Fail Blogs from 2009

Dogbert

Dogbert the time management expert:

Dogbert: Never put time into an activity that has no potential benefit.

For example, why bother putting on makeup if you're going to wear that hideous outfit?

That's like knitting a sweater for a dead squirrel.

The details

I admit I usually avoid wrapping gifts. I just do something silly like wrap in newspaper, or I buy a gift bag. Occasionally, I do wrap presents. I never considered this a particular difficult activity. Just this month I realized how bad I was it.

The first gift I wrapped was a large box, and it was heavy. However, I didn't realize how much trouble I would have. I ripped the paper initially, but kept going. I taped it together. Eventually, I tore it again and started over.

The next gift I had didn't fit in the box I had for it. So rather than finding another box I cut a hole in the top of the box and part of the present protruded through the opening. Then I just wrapped over it.

For the holidays I bought one role of snowmen paper, a bag of bows that had 52 bows (I needed 5) and a pack of 180 to/from tags (I also needed 5 of those).

I considered including more info in my blog, but I thought it might be funnier just to let the pics speak for themselves.

Some people were offended by the title, but I don't think most women would have as much trouble as I had wrapping the gifts. Nor do I think they would have continued to use the box after discovering it was too small.

Holiday Shopping

I was not the only one at the store tonight.

Diet

Last night for dinner I had pasta with a red sauce and bread. That's it.

I think I might start taking a daily vitamin.

Drunk Texting

I just got a text from a friend of mine that I've known for over ten years.

She wrote, "I'm drunk. Nice to meet you."

I think in some sorta weird way those sentences go together.

Safeway

I spent $75 on groceries yesterday, but with all the sales at Safeway I feel like I walked away with at least $80 in groceries.

Football

Conversation with my cousin Dave:

Me: Do you think the Lions can win outright in Baltimore?

Dave: Only if they're playing the University of Maryland.

Tired

For the last couple weeks most nights in the evening I'm exhausted. Sometimes as early as 5pm I'm fighting to stay awake. Some nights I can barely stay awake, and then I go to bed, and am still not able to sleep. I have problems.

I've been at least fighting it out until 9pm until I go to bed. Last night at 8:50pm I was too tired to sit up so I went to bed and skipped my usualy bedtime routine. I couldn't sleep. So I ended up getting up for a while, and going back to bed. Almost fell asleep, but couldn't. So at 11:15 I took a unisom.

Today, I decided to stop fighting it. At 6:30pm I layed down and fell asleep. I got up a little after nine. I'm not sure how I feel now, or if I will be able to go back to sleep.

It (my master's program) will all be over soon.

Self-identification

On the way home from work today I was behind a car whose license plate read, "In love with a paintballer."

I wondered how in to that sport somebody has to be in order...

Well, quite frankly I wonder about their relationship too.

The el gorrito story

A few weeks ago Ryan Miller e-mailed me and said, “Hey Kevin - I'm organizing a for-fun fiction writing project: Fifty-four short stories, each one based on a Mexican loteria card... Interested? Let me know; I'll draw you a card.”
I thought about it for a little bit, and then told him to draw me a card. This is the card I drew.

That's it. That is all I had to go on. I had to come up with a story relating to the card I drew. I looked for other images on the Internet. I found this guy:

I'm not exactly sure how the "Santa hat" translates in Spanish, but I also found this picture during my search.

I had to come up with a story. I decided to have my main character be a homeless person. I searched "homeless person case study" in google. I hadn't yet decided on the age or gender of my character, but I was inspired by this article. I used him for my main character. It was later I decided to write it in first person. There was a couple weeks after I had my idea before I began to write so I put some things together in my head.

Anyway... I don't know how people usually do this fiction stuff, but that's how I wrote my story. My buddy Gio drew "El Pescado," but hasn't written his piece yet.

Also, Ryan still says he has a few cards left that people have not drawn so let me know if you're interested in participating as well.

A dollar what?

I ordered a 99 cent bagel with cream cheese and my total came to $2.60. What? The cashier explained that my total was $2.39 and there was 21 cents tax. Yeah. I understand how sales tax works, I'm wondering about the $2.39.

My cream cheese cost $1.40. For cream cheese. More than the bagel. After I stated my opinion about paying a buck forty for cream cheese, she explained, "There is no price for flavor." Um... I guess there is, and right now it's $1.40.

I contemplated asking for butter instead, but I just paid the $2.60. It was a large thing of cream cheese.

More from Kristi

She created this picture and several others. It included a brief discussion on idioms. Yeah, she's ten.

A Tree

Below is a story from my ten-year-old niece, Kristi. I have posted some of her work in the past. I think her punctuation is much better than the majority of my 8th graders.

Today I saw a tree. Now. I know what you're thinking. "Trees are everywhere. It's not an event to see one!" Yes, reader, I am aware of that. BUT! This tree was something........

Time for explanations. Okay. Let me describe what happened.We were stopped at a red light, and it just so happens that there was this tree right outside of my window. Let me describe it. It was blotchy with brown and white on its bark. The leaves were perfectly green. The bark was what caught my eye. The way it was spotted, it looked like someone dumped either a bucket of white paint or brown all over the trunk. The paint had dried and peeled revealing the opposite color. I know it wasn't paint. It seemed to me that the bark was either white, but chipping to show brown, or brown, but chipping to show white. This tree was so strange. It caught my eye. Again.

Phone Message

I just got this message on my voicemail:

Robert! What did you do? Lose your personal phone? Here I am wanting to talk to you. Okay. I’m going to ask you a question. You can call me back with it. I’m trying to put forward what I learned. I got a pancake box of job last week , and there is a ceiling fan. It is a global world ceiling fan, take a closer look at the pancake. And there is a sticker right on it that said, “Okay for ceiling fan.” Now I’m at a job where the guy’s doing a patio cover is doing an exterior rate fan and he’s giving me a standard pancake. He doesn’t have a label on it, and we aren’t told on the listing. It’s just a standard cubic inch-type… what four inch. Four- inch pancake. So if you can tell me I’ll call back and let him know. Appreciate it. Thanks. Bye.

Um… yeah. I’d say don’t worry about the sticker this time.

Good Etiquette

At the party tonight there was only one toilet in each bathroom. I waited for minute until the men's became available. A woman came out of it. But she put the seat back up before she left.

As she should.

