October 2003 Archives

I'm not going to evangelize. Or swoon over the new "Panther" release. All I'm going to do is make one simple prediction. You see, a good 50% of the Mac users out there just aren't ready for features as powerful as "Filevault". Filevault is Apple's marketing word for a 128-bit encryption option in Panther. It automatically encrypts and de-crypts every file in a user's "home" directory on the fly. Very cool. Very powerful.

But when you see this:

All yoIu can think of is this post from YouWho?.

In a nutshell, I predict that many Mac users are going to lose their life's work into the encryption abyss, and will bitch mercilessly about it. They will accuse Apple of abandoning the "Mac-dom" of Mac OS6 by turning away from a super-user-friendly UI and towards more modern and powerful features. Don't get me wrong, I personally will use this feature just to keep my AIM logs from ever being turned into a book.

Things are looking encouraging. CPK levels are back to normal. This could be either a) a result of my complete inactivity for the past few weeks, or b) an indication that the whole thing was viral and that I am better.

This is being put to the test: I have four days in which to get "back into the routine"... I'm not going back to karate again (yet), but will work out in steady increments for the next three days. Then, on Monday, the test the CPK again. If its still normal, I am in the clear. If it is not... well, then back to square one.

For those of you who haven't been regular readers, I'm talking about this.

I've been searching through ninety-two thousand words of self-generated text looking for typos, grammatical slip-ups, and poor punctuation. En-dashes that should be em-dashes, improperly constructed quotations, etc.

My Langenscheidt's is about to fall apart, and the exercise is tedious, but it's a fundamental and necessary step when publishing a book. Look for more information coming soon on DrStowel.com as I start to shift my energy into promotions and marketing for my very own incarnation of the Great American Novel.

The only review that exists so far is a post on YouWho. That will change, however, as my writer's hat comes off and I don my campaigner's cap.

No, no, no... not that kind of muscles.

Although I'm starting to wonder if that's what I'll end up looking like, once treatment begins and I have to start taking prednisone to ward off muscle degeneration. You know, prednisone — the same drug that made Jerry Lewis puff up like a french pastry.

The initial diagnosis is in fact Myocitis. Great. I'll hold out a little bit of hope until I have my second opinion at the Lahey Clinic, but everyone seems pretty convinced. In the meantime, it's a juggling act of trying to remain positive, trying to learn as much as possible about this disease, and trying to keep my wife sane through it all. They tell me it's not serious, and then at the same time I get ann emergency referral to the Lahey Clinic in under a day. I wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on.

I checked myself into the Hospital today. It seems that, three weeks ago, what I thought was "overdoing it" was actually the symptom of something deeper. They don't know what yet, only that I have an extremely elevated level of a certain chemical (CPK) in my blood. That chemical is the result of damaged muscle cells, and I don't have any reason why my muscles should be damaged.

[update: they suspect that it is Polymyositis but more tests are required to determine this]

The reason that I am in the hospital is that this chemical is harmful to my Kidneys (which I am fond of), and so I have to sit in a hospital bed hooked up to fluids while they figure what the cause is.

So basically my work week is no different than usual; I'm sitting in an unfamiliar room working on my laptop. It's not unlike a hotel, and the check-in process (via the ER) was no better or worse than the average jaunt through the airport. Consider the below comparison:

AIRPORT: Make you stand up in line

ER: You get to sit down

AIRPORT: They assume you are a terrorist and ask you questions like "has anyone put a bomb in your suitcase?"*

ER: They assume you are dying and ask you questions like "does it hurt when I push here?"

* They don't actually ask this anymore.

AIRPORT: They make you take off your shoes.

ER: They give you a pair of slippers to wear.

AIRPORT: If you need anything, you have to wait in line and (probably) pay for it.

ER: If you need anything you push a button and they bring things to you, but your Insurance pays for it.

HOTEL: Carpeted rooms

HOSPITAL: Cement floors, but free slippers

HOTEL: Room Service until 11pm

HOSPITAL: Room Service only from 6:30 - 6:30

HOTEL: Room Service will bring you cocktails.

HOSPITAL: No cocktails, but you might get a free pill in a cup.

HOTEL: Concierge carries your luggage, expects a tip.

HOSPITAL: They carry your stuff and they also push you around in a wheelchair. No tip required.

HOTEL: High Speed internet is almost always available.

HOSPITAL: No Internet, no cell phones.

HOTEL: Pee in a toilet, whenever you want to.

HOSPITAL: Pee into tupperware. Often on demand.

I haven't been in a hospital since the fourth grade, so i was particularly amazed that they have room service. Room Service? Come on! Whatever happened to wooden meat-loaf and Jell-O? If the doctors aren't good enough to dictate my diet to me with an iron fist, then I don't have much faith that they will be able to solve this muscle-mystery.

But regardless, all in all, this is turning into a rather productive setback. If only I got credit towards my Hilton HHonors, because the bill for this stay is gong to be a LOT more than $89 a night.

I'm in memphis. Haven't seen Elvis yet. But it's inevitable.

On a different, I am nearly ready to submit my final manuscript to the publisher. The deadline is Oct. 20, which I should be able to make easily. See the web site for more details.

This week I'm in Orlando. It is overcast and has been raining on-and-off. Too bad I sprung the extra $10 to upgrade to a convertable. That's just my luck.

On another note, I went to FAO Shwartz on International Blvd. (the "can't afford Disney" strip) and was surprised to see a stuffed replica of one of my co-workers.