Damn you, Rhett Miller

Why is Rhett Miller trying to sell me baby back ribs with barbecue sauce? Why can't he be above that? Spoon tries to get me to see really interesting looking movies, why can't Rhett?

I really want to walk without crutches. This is really boring and frustrating. I went in for an MRI today. That was horribly uncomfortable. My problem is that my leg won't straighten out all the way and it doesn't really bend all that much so I can't put much weight on it without some serious pain. For the MRI, my leg was forcibly straightened and placed in this immobilizing contraption for about an hour. At some point it felt like someone was trying to slowly pull my leg off. It sucked. The bright side is that I should know what's wrong with my leg before lunch on Monday.

Just glancing at the Top-25 polls, it seems odd to me that Notre Dame is ranked higher than Boston College, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and California. They haven't really beaten anyone that's any good. Wisconsin really hasn't either though, neither has Cal for that matter, but still, they've both looked better than Notre Dame. Arkansas beat Auburn at Auburn. That seems like a big deal if one discounts the fact that Auburn is horrible overrated.

A decent SEC team will always be overrated. A decent Big-XII team will always be underrated as will a decent Pac-10 team. Big Ten teams are usually slightly overrated. How else can you explain a conference that has the top-2 teams and the number 17 team, but nobody else even close to decent.

The Big XII owns the bottom fourth of the AP poll with the teams ranked 19, 20, 22, and 23, along with number 5.

Two Weeks

Today marks three weeks since I injured my knee and two weeks since aggravating that injury and losing my ability to walk. I'm getting an MRI tomorrow and then having a follow-up with the surgeon on Monday to figure out exactly what I've injured. I'm told that it's either a torn meniscus, or a serious sprain. The doctor I saw yesterday told me that he couldn't examine it without hurting me because I have no range of motion in my knee. It is lame.

We got our check to cover the damages to Mrs. LaBlog's auto.

On my ESPN pick'em I've only missed a total of two games in the past four weeks. I keep forgetting to do the confidence scoring and the tiebreaker. Oh well.

Crutches Suck

Granted, cruches don't suck as much as knees that will neither bend nor straighten, but they aren't very fun to use. I'm going to try and use my magic to get in with an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow that comes highly recommended by Mrs. LaBlog's orthopedic surgeon uncle. I'm not looking forward to this, although it does bring me one step closer to walking and/or driving. One plus is that the doctor's office is just across the street from my shabby dwelling. I'm sure I could hobble all the way there if need be.

It's About Damn Time

I may not be able to walk so well, and I may end up needing surgery, but I finally got an interview with a state agency. Stupid legislative session that doesn't start until January.

Knee Update

I went to see a doctor about my knee. He tentatively calls it a sprained, but I have to check back later this week. If there isn't any improvement in a couple days then I may need a surgical consultation.

Laptop Problems Sorted Out

My Powerbook has been shutting itself down when I try to use it when it's unplugged. This made no sense because the battery meter was always around 80 percent full. It turns out that my battery has been recalled for overheating, so I'll get a new battery and the problem should be solved.

Stupid Luck

As I posted earlier, I hurt my knee in a really stupid manner. It had started to feel better, but the other night, in her sleep, Mrs. LaBlog gave me a swift kick to the injured knee. I can barely walk. I can't drive because our cars are manual transmission. I can't really go to the doctor because we have no insurance to cover it. It's really frustrating.

Belanova - "Rosa Pastel"

This is like discovering a hot, female, latina version of the Smiths. It's worth checking out.

Stupid, I say

I'm watching the Texas A$M-Kansas game on Fox Sports and the sideline reporter just said something stupid. She said that College Station is a mere hour from San Antonio. I don't know much, but I know that College Station is about 100 miles northeast of Austin and San Antonio is about 80 miles southwest of Austin. And mapquest confirms my hunch that College Station is 181 miles of mostly non-interstate highway from San Antonio.

Crash! Bop! Pow! Whizz!

Last night after dinner, we went to Hilbert's for some chocolate shakes. A teenage boy in an SUV hit Mrs. LaBlog's parked car. He did some damage, but not too much. The strange thing was that his dad was parked on the other side of our car in his little Porsche convertable. Life must be sweet for a mechanical engineer.

My speed is deceptive

Thanks for the shirt Underground,

Go to Milwaukee

If you are in the area, Friday, October 6, would be a great night to go to Milwaukee. Why? Yo La Tengo is playing at the Rave. Sure, it's not the Evanescence show the following weekend, but hey, what else is? I knew a guy who either is in, or has played with Evanescence. I still think they're horrible. Yo La Tengo, on the other hand, is exceptional. THeir new album is well worth listening to.

I have phone service.

Ouch

Apparently Flight Path is a refuge for Central Texas mosquitoes. I say this because I went there the other night and I now have roughly 25 bites on my ankles. This kept me awake for most of the night last night, leading to a 3.30 trip to Walgreen's for some Aveeno relief. It also led to one of the stranger injuries I've ever sustained. Somehow, while applying the Aveeno to my ankles, I managed to hurt my left knee. I moved my leg but the bottom half wouldn't go anywhere and then there was this strange sound. It was somewhere between the slicing lettuce sound on restaurant commercials and the breaking of uncooked spaghetti. The sound was followed by pain that has been building throughout the day.

It is day 10 of no phone service. Nobody at Grande seems to have a clue about what's going on.

Mrs. LaBlog officially got a promotion today.

I hate Oklahoma

It's OU week, the best week of the year. Saturday at 2.30, I will be watching ABC. I think Texas wins fairly easily, but who knows.

Veronica Mars starts at 8 on the CW tonight. If you or someone you spend time with watches the Gilmore Girls, then talk them into watching Veronica Mars which comes on immediately after that piece of crap that is GG.

I am on day 9 with no working home phone service. I pay for it, it just doesn't work. Grande Communications sucks.

Holiday House Barbecue is pretty good. They're only open for lunch. They have great cole slaw.

I had a hamburger for a late dinner last night. It gave me nightmares. The lesson I've learned is that if I'm going to eat a late meal, I need to eat something not greasy.

My nephew can say, "Texas, Texas, Yee Haw." He's two.

Work phone, work.

Me and the Radio

Here are two facts that people never believe about me. I have no idea why.

1. I hate NPR. I think it's boring and pretentious for the most part.
2. When I do listen to the radio, I always look for a country station. They are the most consistent stations around. I love Alabama, Garth Brooks, and all that late 80's, early 90's stuff. It's magic.