Cold Hard Truth

So I decided in January to start a new segment with my AVID students. I'm going to title it "The Cold Hard Truth with Mr. B." Each session I will discuss the reality of a specific issue.

I am going to brainstorm my ideas on topics here.

• You can't change other people
• Myth: Everything happens for a reason
• Not all AVID classes are created equal
• Not all AVID classes are taught by me
• Life is not fair
• Some things in life will be tougher for you than they were for me
• Drugs can cause you to do things you'll regret
• School's a Game-- Make sure you get enough points to win
• Some people still live with prejudices
• You can go your whole life without ever getting into a physical fight
• Carrying a gun will make you more likely to get shot at
• There is a reason certain money for college is out there for minority groups-- if you qualify go for it.
• Some people in your life may not be good role models; find good ones
• There is stuff to learn from your elders
• You don't have to live paycheck to paycheck
  

Coke

I don't usually support juvenile activity, but check this out.

Baby Shower

I went to a baby shower today with 25 guests, and I was the only male among them.

I also bought a onesie for the second month in a row.

And I also wrote the word onesie for the first time.

The Devil's Book

I just ordered a used copy of The Bell Curve on-line, and my total came to $6.66.

Auto Insurance

I just received a notice in the mail that stated, "California Teachers Association members are lowering their annual auto insurance payment by $400 or more!"

I thought this was fantastic considering I only pay about $350/year. Maybe they will send me a reimbursement check too.

Long Week

Yesterday when I got home from work I just sat in the car a while. I didn't know if I had the energy to make it up the stairs.

Best dollar-eighty I ever spent

I just got a massage at the airport. It was actually $30 for 15 minutes, but it was worth it.

Best Friends

Yesterday the Angels had a dramatic come-from-behind victory sweeping the Red Sox out of the playoffs. Right after the devasting loss I called Steph to discuss some specific parts of the game. She answered the phone, "I don't want to talk about it." I paused about a second and half and still my thoughts remained on the game. So... I just hung up without saying a word. It tied my record for fewest words I've used in a phone conversation.

Was it a good game?

Did the tying run come to bat in the ninth?

That is my question to determine if the baseball game was a good game or not. If "yes" it was probably a decent game.

Electric Therapy

At my school there is a Russian janitor, and he told me about some device that he bought for $800 from some dude from Israel. You put a little electric pad on your body, and it shoots electricity into you and makes everything magically feel better. I was feeling tight on my back so I asked him to borrow it yesterday. He showed me how to use the controls, and basically said put it is high as you can until it hurts too much to take it. Use it for at least fifteen minutes.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Living in Midtown

Its 11:15 pm and I'm laying in bed. Some guy outside is yelling, "Marco!" I want to yell back "Polo!" but I don't. I already can't sleep. But now I'm at the computer so I should have.

Airfare

In buying planed tickets from Sacramento to LA I found tickets with 1-stop, and cheaper tickets with 2 or more stops.

You kidding me?

Men's Room

I left the table and went to use the bathroom. When you walk in the door straight ahead were the sinks and two urinals. Off to the right were a couple stalls. Alone in the bathroom, and with my back to the door I started peeing in one of the urinals.

My coworker, Anna, walked in. She took a few steps in to the bathroom and stopped.

“Kevin?!!?,” she questioned with a tone of surprise.

“Is this one of those places that has co-ed bathrooms or something?”

At this point I had to decide if I was going to continue to pee or stop and wait for the situation to pass. I didn’t alter my path. I glanced down to confirm that I was indeed peeing in a urinal and replied back, “No. This is the men’s.”

She kept the conversation going as she backed out of the bathroom. “Oh, sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking…”

I just continued with business as usual.

Marketing

I just clicked on an article that had this title:

Don't Let ColorRun Down Drain Chemicals in Most Shampoos StripDye From Hair: What to Use Instead.

Why?


Because it had this picture next to it.

Sometimes marketing works.

Below that was an article titled, "Strip Club Offers Free Flu Shots to Senoirs."

I openend that one too.

Gym Membership

I called the gym tonight to suspend my membership. However, over the phone they told me to suspend it I had to come person into the gym. But if I got all the way to the gym I would just want to work out. Then if I worked out I shouldn't cancel. Now, I'm at home. I guess I'm just going to keep paying my monthly membership price to not go. I'm stuck.

Closet

I donated some clothes last week. Now I have more room in my closet, and more hangers.

The desperate all-in triple up

Full Tilt Poker Game #14954281873: $18,500 Guarantee (109531072), Table 21 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:11:16 ET - 2009/09/26
Seat 2: GutShotGus (143,206)
Seat 3: gutshot7 (29,684)
Seat 5: monkey gambler (323,329)
Seat 6: olgad (146,236)
GutShotGus antes 600
gutshot7 antes 600
monkey gambler antes 600
olgad antes 600
olgad posts the small blind of 2,500
GutShotGus posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gutshot7 [Qh Kh]
gutshot7 raises to 29,084, and is all in
monkey gambler folds
olgad calls 26,584
GutShotGus calls 24,084
*** FLOP *** [Kd 8h 4c]
olgad checks
GutShotGus checks
*** TURN *** [Kd 8h 4c] [4s]
olgad checks
GutShotGus checks
*** RIVER *** [Kd 8h 4c 4s] [Qc]
olgad checks
GutShotGus checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
gutshot7 shows [Qh Kh] two pair, Kings and Queens
olgad mucks
GutShotGus mucks
gutshot7 wins the pot (89,652) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Gudmundson77 (Observer): is a guy to watch out for... him and kitchman
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 89,652 Rake 0
Board: [Kd 8h 4c 4s Qc]
Seat 2: GutShotGus (big blind) mucked [9s 9c] - two pair, Nines and Fours
Seat 3: gutshot7 showed [Qh Kh] and won (89,652) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 5: monkey gambler (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: olgad (small blind) mucked [6d 6h] - two pair, Sixes and Fours

