Wednesday, February 03, 2010

A Meritage of Post-Surgery Ramblings

I'll start this post with the disclaimer that there won't be much structure or point to this: I just had my knee scoped (torn meniscus) and have a lot of semi-drug induced hours on the couch. This couch time is mostly remote-controlled (TV remote, that is), but I'm also playing with the cats, surfing the web, and looking at a few work emails, though not really reading or replying to anything. Needless to say, I have time to actually jot down a few random thoughts (I always have a tidal wave of random thoughts, but no time to record them -- now I do!!).

Surgery

This was way easier and considerably less brutal than my two rotator cuff surgeries. In those, I was under general anesthesia for two hour surgeries and came out not only totally incoherent for several hours, didn't even want to talk and really sick to my stomach for 24 hours. Before surgery (which took less than a third of the time), I took an anti-nausea drug, and literally woke up ranting clear, concise observations with no nausea. The nurses couldn't shut me up, but seemed entertained. One other note: shoulder and hip surgeries are extremely painful; there is simply no comfort and sharp pains any time you move for several weeks.

Immediate Aftermath: I Feel Good ;-)

My buddy Paul picked me up and dropped me home, and getting in-out of car, into house on to couch was easy. I could easily walk if I had to, though I'm supposed to use crutches for a day or two to keep weight off (then you start exercising thereafter). I'm just wonderfully stoned now. Beautiful. ;-)

First TV Show: Surprised by "Jimmie Johnson 24/7"

I turned on TV and was about to fire up a saved program or On-Demand. "Jimmie Johnson 24/7" was on and kept me before I could change the channel. Huge surprise: it's a GREAT reality-documentary (more the latter). I'm not a NASCAR fan at all, but this is a really good show. It totally validates the concept that great story-telling is good no matter what the subject. I highly recommend watching this show. Now I have to watch part 3 sober, and see if it is really a great show, or if it was the drugs talking.

Economic Thought: Shouldn't I Be Passed Out Right Now?

I skimmed an article in this week's Forbes about the global wave of debt, and it reminded me of something I've been saying for 9 years since the first Bush tax cuts. We WILL absolutely have to raise taxes at some point in the not so distant future. The numbers won't ever reconcile without raising taxes, and this applies not just to the US but many other countries as well. There will never be enough revenue at current tax rates to cover worldwide government spending. I'd also bet that the US is one of the last governments to do the right thing too. Our lawmakers are just way too concerned about getting elected to do the responsible thing, and that goes for both repubs and dems. How's that for a stoned thought?!! I am truly perverted to be thinking crap like this heavily under the influence with HBO blaring!!

Other Fav Reality Show: House Hunters International

I kind of like most shows on HGTV, but House Hunters International rocks. Talk about stoking dreams: looking for second homes in Bali, Abruzzo, Spain, Costa Rica, Dominican, etc. What's not to love?!!

Hank Paulson On Charlie Rose: I Should Have Been Sleeping...

I watched Charlie Rose at 1am or some hour that I shouldn't have been awake. Hank Paulson was on, talking about his new book. When the discussion got to AIG using its government loan money to make counter-parties to retarded credit default swap deals 100% whole, Paulson squirmed and evaded badly. Rose rephrased his question so many times that this segment probably took 12 minutes of the interview. Paulson's responses were retardedly bad, making him look either stupid or guilty. Being the former head of Goldman Sachs, we know he isn't stupid.

Why can't one of these officials just raise their hand and say, "Yup, we screwed up by not asking what AIG was going to do with the money? Why didn't we ask the counter-parties to take 25-50% haircut on those deals (instead of ZERO if AIG BKed)?" What's just as amazing is: no official will say exactly who was doing the talks with AIG at the time, even a guy like Paulson who is most assuredly not responsible for that particular episode. They're all afraid to point the finger for any one thing because they know there are plenty of other items for which fingers can be pointed at them.

Sick Food: Coffee Too

Surgery requires no eating or drinking after midnite the previous night. My surgery was delayed a few hours, so I didn't get out until about 2pm. After general anesthesia, you don't have much appetite, so I wasn't hungry until about 6pm. Then, I ate a whole pizza, a half pint of Haagen Daaz and a bag of my favorite cheddar popcorn. I think that was the drugs talking...

Not sure what the deal is, but after each surgery where I've been under general anesthesia, I've totally jones'd for black coffee. Today was no different. Two huge cups of hot black coffee. Felt a lot better afterwards too.

The Next Day: Epilogue

The drugs have worn off (at least the narcotic ones), and I have to say I feel pretty darn good. End of day I'll start some bending exercises and a little walking around the house. After yesterday's feast, I'm only now getting hungry (about noon). And unfortunately, instead of spacing on the couch with the remote in my hand, I've been on three conference calls, and answered dozens of emails. However, the bottle of Vicodin is sitting right in front of me...