The World According To Carl

Two days until Christmas.

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Three days until Christmas.

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It’s the Friday before Christmas which is less than a week away. I got my shopping done…in August! Presents shipped two weeks ago. No stressing out over Christmas here. And I’m not afraid to be politically incorrect and wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS! On top of that it’s Open Trackback Friday! It is your opportunity to share interesting blog entries from your blog by using this blog’s trackback feature. Many people, including myself enjoy reading a variety of material from other people’s blogs, so link your post to this one, send a trackback to it and it’ll appear in the comments section after I manually approve it. I still approve all comments & trackbacks manually due to spam bots so it won’t show up immediately, but I will get to it as soon as I can. I am still using myself as the ultimate spam filter but now have the aid of an excellent trackback filter. To obtain the trackback URL simply rightclick where it says “trackback” below and then click on “copy shortcut” to get it. That’s all there is to it! And thank you in advance for trackbacking to my blog. And while you’re here, please take some time to look at some articles I’ve posted. Maybe you’ll find something interesting. If you do, trackback to it as well.

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With Christmas almost here, here’s my Amazon.com wishlist.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Political Byline, Allie is Wired, DragonLady’s World, Rosemary’s News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, L.O.M.A., Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Just a short time ago, this blog just had its 90,000th hit. It was thanks to a visitor from Cordova, Tennessee. Wow!

Trackposted to Rosemary’s News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and DragonLady’s World. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Due to an unexpected change of server by this blog’s host, The World According To Carl was offline for more than a day. I didn’t know in advance that this was planned but the folks at the hosting site tell me their new, bigger server should improve things overall.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, third world county, Allie is Wired, Political Byline, Woman Honor Thyself, Walls of the City, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, L.O.M.A., Conservative Cat, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, third world county, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, Walls of the City, DragonLady’s World, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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I’ve managed to not have an Open Trackback Friday for the past two weeks but I have my reasons. Last week I was out of town recuperating from Thanksgiving dinner the day before and the Friday before that I was recuperating from thyroidectomy surgery. Heck, I almost forgot to do today’s but managed to squeak it in under the deadline. Therefore give a hearty welcome back to Open Trackback Friday! It is your opportunity to share interesting blog entries from your blog by using this blog’s trackback feature. Many people, including myself enjoy reading a variety of material from other people’s blogs, so link your post to this one, send a trackback to it and it’ll appear in the comments section after I manually approve it. I still approve all comments & trackbacks manually due to spam bots so it won’t show up immediately, but I will get to it as soon as I can. I am still using myself as the ultimate spam filter but now have the aid of an excellent trackback filter. To obtain the trackback URL simply rightclick where it says “trackback” below and then click on “copy shortcut” to get it. That’s all there is to it! And thank you in advance for trackbacking to my blog. And while you’re here, please take some time to look at some articles I’ve posted. Maybe you’ll find something interesting. If you do, trackback to it as well.

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Good news in one word: BENIGN.

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo - Wordpress, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Faultline USA, and Conservative Cat, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Just a couple of items. First, I was speaking to the physician on call last night on the telephone due to some symptoms I was worried about (he thinks I am fine) and he tells me that growths like the grapefruit-sized one they removed from by my clavicle/collarbone are usually not cancerous. That’s optimistic. He was surprised that I was able to swallow at all before the surgery.

Second, I have my post surgical followup visit tomorrow afternoon to get checked over and have some stitches removed. Supposedly, the results of the biopsies will be known then and I should have the results. I pray and hope it will be good news.

Finally, I’m now gotten off the oxocodone painkillers and am taking just regular Tylenol for the pain. I’m glad because that oxocodon was messing me up. It made my head swim and under bright lights of computer & TV monitors it made my stomach churn. Since my normal job is working on a computer, there would have been no way I could have done my job. I’m still getting physically fatiqued easily but that should ease soon enough.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Take Our Country Back, The Pink Flamingo - Wordpress, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, Democrat=Socialist, and DragonLady’s World, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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I am scheduled to undergo a surgerical procedure called a total thyroidectomy on Friday morning. A surgeon will be removing my entire thyroid due to some cold nodules growing when they aren’t supposed to. I’m already taking thyroid medication and will have to for the rest of my life. The only difference is that my dosage will increase. Also, this surgery has now become so routine that it’s now on an outpatient basis. So if things go smoothly I should be home sometime late in the afternoon or sometime early evening. If my calcium levels don’t balance out right away, they will keep me overnight but that’s about it. My surgeon recommends taking a full week off but that’s mainly because he will prescribe me a narcotic painkiller to use post surgery for the week. But that is dependent on my pain threshold. If I feel like I need it, he wants me to use it, but if I can get by using Tylenol, that’s okay, too. I don’t have to use the narcotic painkiller. And frankly, I plan on using it as little as possible. I’ve always had a fairly high pain tolerance and I think that by the time I am scheduled to go back to work on Monday, I probably will be able to get by on just regular OTC Tylenol. I do have a history of using narcotic pain meds for a much shorter time than expected. For example, when I had all my wisdom teeth out (two simply pulled — two requiring a dental chisel) I took a narcotic painkiller once when I got home and did fine without it afterwards. When I had gastic bypass surgery, I was prescribed a strong narcotic painkiller but by the time I got home after three days recuperating in the hospital, I didn’t use any of it. Even after surgery, I only used the morphine pump once and that was when I rolled over onto an incision while I was asleep. Talk about being awake instantly! However, I have talked it over with my supervisor and he assures me that it will be fine to take off as much time as I need. However the way my brain is programmed, I feel an obligation to be at work whenever possible. Even some of my co-workers think I’m a bit daft for wanting to come into work ASAP. Oh well, that’s just the way I am. My Momma and Daddy didn’t raise no slacker. I figure that maybe, just maybe, I’ll need that Monday off, but since I’l have more than two-and-a-half days to recuperate, I also figure that it’s highly likely that I won’t need the painkillers and can go to work Monday afternoon for my normal shift.

