Monday, August 29, 2005
First day of school success!
Finally, we have a successful first day of school from an IT perspective! Normally, I work 16+ hours that first day dealing with and resolving the problems of the day. Jess and I spent most of the day fairly bored. Everything was fine, and we did not have an outage. (I even went home early...)
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Stake Reorg (cont.)
So the meeting went well, we have several blocks worth of people who are in our new ward, who came from our old ward.
They sustained me, and let me stay off the stand. That was nice of them, since the girls were tired. (We walked the mile and a half to the meeting. The girls made it, and as an added bonus to us, they went right to sleep when we got home.)
We'll have to see how long it takes everyone to get acclimated to the new ward.
They sustained me, and let me stay off the stand. That was nice of them, since the girls were tired. (We walked the mile and a half to the meeting. The girls made it, and as an added bonus to us, they went right to sleep when we got home.)
We'll have to see how long it takes everyone to get acclimated to the new ward.
Stage Reorg
They announced the reorg meeting for tonight at church today. I must have said "Come at six and you'll see..." about 100 times. The gossips were busy.
HP Support
So I had a machine with a failed disk yesterday. HP flew in a new one, and the right box came, but the wrong disk was in it. A new disk was flew in this morning, we plugged it in, and it worked right up to the point where the server was rebooted. At this point, I am waiting to hear back from the CE again. Lately, we haven't had any HW failures that were simple to fix, I'm not sure what the problem is around here.
Friday, August 26, 2005
The Stake Clerk works in the same department as me, his office is right upstairs from mine. He came up to me, (knowing about the calling) to see if I had talked to the Stake President yet. It turns out that he doesn't wear suits to the Stake meetings, and the old Stake Executive Secretary didn't wear a suit either. It looks like I don't need to go out and buy a new suit after all, the one I have should be sufficient. I still have to find out if this means I have to sit on the stand during Stake Conference...
The nurse from the doctor's office called this evening. On top of everything else, she said that I have mono, too. I guess I really had an excuse to be tired. Now I am at the point of being more sleepy than tired. I don't feel out and out exhausted at this point.
Next week is a busy one. The first day of school is Monday, we are hoping to finally have acceptable performance in our web environment for the first of school. I for one am keeping my fingers crossed.
The Peoplesoft team has finally decided to tune their environment. (I have only been telling them for 6 months that they needed to.) A consultant will be in Monday for the week working with them. I hope this finally puts the issue to rest and gets them so they stop freaking out about things. Mostly, I hope they stop blaming the HW or OS for their problems.
The nurse from the doctor's office called this evening. On top of everything else, she said that I have mono, too. I guess I really had an excuse to be tired. Now I am at the point of being more sleepy than tired. I don't feel out and out exhausted at this point.
Next week is a busy one. The first day of school is Monday, we are hoping to finally have acceptable performance in our web environment for the first of school. I for one am keeping my fingers crossed.
The Peoplesoft team has finally decided to tune their environment. (I have only been telling them for 6 months that they needed to.) A consultant will be in Monday for the week working with them. I hope this finally puts the issue to rest and gets them so they stop freaking out about things. Mostly, I hope they stop blaming the HW or OS for their problems.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Things have been happening here...
Tonight I was called to be the Stake Executive Secretary. I think I need to buy a suit for the first time in 11 years... I have now experienced how an Elder's Quorum Presidency works, how a Bishopric works, and now I will be involved in the workings of a Stake. (Not to mention the year I taught 12-13 year old Sunday School. I think I have finally recovered from that one...) There's always an opportunity to learn.
Today is Emma's birthday. We are eating cake and ice cream. I took her to lunch with me to the Cannon Center for her birthday. We gave her a new Barney and a barney blanket. She seems pretty attached to them already.
The Peoplesoft team is having performance problems at work. They seem pretty confused. They have called in a Peoplesoft performance consulting firm to help starting tomorrow. I keep telling them their problem is database related, and they have one of more bad queries that keep running there, but so far, they have not listened properly.
