There are some people you can trust unattended with a loaded Marshmallow gun. I don’t apparently know any of those people. I had a small farewell party for a colleague last night, and I’m still finding squished marshmallow guts all over the place. I think that should qualify as a sign of time well spent.
I mentioned the Magic Kitty Switch in a previous post. Here, I’ll describe it.
First, I’ve witnessed at least two manifestations of a Magic Kitty Switch (MKS). The MKS is basically a part of the body on a cat that one can touch which immediately changes the cat’s behavior. You might right now be considering the obvious belly scratch. Some cats love it, others react poorly.
That is true on lots of critters though. If some stranger came up and started scratching your belly, you would immediately react poorly or favorably. This depends upon both your mood, and your feelings towards the belly scratcher. Note: A belly scratcher is distinctly different from a “belly itcher” made famous during school house baseball taunts.
Anyway, I disregard the belly scratch reaction because it is neither unique to cats, nor magical since it is an unsurprising response. Instead I will point to the behavior initially observed by a cat named “Stubby”. Hopefully Mr. Fasolo will expound upon the history of that appellation at some point. Stubby, like most animals, spent his time wandering around. In his wandering, Mike (or anyone else) would occasionally place an object between Stubby’s shoulder blades. This would immediately halt Stubby’s motion. He’d stand motionless until the object was removed, or it randomly fell off, since his shoulder blades weren’t the most stable of support points.
Note, the object was typically very light, usually a 6 sided die. Surely not so heavy that it should have restricted his motion. Indeed, who’d be surprised that a cat would stop wandering around if you placed an anvil on its shoulders.
Effectively, placing any object on Stubby’s shoulders would place him in a paused state. Upon removal, he’d continue on his merry way, seemingly unaffected by the pause.
The next observation was on a kitty named “Boobers”. One day, I was holding Boobers in my arms, and allowing him to nuzzle my neck. This is a behavior that he had adopted as a kitten, and maintained as an adult, even though a good deal of time had transpired since I had known him in kitten form. While nuzzling my neck, a friend of mine began pulling on his tail (Boobers’ not his own).
Tail pulling is another non-magical kitty switch. As expected, Boobers became agitated, and I immediately became concerned because the majority of Boober’s pointy bits were in close proximity to my face. Boobers’ ears folded backwards, and I knew I was in trouble.
It was then that I found the most magical of kitty switches. Without thinking, I immediately placed my hand on Boobers’ head, and put gentle pressure on his ears, placing them back into a neutral listening position. As if by magic (hence the name) Boobers was calmed. He didn’t scratch or otherwise react to the tail pulling (which had thankfully stopped at this point).
It was as if his mood and anticipated action had driven the placement of his ears, but the reverse was true too. By putting his ears into a casual position, I was able to reset his mood into a more casual one.
With this knowledge, I sometimes try to find my own Magic Geek Switches. When I’m happy, I write more, and I also play games. I keep myself occupied, exercise and read. When I’m sad, the reverse is true. So, sometimes when I’m sad, I force myself to engage in the behaviors that I enjoy when I’m happy. Sometimes it works and my mood improves.
Other times it fails, and I go berserk on whoever happens to be pulling my tail.
So. You know it is coming, you just have to wait for it. I’m feeling a bit better. I had a weekend to recuperate and other than just feeling exhausted, I am feeling a lot better. Want to hear the gross details? You’re going to have to, that is the price to pay if you want to see my bones. Here we go.
I went to the doctor because my head hurt. A lot. Not only my head, but my face. It turns out that my sinus infection had spread to my right nostril, which had swollen a bit grotesquely. It, in turn, swelled the right side of my face, also grotesquely. Well, maybe not that bad, but you know how self conscious I can be. So I went back to the doctor who had fixed me up just two weeks prior. The wait was shorter, which was fine. Overall, I felt fine, just swollen headed and sore.
Today, he had an intern with him, a gent from Homburg. As is typical in Germany, they spoke German. I explained (in German!) what had transpired since my last visit, including the dental pain I suffered after swimming (turns out this is actually a normal sinusitis symptom). Then the doctor said something in German to the intern, who quickly replied in German.
