I had the hiccups

Three days ago, I had a few bouts with the hiccups. I used to get them frequently when I was a child, but this was for a different reason. After ruling out a few things, I realized it was the eating of crackers, and drinking of water that was precipitating them. Of course, it wasn't really the fault of the crackers and water. It was the Vicodin that I'd been popping. Dulling physical pain as well as my mind, I guess it also dulled my muscles and their abilities slightly. So what pain was I dulling? Well, on Monday morning, I had a brief surgery. Yup – in and out in about three hours, said surgery added a nice scar about belt level, a shaved stomach and leg -- and hiccups. Lest anyone be overly concerned about my well being, it was surgery for a "lifting of heavy weights" injury – yes, a hernia. Minor, and something from which I will fully recover with no restrictions (eventually), it is currently a nuisance.

So, 'hic', I am now focusing on things that don't require much movement. I am relaxing from exercise until the good doctor says otherwise, and am exploring the wanderings of the mind when popping Vicodin. Actually, I've drastically cut back on the stuff and am using just half (or less) of what is being prescribed. While it's not a bad feeling, I am having a need for full use of my mental faculties. I'll take a bit of discomfort if I can think straight.

Of course, right now, I'm about to go to bed and with my side is hurting a bit….

Maybe half.

'Hic.'

Loyalty in the New Year

These meandering thoughts began with my attempt to fix the sync. No, that's not a typo; this all began when Yahoo.com, my internet homepage for quite a few years, stopped synchronizing with MS Outlook. Follow the trail of thoughts and see where it leads.

Basically, I am an extremely loyal person. I am not one to give up or move on from something very quickly. Dogged perseverance has been one trait I've had as long as I've been around. While this is generally considered a positive trait, I also see it as a detriment. For years, I owned a British sports car. While beautiful to look at, mechanically, it was a piece of junk. That perseverance and hope for a better day only led to me being stranded countless times – betrayed, shamed, humbled. Why did I keep with it? Why did I keep working at it? Why did I think it would somehow change?

I have had similar experiences with other machines, as well as Banks, pets, stores -- and people. It's not a trait that is unique; I'm sure this is striking a nerve, right?

So, back to fixing the sync. I tried. I really did. I bet if I were to spend more time with it, I could get it to work. But it shouldn't be that hard. Not in this day and age. So, I'm looking elsewhere. That is the thing I'm going to do differently in the New Year. I won't call it a resolution; the word is too trendy around this time; it's going to be 'a thought process'. I'm simply not going to try as hard with something that is obviously broken. Already, the last few days have involved deleting, removing, and disposing of useless detritus from the past and I'm happy to say, it gets easier with practice.

1. Yahoo, get it together or good bye. I will switch my homepage to Google entirely – and it DOES sync, with Outlook.
2. I am writing this on a laptop which runs Windows XP Pro. I've been a Windows user for many years, happy that I didn't have to cow-tow to a company that insisted on providing hardware, software AND a state of mind. However, I now also have a Quad-core top-of-the-line computer sitting just to my left, from which the desktop of Apple's Leopard OS X has just gone to a screensaver that is … frickin' awesome. Like everyone else that experiences OS X, it has been a very nice pleasant shift. Is it better? Eh, I don't know. It's prettier. I certainly haven't been converted to an Apple-Store-Zombie, ready to kiss the ground that Steve Jobs walks. However, it is all working well (and considering that I built the computer, I'm absolutely amazed) So… from here on in I am going to allow for much less patience with software/hardware issues of any sort – on either system. Microsoft – Get it together, or good bye.
3. I have used Ipowerweb.com as an ISP for years and have a bunch of websites. However, this past year, they let me down once too often. Ipowerweb -- Good bye. I've moved to Bluehost.
   

You get the idea. Those are all web and computer based geek-issues, but amongst the other pruning that I've done thus far, phone numbers have been deleted from my cell phone (that felt great), a credit card was dumped (awesome), and food thrown out that I hated, that had been occupying precious shelf space for months (just good sense).

Still to come- artwork, clothes, discs of music and software that I'll never use or listen to…

I highly suggest you try it. Chuck the baggage, downsize, fire, eliminate, break-up, throw-away. And don't look back.

It's a new year. It's a great time to shift loyalties to new hopes and dreams. And hell, if someone did it to you – be it an employer, a friend, a dream, a lover, a (fill in the blank)… good riddance. It's a new year!