CrabAppleLane Blog II

X-Ray Technician: Right knee? Left Knee?
Me: Both knees and right elbow.
X-Ray Technician: Falling apart? Accident?
Me: Falling apart.

The good news from Tuesday's visit is that the x-rays were pretty encouraging. My knees haven't changed much in the last three years. The bad news is one of the more promising treatment options may not be covered by our insurance. I think I know what this is about, though. The old saying goes "you can pay me now or pay me later". If the insurance company chooses the cheaper "pay me now" option, they pay for it. If they choose the much more expensive "pay me later" option, your next health plan or the one after that will pay for it. The insurance companies know that most people are switching plans every year or two because their health insurance premiums are partially paid by their employers and their employers are constantly switching plans to lower their premiums. It's a circle but I wouldn't call it vicious.

5 song iTunes shuffle:

1. Tom Sawyer - Rush - Moving Pictures
2. Heart Of Gold - Neil Young - Harvest
3. You're All I've Got Tonight - The Cars - The Cars
4. Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
5. Baby Blue - Badfinger - The Very Best Of Badfinger

Quote of the Day

Landlords in Britain's capital are evicting tenants so they can cash in on this summer's Olympic Games by charging tourists many times the usual rent.

Marian Smith, msnbc.com

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "SUPARTZ may be the right treatment for you if: 1) Your knee pain is due to osteoarthritis"

Some TV ...

Five years of Chuck ended on a bittersweet note Friday night. Patsy and I are big fans of the show. I'm sorry to see it go but it really did run out of steam towards the end. The first couple of seasons were very funny, very warm. The Chuck character was so much more fun to watch when he was geeky and insecure and trying to get the girl who was way out of his league. Confident, gun-toting Chuck wasn't as much fun. It was a great show for a while, though. By the end, it was just a good show.

Some personal stuff ...

Spent most of the day yesterday furniture shopping for our living room. We're getting more and more discouraged and disgusted with that process every day. Some of the online reviews we've read of the brands and products we're considering have been so overwhelmingly negative that I have to believe there is something to them. Our last buying experience in this area was also negative so our insecurity is just mounting while our current furniture continues to annoy us ... and continues to kill my knees and back. My $99 desk chair is the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house.

Speaking of knees, my left arthritic knee is in a bad way. Swollen and painful. I didn't contribute to this list of potential symptoms but I could have. I have them all. Tramping all over several furniture stores yesterday didn't help. I'll be seeing my orthopedist this week about them. Hopefully, all I need is a dose of cortisone. My right non-arthritic knee is sore mostly from compensating, I think. As I've said here a few times, there is little doubt in my mind that knee replacement surgery is in my future but I want to postpone it for as long as possible.

Some silly stuff ...

I unknowingly observed the "Twitter Blackout" yesterday.

I wonder how John Kerry got my email address. One paragraph sums up the gist of it:

We know all too well what’s coming. Republicans will attack, assail and lie to destroy President Obama and usher in one-party rule. If the thought of President Gingrich leading a GOP Congress scares you beyond belief, then I’m asking for your urgent help.

Says here a Gingrich-Obama election would have more people voting against one guy than voting for the other.

And some football stuff ...

The smart money says the Indianapolis Colts will be releasing Peyton Manning in the not-too-distant future. He'll have quite a few interested suitors and he'll command a sizable contract even though no one really knows if he'll ever be healthy enough to play again. Good Luck, Peyton ... and please stay in the AFC.

I will not watch the Pro Bowl today. If one of my favorite players gets hurt, I don't want to see it. Two of the Saints All-Pros, Carl Nicks and Drew Brees, don't even have a contract for next year. They'd better be careful. Brees dislocated his elbow in this game one year.

Finally, some CrabAppleLane Sunday stuff ...

I offer three from the backyard on this gorgeous CrabAppleLane Sunday.

CrabAppleLane Trail - January 29, 2012 – Needle bed coming along

CrabAppleLane Trail - January 29, 2012 – From the worm’s perspective

CrabAppleLane Backyard - January 29, 2012 – Nothing but blue skies

5 song iTunes shuffle:

1. Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks, 1964-1971
2. Make It Last - Montrose - Montrose
3. All Over You - Live - Throwing Copper
4. Stargazer - Rainbow - Rising
5. Crossroads - Ry Cooder - Crossroads

Quote of the Day

She really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
Yeah, she really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Warren Zevon - Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me

Blog of the day is here.

Quote from said blog: "I didn't ask my mother to buy me a trumpet or violin. I started right on the water hose."