Random Thoughts: Apple’s New Patent, Pre-order Your GalaxyS4, and Why is Buffy Here?

So I’m reading several tech web sites today and the news is that Apple has applied for a patent on a phone with a wraparound screen.  And after reading about it, I’m left scratching my head.  This is not a new idea.  Other’s have gone into this territory before.  But I’ve always held to the firm belief that most of Apple’s ideas aren’t really new.  For all their belly aching about others stealing their patents, practically everything Apple puts into their products came from somewhere else.  But I’m not about to get into that long long history.

You can read it and see for yourself here.  I’ve studied the drawings and designs, but as far as I’m concerned, it could just as well be a new muffler for the next generation Toyota Prius.  That’s how tech savvy I am.

It may all be much ado about nothing.  Just because you apply for a patent does not mean you are ever going to be bringing the thing to market.  Besides, I’m saving my money for a Deluxe Hover Board due out in a couple of years.  Not to mention that running my new Buick Hover Automobile after I have it converted is going to cost me a pretty penny as well.

Speaking of the company whose name comes from the Forbidden Fruit, there’s also a report that Apple is working on a dedicated game controller.  Has there ever a been a day that went by without an Apple rumor?  I didn’t think so.  And has ever a company’s product been speculated about more than Apple.  I can’t think of any.  You can put the controller up there with the ongoing Apple Television rumors that have proliferated forever.  Me?  I don’t care.  I just need something to write about for the massive swarm of people visiting my blog who also don’t give a crap.

So what mobile phone does the great and powerful Clyde use?  The GalaxySIII (see expertly photo shop illustration).  I’m just not an Apple fan although I did have an Apple 3GS phone for a short while.   I really didn’t have much of a choice due to some major fail on Best Buy’s part.  I even started writing a long article at the time but I think that’s about when my health problems took control of my life.  Now that those seem to be working out, if I could just find a way to retire I could write this crap all day long.  As for the 3GS, I still have it although it’s not the original  3GS I had.  (Do you want to see that too?  Okay.  More Buffy.  See the other inspirational graphic) That one went berserk and Best Buy had to replace it with a model that had been rehabilitated in reform school.  One of the few times I’m glad I paid for a warranty.

Mentioning my own Galaxy SIII is my sneaky way of bringing up the fact that the S4 will be out soon.  AT&T will be taking preorders beginning April 15.  But instead of the usual $199 with a two year contract, it will run you $249 to sign your cell phone life away for two years.  I can’t get a new phone for at least a year but I won’t need one before then either.   Hell, I’m not even getting full use out of the one I have now.  If you want to preorder one unlocked, it’ll cost you $725.99 on up.  A grand bargain I say, and just think of my commission I’d get from Amazon!  Why, I bet it would be at least $1.30.  Maybe even $1.50!  One can really rake in the dough with those Amazon ads.  To be honest, the most I’ve made is about $70 bucks total in the three or four years I’ve had them up.  Most of that came when I could write on a regular basis and about 90 percent of that came from family members I bamboozled into buying shit.  What I’m saying is, if you think you can retire by writing a blog,  you better have one hell of a huge family!

Before next year comes around, I’m seriously going to consider getting out from under this cell phone contract nonsense.  It’s nice to have a new model cell phone every couple of years, but I think T-Mobile may be on to something with this plan.  But oh wait, isn’t Straight Talk the same thing?  Just some things for me to consider over the next year.  I’ll let you know what happens if you and I are still around.   More stuff later.  We’re on a roll this week.

A Day in the Life: 10 months and 40 doctors later-We know what ails you.

We're doing the doctor bit today--twice. First the Neurology guy, then later today the regular HCP office. They have Faux News on the TV and you know how much I hate that crap.

I didn't sleep worth a damn last night so I'm probably going to be grouchy.

Update: Made it into the examine room at 9:20 for a 9:00 appointment. Not too awful bad.


Update II: I've now been in this examining room longer than I was in the waiting room. Time 9:50 PM

Update III: The news is all bad. This may have to wait until I get home. Carnac sees surgery in my future.

Update IV:  Better Late than never.  There's one thing about being stuck in a doctor's office for hours.  It's hell on your IPhone battery while you try to keep yourself occupied.  That examining room that you see.  I ended up sitting there waiting until almost noon, for some stuff they could have finished up with by no later than nine thirty.

So why write about my medical stuff?  Health care in this country has reached an abysmal state, and it shows in our ranking, somewhere around 38th in the world I think.  Rather piss poor, and now I know why.  Funny how some politicians (and you know which ones) continue to talk about the US health care being the best in the world when it's not even close.  And if you're unlucky to have insurance as tens of millions of people in this country are, you're basically just shit out of luck.  I know.  I've been in that situation before, for a good percentage of my life.