Now for the issue that does concern me. Actually, more than just a concern but a full-blown, freakout type of phobia. I have always had a phobia of needles (i.e. — belonephobia). The kind they stick you with for bloodwork, vaccinations, IVs, etc. I’ve never been able to get rid of this phobia on my own and I haven’t found anyone who can help me be rid of it. This is why I am actually writing this early Tuesday morning. I probably won’t be able to write anything the night before because I’ll be severely jittery and having all sort of anxiety attacks.

There is a good news aspect to this however. Last summer, I had to have a thyroid biopsy done. I told my doctor about my phobia and after hearing what I would have to endure during this procedure, I told him with absolutely NO uncertainty that I most likely would not be able to hold still and would be freaking out severely. After explaining to him that my phobia was HUGE, he prescribed a medical “cocktail” in pill form to start taking about 2 hours before the procedure. I did and went to the location, taking those pills all the way up to about 15 minutes before they did it. Although it made me a bit lightheaded, I really didn’t feel all that different. I couldn’t walk very straight (glad my wife was driving) but I was still scared. However when it came time to have it done, I still white knuckled the sides of the gurney, but…

The anxiety was gone. No freakin’ freakout. I was just, “Okay, get it over with.” Yeah, it stung a little and was really sore afterwards, but it’s never been a pain thing. Just something psychological that I’ve never been able to shake on my own and probably never will. It ticks me off at myself because I haven’t a clue as to why I am this way about this. My Momma has a similar phobia of needles but I’m willing to bet mine’s worse. So I don’t know if it’s somehow a genetic disposition or it rubbed off on me. Sort of a nature versus nurture thing.

The doctor that prescibed the medical “cocktail” is going to be the surgeon on this and he has prescribed the same stuff again. Now the analytical side of my brain tells me, “It’s going to work swimmingly well again” while the emotional side of my brain is going, “YAAAAH! It ain’t gonna work! It ain’t gonna work!” And I know the closer the time comes for the surgery the louder that emotional side is going to become. All this just to get the stupid IV in. But with God’s help, I’ll get through this as well. I will have to have bloodwork done post-surgery but he indicated that they will be able to give me something through the IV to help me with my phobic feelings when that time arrives. I want him to reassure me of that when I go to the pre-op consult the day before the surgery. There are chances for various complications, some of which are quite frightening, but the odds of them occurring are well less than 1% and the worse the possible complication the lower the odds. Plus, this surgeon has done this operation for 15 years and according to his nurse, he hadn’t had any complications with his patients. I pray to God I ain’t the first.

Therefore, if this blog goes on hiatus for a couple of days, you now know that it will be because I’m too doped up on painkillers to type straight. But hopefully and prayerfully, I will be back on this blog very, very soon. Most likely with an update on my condition and thoughts about the surgery. I just ask you to keep me in your prayers and thoughts.

Wednesday evening addendum: My anxiety attacks are now getting worse already. I fear I’m gonna be a complete nervous wreck come Friday morning.

I got back home at about 5pm Friday evening and slept quite a bit. Right now I’m up and writing this update but will log back off and take some pain meds and conk back out. This is sort of a good-news, bad-news, good-news situations. The good news, of course, is that I got through the surgery in fine shape and they sent me home. The bad news is that they also found a grapefruit-sized growth they didn’t initially detect hiding behind my collarbone and removed that, too. The good news on that, at least I hope it’s good news, is that the possibility that it is cancerous is very small. It’s being biopsied and the results should be back in 3-5 working days. I am praying for the best and I would appreciate your prayers and thoughts, too.

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Allie is Wired, Faultline USA, The Random Yak, Political Byline, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Leaning Straight Up, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Democrat=Socialist, L.O.M.A., and Conservative Cat. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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The FAO Schwartz online store is currently offering custom muppets which you can design online for only $90. Or you can order the Muppet Whatnot design kit for only $130. Here’s a couple I designed online just for fun (no, I didn’t order any).

