Gift from Gary

   It was Gary's birthday this week, but I got the gift! He surprised me with the fun pack of "robot monkey" tissues from Hobbs in Lawrence. Fortunately, as the package states, they're "human compatible." Wonder if Gary knows about my robot collection? Or my affinity for cute monkeys? Or my affinity for acting like one (runs in the family)? (tiny banana / tree climber) Anyway, THANKS GARY!!!

MR...I need to get outta here!!!

   Today was awesome. And by "awesome," I mean "completely not awesome." First off, I found out that I/T, while "fixing" my Blackberry, accidentally nuked all my emails prior to August 23, and I lost a ton of saved work that I'm going to have to re-do. Hmm. Kinda thought they'd back that up. Since we discussed it at length. Oops.

   Then in the afternoon I went for the MRI/arthrogram that my orthopedist called for, to see if I tore something important in my hip joint over the last 6 weeks, with all the running, swimming, yoga, hiking (that'll teach me to be healthy!) and massage (that'll teach me to be a hedonist!). I had an arthrogram on my carpal tunnel about 10 years ago, so fortunately the memory of how awful it was had faded. But it returned rather quickly, despite my attempt to be tough.

   The doc & technician were super-nice. They were very thorough in explaining what they were going to do; so thorough, in fact, that I almost fainted before the procedure even started. The gist is that they painstakingly mark a spot to guide them, numb you, and then insert a needle that I swear to God must have rivaled the size of the Space Needle, judging from the pain I felt over & over again as it was inserted. I found myself chanting, "not numb... not numb... not numb... NOT NUMB... NOT NUMB!!!" 

The doc didn't seem to believe me. His look said, "But I've given you PLENTY of numbing medicine!" Not plenty enough, mister! Are we trying to save money and skimp on the meds? Load me up!!! I don't know if he was hitting bone or what, but if I wanted to torture myself it would be much quicker to just stab myself in the eye with a fork. The point was to inject dye + Lidocaine into the tiny cavity between my femur & pelvis so that the labrum (which might be torn) would be more visible in the MRI. If the dye leaked out, it's surgery time.

   The one thing that was kinda cool (between deep breaths because it also brought me close to fainting) was to look up & see the needle & the dye illuminating my labrum on the x-ray monitor in front of me. They wouldn't let me take photos due to HIPAA (boo!) but I found a photo on Wiki that looks pretty much like it:

   Next I had to very carefully lift myself onto a gurney without moving my left hip, because if the dye moved too much it could botch the procedure & I'd have to do it all again. (Not going to happen.) The tech wheeled me into the MRI room, where it was impossible to see anything except the ginormous GE logo on the machine. Also, the tininess of the tube he intended to slide me into. I hope there's a Slip & Slide nearby so I can get some momentum going!

   The tech set a heavy breastplate on me (to hold me down???) that looked freakishly like the ribcage of a skeleton, as if to let me know what I would look like if the machine malfunctioned & burned off all my flesh. He kindly asked what radio station I liked & handed me a large pair of headphones. It didn't matter. The machine made so much noise that I couldn't hear it anyway. So I lay there perfectly still, eyes closed, imagining the creatures that would make the kind of noises I was hearing. If that's as good as hallucination gets, you can have it!

   I would recommend an MRI to anyone who hates quiet, loves cramming themselves into small spaces, and wants 35 minutes to feel like 3500 hours. Tune in for the exciting update next week.

i (heart) robots

Check out this awesome robot art display from the artists in our "blink" studio! (It's hard to tell scale, but let's just say that I wouldn't want to meet that giant robot in a dark alley.)

My obsession with toys... uh... I mean "designer vinyls"

   Toys by Touma... I've recently added some mini Skuttles, Evil Skater hellhound, a Crazy Kazu Mouse, Little Trickers and two mini Destdons to my collection!

Gaburin (KFGU, Kaiju For Grown-Ups), Evil Skater dog & Baboo:

Mini Destdon (one glows in the dark!):

Little Trickers:

Dragamel by Tim Biskup:

Go Lucky Neko by Delmi:

Gotta love a zombie cat & robot cat:

Ledbetter sea monster, Tokidoki tigers, Kozik Labbit, and Qoo:

Jarvis's King Ken, Touma Boobie, Robocon, Afroken, and more:

Doraemon, Uglydolls, Tetsuwan Atom (Astroboy), Tintin and Pokemon:

King Joe, from the Japanese "Ultraman" TV series:

   But nothing can top the (taller than me) robot display cabinet that my buddy Octavio built for me! He made it in his basement about 12 years ago, when he & Suzanne lived in OP & he was still working with me at Hallmark. It houses dozens & dozens of mostly tin-toy robots collected on trips around the US, and Japan. Best combo birthday / Christmas gift ever!