Tone Parsons

I haven’t written on the blog for a while. I haven’t really had much to say.

My neuropathy is getting worse, and I’ve been feeling pretty low. I feel like my shoes are full of broken glass, there are daggers in my shins, and hot needles in my back…. and the feeling doesn’t go away.  Just the act of walking causes huge amounts of pain, I can’t drive my car or ride my motorcycle, hell…. I can’t even play video games because my reaction time and concentration are shot.

Yes, I’m taking my medications as prescribed, but they only mask the problem… and not very effectively. The real downside is that taking all the morphine and oxycodone is seriously affecting my work. It’s very, VERY hard to write code when your head is full of narcotics. I have a huge project that I’m responsible for, and I’m not going to make the completion date. Unfortunately, that’s 40% of my goals for this year, so that means no raise next year.

*sigh*

Sorry to dump all this crap onto the web (not that anyone out there really cares). I’m just very frustrated right now. There’s nothing that the doctors can do, I’m in constant and intense pain, and I’ve had more than my fill of it all.

Ok… perhaps that wasn’t the most romantic title for a post about our anniversary.

My wife and I had our 17th wedding anniversary on Saturday. Of course, we’ll have been together for 20 years on November 6th of this year (I’m a guy, yet I remember things like that… what’s wrong with me?).

Sadly though, our anniversary falls on Cinco de Mayo every year. This means that going out for mexican food is totally out of the question (we both despise large crowds). We decided to go to Tomato Street because I love their steak myzithra and tomato basil soup. We weren’t able to go on Saturday, however, because Bloomsday (the worlds largest individually timed foot race, held here in Spokane) was on Sunday, and everyone was carb loading for the big race (again with the large crowd thing).

We decided that Sunday would be a better day, and it was. The food was very good and the service matched. I tried a new drink after the meal, something called a Russian Novocaine (a drink made of Baily’s Irish Cream, Frangelico, and Cream de Coco, chilled and served in a martini glass). It was pretty good, but they added AfterShock (a very strong cinnamon liqueur), which wasn’t on the list of ingredients. I think it would have been better without it.

We also watched three movies over the weekend: Casino Royal (the newest James Bond Film), The Illusionist (with Edward Norton), and The Queen. I would recommend any and all of them!

And that’s about it for the weekend wrap-up. How did you fare?

First and foremost, an apology for my lack of posting as of late.

I’ve been feeling like crap. My back is acting up, and my legs and feet are in constant pain. The joys of neuropathy! When it gets bad, I don’t much feel like writing (which saves you from reading a bitch fest!).

But enough about that.

My wife and I saw a tree the other day and are wondering exactly what the hell it is. I think it’s an apple, but it could just as easily be a cherry. It was, however, in full bloom and quite stunning to look at. I took a few pictures, and if the one or two people who read this could help me in figuring out what it is, I’d appreciate it!

If it’s the kind of tree that doesn’t produce fruit, we’d love to get one or two for our yard. Please tell me what it is!

Other news: My motorcycle is now exactly that…. MY motorcycle! My wife made the final payment on it and we’re expecting to receive the title for it soon. Now… if I could only ride the damn thing! I’d post a picture of it, but all I have is an old photo that doesn’t show the new grips or pipes I put on it. I guess I’ll have to wheel it outside, wash and wax it, and get the camera out.

Ok… so I didn’t post anything about knees or bumble bees, so here’s a couple images I found via google:

It was a good weekend!

On Saturday, we went to watch the Spokane Shock take on the Lubbock Renegades. Once again, it was a sold out crowd of over 10,600 screaming maniacs, and the Shock won the game 63 – 26! We really needed this win, as we lost the last two games. Hopefully this is a taste of things to come.

On Sunday, I set my alarm to get up early. BestBuy (aka: Those Fuckers) advertised that they would have a minimum of 12 Nintendo Wii’s in stock, and my kids really wanted one. We had heard through someone who works there (and will remain nameless) that they actually had 21 units in stock.

I checked the store hours and found out that they opened at 11:00 am, so I got up at 8, drank some coffee, and planned to be there before 10:30 to stand in line. I got there on time and discovered, much to my horror, that they opened an hour early. I ran inside and asked if they still had any but was told “no”.

Fuck!

My mother-in-law called me an hour later. She was at the same BestBuy I went to and they still had two Wii’s in stock (those lying bastards!!). She knew I went out earlier, but called me anyway to see if I had gotten one or not. I barely got the word “no” out of my mouth when she excitedly started yelling “I’LL TAKE IT!! I’LL TAKE IT!!” She picked up an extra controller and a copy of Paper Mario while she was there.

Oh yeah… the kids are happy!

I’m plenty happy with it myself. I like the Wii Sports game that comes with the system (the Bowling game is the bomb!!).  Golf and baseball are also pretty fun.  The tennis and boxing are ok, but not my favorites.

I’ll be having fun with it on my breaks tomorrow (as I’m working from home).  This does, of course, mean no webcam tomorrow, so if you’re one of the 2,500 people who hit it every day, you’re out of luck (why the hell do you want to watch me at work anyway?).