Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Got to the ENT and then had all hopes of having a useful day shattered with a single sentence: “Well, we’re going to give you a neck brace to wear for the next 24 hours to keep your head from moving too much…”

Ugh.

it turns out I have classic Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, or BPPV. Basically some of the little calcium carbonate crystals that are supposed to stay in one place in the ear got out and are wreaking havoc with the innards of my ear, causing the vertigo. So we did a series of slow movements to shake the little things back to where they’re supposed to be, and then they laid the collar on me and sent me home. Well, after paying the co-pay and for the collar they sent me home. Strict instructions not to move the head quickly, no looking down, keep it upright, sleep propped up tonight, etc. Which then meant no going shopping as I’d hoped (holiday sales!), and no laundry or other housework. So, after that I basically bummed around on the Xbox all day, since I can do that and keep my head upright pretty easily. Beat Half-Life 2 and started in on Assassin’s Creed. Fun.

The treatment we did is something like 80% effective with one treatment, so in another week we should know if I have to go back in for a repeat or if we got them all knocked back with the first one. No real cause to pinpoint (no head trauma), and while it’s more likely to recur than not, most cases won’t recur with a 4-5 year period of an episode according to the doc. Which is better than my odds at getting picked for jury duty in DC, so I’ll take ’em.

Take a note: Don’t go book buying (or to the library) if tilting your head to read spines makes you dizzy.

And don’t tilt your head all the way back when sitting in your office chair, either.

Took off from work a little early (after the office chair incident referenced above) to do some shopping, which I cut somewhat short after the dizziness at the book store. Thankfully that particular store is on the bus route that drops me in front of my building, so after a short wait in the cold I was delivered directly to my front door.

Some Super Mario Galaxy this evening (I can power the spaceship finally), and a few more rows on BC’s scarf (I started a scarf for him Monday – fisherman’s rib). And lots of grousing about not being able to exercise since I can’t exactly bounce around a lot right now. So. Annoyed. At. My. Ears. Hopefully the doc was right and this is just a little viral thing that’ll work its way out in a week or so. We’ll see what the ENT says on Monday.

I do look forward to having something else to write about.

Staying home today. The vertigo progressed a little last night, but it was hard to tell because the drug they give you to treat this stuff (meclizine) is simply an antihistamine which, like benadryl, tends to knock you out. I’m convinced it only works because you’re not awake to tell whether or not you have the vertigo anymore.

This is likely just some viral bit of nastiness in the ear which will resolve itself in a week, according to my doc. Nonetheless, I have a reference to an ENT (ugh), so am trying to get an appointment with them. Scarily, the “muzak” for them when you’re on hold includes a man who sounds like a perky version of David Sedaris talking about facial plastic surgery to make you look younger. It’s more than a bit odd – David’s voice should never, ever be perky. Okay, muzak’s over, and appointment set up for Monday afternoon (during the Federal holiday? Hmph).

BC came over last night after dinner. Was good to have a body to grab (instead of just the bed) when I laid myself down and let the spins wash over me until my ears settled (if you ever wanted to see a lawyer/control freak have a near panic attack, yesterday was your chance). The freak-out aspect has calmed down some today, though. When you’re a bit of a control nut, having the world spin due to nothing you’ve done to or with yourself is more than a bit disconcerting. A nice chanting of “this will pass, this will pass” was ultimately helpful for getting through the shift in head position, kind of like reciting the litany against fear.

So, in the meantime it’s going to be mindless entertainment today while the brain adjusts to the meclizine. That or a lot of napping. And a trip to the polling place (which is, thankfully, literally right across the street from our front gate, so about a block to block and a half walk over there). Because through fall, fog or fire I will vote.

Okay, it’s still here, so I have an appointment with the doctor this afternoon. Whee!

No swim for me tonight, it seems. I just hope this doesn’t mean I get to add yet another specialist (Ear, Nose and Throat, or ENT) to my list of doctors (orthopedist, podiatrist, opthalmologist, neurologist, etc.). I’ve managed not to have to visit an ENT since I was in elementary school (multiple sets of tubes from recurrent ear infections) and I’m getting tired of adding to the list.

Plus this puts a major damper on training. And has BC worried since I called to tell him I was going to the doc, which just all around sucks gorilla butt.

Nothing like an attack of vertigo to start off your day on the right foot.

Woke up, swung my legs over and sat up, per the usual routine, and whammo! Felt like I was still drunk from the night before. Which would be fine if I had actually been drinking the night before, but I hadn’t. Not a pleasant sensation, but it did fade fairly quickly and I cautiously went about my morning. Had one more ‘relapse’ when I laid down on the floor to do some ab exercises while waiting for BC in the shower, but none since (maybe the usual sudafed dose kicked in and dried out the ears? who knows…).

Will test myself again before I go swimming tonight – definitely not into drowning, and I suspect an attack of vertigo in the water would be pretty damned terrifying.

