Long Term

 We have rain moving into the picture.  Temps are not going to hit the low 80s (F) as forecasters had predicted.  Instead, we might make it up into the high 70s (F) today and tomorrow before the temps drop like a rock on Sunday.  Those low temps mean the leaves are going to fall in a flood of color covering my lawn.  Eventually, they'll be mowed.  

Yesterday I got up real early thinking that I'd get a lot done.  Wrong.  My enthusiasm for chores waned soon after I'd finished the blog entry.  Part of the problem was my neighbor.  She cleans on Thursdays, and that means she plays some sort of dancy, pop music loud enough for me to hear the base line.  My old neighbors were quiet for the most part, except when, drunk on his ass, he playing his screaming electric guitar around 2 in the morning because he desperately wanted to be a rock star.   Having bad background music while I painted the kitchen was not something I'd planned on.  I'm used to having things relatively quiet.  

So, this pic I took from the MRI my Specialist had done on my lower spine 9 years ago popped up in my Facebook feed.  I doubt very much if things have improved between L4 and L5, in fact by this time L3 and L4 might even be fused.

You can list this next bit under "Things I shouldn't find Surprising."  Evidently around 31% of all Evangelicals have no problem using violence to achieve their goals.  If that isn't frightening enough, some of these nut bags are in Congress, like Mike Johnson, who said in a statement that he thought his getting elected as Speaker of the House was ordained.  I don't know why it is that Cracker Jack Crazy Christians believe that God is on their side if and when they go to war.  That has never proven to be the case.  Take the Crusades, for example.  Many, many lives were lost as Christians fought to take back the Holy Lands from the Muslims and all you have to do is look at a current map to see how unsuccessful they were.  The fact that they always end up losing might be a really big sign that God doesn't want them to go to war.  In fact, it seems as though the only time Christians ever win is when the totally annihilate an indigenous people, and even then their success rate is... barely adequate in the long term.  But, like Republicans, one thing you can count on is that they will never learn a lesson.

To fuse or not to fuse, tis not really the question

Looks like I'm going to have a Laminechtomy on May 6.  I can't wait.  Of course, I had to do a little research to find out just what Laminae are, I mean let's be honest, the term does sound slightly vulgar doesn't it?  And it doesn't exactly sound gender neutral, either.  I mean, how many guys have you heard saying "damn, I'm having a problem with my lamina?"  Hearing some guy say that, and working in the Home Improvement field, I'd immediately think he was having trouble installing a counter-top.  Of course I'd be wrong, lamina has nothing to do with Formica, or any similar product.  We do, however, all have them.

That's right, they're in our spine.

They're also going to fuse some of my vertebrae together, and, of course, I needed to do some research.  What I found out was surprising.  In 2011 over 488,000 people in the United States had their spines fused.  That's more then 1300 a day.  They accounted for over 3.1% of all hospital visits.  Isn't that amazing!  If you had asked me a month ago how many people underwent this procedure yearly, I'd have estimated about 2000.  Education, isn't it wonderful.