Your humble correspondent reported to the Radiology Department at Johns Hopkins this morning at 7:20AM for the first of 25 radiation treatments. This involves nuding up from the waist down, putting on a gown, and laying on a table surrounded by big white boxes suspended on a round gimbal. I try to keep from flashing my junk while two helpful techs come along and align the lasers with three marks permanently tattooed on my waist (yes, I made it all the way to 46 without a tattoo and what do I get? three tiny dots–thanks, cancer) and then I hold my arms up above my head and they all scurry out of the room to avoid the radiation while the gimbal slowly spins the boxes around my stomach. This process lasts about 20 minutes. Then I get up, get dressed, and go to work.
I didn’t feel anything while they were doing it; I was half-expecting heat, but felt nothing. My stomach is slightly burbly this afternoon but I don’t know if that’s due to nerves, food, or nuclear medicine. We have an appointment with the chemo guy tomorrow at 2 to find out what to expect there; I’m hoping it doesn’t involve losing all my hair and projectile vomiting.
Interesting...
- January 22
Maryland Representative Andy Harris walked through a magnetometer near the House chamber yesterday with a concealed gun. When he was confronted, he tried to get another Congressman to hold it for him—who wisely declined. Harris has been a House member since 2008; he was an associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, and also chief of obstetric anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital. (Being a Hopkins-trained physician apparently does not prevent one from being a total fucking crackpot). Among other things, he supported Trump's claims that the election was unfair, alleging “large-scale voting irregularities,” including “secret, unobserved vote counting in the swing states.”
This barking asshat represents my district, and I'm embarrassed.
January 12
Destroying planets and using fear of this battle station to keep the local systems in line was my No. 1 passion until — about 30 seconds ago, weirdly! That was when I saw the X-wings that had evaded our turbo-lasers and were proceeding down a trench toward our vulnerable thermal exhaust port — and realized I had to speak up. I thought: What if remorselessly destroying planets isn’t my passion? What if my real passion is staying alive and avoiding the consequences of my actions?
This is from a couple of days ago but I've been crashing on a big project at work, and it still makes me laugh.
January 8
The President of the American Federation of Teachers issued a formal statement on Betsy DeVos' resignation today.
January 5
A detective wrote in a probable cause statement that Brandenburg, 46, is an admitted conspiracy theorist and that he told investigators he intentionally tried to ruin the vaccine because it could hurt people by changing their DNA.
Fantastic. I guess this asshole doesn't remember his Hippocratic oath class in pharmacy school.
December 29
The New York Times has posted an absolutely incredible investigation and recreation of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Using body cam footage, newly released records, and after-accident interviews, they show how the police detail who broke her door down made multiple careless mistakes and endangered her life and the lives of her neighbors by blindly shooting into a darkened apartment without announcing who they were or why they were there. This is 18 minutes worth watching.
