24 December 2010
16 December 2010
04 December 2010
$\surd$ in
Hey! Still here. Promise. I've been "busy" "doing" "stuff", but I'll come up with something in [over]due time...
Until then, check in with The Doctor!
(PS: I'm sure I could ramble aimlessly; but, any specific topic requests?)
(PPS: No, \surd is not actually a check. Deal.)
Until then, check in with The Doctor!
(PS: I'm sure I could ramble aimlessly; but, any specific topic requests?)
(PPS: No, \surd is not actually a check. Deal.)
31 October 2010
Katze is the name of the cat
Merry pagan rituals to all. Be nice to your RA...
And beware the Lap Guardian!
Also known as the Washcloth Bin Guardian if the lap is taken. She's sooo evil. Mwa ha ha ha!
Bonus points for getting the band reference in the post title. Rocket.
And beware the Lap Guardian!
Also known as the Washcloth Bin Guardian if the lap is taken. She's sooo evil. Mwa ha ha ha!
Bonus points for getting the band reference in the post title. Rocket.
04 October 2010
17 September 2010
09 September 2010
03 September 2010
31 August 2010
au rev, DET!
Hey yizall! Sorry for epic delays. I've been ridiculously busy since my last post, and busyness will continue for a while after this one as well. I've adventured from Detroit a few times conaliso lately, and I need to 'venture another time or two [future trips, so-IL<-->chitown] to find an accessible place to live. Further, next week I'll be giving my final farewell to the 3-1-3, briefly landing in cville until I can relocate permanently to the aforementioned unknown Chiburb apartment/house/whateverlivingspacewecanfind.
As several out there implicitly censor me, that's all I have to contribute. Just pretend that all is well. Welcome to September, and adieu to the Motor City. L8r!
As several out there implicitly censor me, that's all I have to contribute. Just pretend that all is well. Welcome to September, and adieu to the Motor City. L8r!
12 July 2010
tables
Hey hey! On with some poorly-written summarization.
As long as it's been, I still don't have much to relay about therapy. Same old stuff: rolling around on the mat for shoulder and core strengthening, sliding back and forth for transfer practice, and the occasional day of biofeedback, plus bike/Motomed/weights on my own time. What excitement, eh?
Not sure if I already told you, so here's the high-speed primer on this "biofeedback" stuff. For the etymologists out there, it is exactly what it is called, so feel free to imagine and move on. For the rest of us, biofeedback involves wiring pairs of electrodes to muscle groups, EMG-style, and watching a graph on a computer screen while I try to activate the monitored muscles. The stronger the activation, the higher the measurement on the graph. This activity has a zillion applications, but in the neuro world, it's mostly used to see how well, if at all, a person can control certain muscles when the muscles have little to no motor function. Typically, that's anything waist-down for a para, arms-down for a quad. The results show what someone must do to get the strongest activation, where in the range of motion a muscle group is the strongest, etc. It only becomes more technical beyond that, so we're done.
NOTE: wiring up to biofeedback is not the same as wiring into the e-stim bike! Where the bike sends electricity through the electrodes to my muscles, biofeedback is the opposite, measuring the strength of the electrical impulses I'm sending from my muscles to the machine. That is, the bike zaps me, while I zap the biofeedback hardware (um, essentially).
Elsewhere...
SofC: an a is gone! The madre is ok. It's hot, even for me. Blood pressure, where are you? I'm ashamed to admit that "should've went" spilled from my oral cavity a few weeks ago. I'm AT&T's iTool for two more years, but mwa ha ha ha, I grandpa'd my way into keeping unlimited* data. Should I become a twit? Don't forget, E5, A5, E3, A3, E1, A2, E0... In a plastic cup. End!
Penultimately, last week we went to an Eric Clapton concert! Yay. The opener was Roger Daltry of The Who. I'm not a big fan, but I still thought his band did fairly well. Roger looked an amusing bit like Dr. Lima, the OMA neurosurgeon in Portugal.
