Surgery on the Right Knee

Just tonight, I got the call I was cleared for my next surgery tomorrow morning. This time it's a total knee replacement on the right knee, just like on the left last year. This time, unlike last year, there were no foulups, no misunderstandings. Just a rescheduling of the surgery date when I had a conflict.

This is where things should allow me to improve more. This is where the left can improve even more with the right's going through rehab as well.

Now to have a nice presurgical meal...

Wedding Videos Gone Viral

We've all seen videos that go viral, but it was a matter of time before it was a *WEDDING!*

Jill and Kevin's Wedding

Then I did some checking around and found some students did a spoof (a divorce dance in court!) and the Australians did their version of it. The wedded couple and dancers were even invited to the Today Show in New York City to do a repeat performance!

DWTS doing the 'Forever' wedding entrance dance

Then there's YouTube's Most-Viewed page

Arrest Me? Say What?

Has anyone gotten a so-called email from the FBI that says something like a Nigerian or other international bank releasing a large sum of money and mention terrorism? Then it finishes with this;

"So to this regards you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI International Clearance and also Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer (DIST) to satisfy to us that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge you either to U S federal Court or international court of justice and take our proper action against you for not proofing the legitimacy of the funds you are about to receive.

"THIS CONDITION IS VALID UNTIL (date) AFTER WE SHALL TAKE ACTIONS ON CANCELLING THE PAYMENT AND THEN CHARGES YOU FOR ILLEGALL MOVING OF FUNDS OUT OF NIGERIA GOVERNMENT. FUNDS WILL BE RELEASED ON CONFIRMATION OF THE DOCUMENTS."

*sniffing the air* Now that's a whole lot of bovine stinky droppings. Anyone want a cow pattie burger with a large urine?

Those two paragraphs make absolutely zero sense...

Relay SWAT calls

Having read the Watch Out for That SWAT! blog post and a followup article in the Washington Post recently, it's a frightening thing when your home is invaded by a SWAT team. Apparently they're there for no reason other than the fact that someone tried to "prank" the police into thinking you're a dangerous person.

I use a cane or wheelchair when I'm out and about due to my knee surgery, and usually don't use the cane at home. Could this easily cause me to get shot with them thinking I was holding a weapon? Probably the best thing for me to do if this kind of thing happens would be for me to immediately stop where I am, drop the cane, and raise my hands. Or will they shoot anyway and ask questions later in their adrenaline-soaked mad dash through the door?

What's the best way to handle something like this?

My Knee's Progress 4

It's getting easier to walk longer distances. I was able to walk to someone's place near me which is near this grocery store I mentioned before. I wasn't too out of breath or too tired when I got there, which is a good sign of improvement. But even then, I still can't make it to the store and back home. It's pretty much a one-way trip. That's still a pretty big improvement from before when it was harder for me to get there a few months earlier.

It's the other knee that has me at a standstill or slow improvements til the next surgery. I had to change the date due to a conflict with Jamie's class on the same day. I won't be missing Halloween. The new surgery date is November 20 in the early morning. Then the week after that is Thanksgiving. Pretty much means I'll be in the rehab facility. Means I'll be a captive audience for dinner.

To walk a mile, bowl again... It'll happen. I know I can now do a tenth of a mile, which is good.

Never give out your password - Part 3

As I've said many times, never give out your password to anyone. We've heard about the phishing scams out there. They will tell you to go to the "company" website and fill out your info including password or respond to an email asking for your password. The best defense against that is to type in the URL yourself in the browser for that company and go from there. That way, you know you're going to the correct site. It's good to read the URL carefully. Something that looks like http://[domain name].com/youtube.com/ does NOT go to YouTube, but a fake site.

Administrators of password-protected sites can change your password for you. They have access to your account. They don't need your password or your security question answers sent them in email. What do you think they do when they reset your password if you've forgotten it? Depending on the software used, the password will either show up or it won't on the administrator's screen, with the ability to change it or disable/delete the account.