The guy played for

4 and half hours and then decided to go out like this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #14954770268: $18,500 Guarantee (109531072), Table 21 - 4000/8000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:36:23 ET - 2009/09/26
Seat 1: Katchman1 (387,484)
Seat 2: GutShotGus (148,680)
Seat 3: gutshot7 (190,088)
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (366,923)
Seat 5: monkey gambler (115,825)
Katchman1 antes 1,000
GutShotGus antes 1,000
gutshot7 antes 1,000
BtCh I MiTe Be antes 1,000
monkey gambler antes 1,000
BtCh I MiTe Be posts the small blind of 4,000
monkey gambler posts the big blind of 8,000
Katchman1: lol thx
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gutshot7 [Ks 7h]
Gudmundson77 (Observer): i told u were the one
Katchman1 folds
GutShotGus folds
gutshot7 raises to 22,000
BtCh I MiTe Be folds
monkey gambler calls 14,000
*** FLOP *** [Kh 6d Js]
Gudmundson77 (Observer): watch out for
monkey gambler checks
gutshot7 bets 29,000
monkey gambler raises to 92,825, and is all in
gutshot7 calls 63,825
monkey gambler shows [5s Qh]
gutshot7 shows [Ks 7h]
*** TURN *** [Kh 6d Js] [As]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 6d Js As] [3h]
monkey gambler shows Ace King high
gutshot7 shows a pair of Kings
gutshot7 wins the pot (238,650) with a pair of Kings
monkey gambler stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 238,650 Rake 0
Board: [Kh 6d Js As 3h]
Seat 1: Katchman1 folded before the Flop
Seat 2: GutShotGus folded before the Flop
Seat 3: gutshot7 (button) showed [Ks 7h] and won (238,650) with a pair of Kings
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: monkey gambler (big blind) showed [5s Qh] and lost with Ace King high

J9s 3-handed

Full Tilt Poker Game #14955234746: $18,500 Guarantee (109531072), Table 21 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:01:58 ET - 2009/09/26
Seat 1: Katchman1 (300,164)
Seat 3: gutshot7 (309,913)
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (598,923)
Katchman1 antes 1,000
gutshot7 antes 1,000
BtCh I MiTe Be antes 1,000
gutshot7 posts the small blind of 5,000
BtCh I MiTe Be posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gutshot7 [Jd 9d]
Katchman1 raises to 20,000
gutshot7 calls 15,000
BtCh I MiTe Be has 15 seconds left to act
BtCh I MiTe Be folds
*** FLOP *** [Qc Kd Ts]
gutshot7 checks
Katchman1 bets 30,000
gutshot7 raises to 80,000
Katchman1 raises to 279,164, and is all in
gutshot7 calls 199,164
Katchman1 shows [Kc Qh]
gutshot7 shows [Jd 9d]
*** TURN *** [Qc Kd Ts] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [Qc Kd Ts 3c] [7d]
Katchman1 shows two pair, Kings and Queens
gutshot7 shows a straight, King high
gutshot7 wins the pot (611,328) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 611,328 Rake 0
Board: [Qc Kd Ts 3c 7d]
Seat 1: Katchman1 (button) showed [Kc Qh] and lost with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 3: gutshot7 (small blind) showed [Jd 9d] and won (611,328) with a straight, King high
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (big blind) folded before the Flop

Heads Up Race

Full Tilt Poker Game #14955309736: $18,500 Guarantee (109531072), Table 21 - 5000/10000 Ante 1000 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:06:00 ET - 2009/09/26
Seat 3: gutshot7 (751,077)
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (457,923)
gutshot7 antes 1,000
BtCh I MiTe Be antes 1,000
BtCh I MiTe Be posts the small blind of 5,000
gutshot7 posts the big blind of 10,000
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gutshot7 [Ah Qd]
BtCh I MiTe Be raises to 20,000
gutshot7 raises to 750,077, and is all in
BtCh I MiTe Be calls 436,923, and is all in
gutshot7 shows [Ah Qd]
BtCh I MiTe Be shows [6s 6d]
Uncalled bet of 293,154 returned to gutshot7
*** FLOP *** [4s Jh 5d]
*** TURN *** [4s Jh 5d] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [4s Jh 5d Th] [9h]
gutshot7 shows Ace Queen high
BtCh I MiTe Be shows a pair of Sixes
BtCh I MiTe Be wins the pot (915,846) with a pair of Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 915,846 Rake 0
Board: [4s Jh 5d Th 9h]
Seat 3: gutshot7 (big blind) showed [Ah Qd] and lost with Ace Queen high
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (small blind) showed [6s 6d] and won (915,846) with a pair of Sixes

Final Hand

Full Tilt Poker Game #14955754564: $18,500 Guarantee (109531072), Table 21 - 8000/16000 Ante 2000 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:29:29 ET - 2009/09/26
Seat 3: gutshot7 (810,653)
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (398,347)
gutshot7 antes 2,000
BtCh I MiTe Be antes 2,000
gutshot7 posts the small blind of 8,000
BtCh I MiTe Be posts the big blind of 16,000
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gutshot7 [Js 7h]
gutshot7 calls 8,000
BtCh I MiTe Be checks
*** FLOP *** [4s 2d 7s]
BtCh I MiTe Be checks
gutshot7 bets 29,000
BtCh I MiTe Be raises to 96,000
gutshot7 raises to 792,653, and is all in
BtCh I MiTe Be calls 284,347, and is all in
gutshot7 shows [Js 7h]
BtCh I MiTe Be shows [Ts 3s]
Uncalled bet of 412,306 returned to gutshot7
*** TURN *** [4s 2d 7s] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [4s 2d 7s 8c] [5d]
gutshot7 shows a pair of Sevens
BtCh I MiTe Be shows Ten Eight high
gutshot7 wins the pot (796,694) with a pair of Sevens
BtCh I MiTe Be stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 796,694 Rake 0
Board: [4s 2d 7s 8c 5d]
Seat 3: gutshot7 (small blind) showed [Js 7h] and won (796,694) with a pair of Sevens
Seat 4: BtCh I MiTe Be (big blind) showed [Ts 3s] and lost with Ten Eight high

Chile Details

I was dropped off at the Fly Away in Van Nuys about 10pm. After a long journey that involved two cars, a bus, two planes and a taxi service I finally arrived at la casa de Boris in Chile around 9pm the following day. I was greeted by Boris, Lidia (the woman of the house that is not married to Boris) and the two girls from Brazil. Everyone was speaking quickly, fluidly and with high energy except me. Having barely slept and unable to understand anyone I was turned into a quiet and timid person. The women invited me to go dancing but I declined as I desired to sleep as soon as possible. The enthusiastic girls left and I sat and chatted with Boris over a glass of wine. I appreciated the tranquility of the atmosphere sans women.

