Weekend Plans Post: Ground-Penetrating Radar, Short Weekends, and Grape Juice
Way back in 1999, DC came out with a Batman Elseworlds book that was set in Egypt called “Batman: Book of the Dead”.
I don’t remember a whole lot about the story. I remember that it seemed to be window dressing for the writer’s gnostic theory about how aliens built the pyramids and one of the things used to prove this was a seismic probe.
They found evidence of a chamber underneath the Sphynx. The comic went on and they proved it was aliens and one of the aliens looked like Batman, I guess. It wasn’t a Batman story as much as it was a “Guys, seriously, Aliens built the pyramids and I can prove it but they won’t let me excavate!” story that he couldn’t sell unless he put Batman in it.
Man. I haven’t thought about that story in YEARS.
Well, I mostly thought about it yesterday because I went in to get a liver ultrasound. Doctors used the “O” word and then sent me off to get an ultrasound. I expected something like you’d see in a television commercial. You know, they rub the wand over your belly and go back and forth 20 times taking a dozen pictures and then you get the results in two weeks.
That’s not how they do it in the current year.
This time around, they put me on the table, they put a wand in a very particular spot, at the very bottom of my ribcage, and then told me that I would feel a small “thump”. Thump. It felt like… hrm. I’d compare to stuff that happened in middle school, I guess. Somebody thumping you in the back of your head. Not painful… just irritating. Inhale, exhale, thump. Inhale, exhale, thump. The wand didn’t move. Just stayed in the same spot the whole time. Sometimes I’d take a deep breath and the tech would wait until I deflated again *THUMP*.
There were about 40 thumps.
And then they told me to go home. All in all, it took about… jeez. Not more than 10 minutes. It felt like we spent more time in the waiting room. It was in and out and done. We would have been done sooner if I were less willing to take deep breaths.
As part of the prep for my seismic probe, I was told to not drink alcohol for three weeks. Like, not so much as a 3.2 beer. So I enjoyed a little vino on May 31st and, since then, it has been a dry June.
BUT! I had my seismic probe yesterday and so, tonight, we’ll have a little something. I just know that I have to be careful. It’s been a while. As for the rest of the weekend, it’s a bunch of chores and errands and preparation for next week’s long weekend. And that one will be a hoot.
Mostly explaining to the kitties that everything is fine, seriously.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is “Zerbert”. Photo taken by Maribou.)
Hope all is well!
Not much planned for this weekend. Looks like it’s going to be a bit cooler this weekend so I might leash up the dog and take her hiking again. We did six or so miles last weekend and she trotted the whole way (except for the bits where she found a shady spot and refused to budge for a few minutes–smart dog). Otherwise, not a whole lot going on.Report
This is a short weekend for me. I work 4-tens, and I normally get Mondays off. However, this week I moved my day off to Wednesday, and I am also taking Friday off. However, it’s not all fun and games, because my wife will be getting oral surgery on Wednesday to put in the hardware for a tooth implant to replace one that had to be pulled. On the bright side, I will have six days off. On the lest bright side, part of that might be nursing my wife, depending on how she feels.
Despite being a short weekend, I do have board games tomorrow. Sunday will involve some grocery shopping, and I’m not sure what else. I will probably mostly take it easy.Report
Brutally hot here and I’m STILL dealing with the chigger bites (they can take 2 weeks to heal; I still have one super itchy spot on a shoulder). So I’m not sure. Not eager to go in and do work while campus is closed for the 4-day summer week because they put the AC on low and the buildings get hot, and I nearly had an asthma attack yesterday (from the humidity in the building plus working for the past several days with damp soil, even though I was wearing an N95 mask)
I’d like to go and do something “fun” but I stepped out of the house to take a bag of trash to the wheelie bin, and….WHEW. Maybe not. It’s supposed to be like this…..well, probably until September….Report
Were they checking your liver or exploring for oil?Report
If they wanted to engage in flensing, they were off by about half a foot.Report
It’s the weekend of the annual minor league baseball trip with my son, a tradition we’ve carried on since 2006. We played 9 holes of golf before the game tonight, and we’re driving up to a LPGA tournament before tomorrow’s game.
It’s a trip I really look forward to every year.Report
My Doctor asked if I knew what Foie Gras was trying to educate/jolt me… my only thought was a Homer Simpson-esqe, ‘yes, and it’s delicious’.
Unfortunately non-Alcoholic fatty liver runs in my family; probably what took down my Yiayia (before all this fancy technology stuff). Which is sad because all she ate was baseline immigrant food she made herself. When asked what one does for this he said, have you considered kale? And I was able to rattle off half a dozen of my favorite ways to use Kale. He meant, no, just Kale Kale. Ah well, there’s an exit strategy for all of us, just have to figure out how to manage it.
On the brighter side, it’s not every weekend that a fella comes to the house to talk about marrying your daughter. So we had a nice sitdown and I told him he must answer these questions three ere my blessing he would see. Well, technically four questions, but you know.
Sociologically the match is interesting because he’s 1st Generation Greek (both sides), I’m 2nd Generation (half), and my daughter 3rd Generation (quarter)… which will make their children slightly more Greek than I, and culturally closer to how my Dad was raised than I. She’s college educated; he left after a year and now manages several properties he and his uncle own; the sort of guy who can do anything… tear down a boiler? Re-roof a Cabin? Navigate DC rental laws? Keep peace/order in an urban building? Sure. First time I met him he reminded me of my Uncle Damianos; uncannily so. Open hearted, gregarious, smart, but not clever, people oriented with a high EQ, and the sort of person who just does what needs doing without tallying the debt or cost of it. He wouldn’t fit in here at all.
They are travelling to Greece with his parents to meet the rest of the family, including his 102 year old Papou; who, I’m guessing, doesn’t have a fatty liver.Report