Trackposted to Allie is Wired, Faultline USA, Woman Honor Thyself, Walls of the City, Shadowscope, Rosemary’s News and Ideas, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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“The World According To Carl” wishes to thank all United States veterans for doing what it takes to protect the freedoms we U.S. citizens enjoy. I salute all of you and greatly appreciate what you are doing and have done in service to our great nation. Major kudos to all of you!

Trackposted to Take Our Country Back, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Faultline USA, third world county, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, Rosemary’s News and Ideas, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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As a youth, I was a voracious reader. My parents and grandparents all encouraged me to read at an early age and I obliged. I was reading well ahead of my age level as a kid all the way to early adulthood. While growing up, it would not be at all surprising for me to spend an entire weekend reading books. My great-aunt was the head librarian in Wayne County and I spent many days there. I even did Boy Scout projects centered on the local Public Library (the only one in our rural county). I saved my allowance to buy books at used bookstores, garage sales, flea markets and anyplace else they were sold cheaply so I could get the most from my money. Once, when I was in elementary school, my teacher encouraged reading by making a bookworm made from oval cut from colored construction paper. For each book, we got to pick an oval, have our name put on it and it was added to the bookworm lining the wall. At the end of the semester, if we read a predetermined amount of books we got a party. If we had the most books read of all the classes in our grade level, our party got bigger. And the person who read the most books got a special prize. My class’ bookworm went around the room multiple times and my name was on their the most of any student in any class in any grade level. It wasn’t that I wanted the party or the special prize, this was the way I read normally.

Anyway, I read many books by many authors in many different genres. I read books by Ray Bradbury, James Michener, Kenneth Robeson, Isaac Asimov, and countless others. However my favorite author was, and still is, Louis L’Amour. His speciality was westerns and historical fiction. For some reason, his writing hooked me and I tried to get any and all books he wrote. Over time I amassed quite a collection and wouldn’t throw out or get rid of any of his books after reading them. I re-read many of them over the years. Needless to say, he was my favorite author back then.

Unfortunately, after I graduated from college, got married (to a woman who is also a voracious reader) and entered the real world (getting jobs, paying bills, and all the mess that goes with it), I lost the spare time I had to read. Over the subsequent years, my reading for pleasure decreased to almost a standstill. Sad, yet true.

In the fall of 2007, I got a new job with regular hours on normal workdays so I started having more free time. For quite a while, my wife and I spent our weekends going places locally we couldn’t do because for the prior ten years I worked weekends. And my reading increased. At first it was my Bible and Christian publications by authors such as Charles Swindoll, J. Vernon McGee and others. But a month ago, as I was going through some boxes, I came across one of my old Louis L’Amour westerns. My great-aunt and my grandmothers instilled in me a propensity to keep books in as good of a condition that I could. I followed their advice and even stored my preferred books in non-acidic book bags/sleeves. Most of the hundreds and hundreds of books I kept after college still remain, but have been in boxes for many years. Fortunately my habit of keeping them in those non-acidic book bags/sleeves paid off because that Louis L’Amour western was in great shape even though the paperback is over 35 years old. That particular Louis L’Amour western, “The Iron Marshal”, reminded me of how much I enjoyed his work. That led me to read another of his books. Then another. And another. It’s been a month and I’ve reread at least a half dozen of those old books that I originally purchased when I was a kid. My love of his westerns has been reignited. One thing that is a bit strange is that I’ve tried reading westerns by other authors such as Zane Grey but never could get drawn into the stories like I could with Louis L’Amour’s writing. Don’t know why nor do I care to try to analyze it. I just enjoy them and that’s fine with me.

I’m catching up in reading my Louis L’Amour collection and have since picked up more of his books I didn’t have before. I recommend his books for all ages and encourage reading as well. Why not try a Louis L’Amour western?

Trackposted to Rosemary’s Thoughts, Take Our Country Back, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, McCain Blogs, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, and Right Voices. Also, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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It’s halloween. Getting ready to pass out sugary goodness to the kiddies. That’ll make dentists happy and in business. So I guess I’m doing my part to stimulate the economy by support the dental professionals out there. So this makes a special Halloween Open Trackback Friday! It is your opportunity to share interesting blog entries from your blog by using this blog’s trackback feature. Many people, including myself enjoy reading a variety of material from other people’s blogs, so link your post to this one, send a trackback to it and it’ll appear in the comments section after I manually approve it. I still approve all comments & trackbacks manually due to spam bots so it won’t show up immediately, but I will get to it as soon as I can. I am still using myself as the ultimate spam filter but now have the aid of an excellent trackback filter. To obtain the trackback URL simply rightclick where it says “trackback” below and then click on “copy shortcut” to get it. That’s all there is to it! And thank you in advance for trackbacking to my blog. And while you’re here, please take some time to look at some articles I’ve posted. Maybe you’ll find something interesting. If you do, trackback to it as well.

This entry was filed under General, LinkFests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site. Rightclick on trackback and click on copy shortcut.