I feel better today than yesterday, I didn't wake up exhausted this morning. The DHEA and Testosterone replacements should be here tomorrow. The testosterone was pretty expensive, though. Hopefully these will get me all the way feeling better, and I won't have to take them from now on. We'll see.
Kate had a meeting with her kindergarden teacher today. Kindergarden starts in a week and a half, but the teacher did an evaluation. Kate seems kind of excited, we'll see how excited she is about walking to school every day.
Today is Emma's birthday. We are eating cake and ice cream. I took her to lunch with me to the Cannon Center for her birthday. We gave her a new Barney and a barney blanket. She seems pretty attached to them already.
The Peoplesoft team is having performance problems at work. They seem pretty confused. They have called in a Peoplesoft performance consulting firm to help starting tomorrow. I keep telling them their problem is database related, and they have one of more bad queries that keep running there, but so far, they have not listened properly.
I feel better today than yesterday, I didn't wake up exhausted this morning. The DHEA and Testosterone replacements should be here tomorrow. The testosterone was pretty expensive, though. Hopefully these will get me all the way feeling better, and I won't have to take them from now on. We'll see.
Kate had a meeting with her kindergarden teacher today. Kindergarden starts in a week and a half, but the teacher did an evaluation. Kate seems kind of excited, we'll see how excited she is about walking to school every day.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
As the medicine turns...
So, it wasn't 'herbal' or 'non-regulated'. The pharmacy they were sending to is a 'compounding' pharmacy. They can compound the testosterone to 10%, where the stuff from the local pharmacy is 1% solution. My doctor said with the compounded, I would be lathering all up with the stuff...
I ended up coming coming out feeling better about it, but I still got a prescription for the thyroid medicine for the local place.
We'll see what happens.
I ended up coming coming out feeling better about it, but I still got a prescription for the thyroid medicine for the local place.
We'll see what happens.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Thoughts on medicines
I woke up this morning dead tired, like most mornings lately...
So, I have been doing some online/in-person research tonight on the hypothyroid/low testosterone/low adreno-something-or-the-other. (I can't remember if it was DHEA or ACTH...)
When I talked to the nurse, she told me that one of the things were a 'natural' medication, and there were only 4 places in Utah that made it, the closest being SLC. She told me she would fax the stuff up to them, they would contact me, get it paid for, and send the medicine. I asked about my insurance, and she indicated that insurance usually doesn't cover that sort of thing, but the total for all 3 medicines for a 100 day supply would end up being something like $30. I asked about coming back, and she said I could come back in like 3 months, and get the blood levels checked again, or if I was still feeling bad in a few weeks, come in for an appointment then. When she told me about the low testosterone, I told her that it was because I have 4 daughters and a wife at home, and it was just me. She said they would prescribe a baby boy...
A couple of things didn't really sound right about that conversation. First, my insurance is pretty good, they cover a lot of stuff... It sounded strange to think that I would have something wrong with me that they would not cover.
I talked to a guy from work who has been working through thyroid problems for a couple of years, and the insurance definitely covers that medicine. This guy has been getting his LEVOTHYROXINE level adjusted all the time for the past 2 years trying to get it adjusted correctly. He pays $10 for 100 pills. I looked on-line (Webmd.com - there's always a lot of information there, I sort of trust what they say, but never completely...) about the different things, low thyroid levels need to be tuned and said the following: "Natural forms of thyroid hormone - quality and effeciveness unregulated, and while the active ingredient may help, the product could be dangerous to the patient."
The information on the adrenal problem was harder to look up because I really forgot what she said. (It was either DHEA or ACTH, I think, but I really don't remember.) For ACTH, they say that the cortisol levels should be checked also, if cortisol is low too, it's a hypopituitary problem. (As far as I remember from high school biology, the pituitary gland regulates all the others. I don't care, no one at this point is saying anything about pituitary at this point, I'll look it up another day...) The DHEA hormone medicine normally raises testosterone levels on it's own, but not a lot. (She said I was at 7.5, and normal is 30-40)
I have a new joke now. I grew my mustache to compinsate for my low testosterone levels...
My blood glucose and chloresterol levels were normal. That's a good thing.