If you've been following this caper along in my other posts, you pretty much know how piecemeal HMO coverage is by now. You have to wait for approval on just about every little procedure.  And that's about where I stand right now with the one big caveat:  After six months of shuffling around from specialist to specialist, I now know what my main problems is even if  I don't fully understand it.

It has to do with the vertebrate in my neck are compressing against the nerves in my spinal cord.  Quite a bit actually, as the Doctor Genius showed me on my MRI pictures that I had taken about a week ago, which if they had taken them months ago it would have saved me a lot of trouble.  What it amounts to is that they have to fix it, because if they don't I could end up paralyzed or worse.  Or so they say.

But before any of that happens my regular HCP has to do my surgical preliminaries:  blood samples and all that crap.  But, because I've had a persistent case of laryngitis off and on, I have to go to another specialist for that before they can begin getting me ready for surgery.  You know, just to make sure it isn't cancer causing my voice to come and go like a yo-yo.  Take my word for it though, it isn't cancer.  I've had this laryngitis problem before.  For about two or three years as a matter of fact and it was a lot worse than it is now.  But they have to do what they have to do.

The worse part of this is going to be wearing a neck brace.  But even that has to be approved. Hope it takes a long time.  The bad part:  I have to wear even before surgery which tells me that what my doctor says is true.   Even those I have spoken to have never had to wear the brace before the operation.  Still, some are advising me not to have it.  I wish I knew more.  I was too stunned when he told me to ask about more specific details.

Anyway, I'm still going to write about this and we'll see how it develops.  Hopefully I can get back to working on more pleasant blog stuff.

Sorry about the time it took me to update this post. Not like anybody's going to read it anyway.  I laid down in the bed and looked for something on Netflix to watch but I fell asleep making a selection.  That's how tired I was.  Oh well, watching Scarecrow and Mrs. King on Amazon as I write this.  Better than nothing, but kind of hokey.  I didn't remember the show being this hokey.  All four season are available for free with Amazon Prime though and it isn't on Netflix.  I only mention that show so that I can stick an Amazon ad on here..lol.   Catch you later.

A Day in the Life: Truckstop Radiation & Wal-mart

Not the real name of course, but that's what I call it.

The good: I got off work early.
The bad: It's so I can come here to Truckstop Radiation to get another MRI. This time on my neck.
The ugly: I'm really beginning to hate this place. I should own shares by now. I'll update later.
Another reason to hate it:  I’ve been here a half dozen times over the past few months.  Still, they want me to fill out the same idiotic form with the same questions and the same answers every damn time.  I even asked the guy why couldn’t they just Xerox it.

“We just want to know if there are any changes,” he said.

“No, there aren’t.  Now here’s your paper back,”  I said.  In my mind that is.  I filled the damn thing out.

Update: 5:30 and I'm done. Didn't take as long as others I've had. This new blogger app is better than what we had but it still needs work. For instance, any time I do an update, if I add a picture it should beneath or above your text . Instead it just shoves them all to the bottom of your page.  There’s no way to actually place them unless you’re an HTML whiz kid.  I am not.   I also wish there was a way to auto watermark your pics, but there isn't as far as I can tell.  (Note:  these were watermarked  and placed properly after I returned home)

Update: Traffic isn't as bad as usual. At the Rosedale Wal Mart to pick up some Allegra my HCP wants me to take. I was in Rite Aid yesterday and the price was outrageous. Even for the store brand. I would have bought it anyway because you don't save any money driving all the way into Bakersfield, but I knew I had to come into town anyway for the MRI so I just waited since Wal-mart was in the vicinity.  Hell, there’s always a Wally World in the vicinity.

The 15 tablet pack of Allegra was almost 18 bucks at Rite Aid yesterday. It was about $5 less here. The generic store brand was less then ten dollars at Wal-mart. That's what I bought.  Here’s some comparison price shopping for you though.

There were only a couple of packages of the Wal-mart brand left and they were kind of beat up.  But I didn’t really want to spring for the 30 pack since these are one a day tablets and I have to go back to the HCP in two weeks so she can see how I’m doing.  And I will be doing just fine, because the last thing I want is another specialist hitting me up for my 15 dollar co-pay.

I hate shopping here at the Wal-mart in Rosedale though.  The place is a Zoo.  There’s always a bunch of little monsters running amok and the aisles are way too narrow.  I had to wait forever to get to the aisle with the Allegra in it.  After I got the stuff, I headed to the back of the store for some DVD and electronics browsing.  But first I had to stop off for some needed supplies.

Usually I would buy the Gain and use it to pollute our environment with.  I’ve found that the really generic cheap shit doesn’t clean your clothes very well.  But with the six dollar price different and the inviting aroma of lavender, how could I resist the Great Value?  And dig that colorful packaging!  Or am I just becoming a cheap skate.  I would prefer to buy Tide but with Guiding Light off the air, why should I support Proctor and Gamble?  Oh hell, they probably made all of these brands.

