Catching Up with Time

Catching Up with Time
Well, here it is Saturday afternoon and I finally have some time to catch up with the blog. I was busy, for me at east, during the week.

I went to see my regular doctor on Monday to have him renew my regular prescriptions and to follow up on a potassium supplement he had me taking. I also wanted him to check my fingers and toes because I have had an annoying tingling sensation in them for the last month and a half now.

Since I was off the Oxaliplatin, I thought the tingling might be a result of my diabetes. The doctor checked my circulation and sensitivity to touch and said that the tingling was not related to my diabetes. He thought it was related to a delayed reaction to the Oxaliplatin and that I should talk my the oncologists about this.

Something to ask Dr. Karen when I see her in two weeks.

I spent a day and a half working on my lecture notes for my Wednesday morning class.

On Thursday, I had my high definition cable converter box installed. I do like and enjoy watching high definition television. My only disappointment is that my really crummy cable company [Time Warner Cable] has only about two dozen channels in high definition and I only watch maybe half of the channels.

I don't like the idea that the only full screen programs are the ones broadcast in high definition. All of the other programs, the ones I like to watch, and the commercials are truncated and shown in a narrow version.

Doug suggested that I ought to call Time Warner and find out what their high definition plans are. He also suggested that I could go with satellite television. I'm not sure about satellite just yet.

I think I will go back to the regular digital broadcast if there is going to be a long time to wait for more high definition television programming on Time Warner. This is a simple solution that guarantees every program will be a full, wide screen image.

I had time to kill while I waited for the cable guy. I ordered the Princess her usual, Fall tin of chocolate candy from Hershey's. This is something that I have been doing since she went off to the University of Utah, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I also ordered a small tin of Hershey's chocolate for Molly the Stylist because I will see her on Halloween.

I went to get my eyes checked on Friday; what a painful ordeal. My appointment was for 10:00 AM; the mall store [EyeExam - Lenscrafters] opened ten minutes late. It took me an hour and forty five minutes to get my eyes checked and place an order for a new prescription and I was the first appointment. Part of the examination was an extreme dilation of my eyes so I couldn't read or type until almost dinner time.

My glasses come in a progressive lens style; there is no specific definition of where the close vision section is and where the other portion starts. I had been using my old glasses for just over two years so my eyes were very accustomed to finding the proper section without much thought or effort on my part. Now, I will have to train myself to get used to the new lenses.

Friday wasn't a total loss for me. I stopped at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that is adjacent to the mall were EyeExam - Lenscrafters is located at picked up some coffee for my friend Lara in South Africa, some coffee for the Princess' old roommate, and some really interesting sounding tea for the Princess. I got her some pomegranate blueberry tea and some Bagawanalawa Estate tea from Ceylon [Sri Lanka].

Try saying Bagawanalawa three time quickly and see what happens.

I also picked up a bag of India Elkhill Estate coffee and a large ice blended drink. I never knew that India was a coffee growing region; I always thought of India and tea and maybe some opium on the side for the old China trade during the Raj.

The young woman who usually makes my large ice blended was acting as the cashier. After I placed my order, she had a look of "I know that order," or something like that. I told that she does a wonderful job of making my ice blendeds.

She must not get very many compliments like that because she was smiling so broadly when I left. I should have asked for her name so I could call and see if she is working when I am in the mood for a large ice blended.

Saturday was my running around and doing errands day. I was busy. I went to the post office to mail the coffee and tea packages. Then, I went to the Redondo Beach e-waste recycling clean up and dropped off an old black and white television, an old VHS tape player, a broken clock radio, a bunch of batteries, and a bunch of old prescriptions.

After dumping the electronic waste, I went to the market because I was out of food almost. The store had in my Arizona Tea Company Arnold Palmer Tea product; I have only been nagging the store manager for a month to get it in. I bought every bottle they had on the shelf.

Perfectomundo.

I finished off my lunch with a trip to visit my friend Gloria's frozen yogurt and ice cream store for some chocolate ice cream. Gloria gave me a big scoop and asked if I had had lunch with my son at the Original Tommy's Hamburgers. I said that I came out to see her and indulge myself in some very rich chocolate ice cream.