I went to the store tonight. I was at the store last night, but we were not out of diapers and paper plates then. (We weren't out of ice cream tonight, but that didn't stop me while I was there.) I talked to the pharmasist, he was suprised to hear that some sort of "natural" remedy was being prescribed. He showed me how they used to use cow liver or something, but the dosage wasn't easily regulated. He had 15 different doses of the synthetic stuff, and everyone is different and had to be regulated. I suggested that I was going back to the doctors office tomorrow, he concurred it was a good idea. I drove to RiteAid after that and talked to their pharmasist. I told him how the 3 levels were found, and a "natural" remedy was being recommended with 3 months between the checks. A look of suprised shock came on his face. (That was my interpretation, anyway.) I told him what my insurance was and he agreed that they covered those types of medicine. I told him I thought that for thyroid, it had to be fine-tuned until you had the right dose, and he said definitely, you have to keep checking and changing until you are regulated. Both pharmasists said the "natural/herbal" treatments were not regulated by the FDA (something Tara has been saying all night) and may not be the best to take. The RiteAid guy said I should definitely be going back to the doctor tomorrow to ask him my questions, and if I didn't get answers that made me feel better about it, I should go and talk to someone else, like an internal medicine guy.
Current plan - I am calling the insurance company in the morning to ask them a few coverage questions, then I will be at the doctors office by 9am at the latest to talk to them. I don't think I want to go the "All Natural Route", where real drugs would only cost a little more. (I can always ask them about the real drugs, call DMBA and verify specifics...) Plus I don't really want to wait for a week for something I can get tomorrow if I start to feel better by the weekend... If I pay up to $10 more each time, it's only 10 cents more a day.'
More updates in this saga to come...
So, I have been doing some online/in-person research tonight on the hypothyroid/low testosterone/low adreno-something-or-the-other. (I can't remember if it was DHEA or ACTH...)
When I talked to the nurse, she told me that one of the things were a 'natural' medication, and there were only 4 places in Utah that made it, the closest being SLC. She told me she would fax the stuff up to them, they would contact me, get it paid for, and send the medicine. I asked about my insurance, and she indicated that insurance usually doesn't cover that sort of thing, but the total for all 3 medicines for a 100 day supply would end up being something like $30. I asked about coming back, and she said I could come back in like 3 months, and get the blood levels checked again, or if I was still feeling bad in a few weeks, come in for an appointment then. When she told me about the low testosterone, I told her that it was because I have 4 daughters and a wife at home, and it was just me. She said they would prescribe a baby boy...
A couple of things didn't really sound right about that conversation. First, my insurance is pretty good, they cover a lot of stuff... It sounded strange to think that I would have something wrong with me that they would not cover.
I talked to a guy from work who has been working through thyroid problems for a couple of years, and the insurance definitely covers that medicine. This guy has been getting his LEVOTHYROXINE level adjusted all the time for the past 2 years trying to get it adjusted correctly. He pays $10 for 100 pills. I looked on-line (Webmd.com - there's always a lot of information there, I sort of trust what they say, but never completely...) about the different things, low thyroid levels need to be tuned and said the following: "Natural forms of thyroid hormone - quality and effeciveness unregulated, and while the active ingredient may help, the product could be dangerous to the patient."
The information on the adrenal problem was harder to look up because I really forgot what she said. (It was either DHEA or ACTH, I think, but I really don't remember.) For ACTH, they say that the cortisol levels should be checked also, if cortisol is low too, it's a hypopituitary problem. (As far as I remember from high school biology, the pituitary gland regulates all the others. I don't care, no one at this point is saying anything about pituitary at this point, I'll look it up another day...) The DHEA hormone medicine normally raises testosterone levels on it's own, but not a lot. (She said I was at 7.5, and normal is 30-40)
I have a new joke now. I grew my mustache to compinsate for my low testosterone levels...
My blood glucose and chloresterol levels were normal. That's a good thing.
