Monocle

Monocle is a great new magazine. New being Feb 2007, new to me being this month. Insightful articles and great diagrams. Topics ranging from the arms industry to design. Content size ranges from quick reads to more leisurely. Many glossy ads of meaningless crap that you don't need but you really, really want. Its like a balancing act between the important and the frivolous done right...ish.

I only pay for ID magazine now. I might add this.

confusion

So my regular doctor said that the ER doctor was wrong. He said that L4 nerves are highly unlikely to get pinched. L5 and S1 are where the sciatica nerves get pinched. That makes physical sense. I was wondering when looking at the L4 lines going up when the ER doctor showed me the diagram.

So I just killed the ends of my nerves. The good news is nerve endings grow back.

'You are just getting old'

stroke or not?

So my regular doctor didnt have an oncall backup. Makes me want to look for a new doctor. It also happens that in the US there aren't any independent 3rd party services that you can call up if you have never been their patient before. In Canada there are numbers that you just call up and get an oncall, but I guess doctors here care more about money than helping...and those that care about helping are held back by law suits.

Anyhow, both my toes were numb...for a whole day. Heating and stretching didn't change them. After a call to the insurance company nurse I ended up going to the emergency room to make sure it wasn't some kind of stroke. The doctor diagnosed me very quickly. She had taken kickboxing before and recognized the symptoms.
"have you injured yourself in the legs?"
"no, this bruise is from kicking the bag, but i've done that a million times"
"how do you kick?"
*i show slow roundhouse*
" have you taken time off from training?"
" yeah, i was on a cruise and there was no bag to hit"
*doc whips out a nerve chart* "ok, look at this and follow the lines....tell me what you think happened"
"numbness in L4....goes up to the pelvis/hips"
"yup, common injury in martial arts if you have taken a break.....did you slip?"
"well I was on top of jujitsu mats for the first time and they shifted"
"ok, that strained your joint even more...you have a pinched nerve. it isnt a stroke...where was the cruise?"
"Florida..."
"ok, so on top of that you took a long flight which strained it more"

3 for 3. WOW!

Cozmo Cards.....buyer's remorse

So last year I bought a friend the Cozmo cards. As with most gift cards, they arent redeemed. Usually because of apathy, but this time it was different. I got a spam on tablehopper and decided to ask my friend how she liked the cards, her response to my question 'did you ever use them':
"nope; some of them weren't as high end as I would like. It was more of a 2nd tier list -- good, but not ones that I was crazy excited about."

Wow, I guess its the thought that counts. This year everyone is getting eTrees from me obviously.