I adopted my “I’m listening intently but only casually interested” face. This is sort of like the face on the RCA Victor Dog who watches TV (or a phonograph depending upon the era). The doctor replied very quickly to the Intern’s query. The response was long and complicated. I understood none of it. The words were sufficiently unfamiliar that I wasn’t even able to keep some of them in my mental buffer for subsequent questions. Well, not true. I understood the last word. The last word he said was:
” Ka ta stro fi a ”
My face betrayed the change in my mood from “casually interested” to “WTF?”
“You understood that?” He asked (auf deutsch).
“Yes.” I said (auf englisch) “Catastrophe?” I asked.
Then he laughed and said.
“No, no. Not for you. Only women.” (auf englisch)
So I smiled. I have no idea what that was all about, but it was a bit of an odd exchange. The talk then turned to surgery and an X-Ray. Next thing I knew, I was wandering down the street to the X-Ray building (which was oddly opaque). The German medical system continues to impress me. I was in and out in under 30 minutes, including a consult with the Radiologist, and my very own burned CD with my very own European head X-Ray.
Speaking of which. I’ve now had my head X-rayed on two continents. I have lots of pictures of me in various places, but hardly any of my bones, in various places. Perhaps there is a new contest in which we can engage. New Years in every time zone, and a head X-ray on every continent. Who’s in? Oh, in an interesting aside… Do you know who discovered X-Rays? It was one Dr. Roentgen. The 100 year anniversary of his life saving discovery just passed recently as well. In Germany, one does not go for an X-Ray, one goes for a Roentgenabteilung. I think that is pretty neat. It is one of the few German words I was able to decipher purely because I’m a geek.
My Dr. ultimately sent me to another Dr. who also looked at my CD. She decided that surgery wasn’t yet necessary, and gave me antibiotics, some more nose spray and ointment for my nostril. Surgery would follow pending the results of a consult that will happen this week. Of course, I took my meds, but ended up doing a bit of surgery on my own.
I’ve not considered my sinus much, in my life. Thankfully my sinus works fairly reliably, and I’ve not had much cause to concern myself with it. Two days into my antibiotics, and there was little improvement. While my nose/face hadn’t quite swollen to grotesquery by the time I saw the Docs, by the weekend, the swelling had increased. It hurt to talk, or in any way move my face. It hurt to blow my nose, and it did little good to do so anyway.
So, I shined a flashlight up my nose. What else does a geek do on a slow weekend? I noted that my nostril was swollen internally, and then I considered how my nose might interface with my sinus. There are very few large holes in one’s body. I surmised that the sinus entrance was more than likely some smaller holes that had been occluded by the swelling in my nostril. Also, the swelling in my nostril had initially felt much like a pimple would. It also looked kind of like a major pimple on the inside.
You can tell the conversation is about to get gross when it includes words like: Infection, Nostril, Q-Tip, Needle and Squeeze. Well, if you put those elements together in the right order, that is what I did. It hurt like hell. I did manage to drain about 0.5 to 1 cc of pus out of the inside of my nose, which ultimately felt much better. The pus was clearly infected as well, which gave me hope. Removing that from my head had to be a good thing. Oh, if you can’t visualize a cubic centimeter, or doubt my mensuration skills, here is a visual… A stack of 3 pennies is about 1 cc.
Yes, that much.
I ended up doing that several times over the course of the weekend. The swelling went down quickly after that, and I was also able to expel some nice seaweed green snot as well. That effect was nearly immediate. I spent some quality time cleansing my nostril with rubbing alcohol, and then putting neosporin up there. All in all it was some quality “Me Time”.
So, here is the picture of my head. Note that it is enormous. On my monitor, it is almost life sized. Well, I guess. It is hard to tell by placing my own head against the monitor. Anyway, here it is, discussion to follow…
The casual observer can note that I have 4 large sinus cavities, much like everyone else. The right side (depicted by the R) shows the lower sinus cavity (Maxillary Sinus) contains a whitish mass that is absent from the Left Maxillary Sinus. The Maxillary is the bone in which our upper teeth are mounted, and is the divisor between the sinus and our mouth. Hence the likelihood of tooth pain when one’s sinus is infected.
You’ll also note that my frontal sinuses (above my eyes) are not symmetric. I don’t know if that is normal or not. It is normal for me. Well, they were like that when I got here, so I deem it normal. I can’t quite see my ethmoid or sphenoid sinuses, but they are smaller ones on either side of my nose. There is a bit extra white on the right side, just adjacent to my nose, so maybe that is some junk in there.