I went to the store tonight. I was at the store last night, but we were not out of diapers and paper plates then. (We weren't out of ice cream tonight, but that didn't stop me while I was there.) I talked to the pharmasist, he was suprised to hear that some sort of "natural" remedy was being prescribed. He showed me how they used to use cow liver or something, but the dosage wasn't easily regulated. He had 15 different doses of the synthetic stuff, and everyone is different and had to be regulated. I suggested that I was going back to the doctors office tomorrow, he concurred it was a good idea. I drove to RiteAid after that and talked to their pharmasist. I told him how the 3 levels were found, and a "natural" remedy was being recommended with 3 months between the checks. A look of suprised shock came on his face. (That was my interpretation, anyway.) I told him what my insurance was and he agreed that they covered those types of medicine. I told him I thought that for thyroid, it had to be fine-tuned until you had the right dose, and he said definitely, you have to keep checking and changing until you are regulated. Both pharmasists said the "natural/herbal" treatments were not regulated by the FDA (something Tara has been saying all night) and may not be the best to take. The RiteAid guy said I should definitely be going back to the doctor tomorrow to ask him my questions, and if I didn't get answers that made me feel better about it, I should go and talk to someone else, like an internal medicine guy.
Current plan - I am calling the insurance company in the morning to ask them a few coverage questions, then I will be at the doctors office by 9am at the latest to talk to them. I don't think I want to go the "All Natural Route", where real drugs would only cost a little more. (I can always ask them about the real drugs, call DMBA and verify specifics...) Plus I don't really want to wait for a week for something I can get tomorrow if I start to feel better by the weekend... If I pay up to $10 more each time, it's only 10 cents more a day.'
More updates in this saga to come...
So what's the problem anyway?
Answer: hypo-thyroid, low testosterone, and low DHEA.
Solution: Medicine. We'll see how it goes...
Solution: Medicine. We'll see how it goes...
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Slacking off you say?
So I am working at home reading my 1600 page book. I could post information about the book, if you want me to.
The doctor drew blood today to do a full blood workup. They are also scheduling a PulseOx for sometime soon to see if I have sleep apniea. The doctor says they have people called "Sleep Hygenists" who help with that sort of thing. At least they don't call them "Sleep Theripists"...
The doctor drew blood today to do a full blood workup. They are also scheduling a PulseOx for sometime soon to see if I have sleep apniea. The doctor says they have people called "Sleep Hygenists" who help with that sort of thing. At least they don't call them "Sleep Theripists"...
Friday, August 12, 2005
*** New Record ***
New "left-handed" minesweeper records:
Beginner: 5 seconds
Intermediate: 36 seconds
Expert: 116 seconds
Beginner: 5 seconds
Intermediate: 36 seconds
Expert: 116 seconds
HP World 2005
I was supposed to fly to San Fransisco this Sunday for HP World 2005. I even had 2 presentations prepared to give, and 2 others I was helping on. Turns out that Interex went Chapter 7 bankrupt a month ago, and HP World was cancelled.
HP sponsered their own conference, the HP Tech Forum, but I had not planned on attending. It is the 2nd week of September. Last week I got a hold of the program director for the HPUX track and emailed my 2 HP World presentations to her. At the time they were not accepting any more presentations, but today they came back and wanted me to do one of mine, and scheduled me into a slot in the conference. I just finished converting the slides to their template and submitted it, so I'll be in New Orleans the 2nd week of September.
HP has made a deal with prometric that all HP Certified attendees came take as many certification exams as they want during the conference. I am going to take the HPUX CSE exam, but I have no problem failing it, if I do. (The exam is free, after all) The "study guide" for the exam is a 1600 page book, and I am only to about page 250. If you want to see the test details, check out the exam prep guide at http://h10017.www1.hp.com/certification/region/americas/cse/bcs/hpux.html I'm not really taking the test for amy good reason, it's not like I'll get a raise, or more respect, and I am not looking for another job, it's just something to do, and it can't hurt. (The headache from the test itself is bound to wear off quickly)
HP sponsered their own conference, the HP Tech Forum, but I had not planned on attending. It is the 2nd week of September. Last week I got a hold of the program director for the HPUX track and emailed my 2 HP World presentations to her. At the time they were not accepting any more presentations, but today they came back and wanted me to do one of mine, and scheduled me into a slot in the conference. I just finished converting the slides to their template and submitted it, so I'll be in New Orleans the 2nd week of September.
