I got my BMW back today. Is it fixed? Um, maybe. Sort of. Kind of. There are some issues with the centre display that I've noticed (range, etc) and they may clear when I next fill up with gas. They fixed the AC because I can smell the nasty cleaning chemical. They certainly didn't clean the inside of the car. As for the stuff I asked them to fix (again) I just don't know. We'll see. No more BMWs in my future, that I can tell you.

Beatles Rock Band has arrived. Party scheduled. Yay. I am so looking forward to it. Having a bunch of people in my bedroom where the PS3 is located, not so much. But this is a monumental event and therefore I shall deal with it.

Today did not start well. Last night I simply didn't sleep. My mind was all over the place. No drugs and then lots. Nothing helped. I mention this only so you know I was cranky as all Hell today. At 930, went to the doctor's office and sulked expecting a long wait. My 10am appointment began at 1010am which, by any doctor's standards, is pretty much on time. The doctor actually spent some time with me so I am less inclined to be irate with him. I asked him some medication question. He answered. He was pretty taken aback by my lengthy list of medications but he knows the situations behind them all. He promised to confer with my primacy care doctor.

I took the sonogram which I was stressed about. It turns out it's a glorified ultrasound and I wish I'd have known that up front and I'd have been less stressed. It was a relatively quick test. The nurse was fast and efficient. I talked to her a little and told her how anxious I was not realizing what the test was. She turned on the audio in little spurts for me so I could actually hear my heart beating, blood flowing, and whatnot. She explained each of the heart's four valves make distinct sounds.

Officially, I have no news until Thursday when the doctor will call me with the results. Unofficially she played the tape for me and showed me what was going on and gave me some reassurance. I am not dying (at least not from this) in the immediate future. The good news is that none of the valves are leaking and nothing is escaping my heart. Three of the four valves seem perfectly normal.

The fourth valve, well that was interesting. The tricuspid valve is between the right atrium and right ventricle. It appears that is where things are going wrong. There was some indication of some minor problems. The official cause of these remains unknown until the doctor sees that.



It was very fascinating to watch your heart working and seeing things go. It appears to be mostly healthy. My blood pressure is fine: perfect in fact. So now, it's wait another week for a final report. In the meantime I have to take this heart medication daily for five months and then go back. And I have to hope this fixes it. But, for right now, surgery is not happening. And that makes me happy.



(More Details in private.)

That being said, let me segue into this: tomorrow is the anniversary of 9-11 and it seems like just yesterday. I remember what I was doing when I found out — didn't even know what it was at the time. That horrific news came later. It remains the slowest sales-volume day in our company's recorded history. We sent everyone home early with pay. The next work day I was catching up on my faxes and I had one that was time stamped at the exact moment the plane hit the first tower. The fax was bad news from a customer and I've still got it in my drawer. I remember the joy of air travel before that date and the utter hassle it's become since. I used to love to fly and would travel anywhere on a moment's notice if I could get a cheap fare. Now, not so much. I bring up 9-11 because today SkyNews has released a never before seen video of the second plane hitting the tower. This video is, to me, more disturbing than the others. Read the story before you click to watch the video so you know what you're seeing. It's quite disturbing and I'm sorry I watched.

At work we have a shared laptop. I rarely need one except when I'm travelling for extended periods of time: China, Europe, Vegas for a convention, that sort of thing. We always kept it in the same place in the back room with all the other computer equipment that's not in active use. Pretty much nobody knew it was there except two or three people. These people are beyond reproach.

I went to get it today because I wanted to prepare a presentation for one of our salesmen and let him go show it to a client. It wasn't there. It was last seen months ago (as I said it's not used very often) probably May or June. I have no suspects except maybe the cleaning people but I doubt she'd know what to do with a computer and they've had more than ample opportunity to steal far more exciting things and more expensive things. A printer is missing too. Some old HP inkjet.

I tried to find the receipt at work but at about three years old, maybe four, it's not around. So it's hard to file a police report without a model or serial number. "Yeah, officer, we're missing a silver Lenovo laptop. No further information is available." On the plus side no confidential data is kept on it. Everything is kept on the person's personal USB drive. I suppose I need to replace it and keep it locked up. I don't suppose a laptop that old has much value, but it irks me. Just so you know what sort of random crap pisses me off.

Speaking of work crap: we have a raccoon in the building. Been trying to catch it for three weeks without luck. Even the professional has given up. I have nothing against raccoons but we come in and there are some very large "presents" that really stink. You have no idea what a few of those in a sealed building with 100+ degree temperatures smell like when you walk in. And that's why it needs to go. The no-kill traps keep catching our cats and not the raccoon. Blech.

I had to buy a forklift because ours is on its last legs. That's $25,000 plus tax we didn't have down the tubes. Not sure how to make more cuts to cover that unexpected expense. *sigh*

I made steak for dinner but the meat didn't taste quite right. So I am displeased with how that turned out. It wasn't a cooking issue — it was a product issue. I am growing increasingly pissed at Delta (still no reply), Tower.Com (still no reply), and AvMed (slower than dirt).

The Balsillie Circus with the NHL is growing more entertaining by the day as the two sides fight on the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes. Only two bids remain out three made — one bidder gave up and I can't say that I blame them. One by Canadian billionaire James Balsillie is contingent on moving the team to Hamilton, Ontario, over the overwhelming opposition by the NHL. The other is by the NHL, which says it will resell the team outside of the bankruptcy process, either to an owner who would keep the team in Glendale or, failing that, to someone who would relocate the franchise.

Wait? Isn't that the original reason they said Balsillie couldn't buy the team? Yes, the NHL rejected Balsille as an owner because they don't want the team moved. Yet that's part of their plan. So Basillie offers nearly double what the NHL is willing to pay for the team and move it to a Canadian (Hamilton, ON) market that will support the team (but is an admittedly small TV market) and the NHL is opposed and would rather leave the team in Phoenix (Glendale, AZ).

I'm not a judge, but if I were, this is an easy decision. There are two sides; either $140 Million (NHL) vs $210 Million +$50 Million* (Balsillie) — in bankruptcy the interests of the creditors come first. If the debts are over the NHL's offer the judge HAS to decide for Basillie. The NHL must know this so I suspect the offer is just above the team's debts. And if you read the article, the NHL is only offering $2 million extra and is trying to dictate which creditors get paid — that's got to piss off the judge because they don't get to decide that. Balsille's offer means everyone gets paid. See my previous blog post for more ruminations on this topic.

I hope you're still with me. This has been an inordinately long post.  Lastly, a book review. Yesterday I read Orson Scott Card's novella A War of Gifts. It's a brief vignette that takes place during the Ender's Game time frame. I wanted to like it. Really, I did. But it was just so overwhelmingly bothersome. There's the main character, Zeck, who is very interesting although not likeable — which is the point. And the writing is, as all of Card's writing, utterly brilliant. So what's my beef? Card is getting preachier and preachier. I want to read, to be entertained, and I don't even mind an author sharing his views with me through his characters. What I do mind is being preached at, and as Card's personal views have moved further and further to the religious extreme, his stories have gotten more and more preachier. And I just don't like it.

I am still trying to get wind-storm insurance before my current policy expires since Liberty Mutual has given me a non-renewal notice. That's been quite the chore. Nobody is writing insurance in Florida for wind-storm. But I've got an agent working on it. I just hope I can afford it. My cancelled policy (homeowner's + wind-storm) was showing a premium of damn near $8,000 a year and all my neighbours are paying well into the five figures. It's like a separate house payment. But Wilma reminded me why I have it. (This doesn't include flood which is a separate policy.)

* He offered Glendale $50M to break the 30 year lease.