Sorry, btw, no photos - I forgot my camera, and though we were close enough to see everything, it was sufficiently far and dark to render phonecam pictures unintelligible.
Clapton was excellent. He's showing his years, but not through his fingers. Like Mr. Daltry's set, I only recognized about half of Eric's stuff, but that doesn't matter. His whole band was bluestastic, and Mr. C can solo with the best. I got to experience the acoustic rendition of "Layla", so my night was complete. Who cares if I was way too young to be there.
Finally, the Mensa national/sort-of-worldwide Annual Gathering was here in Detroit last week! Err, it was technically at the Hyatt in Dearborn, but sorry folks, that's still Detroit. BTW, "Hyatt" is by far my favorite American hotel to mispronounce. Anyway, I'm not in Mensa [yet], but the padre and I were able to attend freely as guests of the Steph. It was quite awesome, though there's at least one knowitall at every session (guess what, smartypantses - if you're at a lecture with a room full of Mensans, you're very likely not the brightest one within earshot). Fear not, for 'twas not all lectures; I spent a fair amount of my time going to socialize-and-enjoy sessions, sneaking into GenX stuff to hang out with Steph + other people slightly older than I, and trying out crazy local craft barley pop at Hospitality. Not sure what I'm allowed to mention beyond that. The top 2% can have fun too!
Enough nonsense for now. Fusée!
As long as it's been, I still don't have much to relay about therapy. Same old stuff: rolling around on the mat for shoulder and core strengthening, sliding back and forth for transfer practice, and the occasional day of biofeedback, plus bike/Motomed/weights on my own time. What excitement, eh?
Not sure if I already told you, so here's the high-speed primer on this "biofeedback" stuff. For the etymologists out there, it is exactly what it is called, so feel free to imagine and move on. For the rest of us, biofeedback involves wiring pairs of electrodes to muscle groups, EMG-style, and watching a graph on a computer screen while I try to activate the monitored muscles. The stronger the activation, the higher the measurement on the graph. This activity has a zillion applications, but in the neuro world, it's mostly used to see how well, if at all, a person can control certain muscles when the muscles have little to no motor function. Typically, that's anything waist-down for a para, arms-down for a quad. The results show what someone must do to get the strongest activation, where in the range of motion a muscle group is the strongest, etc. It only becomes more technical beyond that, so we're done.
NOTE: wiring up to biofeedback is not the same as wiring into the e-stim bike! Where the bike sends electricity through the electrodes to my muscles, biofeedback is the opposite, measuring the strength of the electrical impulses I'm sending from my muscles to the machine. That is, the bike zaps me, while I zap the biofeedback hardware (um, essentially).
Elsewhere...
SofC: an a is gone! The madre is ok. It's hot, even for me. Blood pressure, where are you? I'm ashamed to admit that "should've went" spilled from my oral cavity a few weeks ago. I'm AT&T's iTool for two more years, but mwa ha ha ha, I grandpa'd my way into keeping unlimited* data. Should I become a twit? Don't forget, E5, A5, E3, A3, E1, A2, E0... In a plastic cup. End!
Penultimately, last week we went to an Eric Clapton concert! Yay. The opener was Roger Daltry of The Who. I'm not a big fan, but I still thought his band did fairly well. Roger looked an amusing bit like Dr. Lima, the OMA neurosurgeon in Portugal.
Sorry, btw, no photos - I forgot my camera, and though we were close enough to see everything, it was sufficiently far and dark to render phonecam pictures unintelligible.
Clapton was excellent. He's showing his years, but not through his fingers. Like Mr. Daltry's set, I only recognized about half of Eric's stuff, but that doesn't matter. His whole band was bluestastic, and Mr. C can solo with the best. I got to experience the acoustic rendition of "Layla", so my night was complete. Who cares if I was way too young to be there.
