Miscellany

   The airpods charging case has been delayed but I should receive it soon. The 3D printed Dice Jail arrived yesterday. Here's a pic.

  You might be wondering why I'd order something that really serves no viable purpose. Dice have no memory so putting them in jail serves no purpose. If a die is biased because of some flaw introduced in the manufacturing process, the die is always going to be biased. Nothing's going to change that. The dice jail is kitsch plain and simple. 

  While my hip has improved quite a bit since the surgery, my legs still get tired and sore when I stand for long periods of time. I'm hoping this goes away over time. Things were somewhat better this last shift. The area behind my right knee didn't get all tight and sore like it had been getting the past couple of shifts. I've been making an effort not to peg leg too much as that just exacerbates things.

  The 4Oceans mask frames are still in Charlotte, MI. I've talked with Post Office people twice now and have even filed a case report but still nothing happens. What's the fucking problem? They have the address that the package needs to be sent to so why haven't they mailed it? Their automated system sucks. It abruptly cuts off speaking before the sentence is completed. It hears answers to its queries despite the fact that I haven't said a damned thing and trying to get a live person on the phone is nigh impossible. I'm going to keep calling them until I get some satisfaction regarding the mask frames.

A Few More Updates

   I've received my first Covid-19 vaccination this past Friday. I'm due to get my second shot on April 23rd. All I have to do in the meantime is avoid catching Covid-19.

  Some time back, I found a pair of airpods on the ground when I was leaving work. Since they appeared to be in good condition, I picked them up and kept them. Problem was I had no way to charge them up to see if they worked or not. Today I ordered a refurbished charging case. Hopefully, these airpods work. It'll be nice to have some wireless earphones.

  My federal refund has yet to be deposited in my account. I wish I knew what the fuck was going on with it. I need that money to help pay down my Aurora bill. I'll be back to working full time when I return to work this Monday.

  I received a letter from the Treasury Dept. stating that I will be receiving another $600.00 stimulus payment sometime in the next 7 days. This is an unexpected windfall. Most of the money will go to paying on my medical bills but I'm planning on getting 12 sets of Battle Dice for Cthulhu Wars. Every faction will have their own set of 20 Battle Dice plus there will be a neutral set in case the dice pool goes over 20 dice. My place of employment is offering $100.00 to employees that receive both vaccine shots for Covid-19. Once I get my second shot on 4/23/21, I'm going to find out how I can get my $100.00.

  On the national news front, the Smartmatic and Dominion lawsuits against Fox News and others are working their way through the courts. I don't want either of these cases to be settled out of court. I want these two companies to win and wipe the smug, condescending grins off the faces of these lying, hypocritical propaganda monkeys once and for all. A massive hit to their wallets will do that nicely.

  Sidney Powell, Trump's former lawyer, has come up with the most absurd defense regarding the Dominion lawsuit. She claims that no reasonable person would believe her statements and that she was just expressing her opinion. If you read the linked article, you'll see what a load of bullshit that is. Apparently, she was trying something like the Tucker Carlson defense. Personally, I want to see Sidney Powell, Fox News, OAN and everyone else Smartmatic and Dominion are suing lose big and have to pay through the nose.

More Medical and Other News

   I'm finally eligible to get the Covid-19 vaccine. I'll be getting it this Friday the 26th. I have to get some lab tests done before I see my nephrologist this Wednesday. My eyeglass prescription has changed and I need to have my glasses updated.

  I've added more to my Cthulhu Wars order that will be coming from The Game Steward. I've added the Neutral Unit Identifiers pack for the nine currently available factions as well as the upcoming Daemon Sultan and Bubastis factions. I'm contemplating getting the Battle Dice sets for all the factions when I get my refund. I might get some 3D printed gates too. The Game Steward has sent an email stating that the Cthulhu Wars Kickstarters will be loaded for ocean freight from China by July 31st and the Game Steward will get their shipment sometime in October. This timeline isn't set in stone. Things could still go wrong.

  Gen Con has moved to Sept. 16th - 19th. Because of the pandemic, Gen Con Indy, Gen Con Online and Pop-Up Gen Con will be running simultaneously. It's unlikely that I'll be attending in any capacity this year. My hoping to be able to attend Gen Con 2022.

Hip Surgery Specifications

   I saw my orthopedic doctor yesterday. I'll be returning to work on March 29th. While I was at the doctor's office, I got to see an example of the artificial joint. Here's a pic of the artificial hip joint.

dged

   The ball joint is composed of oxinium while the part that fits into the femur is made out of titanium. The part that fits into the femur is porous and ridged so the bone will grow into it and lock the artificial joint into the bone. The socket is an acetabulum shell. The outer part is composed of titanium while the inner liner is polyethylene. The only part of the joint that wears down is the polyethylene liner. The doctor recommended that I lose weight and not stress the joint too much so as to limit wear and tear on the liner.

  The next photo shows two x-rays of my hip. The right x-ray shows my hip joint before the surgery and the left is after the surgery'

to

  If you look at the right x-ray, you'll notice a dark spot on the ball joint of the femur. This is where the bone collapsed. That's what I've been walking on for the longest time. On the left, you see the artificial joint. You see how the shaft extends down into the femur. A long screw attaches the socket to the hip bone. The hip bone will grow into the outer titanium cup to further lock it in place. 

  I handled the sample joint fitting the ball joint into the socket. The ceramic zirconium oxide outer surface of the ball joint along with the polyethylene inner surface of the socket allows the joint to move without much friction.