At 6am I got up to use the bathroom, but it was occupied and one of the girls directed me to the 2nd ban~o. I assumed the girls had just gotten home from dancing, but I later learned they had only stayed out until 3am and were just getting up for their trip to the beach. I considered this to be equivalently crazy. The next morning I waited for a while for the girls to awaken, until I realized they were gone. Boris provided me with a map and some information and sent me on my way.

I familiarized myself with the surrounding area enough to hopefully be able to find my way home in the upcoming days. I found one restraint on my journey. So my first night, alone in Chile, I ate at a Chinese place. I didn’t know what I ordered, except that it did contain vegetables. I also had a Kuntsman, which did turn out to be the best beer I found in the country.

The following day I traveled to school with Boris y las Brasilianas. They all knew where to find the taxi service which charged just 500 pesos (1 USD) per person to take us to an area near the school. Upon arriving at the school I went to the woman in the office to make sure I was placed in an appropriate class. I explained I didn’t want to be in a class that was too advanced. I also explained this is Spanish, because I didn’t want to be placed in a class too low. I found myself in a class with the same two delightful Brazilian girls. This did give me a chance to learn their names without having to ask again. Silvia y Patricia. They certainly did not lack for personality, and I spent much of that week with the two of them.

Patricia (la Jararaca)
Silvia (la Ruidosa)

I had some fascinating experiences at school being on the other side. One morning I didn’t understand the lesson and was criticized for not writing it down the day before. I was told to refer to the given notes. I saw something I had written by hand (with the same verb but a different idea) and I answered the question wrong again. I was laughed at by the teacher and class (granted this was only a class of three). Later in the afternoon I had a different instructor of which I was more comfortable. Also, I was in the class alone. I asked him to teach me the idea, but I needed to first back up to a simpler starting point. He took me from the beginning and gave me some websites so I could practice on my own in the future. I hadn’t written the formula in my notes the previous day because I didn’t understand the components of the formula so why would I bother writing it down when it didn’t make sense to me. Then in class we practiced this formula I didn’t understand without the examples I needed to learn it (I wanted to create my own examples, because often I was already using the things when I spoke, but didn’t know the principle of how to apply it to other situations). I was a student that sincerely wanted to learn and was having legitimate difficulties. Maybe I should just be labeled as lazy and defiant.

Saturday morning I confirmed the arrival of Sarah and Cheri, and I met up with them for lunch. We laughed and shared travel stories. We joked about our safety because Irene had us create a list with contact info in case anything happened to us during our travels. They had gotten shots and registered with someone somewhere. I figured I was okay, because I was on Irene’s list. Precautions have never been my strong point.

I think I was overwhelmed by the extravagance of the hotel setting and I wasn’t a great traveling companion at the start of the 2nd week. After a couple days I accepted that I was on vacation and was going to spend some money and I became more pleasant to be around. Even though I still consider myself capable of pressing the “up” button the elevator myself.

We skied two days. It took a couple hours each day to get to the mountain, but it was well worth it. Even though I haven’t skied in years I felt good about how I did. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with Trevor, but I kept up fine. And I also learned that Sarah could out-ski either of us. We even had an 80's dance party during our lunch break.

At our second hotel we had a board meeting in our room and a hot tub at the hotel. Our last night in Chile we had wine in the hot tub, and it really was the perfect ending to our trip.

The total travel time home took 22 hours (from the time I left the hotel to the time I got to Brandon’s).

Overall, fantastic trip to Chile.

Equipo Amarillo: Irene, Trevor, Sarah, Cheri, Me

The flying saucers

Va et Vient de Arrastre. In English that translates to Va et Vient Surface Lift.

In addition to the chair lifts there was another way to get up the mountain when know skiing in Chile. The had the "andarivel de arrastre" which was a small cirular disc on a pole that you shoved between your legs and it pulled you up the mountain. Slowly. And it wasn't that comfortable.

Then we discovered the va et vient de arrastre. This was four circle discs on poles and it pulled you up the mountain together. Quickly.

It was insane. Still uncomfortable, but really fast. It was pretty much like skiing up the mountain. It felt similar to a rollercoaster, but nothing there to ensure you stayed on the ride. Then at the top you were suppossed to calmly dismount in order, but it took us a while to figure that out. After several falls, including one where I sent Sarah tumbling down the mountain (it was incidental, but I still feel bad; sorry Sarah), I finally figured it out.

Easy Exchange

The other day I bought a Brita filter from Target along with several other purchases. I went ahead and opened a credit card to get my 10% off, and immediately went to customer service to pay off the blance of the card. When I got home I realized the lid on the filter was cracked so I went back later to replace it.

It was a little bit of an ordeal. The purchase came with a $5 gift card. She was able to get me a new gift card, but couldn't was wanting me to pay the 10% difference. I explained I was simply exchanging the same item for the exact same, there should not be a cost. She kept working on it and finally it came out to me getting the exchange and 59 cents.

Close enough.

I decided to buy another filter for work. I don't know why, but I again didn't check in the box to see if the lid was cracked. After a couple weeks of sitting in the box I finally decided to get it working today. I was disappointed to see another cracked lid (I wonder if they had just put mine back on the shelf and I bought it again).

This time I decided to avoid the hassle. I went in to target carrying the cracked lid. Found a new one and switched the lids. I walked out carrying the new lid.

End of transaction.

Sleep

I slept from 7pm to 10pm tonight. Now what time do I go to bed?

Pictures from Chile

Casa de Pablo Neruda.

Sarah's first night in Chile I introduced to her to the Pisco Sour, their national drink.

People living in my house during the first week.

My bedroom.

Crossing the Street

I made a right turn on to a fairly large streets and two men were jay-walking across the street. Upon seeing me one of them quickly went into a jog as to not impede my driving. The other continued his stroll. He could tell I saw him and did nothing to change his pace. With my car stopped, the man about four feet in front of me was no longer even looking in my direction. I wanted to loudly honk my horn. I would have scared the crap out of him. Sometimes I wish I was the type of person that actually followed through when an idea like that comes to mind.

Electric Bill

I just got my electric bill for last month. I know I was in Chile for a couple weeks, but it still seems way to low for summer. I run my AC a lot. Is anyone else having this problem?

Grandma

I was with my grandma last summer and she summed our entire educational system. Not bad for a woman in her nineties with an 8th grade education.

"I think math and English are so important. If you can read and figure you can figure the rest out."

Read and Figure. Thanks Grandma.

