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Dislocated (Part II)

It’s been a week, and oh what a week it’s been, since I first dislocated my left elbow.

Sunday I got a bit of rest, but Monday was back to work, though I took it fairly easy and just typed with one hand. Tuesday it was off to the orthopedic doctor, who removed the split, explaining that it would just make my arm stiffen up. He said to use the sling, and showed me some exercises for my arm. All seemed well, and Wednesday I headed to work with just the sling, and the ability to move my arm. I still took it easy, I was able to type, but didn’t want to do much else.

Wednesday turned bad quickly. I was going to the bathroom and just sort of twisted my arm a bit and POP! my elbow came out. I shouted an expletive and walked slowly into the office sort of yelling/swearing and then co-worker Eric drove me to urgent care to see the same Doctor that removed my splint less than 24 hours earlier.

So they gave me a shot, and popped it back into place. I also got some x-rays to make sure it was all good. I then went back to work, got my car, drove home, and rested for a few hours before my next appointment to have a splint made.

I got a splint to keep my arm at 90 degrees, and need to keep it in the sling. It’ll be like this for another week. They will then adjust the splint to an angle greater than 90 degrees. It’s extremely annoying. It’s hard to shower, and hard to go to the bathroom, and hard to put pants on… an all around pain.

Right now I’m just really hoping I can heal quickly and get my full range of motion back…

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Dislocation

Ok, well, I’m typing this with one hand, cuz my left arm is in a splint and pretty much useless. I was painting a wall at Bucketworks, when the ladder slipped and I got to ride it down to the concrete floor. I think I minimized the impact, but I hit the floor pretty hard. I think I stood up, or someone helped me up, and I noticed my arm was all going the wrong way at the elbow. Also, I couldn’t move it, and it hurt. I also asked James to take my shoe and sock off, cuz my big toe hurt like hell. It was all pointed up the wrong way.

James took me to urgent care, and the doctor there snapped my toe back in place after numbing it up, but they couldn’t fix my arm there. Oh yeah, also got a bunch of x-rays done before all of that, so they could see what the damage was… luckily nothing was broken.

Dana and the kids joined me at urgent care, and took me to the hospital where they could fix my elbow. But wait… yes wait. While “sitting in the waiting room” is great lyric from a Fugazi song, doing it for hours sucks. My mom and brother showed up as well, since Dana had to get Maddy to a party. Now, I didn’t want to be the jerk who keeps asking the front desk when it’s my turn, but after like 3+ hours of waiting, we asked, and they seemed surprised we had not been taken, and I went in right away.

Marty the nurse stuck a lot of needles in my right arm, which sucks cuz all my good veins are in my left arm. After the “conscious sedation” had effect, Marty and the doctor wiggled and snapped my elbow back in place. We hoped. It was off to x-ray to make sure… and yeah, it was all good. I do remember grunting and swearing a lot while they reset the elbow…

Dislocation

One of the funnier things that happened was when Marty the nursed asked if I could get my shirt off, or if it needed to be cut off. I was totally against that idea, cuz I was wearing my BarCampMilwaukee shirt, and even though it had paint, and floor glue, and sweat, and dirt on it, I just couldn’t see it being destroyed by a pair of scissors.

So… now I need to figure out how to “take it easy” but also move an entire office, configure a server and other systems, tell someone how to silk screen shirts, prep for BarCampMilwaukee3, and a few other things I probably shouldn’t do… all with one working arm. Whew….

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Video Installation (Part II)

If you remember my quest for a decent video installation, here’s the conclusion.

We ended up getting a TV with VGA input, and connecting an old PowerMac G4 to it. From there I loaded videos into iTunes and played them full screen. One problem, iTunes does not support looping in a video playlist. The solution: make a “smart playlist” which contains your videos, as smart playlists do support looping. I just tested this, and it all seems good.

Thanks to all who made suggestions. If you’re interested in seeing the display, and are available the evening of Friday, September 12th, 2008, let me know…

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BarCampMilwaukee3

It’s on! BarCampMilwaukee3 will happen Friday, October 4th through Sunday October 5th, 2008. It’ll be at Bucketworks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

BarCampMilwaukee3

We’re in the process of preparing the web site, and soon you will be able to register at barcampmilwaukee.org.

We’re also looking for sponsors. While Bucketworks is providing the venue, they’ve had a few setbacks this year due to flood damage, and they are also looking to up the bandwidth for BarCamp events held there. If you or your company wants to sponsor BarCampMilwaukee3, please get in touch with me. We’ll make you known to all the passionate technology leaders in South-Eastern Wisconsin.

Here’s a list of our current sponsors:

We’d also like to mention Web414 (organizing group) Distance Software (hosts the web site) and Fresh Coast Ventures (our fiscal sponsor.)

I’m sure you’ll see a lot more about BarCampMilwaukee3 in the next month, as it promises to be a great event… and who knows, we might even have a few surprises to reveal along the way. :)

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Cuil is FAIL?

Look, I want a competitor to Google just as much as anyone else who is against one company dominating a space. So along comes Cuil.

Like all web nerds, I went there and searched for my name… and I got this.

Prodoehl / December

Now don’t get me wrong, John December is a nice guy, he’s a friend of mine, but I don’t really want to see his photo come up next to search results for my name. It’s like the time someone mistook me for Mark Mallman all over again. (Well, that was before he rocked out harder than anyone you know.)

Anyway, others are seeing this too…

I mean, did these guys not try searching for themselves with this thing!?