Back to the training grind this morning. Short run before work, and a short swim this evening. Felt good to get back in the pool, but I definitely need to work on drills again – my form started to fade too quickly as the swim went on. I did do some limited drills among the laps, but I need to look back at my materials to refresh my memory on them.

Oh, and training 2x a day = getting home to my body screaming “FOOD!” It’s a good thing I went to the farmers’ market on Sunday.

Work was … work. Thought a particular crisis was going to come to a head, but no calls, so I assume we’re still in a holding pattern there. I’m feeling somewhat unmotivated, but I suspect that’s the decaffeination talking.

Bike ride planned for the morning, and I hear I’m going to see the new Rambo movie tomorrow evening with BC. Promises to be a real stinker, which should be nicely amusing.

I decided to give up caffeine again because it was affecting my sleep, which in turn was screwing with my training. Today was day two, and I warned BC that I might get a bit testy in a week or so. So far, so good, no headaches, sleeping better, all good.

I have, however, been extra-snarky. Like, really, really overly sarcastic at every little thing. Poor BC got to see a lot of it this weekend as we watched TV and I did a complete snark-a-thon at pretty much every show. Not quite what I was intending when giving up caffeine (New and Improved! Now with extra Snark!), and hopefully it’ll pass shortly as my system gets used to the change. Until then I suppose I’m going to have to watch my tongue more than usual.

The SOTU was a good excuse to sit still and knit for a while – listen to the speech, but not watch the goings on. I got several rows done on a new swatch, all knit stitch (I’ve still not braved purl yet), and I’m happy with how evenly it’s coming out this time. It helps that I cast on only 30 stitches rather than 42 – the needles aren’t really big enough for 42 – so it’s nice and even this time. It’ll either be a scarf or a pot holder, we’ll see. Depends on how often I can sit down with it in the evenings, and how bored I get.

Still don’t have the whole “how to hold the thread in the right hand” thing down yet – I keep twisting it too tightly around my index finger. Will have to get my friend TH to show me how she holds the stuff. Or learn continental style. Who knows. I’ll get it eventually, I know.

Interesting speech for some of the stuff he addressed. The earmarks portion (the reason I watched, actually, since it has a bearing on my practice area) will be an interesting change, and is going to cause a lot of headaches with Congress (who will find a way to earmark funds, even outside the official committee reports, trust me). It’ll certainly keep my BGA’s government relations people busy. I suspect those same folks will be culling quotes from tonight’s speech for a letter we have to finalize tomorrow morning as well. Makes me glad I don’t have my work blackberry just yet.

It is, of course, too little too late. Earmarks rose precipitously under the last term of (R) control of the Congress, and while they’ve come down some, they’re still pretty high. Not that (R)s alone are to blame – (D)s earmark plenty, too. Not sure of the solution, past taking the measures he’s going to put into place – an executive order signed tomorrow to ignore these extra-legal set-asides is a good start. Weaning Congress completely off pork, however, is going to be an uphill battle.

Got my heel shot up this morning with cortizone, to counteract the plantar faciitis I’m dealing with off and on. The night brace is helping, but I got to a point where I finally agreed with the doctor that a shot was called for. We’ll see how that does. I want this stuff done with, it’s not comfortable at all.

I did a flexibility and core strength assessment tonight as part of beginning my tri training season. One word: Ouch. Mostly flexible, except for the lower back, but not strong at all when it comes to the core strength (which I suppose matches with the not-so-flexible part). Ouch, ouch, ouch. At least I know where a major weakness is, which I was expecting to be the case, and can address it now.

Ended up stuck at work until 7ish tonight on a couple of phone calls and negotiations. I feel like a horse trader with all the back and forth stuff I’ve been doing these past couple of weeks. I am, evidently, the guy with the answers, or so it feels like. Regardless, I took some time to put together a presentation for my colleagues on this year’s budget and what changed for our BGA. Hopefully da boss lady will like it and I can get this thing done soon because I think it’ll help a lot of the other attorneys who’ve never looked in at our appropriation.

So, back into the routine, but with some twists this year. Should be interesting.

My right hand looks like a vampire attacked me – I spilled some hot sauce on it last night and it appears I burned it in two spots. Considering the choice was to either get burned or to spill all of the pot all over the stove, I think I went with the better alternative. But still, it’s annoying.

My voice sounds like I’ve been drinking bourbon. Which would be fine, if I had (and much more fun to start). Unfortunately it’s more likely a slight bit of sinus ickiness. I think I’d prefer the bourbon, but this, too, shall pass.

TiVo taped something called the Hogfather as as suggestion, and I’m dying. Absolutely loving it. I just hope it taped the entire thing or I’ll be sorely disappointed. Any “fairy tale” that starts out by detailing the crimes of jack (of beanstalk fame) while reading it to children is a-ok in my book:

And then Jack chopped down what was the world’s last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement and trespass charges already mentioned and all the giant’s children didn’t have a daddy any more. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done. Which proves that you can be excused just about anything if you’re a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.