Yahoo Top Ten

I went on to my yahoo homepage today and these were listed as the top 10 searches.

Popular Searches:
Duggar Family
Flu Shots
Guitar Hero 5
Venus Williams
Disney and Marvel…
Jim Thome
California Fires
Elizabeth Smart
Canon 7D
Blink 182

Another student letter

Read this one after you read the letter from a few days ago.

I just got this one yesterday. His writing is a little less sophisticated, but the message is still there.

Mr.B i jus wantd to say thanks u realy helpd me through a tuff time n my life ur realy the only teacher who gives to shits about how my life ends up mr. B thank u alot u r a truly great teacher bt a better person wen no one cared bout hw i ws doing u did i realy appreciate dat

Don't Question the Drunk

I'm not sure the author of this story but:

I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:
A 2 litre bottle of skim milk
A carton of eggs
A litre of orange juice
A head of lettuce
A 700g jar of coffee
A 1kg of bacon

As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as I placed the items in front of thecashier. While the cashier was ringing up the purchases, the drunk calmly stated,"You must be single." I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since I was indeed single.
I looked at the six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my selections that could have tipped off the drunk to my marital status. Curiosity getting the better of me, I said: "Well, you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on earth did you know that?"
The drunk replied, "Cause you're ugly."

The Best Board Meeting Ever

Letter from a Student

I got this e-mail on myspace from one of my students yesterday:

Even though I didn't participate in class all that often, either I was absent or I was just spacing out, I have learned a lot from your 6th period class during the 2008-2009 school year. I admit, I didn't learn as much math as you would have expected, but I have learned life values I could not learn elsewhere.

People care. It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done wrong - there is always somebody who cares. No matter how many times you've had to tell me to pay attention or walk me through what I did manage to slightly understand, you've never given up on me or any of your students.

Be respectful. Above all, be respectful. Even if someone shows disrespect to you - you show respect to them. It's like a cycle, sometimes unfair but it's the way life should go on.

Never give up. This is something I've learned from you specifically, not your class. A lot of students acted up in class and even tried arguing, but you never gave up. You were always there for your students, and that's what counts. You were there as a teacher, a friend, and above all, a role model.

The list goes on, and most relate to determination. Of course, I've also learned my fair share of math.

---I've been studying over the summer. Getting ready and preparing myself for High School. I hope to do better than I did in Middle School. Oh yeah. I'm doing well, and yourself?

El Joven

I went out one evening in Chile (pictured above) with 5 women from my school. The waitress took all of their orders and then got to me at the end of the table. She asked, "Y para el joven?"

Two of the women were younger than me; two were older. But I enjoyed the question.

Back from Chile

Remember the movie Singles from 1992?

I used to live out by the airport,
underneath the flight patterns.
It was really noisy with the planes
going by all day.
I used to have cookouts, and no one
would come because of the noise.
I got used to it.
And then, when I moved...

...I missed the noise.
I missed those planes.

-Cliff, what are you talking about?
-I don't know.


I felt that way when I got back to my apartment. I missed my bed, my faucet in the bathroom that is too close to the sink, and the absolutely atrocious noise made by the parking lot light at night.

I missed that light.
I missed that noise.

Manejar el auto

It was weird to drive a car again.

New World of War Craft Game

Traveling

I have been writing in a journal (a notebook) some of my thoughts since I´ve been here in Chile. However, it takes a while to type them out and post them. I´ll try to get some more ideas on here.

My thought of the moment:
As I see more people and learn about the differences from one culture to another I continue to find that we, the people of the world, are more alike than different.

Fat Chance

How is that as your house burns up it burns down?
Why does a slim chance mean the same thing as a fat chance?

I recenlty got the following e-mail. I was actually surprised at how easy it was for me to read the words correctly. Why is that looking at the word "read" with even minimal context we correctly read it as "red" or "reed?"

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish Furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row
13) They were too close to the Door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Just Happy to be Alive

So the last two weeks I've been working at Sac State. I found the Togo's employees just a little too happy to be working at Togo's. I greeted with a cheerful smile and friendly words. She joked with me as if we were old friends. As I left said something like, "have a great day" with such enthusiasm I believed that she meant it. Then I was met by another jovial fellow at the register. A couple days later I had a different woman that was almost equally as friendly. She was similar to the last one just minus 30 pounds and 2 cups of coffee. I ordered soup and salad and as she finished the order I asked for crackers.
As she put the crackers on my tray asked, "Is two good?"
"Yes."
"Just like you."

The pun was on the homophone "two." I left smiling, happy, and wondering what they are putting in the water at the Togo's at Sac State. I was so happy that I wasn't even disgruntled after paying 30 cents for a cup of water. (I also got charged tax for not ordering my food "to go," but that's a topic for another day.)

I told this story to my friend. She asked for clarification if the "just like you" might have referred to me also being a cracker.

Too good.

Heading South for Winter

I'm driving to L.A. tomorrow, and then I fly to Chile late Friday.
I haven't even started packing yet and I'm leaving tomorrow. My Spanish is rusty too. I need to pick it up again. Hopefully, I will be speaking better in a couple weeks.

I'd like to post on Sunday from Chile, but I don't know how practical that will be. I want to keep my regular column going, but I'm probably the only one that really cares.

I'll try to at least post something while I'm done there.

Forever

What can I say? Guys named Kevin know how to do it. I'm guessing this was a pretty fun wedding reception too.

Personality Test

The Enneagram is a personality system which divides the entire human personality into nine behavioral tendencies, this is my score on each...

Type 1Perfectionism||||||||||||||60%
Type 2Helpfulness||||||||||||||54%
Type 3Image Focus||||||||||||||||61%
Type 4Hypersensitivity||||||24%
Type 5Detachment||||||||||34%
Type 6Anxiety||||||||||32%
Type 7Adventurousness||||||||||||||57%
Type 8Aggressiveness||||||||||||||||||72%
Type 9Calmness||||||||||||||||||71

Inbox

I have 481 e-mails in my in-box. I expect to get that number down by tomorrow evening.

Value

I just spent $54 on a pair of flip-flops.

Corn on the Cob

My 4-year-old nephew, Ethan, was sitting next to me at the dinner table eating his corn on the cob. I buttered it for him and put a corn holder thing on each end. He chomped away as he held it with two hands.
He accidently knocked over his juice with his elbow. It spilled all over the floor, on his chair, on his leg, a little on me, and made quite a mess. He didn't even react. Despite the left side of his body being soaked in lemonade he just kepting eating his corn on the cob. He was not to be deterred. It was as if he didn't notice.

