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Once again, the specter of dealing with the bureaucracy of Parkland Hospital looms large. I have an appointment tomorrow to have another follow-up with the docs in the ENT Clinic to go over the results of a CT scan I had last week. Ostensibly, it's for the purpose of discovering how successful the young surgeons who carved the cancer from my throat and neck were at their jobs.


The CT scan, itself, was not a big deal. The waiting was even less of a pain in the ass than usual — only 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The CT tech pumped me full of radioactive iodine and warned me of the sensations I'd be feeling. "Be sure to drink at least 8 big glasses of water today to flush it out of your kidneys," she warned.

I thought, "Sure. No big deal. Like last time, they exaggerate to get you to drink a little water. No prob." Oh, yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhh. . . . that worked.

The following day was miserable until I realized that the young tech (Angelique) wasn't just exercising her jaw. No. She meant what she said and I was paying the price for ignoring her advice.

I will, henceforth, drink my 8 glasses of water after a CT scan. No Big Deal. Really.

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You may have noticed that this blog has not been updated in quite a while. I apologize for that but there is a reason. I'm currently living in temporary quarters with 6 other people. . . 3 of whom are IT geeks. And PC geeks at that. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Several times while I've lived here since Sept. 15th, they have changed the wireless router settings. Almost always, it has effected my access to the Web. Never has it improved that access.

Bottom line: I'm unable to log in to my server, so I cannot update this blog or a couple of websites I manage.

At various times, I've thought it was the server (Nope. Not according to GoDaddy.com tech support); or the software (FTP client) I've been using to connect to the server (uh-uh); or maybe it was my Mac (doubtful because Mac's ARE perfect, y'know).

I keep coming back to the wireless router settings here at the house. That DOES seem to be the problem. I nailed that down a couple of days ago when I took my trusty MacBook laptop to an Internet café in Addison. Fired up my FTP client (CyberDuck) and voila! My long lost connection worked immediately and without a hitch.

That, my friend, is how I have just updated this blog. . . by using a free Wi-Fi hotspot at an Internet café. Neither rain nor snow nor gloom of ill-fitting router settings will stay this courier from updating his blog. Ta-daaaaaa!

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There is more good news to tell you about: I'm moving. After searching all over town for a proper place to live, someplace quiet and secluded, I finally found a lovely little carriage house/garage apartment that is perfect.

It has hardwood floors throughout (except for the bedroom), CH/A, a GAS stove (this was a joy to find), plenty of closet space, a washer and dryer (thank you sweet baby Jesus!), and lots of windows. . . all in about 800 sq. ft. It was completely remodeled recently and all of the expected "old world charm" of a place like this in this area has been updated and modernized. I couldn't be happier.

To top it off, my landlady is a very warm and charming person and she lives a couple doors up the street with her husband.

I move in the first weekend in January and then my sister, Lorraine, is going to help me fix the place up. She's the one with the domesticity gene; not me. It'll be rather spare for a bit since almost everything is in storage but that's okay. My life is all about change right now.

☆

Today, I'm going in for some physical therapy on my shoulder (and my lip, too, I hope). I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before. . . but my shoulder muscles — primarily my trapezius muscle have atrophied since the surgery. I have little lifting strength in my right arm. Lifting so much as a full glass of water at arms length is difficult and painful.

The good news is that it's fixable and will only require some hard work, some of which I've been doing on my own with weights and "power bands."

In fact, I need to be there in just a bit. . . .

More soon.