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Reliability – What a Concept
It can be built into software systems. Just look at the primitive computer that prevented the Apollo 11 lander from crashing into the surface of the moon, or any of the plethora of real-time systems running critical ops of all sorts where failure is not an option. But those programs all had the financial and power-broker support necessary to get it done.
The problem with software in this respect is simple: People. There are lots of flaky, fundamentally unreliable people out there. Software is a real crapshoot when ordinary buttheads start generating code sans the proper resources and oversight. A government job to program voting machines? Seriously? Good luck with that.
FUD USA
Still can’t determine if the FUD factor (fear, uncertainty & doubt) is a generally good or bad thing with this Trump administration. I guess it’s fairly innocuous to intelligent people, so from a long view, probably an evolutionary plus. Only the incorrigibly stupid are really affected by it:
Not 1 single verifiable scientific fact.
At least they’ve recently shown inclination to expand the research grows from nothing but Mississippi ditch weed.
Just What I Needed III
Three outcomes from my January Hip Surgery:
- New left hip.
- New L4-5 annulus tear.
- End of my patient role relationship with anybody wielding a knife.
It now seems unlikely I will be passing through the doors of a VA facility much ever again. Maybe the occasional flu shot. It is quite likely and my solemn intent, the next time a surgeon gets anywhere near me with a scalpel, will be too soon.
Study finds medical malpractice claims most often associated with orthopedic surgery.
They somehow managed to roll in all three top contenders on me:
Probably not the last word on this, but here’s the neurology wrap-up in a feedback survey returned to Front Range Orthopedics, at their request:
“Thanks for the update on how low back pain affects millions and there’s not much we can do about it. But I was only there about the L4-5 annulus tear. I understand how orthopedic surgery is the biggest malpractice generator in the business, so no need to cover for your buddies. Regardless, please document with the VA or Tricare, however that interface works, if at all, your specific diagnoses calling for conservative treatment only WRT the annulus tear. I will be following up in the coming weeks to ensure that communication is being properly conducted.”
Then I find stuff like this. Guess I’ll be on the quest for a 2nd opinion now…
Play Ball!
It’s my favorite time of year once again folks. Temps are beginning to cool and I have plenty of footballs and volleyballs flying around on TV screens to keep me occupied. Steelers are 3-0 on the pre-season, with Denver 0-3, so football’s looking likely to be a mixed bag again this season. Francie’s 1st match is Friday, with the new schedule posted here.
The "Wired" Internet
Stumbled across an article in Wired magazine where the author made the following statement: “The Internet is becoming a low-trust society, where an assumption of pervasive fraud is built in to the way things function.” How naive. Anyone who was paying attention at the beginning never trusted it in the 1st place. Just goes to show how generational knowledge fails to evolve.
Please allow me to correct the author’s thinking. “A low-trust society has built widespread public electronic communications infrastructure without security.” I have a newsflash for some of these Internet pundits: The “Internet” is merely a reflection of the people using it. The Internet is not the problem, society is not the problem and the Internet is not a society. I did not even continue reading the article after I saw the summary line.
The Internet is no different in this respect than many other tools used by dishonest and criminal elements to further their pursuits. Mass shooting? Guns bad. Cyber fraud? Internet bad. Check your logic. The typical underlying problem in the Internet’s case was the rush to capitalize and worry about the details later. In the meantime, lower-tier capitalists were building their scam and fraud empires. Good luck with that.
"I Don't Wanna Waste Your Co-Pay"
…said the 20-something blue-jeans-clad office assistant, upon determining they did not have access to my imaging, rendering my appearance at the neurologists office yesterday morning moot. Thanks for not wasting my money. I think. I was a bit surprised, since making a point to specifically ask about that, to which a VA staffer informed me “…sure, but they may want to do their own imaging.” Apparently, a wasted appointment is needed to make that determination. I bet they collect alot of copays that way.
What was all that nonsense I’ve been hearing about universal electronic healthcare records sharing? Oh right – this is 2019 and the sharing part is still sneaker-net. Oddly, a request for new imaging was denied, even with blanket insurance authorization and credit card in hand. I’m taking bets on what the next obstacle blocking my quest for treatment will be. I’m guessing their software will not read the CDROM handed to me by a VA staffer an hour later. I’ve got to stop thinking it’s not possible to be jerked around any more than I already have been with this hip operation fiasco.
Software Development
Just What I Needed II
It took waaaaay more time and effort to push this through the system than I’ve ever encountered before. The final tally was 2 IRIS complaints, 2 helpdesk complaints, 3 calls to the neurology scheduler, 3 calls to the nurses, confrontational appointments with a PA and 2 different orthopedic surgeons, and ultimately, a talk with Tom Martino on his radio talk show. I am dead fucking serious about all that. We could even include a couple of confrontational interactions with PT back in January-February if you want to go back that far. Not even mentioning the written communication. The last 3 paragraphs of a letter to Dr. Park are given below for your reading pleasure. I have no idea what one or combination of those things got this moving again, but here’s the latest entry from my symptoms log:
15 AUG 19: Managed to get an appointment with a spine doctor in Longmont next week. Been wondering how much worse PT made this from what they did to me back in Jan-Feb. It’s definitely getting worse, not better now. Rolling knots out of both glutes every night. Entire lower torso, hips and thighs in continuous, chronic strain. Any standing or walking causes increasing tightening in the erectors, glutes and obliques. Getting winded with minor exertion. Radiating ache from right side of L4-5 accompanied with sharp jabs on bending/twisting. Glutes are just about out of commission. Blood pressure still elevated – since January.
