Third shot’s a charm!

Just got back from my third cortisone shot for my coccxydynia..the doctor seems to be hopeful which is nice to hear. I’m hoping that this will knock back the pain to something easily managable. If this one doesn’t seem to do the trick, then the doctor said he has another procedure that he wants to try. This new procedure essentially kills the nerves with radio frequency and I am left with no pain. It was explained to me that he can insert needles on both sides of my tailbone to find the exact nerves, then connect those needles to a machine which sends RF to my nerves, heating them to like 195F for 90 minutes.. after 90 minutes the nerves will be a toasty brown color (just kidding, but they will killed in the process). Yea, I’m a little worried that he gets the wrong nerve and I lose some sort of bodily function, but he’s a professional and I trust he knows what he’s doing.

I’m kicking back here on the couch, having just taken some pain medication, and will be fiddling with some code of some sort.. Happy Friday!

Blog updates!

Spring has sprung and I had some free time and an itch to upgrade the blog.. I’ve upgraded to the newest revision of the software, Wordpress 1.5, and found a new theme which I’ve already hacked on quite a bit. For the time being, I’m sticking with the orange header and this rather sleek looking layout.

TODO :

1. Restore/implement pictures associated with postings.
2. Picture gallery addition
3. Make a few ’static’ pages which Wordpress now supports (About me, etc)
4. Fully custom theme
4a. Investigate making a theme randomizer (font, header graphic, separator graphic, colors)

This is my goal for the next couple of months regarding the blog.. If you feel so inclined, leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the new look. :)

Sony MDR-EX51LP review

The headphones that came with the mp3 player are pretty decent, but I had my eye on some better ear buds mainly because I like to hear more (and more clean) bass and I wanted a more comfortable and stable fit. After researching ear buds ranging from $5 to $400, I found the Sony MDR-EX51LP which retails for around $40. I found them on sale at Amazon for around $25.

Features:
+ Super-Light In-The-Ear Design
+ New, Super-Small 9 mm Drivers
+ Soft, Silicon Earbuds
+ Two Sizes of Earbuds Accommodate a Full Range of Ears
+ 400 kJ/ma Ultra-High-Power Neodymium Magnet
+ Earbud Holder Supplied

The set that was shipped to me came with 3 sizes of removable earbuds ranging from huge (Dumbo style) to tiny (Mighty Mouse style). The medium size earbuds fit snugly in my ears, much like earplugs but a softer more comfortable feel. The style of speaker on these headphones are new to me, you can’t see the speaker itself, just a hole about the size of a pin. Let me tell you that the bass response, loudness, lack of distortion, comfortable fit, and price make this probably one of the best headphone purchases you’ll make and I highly recommend them.

The earbud holder is a small plastic holder which is surprisingly useful. The headphones come with a wire that’s around 3ft in length and I only need it to be about 1.5ft so I wound the wire around the holder and clipped it into place (as its designed to do), and now I don’t have very much slack wire hanging in front of me. Brilliant!

4/22/2008: My earbuds finally crapped out, after over 3 years of moderate use (several times a week). I think the issue was avoidable too, as I rolled over them with the casters of my desk chair at least a few times. The right earbud no longer plays sound most of the time, so I think a wire is shorting somewhere. Time to get a new set. RIP earbuds.

*yawn*

Oh my goodness, I’m sore! Wendie and I hiked Silver Creek Falls with our friends Stephanie and Kasey.. We hiked a loop about 6 miles long over 600 - 800 ft of elevation in about 1.5 hours. Since South Falls is closed, we took the ridge trail down to the bottom of the canyon, it’s about a mile of switchbacks. I wore the mp3 player and listened to music during the whole hike in one ear.. music really helps a lot! I pushed myself really hard to keep up a good pace and keep my heartrate high and I’m feeling every bit of it right now.. my legs are shaky and sore. Wendie’s sleeping on the couch, I’m kicked back in the recliner, and the sun is shining in through the windows, what an excellent Sunday!

Yesterday we took a little trip out to Mallard Creek and each hit a big bucket of golf balls on the driving range. I have to remind myself to relax and take a balanced and fluid swing and not try to kill the ball, that’s what the club is designed to do, just let it do the work. This was the first time I hit some balls with the shoes Wendie got me for Christmas, I like em! My stance feels much more solid on the ground, my feet don’t slip during my swing, and they feel heavenly.