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Paul's Journal

paul
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09/11/2007 14:15 #41051

Don't cough
Category: health
I just got another physical where I didn't remove any clothing. The doctor was having some sort of emergency with his wife, and his kids were there.

By looking at me, he was able to determine that I was healthy. I am so over this primary care doctor bullshit.
mike - 09/11/07 20:33
that is the kind of physical I like. Like what is the point of getting height and weight after you are no longer a kid. You can get the gist by looking at a person. I never really saw the need for all th etheatrics of a physical. If you generally feel healthy then you prolly are or wahtever is secretly ailing you prolly won't show up> More the blood tests and stuff that are important I would say.
jenks - 09/11/07 19:32
I forgot to say- the HISTORY is more important than the physical (most of the time), so I hope he at least talked to you. I find that's what makes me like a doc or not. Even if they don't lay hands on me, if they listen and are nice and I feel like they understand, then I trust them.
But if he barely speaks english and acts like he's way too busy to be bothered... then he sucks.
jenks - 09/11/07 19:30
haha, that's my kind of physical!
The only benefit to taking off your shirt is that he can see moles and stuff- and if you're worried about that, you go to a dermatologist. As far as turn your heard and cough- if you have a hernia and it doesn't bother you, who cares- it doesn't need to be fixed! If it bugs you, you'll get it checked out, and he'll look.
You can tell you're not obese just by looking at you, so weight doesn't really matter. Height doesn't matter. What else is there to do? Check the pulses in your feet? I'm sure they're fine. And now that you've watched James' video, you can do your testicular exam yourself!

Basically, 30 year olds who feel fine, are healthy. And medicine has gotten to the point that the physical exam doesn't tell us much- on an asymptomatic person, at least. If you have a cough, or your stomach hurts, it's a different story, and we'll zoom in that. But if you come in for a routine checkup, and you don't have any complaints- they will say 'healthy 30 yo man. No complaints. Blood pressure within normal limits. No heart murmur. Lungs clear. Abdomen soft.' Maybe they'll draw some blood, maybe not.

The sad thing is- I'm kind of serious. (which is why I'm not in primary care- ha!)

I know what you're saying though... it feels like a rip-off. You want to feel like your doctor actually did something. Actually MADE SURE there's no weird freaky disease there. It's not very reassuring.

I felt so badly for my patients yesterday... as usual we were totally backed up... people were waiting hours to see us- just to be told 'yup, your CT scan was fine. Come back next year". They were like 'I waited 3 hours for THAT? Couldn't you tell me that over the phone?"

sorry. i'm rambling.

But if it's any reassurance, I'm sure you're fine. (And I can tell that without even seeing you in person! ;) )
paul - 09/11/07 15:29
This one didn't even bother weighing me or getting my height.
janelle - 09/11/07 14:35
Ha! I had the opposite problem. Too much attention. I went in for a Hepatitis A shot and the doctor tried to give me like 5 fricking other vaccinations. I managed to get out of there with only agreeing to one additional vaccination. *roll eyes*

09/11/2007 00:01 #41045

Steve Kurtz and Strange Culture, Buffalo
Category: art
I went to go see the Steve Kurtz documentary called Strange Culture on Saturday with (e:holly). I felt bad for him. I still think (e:paul,30948) he made some bad choice at a bad time.

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I mean I support the freedom of expression in art through the use of biotechnolgy, and I especially support their project testing organic foods for GMO content, but I still think it would have been a lot more legit, if he did the science stuff at school instead of at his home. It would have been so much less suspicious in such over suspect filled times.

It's not that he would have had to censor the project so much as make the production more public, like in a lab at school. That way he probably would have been able to continue his work and spread his message further instead of having been dragged though all this drama.

It is so ridiculous what he government has put him through at this point. You can read all about it here

Afterwards, we went to the Squeaky wheel animation festival. It was outdoors and involved a theremin.

Here they are setting up on Main next to Squeaky Wheel.
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Here it was in at night while th film was running. I tookt his with a long exposure.
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fellyconnelly - 09/11/07 09:48
i read about this guy just the other day... absolutely crazy what they did to him at such a horrible time in his life... scary to think about how much that they can get away with.

09/09/2007 12:37 #41018

Buffalo, NY Pictures
Category: buffalo
So this journal is just the "leftover" pics from my camera while taking pictures around the city this weekend.

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Has anyone been to the North Bar on North in the Lenox Hotel yet?
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The skaters in the park on North are always skating.
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What is the deal with these empty pipes. Are they just cheaper than fill? Do they make it bouncy. I am pretty sure this place is becomming a playground.
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Has anyone ever seen potato bugs congregate. Here there were hundreds of them. I wish I could have gotten a better pic of all of them, but the flash scared them away. I didn't realize that they did big groups.
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They got the sept 11th flags out at the red cross center as tribtue to the victims of the world trade center terrorist attacks.
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No comment.
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This "tough guy" actually stopped in the middle of the intersection to flex. I wish I could have gotten that on camera, he looked redic.
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We went to FWS to get sme fabric for re-apolstry.
(e:matthew) is testing it out here
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Normally, I don't like blue balls, but these ones were really cute.
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As were the fluffy brown ones
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I saw this trash outside a house at summer and elmwood. I didn't think you were allowed to put trash out all strewn around like that.
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Is seems so weird to have the big iron fence at the psyche center. Who is is making feel safe, them or the people outside. Seeing as the gate is just open, it serves no real purpose, why not just remove it along with that gothic monstrocity - the Richardson complex. I say blow that creepy thing the fuck up. It is the one thing that I am definately not interested in preserving. What is it, a monument to cruelty?
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This picture drew my attention so I took a pic of the picture hanging on the wall at underground - which I might add is really lame now. We paid a 3 dollar cover for a not so packed bar. At least (e:jim) and I got to dance a little bit. I would suggest never eating fish with white wine, drinking a chocolate martini and then dancing.