Don't bother me. I'm eating.

The corn was good.

A response I never expected to say

The night before I left for St. Louis I had a party at my house to celebrate the end of my school semester. The next morning around 9am I got a call from the wife of one of my friends. She asked me if I knew where he was, and what time he had left my house.

“I haven’t heard from him. He left here early, before midnight. I would be worried.”

She replied, “I am.”

She asked if I had ideas on what to do. Who should we call first? The police? The hospitals?
I was worried. He is a considerate guy. I thought of a few possibilities in my mind. All of them bad. Real bad.

From the airport I called his wife back.

“Any news?”

She replied back with a hint of frustration in her voice, “He’s in jail.”

I responded with all sincerity, “Oh, that’s great! I’m really glad to hear that.”

I was. I've never been so relieved in my life to hear one of my friend's was in jail.

I still haven’t heard his side of the story yet, but I’m seeing him tomorrow.

High School Illiteracy: Mine

In high school I did not read a single book assigned to me in my English classes. Yet, I'm appalled that many schools are taking novels out of the curriculum, because it doesn't directly relate to the state's standardized test. I used to pride myself on getting decent grades on assignments with reading as little as possible. A couple times I decided to open the book and cover some of the pages. I remember in the 9th grade I read chapter chapter 10 and the last 100 pages of Jurassic Park. I found it fascinating. One person created such in depth character development. A couple years later I got sick and had to miss about a week of school. I was so bored at home I decided to read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. My class had already read the first 20 chapters so I read those in the Cliff Notes and then I read the rest of the novel. It was amazing. I never read, but the two times I tried it I thought both books were great. Maybe other books are also great. So the summer after my junior year I decided I wanted to read a book in its entirety. I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I was indeed literate. I read The Firm.

That's it. 3 books. The only 3 books I read by the time I graduated high school. That's even using a very loose definition of "read." (Read at least 100 pages of the book.)

More thoughts on reading to come...

Cell Phone Setting

I accidentally held down a button or two on my cell phone and changed the settings. Now next to my signal bars I have a little tree. From turning my phone on I learned that means I'm in the outdoor setting.

So far I've found it to be very similar to the indoor setting.

Technology

A story from college humor called teaching my mom the internet.

Church Sign Response

No Alarm

I woke up Monday and layed in bed for a bit. As usual, when I was ready to get up I reached across the bed to turn off the alarm clock. It was already off. Fantastic.
I may not have to set it again until July 13th.

Homefield Advantage

In sports like hockey, basketball, and football all the fields are a regulation size. So could home-field advantage really matter that much?

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals is about to start. The last game 7 road winner was the Pirates in the late '70's. Since then: the Hometeam is 18-0.

Unbelievable.

Optimism

I just saw a commercial that said:
"Are you age 55 or better..."

Student Note

On the last day of school I saw a note folded up on my desk. I'm not sure when it was left. I thought to myself, "how thoughtful."

I opened it up and read, "I would totally bang you!!! -your lover!"

I thought to myself, "how thoughtful."

Waking up

I woke up. It was weird. It took me much longer than usual to decide what I was waking up from. Was it morning? Evening? When did I fall asleep?

Weird. I usually know exactly when I went to bed, about what time I feel asleep, and even how long I expected to be asleep.

After a minute I realized it was evening and I reached over and looked at my phone. It was 7pm. Even more weird I had a missed call from 6:41pm. Wow. I must have been out. I didn't even hear it ring.

Tomorrow is my last day with the studnets. The last day of my semester for my night classes is Tuesday.

I'm ready for a break.

Accusation

I have a nerdy student that likes to eat lunch in my room, even if I'm not in there. The other day I asked him and some other students to leave the room while I went to get some food. He said he would "see me in court."

He returned to 5th period with a Plaintiff's Petition. He filled out his name as the plaintiff, and my name as the defendent. It was written for a renter's complaint.

My favorite part was in the "Facts and Causes of Action" section it listed the following fact:
Plaintiff is a tenant and leases premises from the Defendent.

He crossed out "premises" and wrote in "knowledge."

He was forced to leave the premises from where he leases knowledge.

I didn't pay him the $500 of damages he asked for this afternoon.

Prank

Eating Poorly

Last week I asked one of my colleagues where he wanted to eat during our dinner break from class. He responded, "You probably want to go somewhere healthy and expensive so..." The implication was two strikes against me. I guess it is nice to know I'm gaining this image. I wouldn't have fit this "healthy" category previously in my life.

Today I threw out all the principals. At lunch I had a McDonalds reward party for my kids. I had to be there to supervise the activity. I teach class immediately before and after lunch. So my break is short. It was just easier for me to partake; I ate a McChicken.

We had Open House from 5:00-6:30pm. I have class from 5:30pm-9:00pm. To minimize the amount of class I would miss I picked up Subway at 4:00. Unfortunately, I left the sandwich in my classroom and didn't realize it until I was a few minutes away from campus. When I arrived at class five minutes remained in the dinner break. I ran over to Taco Bell.

I must have broke at least five personal principals by making this trip:
I ate fast food.
I paid for the same meal twice.
I got in a car and drove three blocks to get to my desired location.
I ate fast food twice in one day.
I didn't even try to order something healthy once I arrived at the fast food place (I had 3 soft taco supremes-- bringing back old memories).

In the year 2009 I've had fast food twice.

Once at noon. Once at 7:00.

Sad, but true.

Squirrel

Five minutes of your life you'll never get back: click here.

Eye Doc

My eye doctor said his wife save's him $40,000 a year on travel expenses by doing searches and surveys and stuff like that on-line.
Which leads me to ask a couple questions:

• How much do you spend on travel each year that could possible warrant saving $40,000.
• How come this stuff comes up when I go to the eye doctor?

I still remember things about his ex-wife from my appointment last year.

Procrastination

The procrastination is strong with me. I really don't want to write this paper. I've put it off as long as possible. It is due Tuesday.

...

I just poored vodka in my ear.

Belt

I just had to change belts because I tried to tighten the one I was wearing, but it was already on the smallest setting. I was happy as I switched; I'm such a chick sometimes.