Finally, the Mensa national/sort-of-worldwide Annual Gathering was here in Detroit last week! Err, it was technically at the Hyatt in Dearborn, but sorry folks, that's still Detroit. BTW, "Hyatt" is by far my favorite American hotel to mispronounce. Anyway, I'm not in Mensa [yet], but the padre and I were able to attend freely as guests of the Steph. It was quite awesome, though there's at least one knowitall at every session (guess what, smartypantses - if you're at a lecture with a room full of Mensans, you're very likely not the brightest one within earshot). Fear not, for 'twas not all lectures; I spent a fair amount of my time going to socialize-and-enjoy sessions, sneaking into GenX stuff to hang out with Steph + other people slightly older than I, and trying out crazy local craft barley pop at Hospitality. Not sure what I'm allowed to mention beyond that. The top 2% can have fun too!
Enough nonsense for now. Fusée!
06 July 2010
sorry, Mr. Month the Sixth
oops! Neglected the entire month of June... Romance, intrigue, desire! Actually, I've happened across none of those, but there has been plenty of busy-ness. Real update soon.
BTW, welcome, Mensan(s)! Feel free to mill around (here is a mildly entertaining midpoint at which to start) until I can crank out something recent.
Type at you again eventually, pals.
BTW, welcome, Mensan(s)! Feel free to mill around (here is a mildly entertaining midpoint at which to start) until I can crank out something recent.
Type at you again eventually, pals.
30 May 2010
gratty
Hey all! Tick tock.
Hmmm, what to talk about? My pitiful little chunks of therapy have been productive - mostly working on transfer-related (transferry? transfurry?) stuff, building up shoulder/core strength and mastering the "lift and twist" timing. This may be an overly ambitious statement, but I think that not only will I be able to sliding-board transfer on my own, but also I will do so rather soon. Suck on that one, "quads are worthless" mcdoubtydoubters.
Elsewhere, what is there to contribute? I know...
THANKS!
Because of, and only because of all of your übergenerous donations, I have been able to purchase my very own FES (e-stim) bike. AWESOME. I reiterate, thanks squared plus one to all of you, as this is an incredible bonus to my future therapeutic potential (I won't be living next to rehab forever), and there's no possible way I would be able to shell out for a bike without you guys caring so much. Did I mention that you're amazing?
Ahhh, some long-lost optimism. Dig it.
Hmmm, what to talk about? My pitiful little chunks of therapy have been productive - mostly working on transfer-related (transferry? transfurry?) stuff, building up shoulder/core strength and mastering the "lift and twist" timing. This may be an overly ambitious statement, but I think that not only will I be able to sliding-board transfer on my own, but also I will do so rather soon. Suck on that one, "quads are worthless" mcdoubtydoubters.
Elsewhere, what is there to contribute? I know...
THANKS!
Because of, and only because of all of your übergenerous donations, I have been able to purchase my very own FES (e-stim) bike. AWESOME. I reiterate, thanks squared plus one to all of you, as this is an incredible bonus to my future therapeutic potential (I won't be living next to rehab forever), and there's no possible way I would be able to shell out for a bike without you guys caring so much. Did I mention that you're amazing?
Ahhh, some long-lost optimism. Dig it.
05 May 2010
anniversaire?
Hey! Feliz Cinco de Mayo, and TWO YEARS since I started therapy up here in The Motor City. Pardon the Twitterish microblogging, but stuph (thanks ian4mer, of RHIT fame) has been hectic lately. Real updates eventually.
Rock out, says college jlink!
Rock out, says college jlink!
29 April 2010
23 April 2010
from the jlink?
Hey pals.
So, umm, it's been a bit more than a week back at the therapy grind! Weee. I prefer to keep this blog as upbeat and positive as possible, so I'll simply say that my optimism is waning, and I'm quite thoroughly dissatisfied with pretty much every facet of "therapy" days...
That's all.