 

If I buy microwave popcorn at the local Save-Mart, the best I can do is get the generic Sunny Select brand for $4.49.  For that price you get ten bags.  Here, for $3.68 you get twelve bags.  So since I eat a lot of this stuff (it’s my one major indulgence), I stocked up.  The best low fat microwave popcorn I’ve tasted is Jolly Time, above and beyond the taste of any others.  Since I don’t eat regular fatty popcorn, I can’t attest to the taste of those.  The problem with Jolly Time is that it’s so darn expensive.  At Save Mart, it only comes in three packs, for about $2.69.  So that’s almost 90 cents a bag which means ten bags is about $9.00.  I did get some at Rite Aid not too long ago because they had single bags for 69 Cents.  Still, that’s seven dollars for ten bags.  But this stuff is okay for the price.

You’ll recognize the above picture.  It is the $5 DVD bin where all DVD’s go to die.  I used to get some goodies out of here but lately the pickings have been slim.  Such was the case this time.  The rule of thumb is if I don’t already have them, chances are that I don’t want them.  That is not always the case though because I did find one DVD that I decided to get.  Believe it or not I’ve never seen it, although I did see it’s unrelated predecessor.  Maybe I’ll end up writing a review on it.  How this did not end up in my collection I don’t know, and I’m a Julia Roberts booster.

I see I screwed up the watermark on it though.  I don’t know how the date and time got turned on for this picture and none of the others.  Freaking IPhone!  Anyway, I’ll put this on the shelf and get around to it.  I haven’t seen Erin Brockovich either, something I really need to do.  It’s here at the house somewhere.    I mean after all, she did win an Academy Award for that one.  The next thing I came across was the following worthless piece of shit.

Wasn’t this out at theaters less than a month ago?  I notice theater owners aren’t bitching about this movie’s quick release to DVD.  Although this shelf is full, I bet there’s plenty of wing nuts out there to spend their $13.00.  Idiots.  Damn, I just now noticed that.   At that price for a new release, they really are desperate to get rid of these drink coasters.  However, if somebody wants to send me a copy, feel free to do so and I promise to be fair and watch the thing before I write a review ripping it to shreds.  (I sure as hell am not wasting a spot in my Netflix Queue or a dollar at Redbox on it)  The next time I watch The Undefeated, it’ll have John Wayne and Rock Hudson in it.  And Missy, if you’re reading this, will you please return my gawddamn DVD’s?

Speaking of bad movies, whatever you do, don’t ever ask me to review these next three films.  There is no way I’ll ever sit through them again.  Once was one time too many and it’s taken me all of these years to cleanse them from my memory.  I don’t care if they are just $13.00.

I own seasons one through eight of Hawaii Five-O, then I had to quit on it.  The darn things were just costing me too much money at $35 or more a season.  And besides, you can now stream the show on Netflix so what’s the point?  Still, I might finish off my collection when the price comes down.  The consensus of opinion is that the series was on a steady decline after the seventh season anyway.  Being honest, I would love to own the whole series, but time and money are not on my side.  It was a great series though and maybe some time in the future I’ll write about it.

 

 

I love Chucky.  He’s a class act.  Too bad a few of his movies stank up the joint though.  Still I came close to buying this.  I didn’t for two reasons.  One was that the first film, the most important one, was not a part of this pack.  So it wasn’t the complete series.  Two, I already own one of these (Seed of Chucky) so I wouldn’t have been getting as great of a deal as I would have otherwise.  But I still yet may buy this.  I did find the original Child’s Play film in the following set.

 

 

Yeah, you can buy this if you want the original movie.  I wasn’t tempted.  I already own a special edition of Carrie (and have reviewed it and will soon move it over to this blog),  and the original Amityville Horror is a really lousy movie.  Or at least the way I remember it when I originally saw it at the drive in years ago.  I know I wasn’t scared at all and was pretty much bored.  So I would in a sense, have been paying $13 for Child’s Play, and that crap just ain’t happening.

 

I did give a quick look to the blu-rays before moving on.  But I usually get those on line because they are cheaper.  Wal-mart does have one blu-ray I want but you have to order it from their internet site because it’s an exclusive.  Why they don’t just put it in the damn store is beyond me.  That would be the  blu-ray of Legally Blonde for $10.  So there was nothing else in this department that said “buy me.”   Besides, I just got Scream 4 and Fast Five this week, and a spanking new Ben-Hur last week.

 

 

And then there’s this.  This is the same blu ray player I bought some months back for the TV in the bedroom.  Once they added Amazon to it the way it was supposed to have been, the thing has worked like a charm and certainly at $88 I probably got my money’s worth.

