Gorkon’s Little Place on the Web

Well, I visited the doc for my first checkup after starting CPAP.  I have had only 3 nights without use of the CPAP and I never sleep without it.  I wish I had the miracle that others have, but I am not there yet.  I feel better, but not as good as I should probably feel.

One thing that the nurses and docs do is survey you on do you feel drowsy during meetings or other things like that and the score is a number.  The lower the number, the better.  I improved from a 6 to a 8.

I mentioned to the doc that I still tend to open my mouth EVEN with a chinstrap on.  The chinstrap is supposed to stop your from opening your mouth but it just plain does not work on me.  I asked the doc if I could switch masks to a full face and she said sure and I perked right up and asked for a specific mask.  She wrote up the order for it.  If you want to know, it’s a ResMed Mirage Liberty.  This has the pillows like my first mask, but has a cover that goes over my mouth so that if I open it, the air goes down the throat instead of rushing out of it ruining the therapy.

Losing weight will also help my Obstructive Sleep Apnea.  I hope to be off the machine as I continue to lose more weight.  I have lost 70 lbs thus far.

It is possible that I may not ever be able to get off of it without surgery.  Being overweight can cause OSA, but so can a whole slew of other things.

Another good thing…my BP was 118/78 which is NORMAL!  That doesn’t mean I can come off the meds, but it does mean I am heading the right direction.    I have to have low blood pressure before they change the meds.

I may be totally off the mark here, but since the news story broke last week that DEI, well, actually Teresa wants to keep the 8. The fact is, noone else will want to drive or sponsor that number.  It belongs to a TRUE Earnhardt by name, not by marriage.  Teresa would not have been a Earnhardt if it wasn’t for Jr’s dad.   ANYWAY, back to what I think:

I think Dale Jr will race the 3 car next year for Hendrick.  Yes, Jr said he would not want to racethat number right now.  Things change.  How ironic would it be that RCR releases the 3 and then gives it to Jr and he kicks DEI’s butt in a Hendrick car?  Hendrick has a much more professional organization then DEI pre or post Ginn merger.  Hendrick is truly in it to win it.  DEI is in it because Dale Sr. was.  DEI’s prime existence right now is to sell the Dale Earnhardt image.  If I remember right, Teresa still makes money from all of the 3 hats and more that they STILL sell even 6 years after Dale died.

Call me crazy, but since the number Dale Jr. wanted to race under, the 8, is not his anymore, maybe he will reconsider….and get the 3 from RCR.  The thing is, Richard would GIVE it to Jr and Hendrick likely with no questions asked.

Like the 8, the 3 should be raced only by a Earnhardt and I can’t think of anyone else who would want to race either of these numbers.

It’s OVER!

Originally uploaded by gorkon280

We went camping with just the kids and families in the Wolf Den. We went to Jackson Lake Campground. It was alot of fun and totally worth it even if it was only for one night.

Wow. Why haven’t I done this sooner??

For at least a year, I have had a license for Exceed at work. I have never thought about using it too much except for the lone Oracle install since Oracle wants/needs java to install (which pisses me off, but that’s for another post). Anyway, our new DBS who’s kind of new to the AIX environment asked how to run the oracle installer and thankfully he had a consultant with him that knew how, but then I got to thinking, why haven’t I done this with my laptop?

Started messing around and ran a couple apps and now I find it REALLY useful. For example, I run Banshee as a podcast catcher on my laptop. I now run it on my Windows machine via Exceed and I can use the BIG monitor and be able to navigate things so much easier.

The best part is it looks like Banshee is running directly on my desktop even though only the display is running on my desktop with the client running on my laptop.

Even better….when you start something playing on the desktop, it comes out on my laptop’s speakers! Now all I have to do is figure out how to get bluetooth headphones working on Linux and I can use it to listen to podcasts instead of a iPod.

As most of the 10 people that read this blog know, I am a CPAP user. Well I was surfing around and came across some new TSA rules. The rules state I MUST remove my machine from the case and put it in a bin ala my laptop. Excuse me TSA…I BREATH at night with this machine! I don’t want to put it in the bin where some thousands of pairs of SHOES go into every day! I protest this stupidity! CPAPS are detectable via XRAY. In fact the first time I traveled, both times the TSA agent spotted it, took it over and ran the swab test on it and returned it. I did not have to take it out of the case and he ran the test without need of taking it out. This is a MEDICAL DEVICE!

Can I now take one gallon of distilled water too if I label it for medical use? I need that water to use it and sometimes it’s a pain. I would like to take it with me but never do because of TSA.

Waiting for the day they want us to check everything and strip our clothes and travel naked!

I just wanted to let you guys know Josh Woodward released some new music on his web site.  He has posted his 2 newest CD’s  on his site.  He’s a great artist and I have played him many times on the Life in Ohio podcast.  He’s from Findlay, Ohio.  Give him a listen!

This is iPhone related, but it’s NOT Apple’s fault.  AT&T has detailed paper billing and when I mean detailed, it’s DETAILED!  You have unlimited data…..WHY are you detailing every time you access the network?  Unlimited SMS, why are you doing that?  Unlimited nights and weekends….why are you printing every call?  Well, AT&T does and it resulted in a 300+ page bill for social butterfly, Justine.  Read and watch it here!

This week Steve Job’s announced the new iMacs, iLife ‘08 and iWork ‘08.  Well, the one thing that I don’t seem to remember seeing until people who still have a dual G5 1.8GHz iMac or a G4 Powerbook ran out, bought it and then discovered it’s hard coded to only run on the G5 1.9 Ghz and of course the Intel based Macs.

This, I feel, is a bit too early to do it.  Also, even though there is a big push to go “HD” there are MANY of us who have yet to take the jump.  With that said, I feel there’s still a large need to edit standard definition video.  High Definition is nice looking and all, but some things like family events don’t necessarily need to be filmed in HD.  Also, a 1.0 GHz or higher CPU CAN edit video and play video very well.  I should know…I do it.  Granted, I don’t do HD, but I still do some standard def every once in a while.

What this all boils down to is a artificial limitation.   Apple has put a artificial limitation on the software because they seem to be ready to leave the G4 and G5 owners in the dust.  Even those who bought their G4 Powerbook a month before the Intel MacBook’s came out.  The G4 itself is still a very capable processor and my Powerbook is still pretty speedy.

Yes, rendering is a bitch on my G4, but it works.  It’s slow, but it works fine.  I just start the render before bed and it’s usually done by the morning.

I am sure glad Linux does not put these limitations in…AT ALL.  Don’t believe me?  Try it.  Get a Ubuntu CD and install it on a 800 MHz machine.  Yep….it works.  Might be a bit slow, but it works.  The FOSS community DOES NOT put artificial limitations in their software.  They let US make the decision if we want a unresponsive machine.

Gee, thanks Steve.  Thanks for thinking I am a moron.

New iMac

Originally uploaded by iFreek

Metal mac…..NICE. I have to say the new iMac is very nice looking….at least it isn’t white. I saw on the web someone say that this looks “70’s” retro. Uh, I lived in the 70’s….it should have wood grain on it to be 70’s retro.