  The specs for my artificial joint are as follows; A Smith and Nephew uncemented total hip arthroplasty with a 52mm acetabular shell. R3 with an apex hole eliminator and a reflection. Polyethylene acetabular liner, 36mm neutral with a lateral offset size 3. Polar femoral stem with an oxinium femoral head 36 +4mm inner diameter for a 12/14 taper. I'm not sure what all that means but the doctor said that I need to keep a copy of these specs in my glove box. I've scanned the hip specs document the doctor gave me into my computer and uploaded a copy of file to the MyIHR web page. Copies have also been installed on my eMedTag flash drives. That way should some other doctor need to do surgery on my hip at a later date, they'll have the necessary information regarding my artificial joint.

Random Shit

   I'm presently still convalescing after my Feb. 2nd hip replacement surgery. I'm due to see the orthopedic doctor this Thursday and I'm fairly certain I'll be given a release to return to work. I replaced my old Targus chill mat with a new model. This one is larger, tilts and has 4 USB ports in the rear of the unit. I'm using it right now. My $1,400 stimulus check was deposited into my account. Most of it went to pay for some old medical bills and other necessities. I did indulge myself a little by buying the alternate acolytes and handicap grey acolytes packages for Cthulhu Wars. The handicap acolytes arrived yesterday and the others will be arriving in the next day or so. I've added the standard acolytes for the Daemon Sultan faction, a 6-8 player Earth map game board and Tcho-Tcho expansion set to my Game Steward order. I have no idea when everything I ordered from them will arrive as all of it is based on Kickstarters that have been delayed by the pandemic.

  The Hexacube Kickstarter is getting closer to fulfillment. The seller has received and tested the samples and they passed with flying colors. Now he's negotiating with the manufacturers to get the dice produced. Some progress has also been made with the Go Dice Kickstarter. 

  My federal tax refund hasn't been deposited in my account yet. When I first used the TaxAct software to complete my return, it calculated that I'd get $1,887 back. A day or so later, an update for the program was downloaded and installed. The update lowered my refund from $1,887 to $1,167. I fear that this alteration is what's holding up my refund. I've tried to email and call the IRS with little success. I might have to contact a tax preparation service and get advice from them. I might have to file an amended return.

  My Mom and Dad have gotten their first Covid-19 vaccinations and have scheduled their second shots. They've received the Pfizer version of the vaccine. I'm not yet eligible to receive the vaccine but, as a diabetic, I'm higher up on the list than most other people. There's a chance that I can get the vaccine earlier than I should. I got put on a 'No vaccine left behind' list. If someone can't make it to get their shot, I could get called to get the shot.

  On a political note, 4 former Presidents Carter, Clinton, Bush and Obama, have been trying to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Notably absent was Trump. This narcissistic moron won't go on camera and tell his followers to get vaccinated but he sent out a message stating that, without him as President, the vaccine would've been delayed by 5 years or more and most people wouldn't get vaccinated at all. He wants all the credit for the vaccine for a disease that he downplayed most of his term but none of the credit for all people that died from the disease because of his incompetence. 

  The stimulus bill that passed recently went through without any support from the Republicans. Some of these fascist assholes are now trying to take credit for the bill's passage. These motherfuckers want to reap political benefit from a bill they didn't want to pass. They're also against H.R. 1, the voting rights act. The very party that whined about election integrity voted against a bill intended to increase election integrity. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Republicans don't care about America or democracy. All they want is power and to shovel more money into the coffers of the rich.

Alex Jones, Bloviating Contard Fuckwad

     Alex Jones is a bloviating contard propagandist that, like the GOP, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, Breitbart and Trump, spews his conspiratorial right wing verbal diarrhea to the QAnon addled minds of the MAGA maggots. He pushed the theory that the Sandy Hook massacre was a false flag operation designed to take away people's guns. He pushed this theory to such an extent that the families of the victims received death threats from his followers. Some of those families have sued him. Here's a video of Jones being confronted by these charges.

  As you can see, he shows no remorse for his actions and instead, tries to claim that he's the victim of some left wing revenge campaign. He also tries to claim that he's psychotic. If he's psychotic, then he should be locked up because he's a threat to people.

  In addition to being a psychotic provocateur, he's also an insurrectionist. He helped fund the storming of the United States Capitol that tried to overturn the 2020 election. Here's the video.

  

  You'd think after seeing that that Jones was a big fan of Trump but that's not the case. Apparently, this contard grifter of the brain dead has no love for his fellow contard grifter of the brain dead. They're just using each other to rake in the money and power.

  That kind of mentality pretty much sums up the mentality of the upper echelons of the right wing. Do anything, say anything in order to con your mentally deficient followers into giving you the money and power you so desperately crave. Lie, cheat and steal then blame everyone you hate for your crimes. It's the right wing way of life.

  With the passing of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones moves up the contard hierarchy. With his death, the world has become just a little bit better. Do I mourn his death? No. He was just another contard grifting the gullible for his own gain. Rot in Hell, Rush. May you suffer for all eternity.

MAGA Maggot Mentality

     The University of Cambridge did a study on how extremists think. Here's the video.

  This study pretty much confirms what I've believed all along. Contards are fucking mentally defective. They're fueled by emotion, unable to properly process information and cognitively dysfunctional. No amount of evidence will convince them that the election wasn't stolen. You could recount the popular vote 1,000 times over with the results remaining the same and they still won't accept Biden as President. This mental fog allows these idiots to be manipulated by authoritarian assholes like Trump, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, the GOP and Qanon.

  What can be done to bring these contards up to speed? I don't know. Personally, I see them as a lost cause. Their minds have been soaking in right wing conspiracy bullshit for so long that they'll never see the light of reason and logic.

  The current Qanon based conspiracy theory is that Trump will be sworn in for a second term on March 4th and that certain right wing groups are planning a second attack on the Capitol. Here's the video.

  More information can also be found here.