I'll take the Over

Today was the culmination of one of my classes in my Master's program. We drove to our home campus at the University of Pacific to each give our presentations. We met Saturday morning at 8:15am in Stockton to begin with a campus tour. After the tour each of us would present to the mock school board to try to get them to agree to our proposal. The suggested time was for individuals to present in less than five minutes, and groups to keep it under ten.

As soon at the first woman began I checked the clock. I found out my colleagues did the same. I even heard them say at one point, "ten minutes." She went 17 minutes and the "2-minute" feedback period from the board lasted 7 minutes more. Quickly our concern became the length of the presentations as each of us are stuck here on Saturday until the completion of all 22 proposals.

Brad asked me if I wanted to bet on each one. He said I'll put the over/under for Monique (the 2nd presenter) at 9 minutes. That was it. Game on. Now all we needed was a watch.

For those of you that know me well, please make a note of this: Brad suggested we bet. He suggested the first over/under. He suggested the $1 per bet. All I did was promptly agree.

I took the over on Monique. She started out quickly, but her third slide went long. It was looking good for me as the clock hit 6, and 7 minutes. Then all of the sudden at 8:05, she says, "In conclusion..." Damn. I've never seen someone wrap up a presentation so fast. 8:40. What a finish! Round 1: Brad. Round 2: my turn to set the over/under.

We agreed not to bet on our own presentations, and by lunch Brad had a 4-2 lead. I came roaring back with 3 straight wins after lunch. We split the next two, and as I write this I'm up 6-5. We'll see how the afternoon wraps up.


***I ended up with a 10-9 victory. I asked him to write me a check for the $1.00, but he paid me in cash.

Can't keep me down

Last Friday we had a community event at our school. The result was I worked from 8:00am- 8:30pm. I had a party to attend that evening. I was so tired after work I simply was too exhausted to stay awake. I slept until midnight and then got up and got ready for the party. It was fun. I went back to bed around 3am.

Tonight I went to happy hour after work with the book club. I got home about 6:30. I just couldn't stay awake. I fell asleep for a bit (but not as long as I did last week).

I guess it has just been an exausting couple weeks.

Poor Thinking?

I've had water in my right ear the last several days.

So I tried to wash it out.

A limerick

My niece writes limericks now too. Once again from the 9-year-old:

The bee on my nose

A yellow bee sat on my nose.
He said he thought I was a rose.
"I'm sorry, you see!
I am just a bee!
And I have very pink toes."

Sales Tax

I recently went to Subway to take advantage of their $5 footlongs, "any footlong." My sandwich came to $5.41. A couple days later I had a Subway club sandwich and it was exactly $5.00. I questioned, "$5, even?"

"You got a Subway club, not toasted, right?"

They are charging sales tax if it is toasted. Why? Is it considered groceries if it isn't toasted? Is there sales tax on groceries?

Next time they ask you, "Would you like that toasted?" know they are asking, "Would you like that toasted so you can pay more for your sandwich, not that we are really charging you more, you're paying the government more because you want your sandwich toasted?"

Too Busy

My life is too busy right now. I started this Master's program. I feel like I am putting in close to as little effort as possible. Yet, I feel like it is totally affecting my life. I'm glad I don't have kids while I'm trying to do this.

A lot is culminating for me in the next couple weeks. I have a presenatation on 5/2 in one class. I have a large paper do the next week for the other class. Also, my students have the CST test (what we've been working for all year) on 5/5.

All of this comes just as the NHL playoffs are starting. I don't know how I'm going to have time to watch any of the NBA playoffs.

I got a lot going on right now.

Go Sharks.

Poker

Like many activities poker has its own vernacular. In addition to all the jargon there are also some common shortcuts used in poker writings. Here are a few things you may find helpful if reading a poker story:

In Hold 'em each player is dealt two cards (hole cards) and then all the players share five cards face up in the middle (the board).

Vocabulary:
The flop: the first 3 cards on the board
The turn: the fourth card
The river: the fifth and final card
Short or Short-stacked: When you have a relatively small amount of chips compared to the size of the blinds or other players at the table.
A blank: is any card that is insignificant to the hand. Most of these cards are below nine and are of a suit that is inconsequential.
Heads up: only 2 players are involved
The nuts: is the best possible hand
3/6 Hold 'em: This is a poker game with fixed limits on the bets allowed. A player bets $3 preflop and on the flop, and $6 on the turn or river
1/3 No-limit: The game has blinds of $1 and $3, but there are no limits on what a player can bet at any time.


Examples of Card Abbreviations
AhTh (ace of hearts and ten of hearts)
KdJs (king of diamonds and jack of spades)
AQs (an ace and a queen of the same suite)
KJo (a king and a jack of different suites)
QTxx (a queen, a ten, and two blanks)
AXs (An ace and unknown card that is the same suit as the ace)

Recovery

Each day it hurts a little less to cough and little less to blow my nose. So I guess everything is happening as it should. I'm still unable to do physical exercise, but hopefully I can resume in the next couple of weeks.

I did find a pain free method to blow my nose, but I will not describe it here. For more details you can e-mail me.

With this progress, this may be my last recovery update.

Efficiency

I arrived a few minutes early for a doctor's appointment at 2:45pm yesterday. I saw the surgeon, got drugs from the pharmacy, and was back at my car to head home at 3:08pm.

Vacation

I just booked my flight to Chile for August.

Woohooo.

Recovery

Today was a good day. This is really the first time I've felt normal since my surgery. Except when I cough, laugh, or bench-press my bed (to get under it) I forget I'm still recovering.

Another Poem

Here is another poem from my niece. She wrote several, but I liked this one. It is in a similar style.

It Is

by Kristina Burrill

It is
what it is
if it wasn't what it was
it wouldn't be what it is
if it is what it is
then it wouldn't be what it's not
if it wasn't what it wasn't
then it is what it is


For more thoughts from this nine-year-old you can click here to view her own blog. (Yeah, she has a blog).

One Week After

Today I left the house, but forgot my keys. Unfortunately, I had already closed the gate. I stood there hoping to spy a neighbor, but did not. I called three. No one home. Finally, I decided just to hop the fence. I climbed up thinking that maybe Iwould just reach over and undo the lock, but once I got high enough to do that I realized I would have to get down either way. I jumped and landed with expertise. My knees bent on impact to absorb the impact. But it hurt. A lot. In my stomach.

I'm like a grumpy old man right now.