The insomnia with this is different than earlier bouts, waking from pain or inability to fall asleep. Falling asleep is no problem. Lying prone is the only time the primary muscle tensing symptoms subside. Even just sitting is a bit uncomfortable. Then, if the dogs bark or I get up to pee at 4am, there’s no going back to sleep, because any meds are worn off and the dull ache from L4-5 I don’t notice much throughout the day becomes emergent.
I clocked 180 over something the 2nd night in the hospital when they started withholding pain med, as usual. Of course I didn’t realize it at the time, but the burning sensation running up and down my spine had nothing to do with the new hip. That BP is just another clear symptom of the body’s auto-protect for an injury like this. Coming up on 8 months since they broke my back. Wonder if anybody besides Dr. Park has seen this letter sent to him in June, following the 1st formal complaint.
-snip –
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Unhealthy Dynamics
Disruptive Meeting
So I was invited to a United Power dog and pony show to receive indoctrination on the new demand rate electricity pricing scheme. It didn’t go well. The prevalent corporate attitude seems to be Solar is bad and battery storage is not a priority. All these people seemed to want to do was argue about why their bill is too high and who is going to pay how much for electricity. I left them with a couple things to think about before the fisticuffs started.
It doesn’t take a big leap of faith to speculate on the background of this monumental scam. Most of the board members and other high-ranking cooperative people are business owner-operators in the local community – businesses operating primarily during the week in daylight hours. What better way to minimize the impact of increasing electricity prices on themselves? Should make for some interesting conversation when questions about conflict of interest come up at the right/wrong places/times.
Truck Fits
But only just. I was close to starting the deck railing project when we noticed the dogs had been busy digging under there again. By the time we got the junk cleared out it was apparent that wasn’t the only issue. Subsidence had created a negative grade situation, with runoff pooling in 2 different spots. I almost forgot how hard it was moving dirt by hand. I’d say probably about as hard as going through hip replacement rehab with a fresh back injury – that is to say, at least in my case here, excruciating.
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I staked down some chain link under there to prevent further canine modifications. I also ended up spending the better part of 2 weeks re-laying a good portion of the patio stones due to ant undermining. I mixed in plenty of ant poison underneath everything hoping to avoid doing it again. I doubt I’ll have it in me, even at the slow pace I’m on these days.
Digital Resource Lifespan
Interesting observation from somebody considered technically literate:
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Perhaps the author overlooks the viability of open-source code and local storage. Of course nobody can download the entire Internet, nor would they want to, as the lion’s share of it is just crap purveyed by political pundits, pornographers, media outlets, and social media morons. But it definitely IS possible to easily and effectively preserve the stuff you need and use, practically speaking.
Summer Pixelation
The original Pixel camera was a real game-changer a few years ago. I don’t know how they do it, but they just keep getting better and better. I skipped the Pixel 2, vowing to never again become one of the bleeding-edge early-adopters, preferring to allow others to sort out the bugs. But a half-price sale on the Fi birthday convinced me to try the 3, and all I can say is wow. The 4 will be out later this year, but I WILL NOT BUY IT – keeping my tech thirst on the odd-only versions at most.
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Those last 2 sunset shots are a nitesite comparo, and I’m not really sure what to make of it. Nightsight is a new camera feature that somehow brings out much better detail in low light. But it also apparently alters the color balance in dramatic fashion. Can you tell which is which? Hmmm.
T-Birds 2019
Took a few days getting around to the pics from a little outing to Cheyenne last week for the annual Thunderbirds show. They changed up the format this year, with the show actually being held on base. FE Warren is like walking into a huge open-air museum from the 1880’s. It began as an army outpost in the Indian war era , still contains much of the original construction, and is a National Historic Landmark or some such official designation. Worked out great for me, not so good for the crowds arriving late after they closed the gate. Found a nice big cottonwood tree to sit under out behind the officer’s quarters, and still finding Steeler fans everywhere I go.
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Just What I Needed
Saw Dr. Brinkis, from the (now) 2-person surgical team, including Dr. Sylvestri as the current chief of ECHCS orthopedics and man who fixed my shoulder 3 years ago. Exactly what happened or why was not going to be discussed, except to say that Dr. Park no longer works there – not that he ever really did, as one of the contractors currently doing half the orthopedic surgery at the new hospital here.
As expected, apart from some tests, VA cannot accommodate any further treatment in a timely manner, so I’m being sent off into the civilian medical community to see a spine doctor. This was the last thing I needed, considering spinal issues already constituted the biggest problems in my disability situation. Now there’s a new problem there, and I just hope this new injury isn’t bad enough they need to go in and clean it up.
Still can’t believe I spent the last 6 months telling every VA staffer I encountered from the physical therapist, to the physician assistant to primary care to the surgeon himself, how badly I was doing in vivid detail, and every single one of them sent me away saying or implying there was nothing wrong with me. Perhaps disregarding Dr. Sluder’s April referral offer was unwise, but that was at the time I was still under the delusion of normality being instilled in me with comforting reassurances like “sometimes it just takes longer to get over an operation.” As it turns out, things eventually crystallize with an untreated back injury like this.