HP has made a deal with prometric that all HP Certified attendees came take as many certification exams as they want during the conference. I am going to take the HPUX CSE exam, but I have no problem failing it, if I do. (The exam is free, after all) The "study guide" for the exam is a 1600 page book, and I am only to about page 250. If you want to see the test details, check out the exam prep guide at http://h10017.www1.hp.com/certification/region/americas/cse/bcs/hpux.html I'm not really taking the test for amy good reason, it's not like I'll get a raise, or more respect, and I am not looking for another job, it's just something to do, and it can't hurt. (The headache from the test itself is bound to wear off quickly)
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Graduation Day
So today is graduation again. On graduation day, I am supposed to leave work at 2:30 so parking is available on campus, but every year, I end up getting called and working anyway. It's usually something that takes hours, so I end up sitting at home working. A few times recently I have had to go back up to campus to work on a server in the data center.
This semester, I decided to stay at work to see if the opposite would happen. (Stay on campus, have nothing to do.) No such luck, they called me, a server was not responding. I ended up working. (But not at least while I was pretending to not work like in the past...)
This semester, I decided to stay at work to see if the opposite would happen. (Stay on campus, have nothing to do.) No such luck, they called me, a server was not responding. I ended up working. (But not at least while I was pretending to not work like in the past...)
People are having babies...
So I wonder why Dan Tano keeps following me. I move apartments in Moon, he follows. I get engaged, he follows. I go the the place for the honeymoon, there's Dan. (Who had gotten married the day before.) We have a baby, they have a baby. I think all our kids are 2 months older than Dan's kids, even for the youngest.
It's like we live in some strange parallel universe....
Congratulations Dan and Chris.
Congratulations Rob and Amy.
Did I miss anyone?
It's like we live in some strange parallel universe....
Congratulations Dan and Chris.
Congratulations Rob and Amy.
Did I miss anyone?
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
The Crossroads
The power problem on my laptop ended up being a bad battery. I've been running on that battery for weeks, I could have just swapped them out and not had the flickering. Oh well, what's a few epileptic seizures every now and then?
It looks like my first tomato of the year will be ready to pick tomorrow. We've had all kinds of Zucchini and Cucumbers, but the tomatoes got planted a little late, had a hail storm, and got cold once or twice. I have some pepper plants too, we'll be having some really good chili this fall...
I have to water the lawn tonight, or it will start drying out.
And speaking of watering things down, did anyone out there hear about the semi that exploded in Spanish Fork canyon this afternoon? It was carrying 35,000 pounds of ordinance, and created a crater 60 feet wide and 35 feet deep. Try to avoid Highway 6 for a while...
It looks like my first tomato of the year will be ready to pick tomorrow. We've had all kinds of Zucchini and Cucumbers, but the tomatoes got planted a little late, had a hail storm, and got cold once or twice. I have some pepper plants too, we'll be having some really good chili this fall...
I have to water the lawn tonight, or it will start drying out.
And speaking of watering things down, did anyone out there hear about the semi that exploded in Spanish Fork canyon this afternoon? It was carrying 35,000 pounds of ordinance, and created a crater 60 feet wide and 35 feet deep. Try to avoid Highway 6 for a while...
Laptop trouble...
My laptop has yet another power problem... (This is the 3rd this year.) At least this time the machine is not shocking my when I touch it.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
When good pie goes bad
So, my theory is that when you have a chocolate pie wrapped in tin foil in the fridge, and the pie has bananas in it, it's better to eat it in a fairly quick time period, not a week later. Also, did you know that Frontier Pies and Prestwich Farms are no longer in my area? (They've been gone for more than a year.)
***Remember the days when a good pie and a very powerful portable spotlight would keep us busy for hours?***
***Remember the days when a good pie and a very powerful portable spotlight would keep us busy for hours?***
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