Chondrosarcoma – ah shit, bob's sick

Last month I signed up for a Netflix account.  It wasn’t the dvd rental part of their service that interested me, but more the streaming aspect. It was recommended by a friend and after thinking about for a few days I decided to try it out. They had a thirty-day free offer … so hey, what do you have to lose? You can watch just about any movie, documentary, TV or anything else ever put on film … instantly, and on just about any device that connects to the internet. As a matter of fact you can connect up to six devices at once if you so desire!

In general,  I don’t watch much television besides the news and that’s  not for more than ten minutes a day or until I get pissed off by political bullshit or the repetition of three or four news stories that the prime new stations insist on repeating over and over and over until you begin to believe that it’s important. Why they do that I’ll never understand, there’s so much happening in the world that could be reported on.

Actually, I hate to even get started on this topic because I really feel like our “news (if you can still call it that), is so heavily censored that I might as well be watching Sponge Bob. Not censored in the sense of the conspiracy minded, or our government (although that’s certainly possible), but censored by the news programs and stations themselves simply by covering so few items a day, and by injecting so much opinion.

Yeah, I know, … I was talking about NetFlix … let’s leave “news broadcasting” for another discussion before I get really carried away. Besides, the telly is often on in our house. Our pets (cats and dog) seem to be attracted to it, and certainly Alberic enjoys his occasional show and video games, and Sher watches a few Soap Operas …

NetFlix seems to be offering a pretty good deal if you’re a watcher, or even if you just occasionally watch something.

There are several different levels of accounts to choose from. The main difference between them is the number of DVD’s you can get mailed to your house each month. There’s no time limit to how long you can hold on to the DVD, but as soon as you return it (pre-paid mailer included), your next choice on the list is on the way.

The accounts work in two ways:

1.) You can keep a running list of DVD’s to be mailed to you.

2.)You can simply stream the movie over the internet to your computer or TV.

You get access to both.

It pretty darn simple to do (you don’t need to be a computer geek) and their website is very easy to use. As for variety of things to watch … it’s almost endless.  The genres are extensive … even the Foreign Film and Classic categories are packed with lot’s of choices.

So, next time you feel like watching a movie or some television show without commercial interuption (although you can always hit the pause button while you make the popcorn), try it out. Great if you have kids too!

I do wonder though … will there ever be advertising added? For those of you who remember the history of television goes like this.

At first we had simple broadcast television, they sold advertising to make money and stay in business … that makes sense … right?

Then along came Cable TV, their big initial selling point was that there would be no advertising because if you paid for the service, that fee would be enough to keep them going and growing. Not sure how long that lasted but it wasn’t very long.

Cable TV has now degraded to the point that it’s worse (for the viewer), then it’s predecessor … the very thing it was originally trying to conquer. Nothing but the very lowest budget reality shows, info-mercials, and News stations that get most their news from websites … they barely have reporters any longer … and paid staff that provides research.

Basically, if it weren’t for the internet connection … I wouldn’t even have it, and that’s barely an acceptable speed when you compare it to most of the other technically advanced countries in the  world. We’re on the bottom rung of the ladder … and, we pay way too much.

Now, along comes Streaming TV and Movies doing the same thing … no commercial interruption, dirt cheap, and oh, so convenient … but for how long?

Take advantage of it while you can … I’m sure it’ll change.  After-all NFLX is on the Exchange and it’s investors will be demanding higher and higher profits, pushing the company to make more and more dollars  … and so the cycle continues.  

Hmmm … frustrating isn’t it? It seems to all boil down to bandwidth issues and how our government (meaning our tax dollars) has already paid for most the infrastructure, yet big business continues to profit from it and in a massive way!

Think about what you pay monthly for access to bandwidth, of one sort or another. Cable TV, your cell phone, your smart phone,  maybe you’re like me and have a GPS service … go ahead, add it up … tell me it’s not expensive … and tell me you can live, work and survive without it. That’s getting harder and harder to do too.

Gee … where have I heard all this before?

Hey, in the meantime … make some popcorn and give NetFlix a “go”, it’s a lot of fun and it’ll help keep your mind off of politics and world  issues …  and enjoy the show, I’m watching Doctor Who tonight!