How many hands does it take you to blow your nose? Or have you ever even thought about it? It takes me two. One to cover the one side and one for the other one. Unless you use one hand to hold your stomach as you blow. I still haven't figured out the best method yet.

Coughing is the worst. It feels like my stomach is splitting apart every time I cough.

I want to feel normal again. I felt better when I had a gall bladder.

I want my nose to be normal again, stop running, stop excessive congestion. I want to stop excessive blowing. I want it to not hurt when I do blow it.

I want my digestive system to be normal again.

I want to cough without pain.

Alright, done complaining for now. Recovery is going okay. It doesn't hurt to sit up anymore.

At least I amuse myself

A good friend of mine that already knows many of the details of my life sent this e-mail on 3/19:
Droped the phone... it broke in two... new sim card didn't keep more than a couple phone numbers.
Please send me your phone number. And a sentance or two about your life if you are so inclined.


I wrote back:
My name is Kevin Burrill. I teach Algebra, 8th grade. My grandpa just died and I have gall stones.
408-204-***3.

Busy Month

A girl just e-mailed me and asked me why last month was a busy month for me.

I wrote back:

In summary: My grandpa died, I turned 30, and I had my gall bladder removed. (in that order)

PS: 5

Ever laugh so hard it hurt?
I did. Yesterday. It hurt. Quite a bit.

I realized something. It was my first real laugh since my surgery. I'd like to tell you it was worth it, but I still haven't decided.

Laughing was more enjoyable back when I had a gall bladder.

A poem from my nine-year-old niece

A Book
by Kristina Burrill

If you are reading a book
it is written
because if it wasn't written
you couldn't read it
it was written in the past
because if it was written in the present
it would be written right now
and if it was written in the future
it is not written yet
but someday you will be able to read it
but that day hasn't come yet
and it will be written
but not yet

PS: 4

Last night I was feeling sore. I felt like my stomach had been stretched. This may be because it had. They filled it with gas to blow it up to make it easier to navigate around in there during surgery. However, I think it may be due to all the coughing yesterday. Or possibly I haven't been takin' it easy enough (which hopefully isn't the case, because I'm hardly doing anything).

I laid down on my back and put my knees up and fell asleep last night for about an hour. This was just start of what turned out to be a 12-hour sleep session. I feel sick. I finally slept like I was sick.

I still feel sore this moring. I still feel like I have a cold, but I I do feel rested.

Post-Surgery: Day 3

Basically, I found as long as I stay drugged up enough I feel okay.

In addition to the Vicodin I've been taking a variety of medicines. I have a cold and allergies that are adding to my symptoms. When it has been more than 6 hours since my last Vicodin I can tell.

I learned from my mom that pressing a pillow against the lacerations in my stomach while coughing will mitigate the pain. That seems to be helping. I still haven't figured out a pain-free way to blow my nose.

When I'm not in the act of sitting up or coughing I don't hurt much. Today the pain from coughing was the worse part. I think I'm progressing fine. I feel a little ill, but everything is tolerable.

My sub called me this afternoon. He had a very good day with my kids. I finished up the last few pages of Water for Elephants. I watched the Sharks win tonight on the road.

Post-Surgery: Day 2

I spent most of the past two days with no shirt on and still feeling a little too hot. I even started running my AC again, which I haven't used in months.

Yesterday, I had a mild sore throat and an occasional cough, but in my condition these symptoms were barely worth mentioning.

Today, we opened up the window to enjoy an outside breeze, but that bothered my allergies. I took some Benadryl for my itchy throat around noon. At 3:00pm I sent my parents away and dozed off for a half hour.

I woke up freezing. I put on my winter coat and a beanie and dug out my thermometer. I wrapped my legs in a blanket. I was seeing if I could stretch the time a little between Vicodins, but I guess I'm not ready for that.

After taking my temperature I ate some soup and took a Vicodin along with an Ibuprofen. I laid back down for a bit. I took another Ibuprofen a few minutes ago, my fever should diminish soon, and I should feel better by the time I'm done writing this post.

Basically, things are much better than yesterday. I have more symptoms, but more tolerable symptoms. It still hurts a lot to cough, blow my nose, and sit-up. However, it is easier to find comfortable positions both laying and sitting.

I was allowed to take a shower today. I took a nice long shower.

Today I have more ill, but less pain.

Last night I made sure I had two working Vicodins and an Ibuprofen in my system before going to bed. I was able to lay down without too much discomfort, but still could not fall asleep. After an hour or so I got up and took a pill to help me sleep. It did. (So I guess my insomnia isn't cured.)

Fevers are easy to regulate. I've already removed my winter jacket and beanie. In fact, I'm starting to get hot again. The problem with the fever is it makes me wonder if I'm contagious. I don't want my nice visitors to get sick.

Summary for day two: Iller, but Better.

Post-surgery: Day 1

I was discharged around 8:30pm. Orlando, my nurse, wheeled me out to the car. Despite recently being injected with my third medicine for nausea I still felt like I was going to throw-up. Fortunately, that subsided on the ride home. Having hardly slept in recovery I was anxious to go to bed. When we got home I had a small bowl of soup and a Vicodin and promptly went to bed.

Simple tasks like rolling over, sitting up, and going to the bathroom were all uncomfortable. However, I managed to fall asleep easily. I proceeded to wake up every hour (like clockwork) the entire night. Each time I woke up I went to the bathroom and had a very unsatisfying urination. My body was unable to relax and just pee it all out. So when I was done I still felt like I had to go, which makes sense because I did go again an hour later.

Despite waking up often in regular intervals I was able to fall back asleep quite easily. This was by far the most times I have fallen asleep easily in one night. Maybe my impacted gall bladder was causing my insomnia (only one night I'm not drawing any conclusions.) Overnight I didn't feel like I was going to throw-up, and the pain was tolerable. Overall, I would say it was a good first night.

However, today has been a little bit different. I think the drugs in the hospital were much stronger than what I have now. Each time I enter my bed, attempt to roll over, or sit-up I cringe. I tried to take a nap earlier, but it just hurt too much to lay down. When I find a comfortable position I don't want to move. I finally got comfortable in bed a little while ago, but unable to sleep I got tired of just laying there, so I got up. I seem to be okay in a sitting position.

My parents have been staying with me in my one-bedroom palace. We've actually fit okay, and there help has been appreciated.

Only, now do I realize why they said the recovery time could be two weeks. I guess I didn't really believe them before. However, I expect to be feeling much better tomorrow.