Tone Parsons

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Sadly, all I do now that I’m at home on disability is sleep (taking a handful of narcotics every few hours will do that to you).

Christmas was good at Casa de Tone! We had most of the family here for the event, good food and spirits all the way around!! I also did very well in the present department. My favorite gift is the Ion USB turntable. That combined with the newest version of Spin It Again software = me ripping records to mp3 like a mad man! (and they sound damn good too!!).

Our plans for New Year’s Eve are pretty basic this year. We’re avoiding all the parties and plan on just staying at home. We’ll watch whatever is on the tube and have our obligatory glass of something bubbly at midnight… then we’ll fall asleep. Oooooo… the excitement of it all!

Oh, and for those who are wondering (or even care for that matter), I had injections into the facet joints of my spine at L4-L5 on the 21’st. For those who aren’t familiar with this: they take a damn log needle, shove it into your back until they hit bone, then wiggle it until it gets between the bones. Then they inject a steroid and local anesthetic into you. I had both sides done, so it was double the fun! It seems to help somewhat, so I’m scheduled to do it again in early February. I have some images of the procedure and will post them later (once I’ve un-hooked my Ion Turntable and hooked my scanner back up).

If that works out, they are going to perform a rhizotomy in that area. Basically, they go in and burn the nerves off in the area that’s causing me back pain. Anything that will get me off the drugs and back to work sounds like a good plan to me!

But that’s enough of that! Here’s a comic from one of my favorite online strips, Cyanide and Happiness:

Here’s wishing the best in 2008 to all of you!

This is probably one of the most disturbing items on the web at the moment. Of course, this comes from the Westboro Baptist Church, the same “ministry” that attends soldier funerals and scream that God hates them and the dead are going to hell (a real class act, for sure).

The last few seconds are the most disturbing.

Thanks to miftah for finding the video.

We got a light dusting of snow yesterday (around an inch or so).  I had my younest kidlet shovel that away, but during the night, we got another 3 inches.

Of course, it was my eldest son’s turn to shovel, so I went to wake him a little early (insert teen-age drama here!!).  He finally did it, but he wasn’t happy.  About an hour later, Linkin Park called and said they wanted their angst back (I’ll let my son know when he comes home from school so he can return it).

It’s been an expensive season.

So far, Christmas^TM 2007 has cost far in excess of $2,000. That’s a lot of damn money! A huge chunk of that was spent yesterday.

My wife and I finally got around to doing some Christmas^TM shopping done (after I pushed her into it). She hates crowds and has a hell of a time dealing with the unwashed masses that swarm out of the woodwork this time of year.

Fortunately, we got 90% of it done rather quickly. I’m now just waiting for a few items I ordered online to show up. I do, however, need to go out again today for a few more gifts.

As my wife was with me yesterday, and I can’t drive because of the medications I’m on, I didn’t get anything for her yet. So… my eldest son will be driving me around later today. This will also give him the opportunity to pick something up for her as well.

We used to be able to fill the room with gifts for under $400, but that’s when the kids were young.  The older they get, the more expensive the presents get.  I’m sure they’ll love everything though… I’ve known them for all their lives and have a pretty good idea of what they’d like.