So, umm, it's been a bit more than a week back at the therapy grind! Weee. I prefer to keep this blog as upbeat and positive as possible, so I'll simply say that my optimism is waning, and I'm quite thoroughly dissatisfied with pretty much every facet of "therapy" days...
That's all.
13 April 2010
14 March 2010
26 February 2010
von
Hey all!
Last week I turned in a new prescription to restart full-blown therapy at the CSCIR. I would have told you sooner, but I've been a bit on the ill end. Anyway, start the countdown.
Last week I turned in a new prescription to restart full-blown therapy at the CSCIR. I would have told you sooner, but I've been a bit on the ill end. Anyway, start the countdown.
09 February 2010
la la la
Hey! Watch me advertise.
Antsy for some fresh tunes? Check out Amazon's stash of free mp3 [aka digital/downloadable] albums. The free library covers the whole spectrum of genres, from well-known artists to "what are these noises?", with a fair dose of non-Western-culture stuff. Some "albums" are merely single-song samplers, but oh well. I downloaded everything available a few days ago (DMC internet is speedy, even if I have to go to the lounge downstairs to use it), and it turned out to be 120 albums/675 songs... Do the math to figure out the ratio of whole albums to single-songers. It looks like they rotate stuff in and out often [frequently!], so it appears to be wise to check for new'uns every few days.
To get this goodness onto your computer, just make your selections and download away; Amazon makes you install their "MP3 Downloader" tool first (and only once per computer), but it's small, easy, and a truly convenient download manager. The songs are hi-qual mp3 files without DRM, so you can play them on any computer or music player that supports the mp3 format. BTW, that's essentially any device ever made - they're so commonly called "mp3 players", after all, as the format is beyond ubiquity.
I like having hi-qual, real, physical copies of music I like, so I could never depend on a digital download store for tunes - iTunes, Amazon MP3, or otherwise. However, repositories such as Amazon's free music are pivotal to supporting musicians; if I listen to stuff and actually like a band, I will...ohmy...buy albums from them! Scary how that works, I know. That's some of the purpose of the radio, too. What a strange world, people listening to music and buying what they like.
Also BTW FYI JIC, I did pick a few albums since I was trolling for recos from you:
Charles Mingus - Mingus Plays Piano (thanks, j/a)
Aphex Twin - Ventolin [EP]
Ming + FS - Human Condition
The Postal Service - Give Up
KMFDM - Krieg
Beck - Modern Guilt
I suppose I have some listening to do. How terrible! Rock yourselves out.
Technical notes: the files from the Amazon digital coffers are MP3 format, encoded in the neighborhood of 256kbps VBR, though a few tracks are done at a constant [CBR] 256kbps. That's not quite CD-quality, but it's easily good enough for all but the snobbiest of audiophiles. Amazon's download manager is compatible with Windows (probably XP and newer) and "sufficiently recent" versions (meaning I don't know which ones) of Mac OS X. I didn't check it out, but I'm assuming Linux users are hung out to dry. Feel free to leave a comment if you can confirm/deny *nix compatibility with Amazon's downloader tool. To ballpark average file size, consider that my downloading spree ended up as follows: 675 songs; 2d 1h 34min 43sec (2:01:34:43) total time; 4.95GB total space consumed. I'll leave the dimensional analysis up to you...
Antsy for some fresh tunes? Check out Amazon's stash of free mp3 [aka digital/downloadable] albums. The free library covers the whole spectrum of genres, from well-known artists to "what are these noises?", with a fair dose of non-Western-culture stuff. Some "albums" are merely single-song samplers, but oh well. I downloaded everything available a few days ago (DMC internet is speedy, even if I have to go to the lounge downstairs to use it), and it turned out to be 120 albums/675 songs... Do the math to figure out the ratio of whole albums to single-songers. It looks like they rotate stuff in and out often [frequently!], so it appears to be wise to check for new'uns every few days.
