Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2003 > Start of March Edition

Start of March 2003 Edition

Doctor's Visit

As instructed during my health screening, I went to the doctor's Monday morning.

My doctor had back surgery. The recovery was supposed to last a month or so, but the opening got infected. She managed to pull through enough to return to work. However, she was a lot thinner than the last time I saw her in the autumn of last year.

Anyway, she confirmed without doubt that drinking all that Coca-Cola has made me diabetic. Yeah, I suppose a liter or two of Coke a day will do that in time.

Just how diabetic I will not know until the results of four blood tests come in. I had to go to St. Vincent Mercy in Elwood for those. The nurse had trouble finding a vein in my arm to get blood from, so she had to poke for one in the back of my hand. Not a pleasant experience, but she got enough blood for the tests.

In the space between the visits to the doctor and hospital, I had to perform the sad duty of pouring all my Coca-Cola and Hawaiian Punch into the sink. I can't drink them anymore. Orange juice is as close to a sweet drink as I can take now, and it was orange juice and mineral water I bought at Marsh to replace the Hawaiian Punch and Coke.

I hope that I can get by with diet and metformin (better known as Glucophage®) long enough to lose twenty-five pounds (eleven kilos) in four months time. In fact, I am looking forward to this. I would really like to rid myself of the abdominal aches (which sometimes becomes outright pain), the itching, the numbness in my fingers, and the other odd things that can now be attributable to type II diabetes…not to mention to loose a few inches off the waist.

Compared to my morning, the rest of the day was an absolute bore. I reimaged a bunch of old Gateways, cleaned out my work area a little, and I was still bored. That is the sort of thing that made me drink all that Coke: just for something to do!

Allegro Non Troppo

My order from Amazon came on Thursday, but I didn't find the time to watch until Saturday. I've read all about this tribute/satire of Disney's Fantasia, but I'm more impressed by the film now that I've seen it.

I say 'satire' because it comes in the form of a chatty eccentric director who produces a knockoff by hiring a bunch of old ladies for an orchestra and by bringing an animator out of a dungeon. In between attempts by the animator to plot his escape and to poke at the buffoon of a conductor, we have six pieces.

Prelude To An Afternoon of A Faun by Claude Débussy: An old satyr tries for one last fling with the gorgeous nymphs with help from the local fauna. Alas, he is too far past it.
Slavonic Dance No. 7 by Antonin Dvořak: A man emerges from his cave and builds himself a hut; others see this and build huts, too. Then he builds a stone house; suddenly other stone houses appear. This goes on until, sick of being a leader, the man tries to trick the others into marching off a cliff.
Bolero by Maurice Ravel: Astronauts throw away a Coke bottle before blasting off. In the remaining Coke new life emerges, and from that first life comes a march of endless variety. Among that life, however, is a quick-learning ape, and before too long the march comes to a halt amid the skyscrapers of civilization.
Valse Triste by Jean Sibelius: In the ruin of a house amid endless housing blocks, a starving cat emerges. It sees the ghosts of former inhabitants, and several times the ruin appears as the house it once was. Finally the poor cat becomes a ghost itself, and the ruin awaits the wrecking ball.
Concerto in D-major by Antonio Vivaldi: A little bumblebee tries to enjoy a meal of nectar, but keeps having to flee from an amorous couple making love in the grass.
The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky: After various amusing attempts, God fashions Adam and Eve. The serpent offers them the forbidden fruit, but this time both refuse. The serpent decides to eat the fruit and takes a nap. In an indigestion-induced nightmare the serpent is dragged by night demons on a trip through that garish hell that is late 20th-century European civilization.