An email asking you to send back your username, password, security question answers, and other things is a definite phish. If the email says your account will be closed or there is legal action, most likely it is fake. Check with your ISP to confirm. So are the emails for lotteries, jackpots, and any kind of winnings programs. Federal law forbids collection of "fees" to receive your winnings. Read this from the NAD;

Scam Alert – Protect Yourself

"Growing Up Deaf" Update 3

Sherlock Steve's blog post against the deafness.about.com post! reminded me of a few things.

But first, in my Growing up Deaf - Part 11 post, I mentioned that I had printed information on MSSD, but never went. I talked with mom about this when I went home to join my family for a wedding. She said she and dad wanted me to stay home and learn more. I'll talk more with her when I head back sometime.

As mentioned before, I didn't quite get full immersion into deaf culture til college, with some immersion here and there in middle and high schools, deaf church ministries, and the deaf camp in Louisiana. My dad got upset a lot of the time when I had my hearing aids off, even when I was lipreading him. Did that make him an audist? I don't think so. They never forced hearing aids onto me, just encouraged me to wear them.

As for that four year old kid, the decision to wear his implant is up to him. It was a major mistake for the doctor to tell his mother to hold him down. I'm surprised someone didn't call Child Protective Services on the guy. Right now is the time for worried mom to work on communications, both sign and reading/writing. Nothing's worse than a deaf kid with no language. What a waste of a good mind.

Knees and ASL Dinners

Not long ago, I came back from an ASL dinner in DC's Dupont Circle. The restaurant location was not accessible via wheelchair, but I managed to make it just using the cane. Jamie and I parked at a metro stop and walked to the train platform, taking the escalator down rather than use the elevator. Then arriving at our stop, we took the escalator out and get to the place. This was further than I was able to go before the surgery. I was also out of town for a family wedding, and was able to stand and walk around longer than before. Airports are still a challenge, as I used the wheelchair.

As it turns out, Jamie had to help me out in getting my food tray upstairs, as I wasn't quite able to carry it up there myself.

Getting back to the car, I had to stop once to rest a bit.

That's a pretty big milestone to make, eight months after surgery. They're right about it taking a lot of work.

I also have a surgery date of October 23rd for the right knee. This is when things will get interesting.

Funny Food Names

While browsing the forum messages on the Deafness site on about.com, I came across this message titled "Tall Jan" about funny food names and fouled-up captions. There's a food item called "MAMA" out at the local grocery store. Oh, the comedic possibilities...

There's always going to be days when you go grocery shopping in an ethnic grocery store and you come across something with a weird name. The Washington DC area has a number of good ethnic stores. Apart from the smaller individually-owned stores, we have multiple stores owned by a person or corporation. Todos is one, with Global Foods being another. I've been to Global Foods a few times for various things, including a 5 pound package of lo mein for stir fry.

Then there's a merlot wine called Fat Bastard I found and Sherlock Steve posted about it in The Austin Powers Wine!

Swimming after Knee Surgery - Part 2

The left knee is still improving here and there, though the contracture on the quadriceps and hamstring will take time to improve. Booktoots' post, Walking On Gravel & A TKR, reminded me of while I was at a Florida beach recently.

While solid ground is easier to walk on, it's the uneven areas that give me some trouble. I know that will improve in time. It was a bit of slow going from a table near a parking space through the sand to the water's edge. I was able to walk into the water, but a drop-off gave me a little trouble and an outgoing wave swept my feet from underneath me. A nearby mother with young child thought it was pretty funny. From there it was easy enough to stay in the water and move around despite the waves.

But getting out took a little creativity. I couldn't just get out normally like others could. My cane was still at the table. It took me a couple tries to actually get past the drop-off. I used the incoming waves to help push me up past the drop-off. A wave came in, take a couple steps, wait for the next wave to come in, a few steps, til I was past the drop-off. Walking back from there to the table was a bit slow and difficult going, but I made it.

Pool ladders still give me trouble, but after my right knee is worked on, that should be resolved in time.