make up his mind. I breath or dont breath...sheesh.
Once my eyes were opened and drops put in with the laser aimed, after a brief buzz and a smell of burning hair (though personally it smelt more like that smell that you get when the dentist drills your fillings/tooth but doesnt put enough lube on the drill and you start to see smoke rising from your tooth), he took it all out and I was done in that eye and, oh joy oh joy, got to do it all again on the next eye.
When the whole operation was finished I guess the assistant figures I was a fainting risk because instead of just going "ok, lets go over to the microscope and take a look now" I got the "ok, whenever you are ready...just breath...when you are ready we can go over to that chair...now right now...whenever you are ready...how are you feeling?....ready? think you can walk?" Personally I was so thrilled to have the clamps out of my eyes that I was ready to walk anywhere they wanted me to to get out of that room as quickly as possible.
So in the end it was done. We were there for about 5 hours, most of it waiting, and the whole thing was done. The Mrs stayed with me the whole time which was really good of her. Granted once I was out of surgery and she heard the above story she got herself a good laugh over it all. After it was all said and done we got a cab home and I got my 2 hour nap, followed by 4 hours of card playing and then back to bed for the night. Now, after my first check up, I am think I am at 20/20 vision. It was so funny when I woke up with the Mrs and I walking around the house putting things up a distance away from me and I was reading boxes and beer bottles from varying distances to prove that my eyes were good. Now I just have 6 more days of putting drops in my eyes on a regular basis and I will be back to normal and not have any more glasses. Well, no more glasses until I turn 40 and need reading glasses as my M-I-L points out to me. *G*
so yeah, that is where I am at the moment. Heading back to work in 4 weeks, parents coming down in about 2 and half weeks and christmas coming up as well. Oh, how I love the holidays*G*
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
movie reviews
yet another movie marathon happened yesterday. Was nice to get back to the theatres after a long stay away from them. Anyways, here are some brief thoughts about the movies that we went to see.
Christmas Carol 3D (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067106/) - This one I have to say caught me sort of off guard. Normally when there is a remake or movie from a Christmas Carol I somehow get it into my head that they are going to make it funny or change things here and there. This one, however, right from the get go sticks directly to the book and there are only a few changes in it from what I can remember. There were the famous lines that I remember in most of the christmas carols like the speech Scrooge tells the ghost of Marly why Scrooge doesnt believe his senses that ends with "...there is more of gravy than the grave about you" as well as the Tiny Tim "God bless us everyone". The ghosts were there in all their glory though the ghost of Christmas Past always seems to change but the present and future are all the same (giant and robed skeleton). Carrey does a good job as Scrooge though he doesnt seem, in my mind at least, to give a truely horrible and despicable miser in the beginning and then a joyful and generous Scrooge at the end. Perhaps it is the type casting or stereotyping that I have for Carrey as being the funny man in that even when he is talking about putting the poor into work houses or prisons I seem to be waiting for the wagging tongue or other stupid gag to make the audience laugh. So his Scrooge seems to be in the middle of slightly miser-ish and then, relative to his miser, he can not reach the happy go generous scrooge at the end.
The animation and 3D effects I did find rather enjoyable and interesting. I have read that there were multiple goofs in that way of the skyline in London but to a lay person such as myself we never would have known.
I would say that this one is a good movie to see for the holidays but if you are wanting to introduce the young children to a Christmas Carol tradition then definitly stick with a Muppet Christmas Carol or Mickey's Christmas Carol for the light heartedness and leave this darker one for the young adults and older adults to enjoy. Also, if anyone watches this movie and figures out where the heck the prize sized turkey went with the butcher by Scrooge or why it was sent where it was in the coach, please tell me cause either I blinked and missed that part or missed it for some other reason.
2012 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190080/) - I think the best possible way to describe this movie would be in the two words that were told to me by a friend, and again used by the Mrs when we were walking home. 2012 is pure and simple "disaster porn".
Not really much in the way of story introduction here. 2012, end of the mayan calendar, world gonna come to the end as predicted thousands of years ago, world destruction, one man fights to save his family by getting them to safety. All I can say about this is that the special effects were amazingly good, nice humour used here and there as well as great moments to witness in human sacrifice for their loved ones. However, in the way of the lead character all I can say is that near the end of the movie he has to do some swimming (tsunamis ravaging the world, who isnt gonna be doing some swimming huh?) and I am surprised that he could actually stay afloat with what should have been about 1,000 lucky horse shoes up his butt. I mean, I have seen lucky people in my life and I have even been known to have a stroke of luck now and then but this guy....well, this guy obviously saved up all his lucky karma from his last 5 lives and used them in a 36 hour period of time.
I would say for this film since I wasn't really expecting Oscar award winning performances and writing, I was definitly going for special effects and visual stimulus which I got in spades. Go for the effects, ignore the acting.