That made Gloria blush.

I had absolutely no shame when I put chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles on my chocolate ice cream. I know Dr. Karen would smile but I think my regular doctor would be frowning at me.

University of Utah Football
[From the Associated Press via ESPN.com]

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- With an interception and blocked punt returned for touchdowns in the first half, Utah's defense and special teams put this one away before the offense got in on the fun.

Sean Smith returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown four minutes into the game, and Matt Asiata ran for a touchdown and caught another as the 14th-ranked Utes beat punchless Wyoming 40-7 on Saturday.

Playing in a gusty and biting wind, Utah (7-0, 3-0 Mountain West) remained undefeated, having no problem clearing this hurdle on it way to what the Utes hope will be another run to the BCS after needing a last-second field goal to beat Oregon State last week.

"We think we're heading in the right direction," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "But you know we have not played our best football as a team to this point."

Wyoming (2-5, 0-4) lost its fourth straight game, but managed to avoid being shut out for the third time this season.

Brian Johnson was 10-for-19 for 110 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for Utah, and Asiata added 37 yards on 11 carries. Smith had two interceptions, including one in the end zone that thwarted one of the few Wyoming socring chances.

Johnson said the Utes didn't risk overlooking the Cowboys and won't look past other Mountain West opponents like Colorado State, which Utah plays next week in Salt Lake City.

"The thing is we've lost to every conference opponent since I've been here," Johnson said. "There's not a team in this conference that hasn't beat us before, so we have to know that if we don't come out and play our game every week that everything that we've worked for kind of goes down the drain."

Wyoming's Karsten Sween, one of four quarterbacks to play for the Cowboys, was 8-for-18 for 52 yards and three interceptions. Devin Moore led Wyoming with 106 yards on 23 carries.

Wyoming's offensive woes continued as the Cowboys turned the ball over five times, gained 252 total yards and converted 2-for-13 on third down. The Cowboys' only score came midway through the fourth quarter when third-string quarterback Chris Stutzreim found receiver Greg Bolling in the end zone with a lofting 18-yard pass.

"We need to find a guy that can throw the ball," Wyoming coach Joe Glenn said. "I thought Karsten (Sween), being the veteran guy, was in the best position to do that, but we will look at our quarterbacks and evaluate who we think can best help us win some games."

With the wind whipping scraps of paper across the field, both offenses concentrated on rushing and short passes. Wyoming gained 184 yards rushing to Utah's 123.

"Wind is more damaging to an offense than rain or snow," Whittingham said. "When you get the stiff wind like that it's very difficult to throw the football in either direction.

Utah built a 33-0 lead early in the third quarter when Johnson, rolling to the right, found Asiata for a 13-yard touchdown pass.

The Utes added their final touchdown late in the fourth quarter when Wyoming's Tashaun Gipson brushed, but failed to catch, a punt by Utah and the ball rolled into the Wyoming end zone, where R.J. Rice fell on it to put Utah up 40-7.

Wyoming's best field position of the game came off a muffed Utah punt midway through the third quarter. But the Utah defense held Wyoming for three downs, and Sween's fourth down pass attempt was intercepted by Smith in the end zone and returned to the Utah 31.

Utah led 27-0 at halftime, fueled by defense and special teams. Wyoming threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, leading to three Utah scores.

Utah's defense opened the scoring four minutes into the game when Smith snagged a tipped pass and scrambled 25 yards through Wyoming's lunging offensive players for a touchdown.

Later in the second quarter, Utah's Aiona Key burst through the Wyoming line to block Austin McCoy's punt at Wyoming's 5. Key collected the bouncing the ball and darted into the end zone to make it 19-0 with about 9 minutes left in the first half.

Utah's offense added to the scoring when Asiata barreled 3 yards into the end zone to make it 26-0 in the closing seconds of the first half.

Utah's Louie Sakoda added field goals of 50 yards and 39 yards in the first half.

Perfectomundo.

The Princess and I are so happy for our Utes. This is a very good way to end the day.

Be well and stay happy.