This past week or two I’ve written quite a few articles for posting but haven’t had the time to put them up. It’s been such a busy end of summer season. One on the enjoyment of NetFlix and one on Digital Camera’s which I’ll probably be posting over the weekend, but I just had to post this one first.

When I got home from work today, Sher sent me a link to this article. It’s the first mention of Chondrosarcoma that I’ve seen since my own experiences with it. This is the “other” option that I had, the one I didn’t take … and I still have full confidence on my decision. I wish her the best of luck.
There are two articles, with links to the originals … I’ve cut and pasted them here because so many times the articles on news sites seems to disappear.

One of the things I find amazing is that there is absolutely no mention of Proton Therapy. It sounds like the doctors gave her a choice too: surgery or death … it makes me wonder … really wonder.

Article 1:
‘Cut-in-Half’ Mom Says She’s Doing Just FineUpdated: 2 hours 10 minutes ago
AOL News (Sept. 24, 2010) – So complete was her faith that she’d be just fine, Janis Ollson didn’t wake her children or say goodbye on the morning surgeons were scheduled to cut her in half.

“We went in and both of us were at peace. There weren’t a lot of tears shed,” she said of the day she and her husband walked into the Mayo Clinic for a never-done-before surgery that would separate her body so doctors could remove half of her pelvis, one leg, her coccyx and part of her lower spine.

Ollson, surrounded by her two children and husband, Daryl, appeared this morning on NBC’s “Today” show to talk about the ground-breaking surgery to remove a fast-growing, rare cancer that had invaded her lower body while she was pregnant with her son Leiland, 3, who was delivered by cesarean section before the operation.

The 31-year-old mother from Manitoba, Canada, wasn’t afraid. “I knew my options were either do the surgery or certain death,” she said. Her husband wasn’t always so certain.

“I was a mess. I couldn’t tell you today how I made it through,” he said, holding a squirming and sleepy-eyed Leiland.

The Ollsons have become somewhat famous after Janis agreed to appear in ads for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Leiland clearly wasn’t impressed with all the attention. “I want to go home, daddy,” he said, sliding to the floor during the “Today” interview. His big sister, Braxtyn, 7, rubbed her eyes and yawned.

More than three years after her surgery, Janis said she is cancer-free and feels good. At home, she zips
around in a wheelchair. An artificial leg and a prosthesis that fits around her waist allow her to walk with cane.She drives her daughter to school on an ATV.

The couple renewed their wedding vows in May, on their 10th anniversary, and Janis, leaning on Daryl in a long white gown and bolstered by a cane, was able to walk down the aisle.

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Finally a Three-Day Weekend!

Well I was really looking forward to this weekend! Three whole days off from everything … no work, no nothing. I figured I could finally get a few things done around the house, maybe a little work on the website, oh and maybe even work on my Cancer Tracker a little. Alberic wasn’t here this weekend so I usually take advantage of that time and get as much done as possible. Instead, somehow I managed to sleep the whole weekend away! Oh well, guess I needed it … sure feeling well now though!

Damn, Just What I Needed!

Truth be told, my weekend didn’t really start off sleeping like that … it started like this. I had gotten home from work a little early on Friday and thought I’d try and get to bed a bit early so that I could start my weekend off trying to do some of these little things I’ve been trying to do. With three days off in a row I figured I’d get some things done and some rest too … right? That balance that I struggle to keep going without reaching exhaustion isn’t always easy to find.

I got up early Saturday morning feeling pretty energetic and decided I’d cut some of the lawn (hopefully for the last time this year), so I went out into the barn and started the tractor. Now, anytime I plan to do something like this these days (but this I mean physical work), I take a dose of medicine before I start. The idea behind this is that I know I’ll be sore and hurting later … so I put the meds to work right away. Even though it’s strong stuff and does affect your judgment ( I never drive and take this stuff), doing little things around the house always seems to go OK. I may work a little slower, but that’s OK … I simply take my time and get the job done.

Sher wanted to run to store and grab some items for dinner and said she’d be back in a few minutes. So it left the dog, cats, and myself at home. Now you have to understand that our dog is really attached to Sher, she literally freaks out every time Sher leaves the house. She doesn’t go totally crazy, but she cries and whimpers while she waits for Sher to return.

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