Sunday, August 27, 2006

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBA-A-A-ALLL!!

It's my favorite time of year. The summer heat is on the wan, and the anticipation for the upcoming football season is building. I've got my fantasy league in the works with draft day next Wednesday, I'm all signed up with the NFL Field Pass, so I can listen to the games (I'm listening to the Redskins getting spanked by the Patriots right now), and I think I may have found a website where I'll be able to watch live NFL games. One can only hope.

Now, as far as the Redskins are concerned, this preseason: THEY SUCK! Take today for example. Tom Brady, against what is supposed to be one of the top tier defenses in the league, is 14/24 for 193 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Don't even get me started about the Skins offense other than to say it's...well...offensive (Mark Brunell: 7/15 for 51 yards and has been sacked three times). Mercifully, the first half is over. Maybe the second stringers can do something with the ball. Sheesh!

Now I'm a life-long Skins fan and will never give up on my boys, especially after what they did at the end of the season last year going 6-0 to finish the season and make the playoffs. There is also the mythical comfort in the fact that whenever the Skins go 0-4 in the preseason they've either gone to the Superbowl or at least made the playoffs (yeah, yeah, I know, but I'll take whatever I can get, eh?). The Redskins open up at home on Monday night against the Vikings. Hopefully the real Redskin team will show up for that game. We'll have to wait and see.

Final Score - Redskins: 0 Patriots: 41 [sigh]

GO REDSKINS!!!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Surgery complete; all's well in Mudville

The surgery on my knee is done, and I'm back home after a night in the hospital. Everything went well. The docter cleaned up the tear in my meniscus as well as some other damage he found while he was in there (he gave me a video of the proceedure which, I have to say, is fairly weird. It reminds me a lot of one of those Jacque Cousteau documentaries of life at the bottom of the ocean). One of the good things so far is that, with the exception of the 6 or so hours after the operation there has been very little pain. I have to admit I'm rather surprised at that. I realise of course that some of that has to do with the pain meds they gave me in the hospital, but even when those wore off, there has been no more than a dull ache. I haven't had any pain since last night and slept comfortably.

Now let's talk about Korean hospitals. Now the place I was in is more of a surgical clinic than an actual hospital. It's smaller, and you get a little more attention from the nurses than you would in the bigger hospitals here (fewer patients, etc.). The thing about Korean hospitals is the staff does not, nor are they expected to take care of a patients personal needs, i.e: food, bathing, emptying bedpans, etc. This is supposed to be taken care of by the patients family. If you go to any Korean hospital room where a Korean patient is staying, the room is usually full of family members taking care of the patient. The medical staff is only in charge of things like changing bandages, taking vitals, and changing IV bags. For example, when I checked into the hospital, they offered me a single or double occupancy room. I initially chose the double room because it's cheaper, but when I was brought to the room, there was a patient, his wife, and his mother both of whom seemed to be camped out for the duration. Needless to say I turned around and took the single.

Now if you're a foreigner, you have to rely on your friends. This is problematic. It has nothing to do with people being unwilling to help out, it has more to do with them having the time (or for some, the transportation means) to run errands for you. This is the main reason I wanted to spend as little time there as possible. The doctor wanted me to stay for three days, but I was having none of that. As it is, it took him some effort to convince me to stay the night after surgery. I'm much better able to take care of myself at home, and it's part of my character that I don't want to unnecessarily inconvenience anybody. As it is, I'm going to have to rely on people to shuttle me back and forth to class next week because I'll never make it on crutches.

Anyway, I'll be on crutches for the next two weeks, which while certainly a pain in the ass, isn't really THAT bad. I have to head back to the clinic every two days to get my bandages changed and the knee checked out. I get the stitches out next Tuesday. I should be walking around on my own sometime during the first week of September. In the mean time, I have the week off, so I'll spend it downloading movies, watching Nationals baseball, and chilling out.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Going under the knife.

Tomorrow I'm going in to get surgery on my right knee. This sucks but can't be avoided. I tore the meniscus tendon in my knee sometime earlier this year playing ultimate. Fortunately, I found a doctor here that seems pretty competent and comes highly recommended by the director of my school, who also happens to be a surgeon. This is a good thing since the last guy I was seeing told me that the problem with my knee was old age.

I have to say I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing. First of all, when I was a kid, I spent years in and out of hospitals for a variety of reasons. This has led to an aversion to hospitals bordering on pathological (well maybe not that bad, but I don't like 'em). Second, I would be nervous about this if I was in the States, but I'm in Korea. Ramp up the anxiety a bit. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to come home tomorrow afternoon or only have to stay in the hospital one night. All other options suck ass.

The other thing that sucks is the fact that, as of midnight tonight, I can't eat, smoke, or drink anything. I don't have to be at the hospital until 11 am tomorrow, and the surgery doesn't start until 12. Now this means that I ca have neither my morning coffee nor my morning smoke. I'm going to be one cranky waeguk by the time I get to the hospital. I also had to shave my leg today, which was weird in it's own right.

Anyway, I'm off to play World of Warcraft. Killing stuff is an excellent stress relief.

Monday, August 14, 2006

STOP THE OPPRESSION!!!

I just knew it was a conspiracy. Lefties unite! Stand against oppression!! August 13: International Left-Handers Day!!