To get this goodness onto your computer, just make your selections and download away; Amazon makes you install their "MP3 Downloader" tool first (and only once per computer), but it's small, easy, and a truly convenient download manager. The songs are hi-qual mp3 files without DRM, so you can play them on any computer or music player that supports the mp3 format. BTW, that's essentially any device ever made - they're so commonly called "mp3 players", after all, as the format is beyond ubiquity.
I like having hi-qual, real, physical copies of music I like, so I could never depend on a digital download store for tunes - iTunes, Amazon MP3, or otherwise. However, repositories such as Amazon's free music are pivotal to supporting musicians; if I listen to stuff and actually like a band, I will...ohmy...buy albums from them! Scary how that works, I know. That's some of the purpose of the radio, too. What a strange world, people listening to music and buying what they like.
Also BTW FYI JIC, I did pick a few albums since I was trolling for recos from you:
Charles Mingus - Mingus Plays Piano (thanks, j/a)
Aphex Twin - Ventolin [EP]
Ming + FS - Human Condition
The Postal Service - Give Up
KMFDM - Krieg
Beck - Modern Guilt
I suppose I have some listening to do. How terrible! Rock yourselves out.
Technical notes: the files from the Amazon digital coffers are MP3 format, encoded in the neighborhood of 256kbps VBR, though a few tracks are done at a constant [CBR] 256kbps. That's not quite CD-quality, but it's easily good enough for all but the snobbiest of audiophiles. Amazon's download manager is compatible with Windows (probably XP and newer) and "sufficiently recent" versions (meaning I don't know which ones) of Mac OS X. I didn't check it out, but I'm assuming Linux users are hung out to dry. Feel free to leave a comment if you can confirm/deny *nix compatibility with Amazon's downloader tool. To ballpark average file size, consider that my downloading spree ended up as follows: 675 songs; 2d 1h 34min 43sec (2:01:34:43) total time; 4.95GB total space consumed. I'll leave the dimensional analysis up to you...
06 February 2010
miles tone
Let's split up some posts!
As you've seen in various pictures, the old rehab locale houses a largeish track - four wide lanes, and circa 100m per lap - so last week I went back to push circles and record some mile times. Score 26:30 with the wheels on low assist; 17:00 on high. You are correct, that's not really even up to walking speed! I usually wimpily don't go that far without at least a tiny break, but it wasn't too bad rolling nonstop. The hardest part revolved [oh yes, pun intended] around remembering what lap I was on; a 100m track yields about 16 laps for one mile, which is about 15.8 laps beyond my attention span... I should write a lap-counter-and-music-controller app so I can focus on singing along with real lyrics instead of my current lap number ("Hard Day's Night" loses its appeal when it becomes "14 14 14 14").
It should be noted that these mile times were measured doing counterclockwise laps ("run fast, turn left!", according to Mr. Genta's classic track meet pep talk), and clockwise travel would likely have been slightly faster since I'm a lefty. It's a matter of linear and rotational speed/distance/work/[kinematics] that I can explain neither elegantly nor entertainingly... Ask Mr. Genta for some assistance there. Or, jarmstro.
Anyway, those are at least baselines for tracking progress. Dig it.
As you've seen in various pictures, the old rehab locale houses a largeish track - four wide lanes, and circa 100m per lap - so last week I went back to push circles and record some mile times. Score 26:30 with the wheels on low assist; 17:00 on high. You are correct, that's not really even up to walking speed! I usually wimpily don't go that far without at least a tiny break, but it wasn't too bad rolling nonstop. The hardest part revolved [oh yes, pun intended] around remembering what lap I was on; a 100m track yields about 16 laps for one mile, which is about 15.8 laps beyond my attention span... I should write a lap-counter-and-music-controller app so I can focus on singing along with real lyrics instead of my current lap number ("Hard Day's Night" loses its appeal when it becomes "14 14 14 14").
