Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Gregory House was not a real person? Wha?

May 29, 2012

Beth and I have been faithful viewers of the show House for several seasons.  I think we have seen almost all the episodes either during their actual season or in syndication.  We really loved the beginning seasons and tried to tolerate the last couple.  It was easier in the beginning to get past the fact that he was an ass because the writing was so good, the diseases so puzzling, and the characters so lovable. 

Lately, every time they tried to make us understand House or his ways, he ultimately made a decision based on what was good for him and only him. 

I am sure there are many women and caregivers out there who love House, but that is purely because you think you can save him.  Or change him.  Ask Wilson and Cuddy if you think that is going to happen.

As for puzzling diseases, I am sure they could have puzzled us for several more years, but it has really become tiring for me to watch them be so wrong for 50 minutes and diagnose Sarcoidosis and Lupus, and some STD only to finally get to the actual problem.  He inhaled a stick. 

So last night we watched the finale, finally.  We missed it the actual night of and forgot to DVR it.  Beth had to sign us up for a free trial of HuluPlus to watch it. 

So there we were, watching the dark puzzling end of House.  We had fallen for many of the spoiler alerts previously, so the suspense was gone.  We knew House was not going to die or go to prison, but that was it.  And the characters that they had come back for cameos were interesting, but without Cuddy, ultimately unfulfilling.

It was time for the show to move on.  I am glad we don't have to watch Wilson die.  And I am worried about the diagnostic center at Princeton Plainsboro.  Will Chase be able to become House?  How many times did House come up with the answer to the puzzle by staring off into space and seeing some clue while his team cleaned up the latest spewed blood from the patient.  I am not sure Chase can make that happen.

Perhaps I have not fully separated the show from reality just yet.

What were your favorite House moments?  Mine were when he worked at the clinic and spent the 5 minutes with a patient.  Something funny or interesting typically happened in there that got wrapped into a tidy package much more quickly that the patient upstairs.  And, it rarely turned out to be something ending with -dosis.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Is that a balloon in your knee or are you just happy to see me?

May 28, 2012

I wrote and email to my sister in Atlanta yesterday to see what kind of vacation plans they had this summer, and she wrote back, ' What happened to your blog?"   She wrote other things too, but also asked about the blog.

Well, I am not really sure what has happened.  I think the biggest thing is that my life has become about two very uninteresting things lately, The Target and my knee.

About 5-6 weeks ago I sprained my knee taking up the tack strips for the old carpet in our basement.  It is a real testament to how good a shape you are in when you can sprain something by kneeling.  However, it did confirm my lifelong question as to whether or not I should have become a monk. 

As a result, I have had two weeks of swelling, a day when it looks like I am going to start healing, a day when I do something bad for my knee, and then two more weeks of swelling.  Bad things for my knee have been mostly centered around walking around The Target, kneeling on the floor to straighten/fill a shelf, or carrying heavy stuff on a bad knee.  There was one instance though during which I helped CJ when the other referee did not show up for his soccer games by stepping in to ref two games with him.  That was not the cure for a swollen knee surprisingly enough.  AND, I gave CJ all the money from the two games.  I may like that kid a little too much.

Thusly and therefore, I have spent most of my days off sitting on the couch with an ice bag trying to get the swelling down.  I get well enough to go back to work.  I also sleep with one eye open so that Beth does not smother me and my knee in our sleep.  As you are finding out, this does not make for good blog fodder. 

So this weekend, I am healing and enjoying the fact that Beth and CJ are out of school for the summer.  These guys are way fun to be around and are very nice to me and my knees.  We took the weekend to do very little and watch some movies.  We watched both Mission Impossible III and IV.  They turned out to be excellent action films that kept us on the edge of our seats for a couple hours each.  Beth and CJ picked out those two.  I picked one called Haywire which was also supposed to be an action film about a female spy done wrong who kicks everyone's ass, but it was dimly lit and they had to talk a lot about the ass-kicking which takes away the appeal.

I still have two days off left and it is going to be 90+ degrees outside.  Not sure what that means for today, but it should be relaxing.

Since you are finding out why I haven't been blogging, I will take the opportunity to wrap up with one revelation I had for myself yesterday during service.  The theme was that we can all be Evangelists about what we believe in some form or another without having bad hair and a bad suit.

I have decided that the youngsters at my store need some of the wisdom I can impart unto them.  I am going to start eating my lunch in the break room instead of in front of my computer and have conversations with people.  Since the people at my store have a great affinity for the game show network, we may just speak of who has the better bid for the showcase showdown, but who knows?  We may actually talk about how they can learn to be better leaders and better people.  I can be that guy for some of these people.  Is this because I think I am a better person than most of them?  Heck no!  However, I do know a good person when I see one.  And I can use this knowledge to help some of the people I see are having a bad day. 

Maybe this will work, maybe not.  I won't know until I give it a try.  Here goes something...