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.