It should be noted that these mile times were measured doing counterclockwise laps ("run fast, turn left!", according to Mr. Genta's classic track meet pep talk), and clockwise travel would likely have been slightly faster since I'm a lefty. It's a matter of linear and rotational speed/distance/work/[kinematics] that I can explain neither elegantly nor entertainingly... Ask Mr. Genta for some assistance there. Or, jarmstro.
Anyway, those are at least baselines for tracking progress. Dig it.
23 January 2010
with a silent s
Hello all! One mini-pile of humdrum, coming right up.
Pseudotherapy has been good, I guess? Nothing overly exciting - same old legzapbike+armMotomed over the lunch hour, with a few sprinkles of other self-directed exercise here and there. With any luck, I'll be back to [eu-]therapy in a short while. Until then, I'm trying to maintain an intricate balance between working hard and being phenomenally lazy. Pretty rough, I know.
Elsewhere, approximately nada - wasting hours to tidy up the music collection, as my library obeys the laws of thermodynamics (the second one mostly, though I suppose it can't reach absolute zero either)...
It's time for some new albums, methinks. Any recommendations? Fire away.
Pseudotherapy has been good, I guess? Nothing overly exciting - same old legzapbike+armMotomed over the lunch hour, with a few sprinkles of other self-directed exercise here and there. With any luck, I'll be back to [eu-]therapy in a short while. Until then, I'm trying to maintain an intricate balance between working hard and being phenomenally lazy. Pretty rough, I know.
Elsewhere, approximately nada - wasting hours to tidy up the music collection, as my library obeys the laws of thermodynamics (the second one mostly, though I suppose it can't reach absolute zero either)...
It's time for some new albums, methinks. Any recommendations? Fire away.
07 January 2010
10
Ahoy! Should be PDFing paperwork; rocking some Soul Slinger, watching the snow, blogificating instead. Oh well.
As you may have gathered, I'm back in The 3-1-3 after spending a week or two in Carlinville. It was nice to be thoroughly lazy with the kitties for a bit, but it's xlnt to be back here working out again as well. A+ to the finished accessible shower at home, though - plus extra credit for constant water temperature! That's a one-up on the hydrothermal sine wave here, for sure. Anyway, posh.
Pseudo-PT is going well. I've been sticking to the leg e-stim bike and the arm bike part of the Motomed, and it's a qual workout. Like being in cville, it's nice to be relatively slacking for a short period of time, but my muscles have had copious rest time, so I'm antsy to get back to full-blast therapy.
What else? Not so sure it's wise to disclose fully one of my most drastic changes - suffice it to say that a fair load of space has been reclaimed in our suite, and Simon the cville cat got to keep one of his favorite nap spots. Mwa ha ha ha! A new page has been turned.
I suppose I should get some real work done, eh? Beware, further rambling might lead to an oh-so-riveting explanation/lecture on disk defragmentation, because I'm that exciting... Let's stay away from that sector. Har har har, nerds.
Rocket!
As you may have gathered, I'm back in The 3-1-3 after spending a week or two in Carlinville. It was nice to be thoroughly lazy with the kitties for a bit, but it's xlnt to be back here working out again as well. A+ to the finished accessible shower at home, though - plus extra credit for constant water temperature! That's a one-up on the hydrothermal sine wave here, for sure. Anyway, posh.
Pseudo-PT is going well. I've been sticking to the leg e-stim bike and the arm bike part of the Motomed, and it's a qual workout. Like being in cville, it's nice to be relatively slacking for a short period of time, but my muscles have had copious rest time, so I'm antsy to get back to full-blast therapy.
What else? Not so sure it's wise to disclose fully one of my most drastic changes - suffice it to say that a fair load of space has been reclaimed in our suite, and Simon the cville cat got to keep one of his favorite nap spots. Mwa ha ha ha! A new page has been turned.
I suppose I should get some real work done, eh? Beware, further rambling might lead to an oh-so-riveting explanation/lecture on disk defragmentation, because I'm that exciting... Let's stay away from that sector. Har har har, nerds.
Rocket!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)