The Blind Side (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/) - Heart warming story about a woman that brings in a poor boy, introduces him to the family and he becomes a star football player based on a true story. Sandra Bullock plays a really good strict and forceful mother who takes care of her family. Though as soon as I saw her in this role for the first time I instantly thought "if there is ever going to be a move of Sara Palin, then Bullock has got to play that role". It was definitly a good tear jerking movie (won't list how many times the Mrs shed a tear). Of course with all 'based on true story' movies that I see I always have the question of "did that really happen or was it trumped up for the movie" but I wasn't too concerned with validity but went for the human story of it all. While I wouldn't say that all the acting was Oscar winning, it was definitly on the up side of the ability.
I would put out a warning though to all the men out there saying that while there is football involved this is definitly NOT a male movie...this is a chick flick. So guys, if your gf/so says that you are going to a male football movie called "the Blind Side" then know you are being tricked.
Christmas Carol 3D (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1067106/) - This one I have to say caught me sort of off guard. Normally when there is a remake or movie from a Christmas Carol I somehow get it into my head that they are going to make it funny or change things here and there. This one, however, right from the get go sticks directly to the book and there are only a few changes in it from what I can remember. There were the famous lines that I remember in most of the christmas carols like the speech Scrooge tells the ghost of Marly why Scrooge doesnt believe his senses that ends with "...there is more of gravy than the grave about you" as well as the Tiny Tim "God bless us everyone". The ghosts were there in all their glory though the ghost of Christmas Past always seems to change but the present and future are all the same (giant and robed skeleton). Carrey does a good job as Scrooge though he doesnt seem, in my mind at least, to give a truely horrible and despicable miser in the beginning and then a joyful and generous Scrooge at the end. Perhaps it is the type casting or stereotyping that I have for Carrey as being the funny man in that even when he is talking about putting the poor into work houses or prisons I seem to be waiting for the wagging tongue or other stupid gag to make the audience laugh. So his Scrooge seems to be in the middle of slightly miser-ish and then, relative to his miser, he can not reach the happy go generous scrooge at the end.
The animation and 3D effects I did find rather enjoyable and interesting. I have read that there were multiple goofs in that way of the skyline in London but to a lay person such as myself we never would have known.
I would say that this one is a good movie to see for the holidays but if you are wanting to introduce the young children to a Christmas Carol tradition then definitly stick with a Muppet Christmas Carol or Mickey's Christmas Carol for the light heartedness and leave this darker one for the young adults and older adults to enjoy. Also, if anyone watches this movie and figures out where the heck the prize sized turkey went with the butcher by Scrooge or why it was sent where it was in the coach, please tell me cause either I blinked and missed that part or missed it for some other reason.
2012 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190080/) - I think the best possible way to describe this movie would be in the two words that were told to me by a friend, and again used by the Mrs when we were walking home. 2012 is pure and simple "disaster porn".
Not really much in the way of story introduction here. 2012, end of the mayan calendar, world gonna come to the end as predicted thousands of years ago, world destruction, one man fights to save his family by getting them to safety. All I can say about this is that the special effects were amazingly good, nice humour used here and there as well as great moments to witness in human sacrifice for their loved ones. However, in the way of the lead character all I can say is that near the end of the movie he has to do some swimming (tsunamis ravaging the world, who isnt gonna be doing some swimming huh?) and I am surprised that he could actually stay afloat with what should have been about 1,000 lucky horse shoes up his butt. I mean, I have seen lucky people in my life and I have even been known to have a stroke of luck now and then but this guy....well, this guy obviously saved up all his lucky karma from his last 5 lives and used them in a 36 hour period of time.
I would say for this film since I wasn't really expecting Oscar award winning performances and writing, I was definitly going for special effects and visual stimulus which I got in spades. Go for the effects, ignore the acting.
The Blind Side (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/) - Heart warming story about a woman that brings in a poor boy, introduces him to the family and he becomes a star football player based on a true story. Sandra Bullock plays a really good strict and forceful mother who takes care of her family. Though as soon as I saw her in this role for the first time I instantly thought "if there is ever going to be a move of Sara Palin, then Bullock has got to play that role". It was definitly a good tear jerking movie (won't list how many times the Mrs shed a tear). Of course with all 'based on true story' movies that I see I always have the question of "did that really happen or was it trumped up for the movie" but I wasn't too concerned with validity but went for the human story of it all. While I wouldn't say that all the acting was Oscar winning, it was definitly on the up side of the ability.
I would put out a warning though to all the men out there saying that while there is football involved this is definitly NOT a male movie...this is a chick flick. So guys, if your gf/so says that you are going to a male football movie called "the Blind Side" then know you are being tricked.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)