if only the camcorder had been running

So today I came home early from work, and my wife was off of work, too.

For months now, when we get home at our usual time, we have found the mail with some mysterious wrinkles and dents. We had finally figured out that the dog must be chewing on the mail (the mail guy drops it through a slot and onto the floor of the enclosed porch).

Well, today, as we were sitting int he living room, the dog gets and runs to the door, we hear the clank of the mail slot opening.........and IN RUNS Bouffer with the MAIL IN HIS MOUTH!

We never taught him or even remotely thought of teaching him this. He carried the mail right up to us and "gave" it to my wife.

Wow, and I thought it was cool that we had recently taught him to "drop the ball. drop the ball" after he had retrieved it...what a proud pappa I am.

sadness

http://www.apetcemetery.com/viewpet.php?theid=352

are doctors truly useless?

I am seriously starting to think that self-diagnosis with the internet
and trial-and-error is just as good as a doctor these days.

For those who don't know, throughout the past few years, my wife has had a few incidences of passing out for apparently no reason, as well as getting shaky or feeling like she was choking. She also began developing skin rashes and getting very dry skin for most of the year. She's gained some weight despite exercising "a ton", and has been getting sores on her feet. She also had a stretch of hair loss that was never explained (not to the point of baldness, but it was noticeable in the drains).

After reading up on it online, she thought she might have a thyroid problem. She asked a doctor, and was basically told that it was in her head. As it continued, we have gone through at least 4 other doctors/ERs, and been given diagnoses varying from hypoglycemia to scabies to possible diabetes to "psychosomatic", but the tests never panned out for any of those other things. On all of these occassions we inquired about a thyroid condition.

Finally last week, she went to a doctor who listened to the symptoms, felt her neck with his hand, and said "your gland is really swollen, it seems like you probably have a thyroid problem". So he sent her for a blood test, and whatdya know? HYPOTHYROIDISM. He said the test results were very convincing/obvious.

While I am happy that we now have confirmation, it seems like such a waste of time, resources, etc, to keep ignoring somebody like that for so long. It almost makes you wonder if the insurance companies would be better off letting you call them and explain why you want a blood test and just givign you permission to go get it...or something along those lines....right? Arrgg.

Well, I'm off to get $25 for being a research subject in a University study. Have a nice day!

netflix cancelled

well, i mailed off my move Tuesday before the last collection time on the post office mail box. and my expected arrival date for my next movie is Monday. So apparently out here in corn town, net flix is not the way to go.

maybe someday when they've sped it up I will re-join.

proud to be an american

so I was watching Jeopardy this evening, and one of the sections was "World Leaders". They showed pictures of the world leader, gave them additional hints, and expected an answer.....

Now, they did get a picture of Putin with Q: "This martial arts master calls this world capitol home" (A:Moscow)

But when shown a picture of Junichiro Koizumi, with Q: "The prime minister of this country" (A: Japan) they all just stood there.

Then, better yet (to me) when shown a picture of Gerhard Schroeder, and Q: "this man was elected as...the Chancellor of his country", the only person who answered said "Who is...Kohl?" Now, those two dude don't look alike, even if you've drank like a German.

The remaining two question were never answered, as they put them off until time ran out. The only two questions left on the board.

How can people who know the answers to all of these other questions not identify the prime minister of Japan, who just visit our country and loves Elvis? I mean, once you see that dude with his goofy hair and all, you can't forget it......

rant over.

Doctor Who Series 1 = Netflix SUbscription

Well, I decided that the most cost effective way to see the whole 1st season of Doctor Who is to sign up for a 2 week free trial of netflix and the unlimited 1 at a time move service. The most I think I will end up spending is $9.99 before I have seen them all and cancel.
If I really like Netflix, maybe I'll keep it. Anybody have experience with Netflix?

my first google video upload

Briana and her sister and I made this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9179890440038468946

Please give it a five star rating!