What else can we see in there… Well, it sort of looks like you can see my brain, but I doubt it. There is sort of a scary looking black void on the right side of my head, near the edge of the frame. That might not be so good. It might just be the edge of the frame though, too. Oh, you can see my septum is deviated too. Also I clearly no longer have my tongue pierced.
I guess I am feeling better, because I spent some of today cleaning. I vacuumed, mopped and filed lots of stuff. I also organized the pantry and cleared off my desk. This could be a manifestation of the magic kitty switch, which I will describe at a later date.
I think for now all I can do is stop writing and look forward to whatever witty commentary you might have on my bones.
So, I’m home sick again. My sinus is again (or still) filled with crud, and it hurts. Badly. I also have an infection inside my nostril, which is exacerbating the sinus’ inability to drain, as well as causing my face to swell. And hurting.
For most of today I felt pretty good, except for my head being full of cement. I was even looking forward to bragging about having had my head X-Rayed on two different continents. You all know how much I like “collecting” random experiences/places. I have the picture of my head X-ray on a CD (they give it to you to keep!) and I was all ready to write about Herr Roentgen.
Instead, I am waiting for a very spicy pizza, and playing WoW until I’m tired enough to fall back asleep. Remind me to tell you about the time flight would have come in handy the other day too. Also, think pity thoughts for me. I’m sick and tired enough that the idea of having my skull drilled into to make it all better is sounding more and more promising.
Hi,
I have Gloomy Bear envy. Check out Scott’s blog for pictures and details. I keep my Gloomy Bear notebook at work, and when I’m writing notes in it, I think of myself as the Bear, and whatever rotten scoundrel I’m dealing with at work as Pitty (though I only just learned the name).
So, I have been working a lot. Lots and lots, and I’m starting to get grumpy on the matter. I was hoping to travel to Australia in March, but that got squished. I’m hoping at least to get a weekend off in there, and if I do, maybe I’ll get to go as far as Ireland… On St. Patty’s Day, if I’m lucky… I have only had one actual weekend off since I got back, and I was dreadfully ill.
Dreadfully enough that I actually went to see a doctor and get medication. I’ve not seen a doctor since I’ve been here, which means I made it almost 2 years with no significant illness. This is quite the feat as making a whole 2 months without getting a lung infection was quite a winter-feat for this young geek. I had a bad enough strep throat that it spread to my sinus before I overcame my fear of the doctorly unknown. I saw a doctor and got all my meds for about 60 bucks… With no insurance! What a country!
Consequently, I blew my goal of February is Resolution Month! February became a lot of months. Celebrations for lots of things. This isn’t fair, since it is the shortest month, but has the most things that I know of assigned to it. I think it is a good month since it is exactly 4 weeks, and lends itself to behavioral modification. If you can do something for the entire month of Feb, you can do it for the whole year.
So, I was going to eat right and exercise, and then be in tip top shape for any races I might run. Except I was seriously ill until about the 9th, and didn’t exercise until yesterday, just to be safe. So, now I’m going to try for “Triathlon a week” until I get bored or distracted. That means I have to complete one of each Tri event, to a Tri distance, every week. In this case, I can eat or drink as much as I like, and I am talking alcohol here 
I do also have this weekend off. On paper at least. They are asking me to work. I am trying to resist, but I don’t know if I can pull it off. I was hoping to locomote down to Munich for a Swing Dance Festival, but I haven’t actually committed to a reservation yet.
Hey, so what with all the griping? I am feeling better, and I am doing good. Yesterday I swam a mile, in good time, and today I ran 2.75 miles. I know that is not quite a Tri distance, but there is a 30 minute limit on the machine at the gym, and that is as far as I got on the “cross trainer”. I also lifted weights, so I figure I’m square. I just need to ride sometime before Friday, and I’m golden.
Wouldn’t you know it, I got my bike back, finally. Remember, the one that broke back in an ill-fated tri… In SEPTEMBER! That is the nice thing about no snow… I can ride year round. This year round. If my bike wasn’t disassembled. Anyway, woohoo!
Oh, YELNAD hasn’t written since Christmas thhhppppbbbt.
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