 

Last stop, The Sims.  Boy how I used to love this game until EA ruined the fun with it’s endless marketing shenanigans and it’s Crappy Sims 3 Store they invented to take advantage of the mindless guppies that buy that crap.  Buying the games is one thing, but giving in to the greedy corporate mindset and to continue buying way overpriced pieces of digital dung, is just silly.  I know the guppy and the sheep will argue that it’s okay to be guppy and sheep, but I can’t deal with that.  I read what these zombified goof balls have to say on The Sims 3 site, and it really makes me want to puke.  I haven’t bothered loading the game up in months, and if I do, it’ll be so I can rewrite my Sims story.  I really need to write an article to vent about this crap.  And how many go rounds is this for the digital dogs anyway?

By the time I checked out of the store I had spent about $83 bucks, I had one of my bad dizzy spells, my back was hurting and my leg was on fire.  So I decided just to stop at the local Long John Silvers/A & W Root Beer place to get something to take home. I love the atmosphere here, the 50’s styling and the juke box.  Food is just so-so cakes, but I get tired of burgers.  I had the chicken and fish mix (1 piece and 2 pieces)

 

And finally, I read somewhere that Microsoft is going to discontinue the Zune.  It’s too bad.  I own one, and it is a superior dedicated digital music player when compared head to head to the iPod.  (We’re not talking Ipod touch here.  Get real.)  As a matter of fact, I prefer using it for music before using my IPhone.  I was going to get a new Zune HD but guess I won’t now.  The Zune connects to my car radio, and you can actually get more music on it’s 8 GBS than you can an IPod's 8 GBS.   How is that?  It has to do with reducing the bit rate.  You can go lower on the Zune and not have it affect the music.  You only have two choices on the Ipod.  Take me home, Nat.

A Day in the Life: Hanging Out

 

I'm hanging out at Blockbuster, killing some time after having dropped some papers off at my neurologist. The more things change at Blockbuster, the more they stay the same (as you can see). One worker, lots of people.

Outside the weather is cloudy but nice. At home, I'm working on a post I hope to finish tonight. Debating with myself about dinner which will be after the Doc. Have a good day, catch you later.

Update: Made it to the doctor's office. I'm not sure why I am here except to have my kidney cyst explained more thoroughly. I have to have another MRI on Thursday, this time on my neck.

What I need is some pain meds but there's a problem I'll explain later. And no, I'm not addicted, just hurting. All the time.

Update:

Okay here's the explanation. About five months ago I was sent to a pain specialist because one doctor wasn't sure what was causing the pain. The pain doctor put me on Neurontin and vicatin, both of which I used sparingly to make them last. Since then, the cause of the pain has been diagnosed by my neurologist who should be prescribing the meds. But he can't because technically I'm still under the care of Dr. Feelgood, whom I haven't even seen in three months. So, in order for the neurology guy to prescribe my meds, I have to get a release from Dr. Feelgood. Easier said then done.

I call his office, the receptionist was clueless, but said she would call me back. Since I had to go burning up fossil fuels in Bakersfield today I had hope to resolve this idiots situation. But no dice.

Anyway I just had my vitals taken so stay tuned.

 

Final update: Got the pain meds straightened out. The magazine cover?
It's a July issue. Typical for a doctors office. Just wanted to offer up some doctor type atmosphere.  I also got some medication for my chronic laryngitis.  As for my tendency to write too much, sorry, but my doctor says it’s incurable.

 

 

 

Final final update:  I’m back home.  Let me offer up an explanation to those of you who are new to this blog.  If you go back a couple of months, I made it clear this blog was going to have a personal touch.  It would be not just about things I was interested in, but about me as well as much as possible.  Therefore, you get this health stuff.  And as I go through this, I’m a perfect example of why health care is in such a sorry shape in this country.  It’s so piecemeal, and everybody wants to put their hand in the cookie jar instead of finding out what the problem is and doing something about it.  Since I have to go have an MRI on Thursday  (yes another one), I’ll explain then.  Hopefully back later tonight, but have to rest now.

 

 

 

 

 

A Day in the Life: Crazy weather for September in the desert.

I took this picture after The Girlfriend and I had left Marie Callendars.  I had hoped to do more mobile blogging when I started rejuvenating my blog.  Unfortunately, Google/Blogger does not make that easy.  You can upload a picture, or text,  but apparently getting them both on the same page (other than the title) is a bit of a problem.  Either that or I’m not doing it write.  So because of it’s limitations, I haven’t been able to.

I had given thoughts of switching my blog to WordPress, because apparently they do have a mobile application that as far as I know works.  But since I already purchased the domain name through Google, that became a bit more problematic.  Anyway, the gist of that picture is of course, that it was raining, and there was lightening as well.  You just don’t see much of that this time of year in this area.  It was just a little dab of moisture, but any type  of precipitation in these parts is treated as if it were a Tsunami.  Here’s another picture I took outside of the theater.  And you can already tell I forgot to take the good camera with me.