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(e:jim) and (e:james) and (e:terry) hugged the biggest tree on the way home.
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The next morning some people int he driveway for the church next door were freaking out about something they wanted to hit with a shovel. I think it was some animal that got in the church that they were afraid of. Maybe a squirrel.
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tinypliny - 09/09/07 13:52
Where are the huge pipes? Also, are the brown and blue balls Christmas tree decorations? Why are you buying them so early?
leetee - 09/09/07 12:54
oh, i love that gianormous tree on Franklin. I was so happy to see it still standing after the "October surprise" last year. Or is that just because (e:Terry), (e:Jim) and (e:James) are holding it up?

I think the Richardson complex is creepy in a good way. Of course, i love goth things, though, so maybe i am not the best judge on that. Doesn't excuse anything that may have gone on in there, though... but i can't think that any psyc facility that is as old as that one is that doesn't have a tainted history.
janelle - 09/09/07 12:52
I actually like old pscyh hospitals and MR institution buildings and hate to see them torn down. The outside facade that is so overwhelming, powerful and a little scary is a physical representation of the experiences of the people who resided within. There are societies that exist to preserve these old state institutions. I do like them to be preserved as a monument to cruelty. Sort of a "those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it" kind of thing. I can tell you stories from people who have lived in state hospitals and I hate for people to ever forget just what a bad idea they were.

09/09/2007 12:10 #41015

Foods, the good and the bad
Category: food
The Winner - Ambrosia's Calamari on Elmwood
The winner is definately, the Calamari at Ambrosia. It is my favorite in the city and I have eaten just about every ethnic style and variety of calamari.

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The Loser - Zhang's Chinese Buffet on Union
One of my co-workers suggested we all go to Zhang's Chinese Buffet on Union in Cheektowaga. I would give the place a 10 out of 10 for presentation and selection and about a 0.6/10 for food quality. To me it tasted so disgusting, which is weird because it looked so good. (e:enknot) would not even touch his food. (e:jim,40968) got a pic of the wall decoration of a cat, made of cat hair - in a chinese restaurant - a little creepy.

They have this fancy floor to ceiling fountain wall, chandelier, and tons of food choices, every one of which I tried was bad.

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This dumpling looked delicious but the red bean paste inside was really sub par.
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I tried some vegtables, which I might add, they had very few of compared to their extreme meat selection.
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Here is another plate, (e:enknot)'s maybe? THe bacon wrapped fake crab looked lik it would be good but I can tell you it wasn't and that is as a seafood and bacon affectionado. It actually made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
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Kuni's - The runner up
(e:mrdeadlier) loved Zhang's for some reason - I think it was because you could eat an endless amount of sushi. I really did not like the Sushi. The next day, even wanted to go back but instead I convinved him that we should get he bento box at Kunis, which was as usual - extremely delicious.

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What are these things, are they waterchesnuts or lotus roots?
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mrdeadlier - 09/19/07 20:26
Don't be a hater. Mediocre endless sushi beats out "one and done" every time. ;)
james - 09/09/07 18:17
Those are lotus root. I have tried cooking the damn things at least 20 times. Boil, broiled, grilled, no matter how I do them they are still hard as a rock.
tinypliny - 09/09/07 13:50
Those do look like lotus roots. They are yummy when dipped in yoghurt, dried and then shallow fried. I miss them. :(
leetee - 09/09/07 13:12
i like Zhang's... then again, i usually get stuff made to order at the stir fry grill. That way, i can get all kinds of veg. And i like the miso soup.
libertad - 09/09/07 12:18
that might not make sense unless you saw my journal :::link:::
libertad - 09/09/07 12:17
Did you come to my house just to vomit on my bed after eating this?

09/05/2007 20:15 #40959

[age] => 30.6202
Category: work
Oh my freakin' god. Today was such a great work and programming day. First, we had our man shower for (e:enknot). At least that is what my co-worker called it.

(e:enknot) and I hooked up our new fancy user server program to our new programs, (e:jim) presented some fun MVC stuff at our team meeting and I did some crazy ass javascripting with surebert.

Work is just fun recently as we are all kind of vibing off each other.

Getting Old In Fractions
Then when (e:enknot) and I were testing serving users off the user server I was examining the packets and realized that I was 30.6202 years old! That is closer to 31.00 years old. Oh how time flies. It seems like only yesterday I turned 30.00 years old. We should set retirement timers.
jason - 09/06/07 15:53
Cool. I wish we had more time here to explore some of the frameworks available - it would be really, really useful in our web apps. Sadly, we do not have the resources to do R&D AND do all of the production for the week. Kind of have to sneak it in.
mrdeadlier - 09/06/07 08:26
yeah, "man shower" was probably *the* worst term i could have used.