Friday, April 20, 2018

Quote: Vincent Van Gogh

"It often seems to me that the night is much more alive and richly colured than the day."
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Bought A Photo Editing Computer

With my HP Notebook currently down (after the flight) and with so much photo editing work in my future I decided to go all out and buy a high quality computer. I bought a high end 27 inch iMac for $2999, it arrives on April 27. I bought the unit online from Bestbuy.ca. I do not have a lot of money right now but I felt it was important to do this right. This is a ton of money for a computer, but I have had 2 previous verions of the iMac and have loved both so much, I thought I would do it again.

My hope is to use this computer for ONLY PHOTO EDITING (Photoshop) thou I might eventually use it for some limited film editing as well. I will not put the computer online, will not fill it with unnecessary programs and files, want to keep this thing lean and mean. I plan on bringing it with me here to work as well as using it at home and a moms place. I will use the back up external hard drive files I did up in Asia with this computer. I should be able to do lots of editing at work between my security rounds and patrols over the next year. One of the advantages of being a night guard is you have some time for personal projects.

Note* I am now saving money to make the final payments on the HF3535 ultra large format camera. Hopefully in a month or 6 weeks that will be taken care of as well.

Note** I will try to use this computer in combination with an existing gifted printer (thanks Larry). If that does not work then I will need to buy a new printer to make my exhibition prints from digital files. This is weird! I am so use to doing everything in the darkroom, doing them digitally is throwing me off. Still the photos I made in Japan and the dump would have been impossible to shoot with film (espeically the near darkness nightime dump work).

Here is a link to the computer (I got a $80 discount the day I bought it).
My iMac 27 Inch Computer

Apple iMac (MNED2LL/A) 27"
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Exhausting Days

I returned to Canada at 0045hrs Monday then went to work 12 hour night shifts at 1730hrs Monday. It was an exhausting 4 nights, thou tonight, Friday, the fifth night, I do feel one hell of a lot better. On Monday my first night I felt like a thousand year old man, I had a fair amount of pain in my knee, my walk was slow, and my head felt heavy and confused. Each day everything got a bit better, but even last night I was walking, doing my patrols like I had cement in my shoes. The good rhythm is returning now, my knee still hurts but its probably at 80%, so that is a relief as well. Next week my first week off since the 6 months in Asia, I plan to SLEEP, SLEEP AND SLEEP some more.

Sorry about not writing in the blog this last bit, but I just felt like crap, had nothing much to say and no energy to write it.
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Monday, April 16, 2018

Quote: Dylan Thomas

"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
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Computer Damaged?

My HP laptop computer which because of its size-weight, I was forced to put into my check in luggage (did that going there as well),is not working, damn.  Maybe I should have taken it in carry on but was afraid of all the security issues, starting it up at the X-ray machines etc. My battery would have needed to be charged mid 3 plane flight etc. Looks like I will have to take it to a computer shop for a possible repair.

I am not worried about my digital master photo files as I backed up everything on e terns hard drives. I could lose thou all the work I did on the potential book, on the PowerPoint presentation, on the various picture and movie files. Will also lose my photoshop plus video editing software.

This sucks because I am really short of money right now and it will slow my work down. I was hoping to use the computer at work this week. Now that looks like it will not happen.
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Pigging Out On Canadian Foods

Eating, gourging out on all my fav Canadian foods.

 - pyrogies with sausage and sour cream.
- mini wheats with Canadian skim milk (milk tastes a bit off to me in Thai).
- cottage cheese (all kinks of cheese are expensive in Asia).

I got totally riced after 6 months in Thai.
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Back in Edmonton, After 6 months Away

from Facebook....

Am back home in Edmonton Canada. The knee survived the trip, it swelled up a bit but got me home. The photo is after a 3 hour jet lag nap. Tonight am back to work in the guardhouse, I will need to take it slow. This little injury and the various ailments over the last month plus are nothing compared to what the families in the dump face on a daily basis.
Warning* You cannot unsee this photo. Check out the white guy legs, 6 months in Asia and am lighter than I left! Did long pants and long sleeve shirts most everyday. Covered myself with sun cream as well. Not a big fan of the sun and bad red burns.

Swollen left kneecap and leg
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Saturday, April 14, 2018

KILLER Needle

The worst part of the hospital visit was when the doctor gave me the option of taking out the fluid in my knee to help with the movement as well as to use in a gout test. I was unsure if I should go for it. The doctor told me they would freeze my knee and the needle would be a similar pain level to a dentist freezing your mouth before dental work. I thought “It is probably more painful than that” but I need to do this so told him OK!

I went to another area of the hospital, and laid down on a bed. The doctor and three nurses came over, he  put on sterile gloves, cleaned the knee, then leaned forward froze the area and stuck a #12 needle in! The needle was around 3 inches long, and it hurt like hell! The doctor moved the needle about here and tried to take out fluid but there was none! I was moaning and occasionally kicking my right foot. The doctor withdrew the needle then administered a local freezing of the kneecap area with a smaller needle. He then made attempt number 2 with the big needle, poking about here and there a bit less pain than the first attempts but it still hurt a lot! There would be nothing, nothing, then a jolt of extreme pain for 5 to 10 seconds. Again the doctor could not find any fluid to withdraw! All the pain was for not, no testing could ce done!! He took out the needle told me of the problem then left. I paid less because there were no lab tests. The total cost for this visit was 5300 baht ($215 CAD).

The doctor also told me I should be able to fly the next day, hope he is right on that one.
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Another Hospital Visit!t,

In perpetration for my flight back to Canada today I did an emergency trip to the hospital today here in Bangkok for my. I could not bend my knee at all yesterday, tonight I can bend it a bit!

They gave me a new injectionn of anti swelling medication as well as a pain killer.  I was also new meds including a medication for gout. The knee now feels a bit better. Am also icing the knee lots, that stops the pain and helps with the swelling.
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Thursday, April 12, 2018

Stupidly Hurt My Knee Again

Yesterday I stupidly hurt my knee! Went out to shoot some photos with dads 8x10 Deardorff and buggered my knee up again. I twisted it on a hill with rocks while carrying the heavy camera mounted with lens on a tripod. Stupid stupid shit on my part!

Now am in my hotel room unable to sleep and took another pain pill. Last night at 1am, I too my anti imfamatory drug (Arcoxia 90mg) 8 hours early which allowed me to sleep around 3 hours. Just woke up in pain, am now limping around my room and occasionally icing the knee. Walking actually makes things better.

I cannot bend my left knee and I fly to Canada soon. How can I sit on a 3 cramped planes for 20 hours or so? I can walk slowly with limited pain but it is the sitting with blended knee I cannot do.

I might have to visit another hospital and hope they give me injections again, the same stuff as last time. Arcoxia seems a rather dangerous drug do not want to over uses it.

Arcoxia 90mg

Note my pain medication, to be used every 4 hours is Paracetamol 500 mg.
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