I was going to write something, but I’m enjoying my new gaming chair and I got too comfy so…
Open Thread!
TOWER OF LUNCH
With just a few ingredients and a careful selection of whatever I have lying around in the kitchen, I’ve put together the perfect bento for tomorrow morning’s snackage.
I have a lineup of fruit and protein for when the first break hits. Some beef jerky, sliced medium cheddar and homegrown strawberries. This will be plenty enough to tie me over until half time, then I’ll have this:
I have a bed of spinach, with some Tzatziki (also known as cacık, or tarator depending on what part of the world you’re in) dressing and Kalamata Olives (right) and Feta Cheese (left). Tzatziki is a yogurt based mixture usually consisting of herbs and cucumber (there are many kinds), and is served either as a dip, a cold soup, a sauce, or in this case a salad dressing. For added protein I always go for greek yogurt, when I’m not making it as a soup.
My brother was nice enough to buy me watermelon while I was sick. You can’t see it, but I have a smoked salmon wrap ready to go, rolled with most of the ingredients you see for the salad. I also included a satsuma mandarin because hey, you can never have too much fruit… unless you start pissing fruit juice.
The Moment Of Truth
I’ll be going back to work tomorrow morning, and while my back/shoulder have improved I’m still concerned about my hand. The numbness remains in my thumb, and it’s coming back to the tip of my index finger. I’m thinking I’ll probably be wearing my splint at work for the foreseeable future, at least until I figure out what’s going on. I’ve already got my tea ready for tomorrow, and a small shopping list. I have plans to make a quick after work lunch, along with some extra to get me through some work lunches. I’m thinking something light, healthy, easy to make. Gives me time to do other shit. 😛
Other than that I’ve been spending my last evening of rest drinking green chai masala and working in SFM a bit. I’m back aboard the Tomala-TARDIS getting ready to animate another part of the last scene. I’m thinking after I can this video I’ll work a little on a side project; with my YouTube channel gaining a couple hundred new subscribers thanks to an 11 year old video I made I’ve been struck with more inspiration! Perhaps, if I ever make it to retirement with my hand still attached I might be able to accomplish at least 20% of the weird nightmare fuel my brain conjures up.
Chillaxin’ in my room like a bawla (Open Thread)
Since I’ve pretty much been on R&R I couldn’t do my typical weekend brunch post, and I’ve pretty much been taking it easy still. Been taking breaks to stretch frequently, pain decreasing bondage and more Yakuza shenanigans… oh, and I bought a gaming chair. Maybe when I return to work I’ll luck out on finding a bed that isn’t a Twin. I’ve decided that my bedroom needs more space (especially if I want to consider VR someday, now that I have a rig that can handle it), and as much as I like a Queen it just takes up too much space.
It’s all a starting point.
The Self Care Continues
My original plan was to do a livestream tonight (had a lot of fun on Twitch last week and wanted to continue!), but with current circumstances I’ve just been taking care of myself. I still have a knot in my neck, but if I keep popping it I seem to be able to get around better, while my hand/wrist that might be another problem entirely. As I’ve mentioned in some of my more recent posts I’ve been keeping it either wrapped or braced, and I have even gone as far as to switch to my left hand for typical day to day for mouse use to help take the stress off of it.
I was talking with Yutram last night about gaming chairs, and we got on the topic of desks and layouts. He gave me the idea of moving my keyboard to the very top of my desk, outside of the drawer you would ordinarily store your keyboard and mouse in. So far, between the wrappings and placing my keyboard and mouse topside seem to help relieve the tension on my arm. I can use the empty space below now to store small things, like my drawing tablet, tablet tablet when I’m not using it… etc.
Sometimes laughter is the best medicine though– and this series hasn’t let me down yet! Nor has the haptic feedback going into my wrist, that can also be quite therapeutic. This game is doing a good job both entertaining me, making me laugh, and giving me wrist a break… something that Kiryu and co probably wouldn’t let me do right now… not without feeling electricity go through my hand anyway.
Maybe I’ll finish off the night with a bite to eat and maybe a little sake… I have some cherry blossom syrup I want to try with it, and a little bit of alcohol would help loosen up my muscles for a good night’s sleep! 😛
Pain Management & Yakuza
I haven’t played a game since my last livestream, and my neck/shoulder/hand still hasn’t let up. Fortunately, Yakuza: Like a Dragon doesn’t require a bunch of movement from my hands, just some button presses on a controller for the most part. I made a little progress, and the only real workout I experienced was riding a bicycle to obtain cans. I’m having fun with it!
I’ve been being good; doing my stretches, switching to my left hand at the computer and researching gaming chairs, a back massager, and I’ve already got an ergonomic mousepad with a gel wrist on its way. I’m still on the lookout for a new mattress… only been able to find a twin, too small for my ass. I’ve added padding to the bed to make up enough of the difference to last me for the time being. Hopefully I start to see some results, so far that pinch has shown no sign of going away.
I’m still waiting to hear back on my MRI appointment; it’s going to be a few hours out of town, but even traveling makes it cheaper than going to any local hospital… On the bright side I can at least sit down at the dinner table without having to lie down on the ground to get the pressure to go away.
He Has The Right Idea
I woke up and found Morty inside his little kitty cat tree condo just lying down looking awesome. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Stewie taking up the entire kitty condo, but unfortunately I didn’t wake up in time to see it. He’s a bigger cat, and having him in that tiny space would have been a fun pic to grab.
That Escalated Quickly
Went to the Doc today; they’re scheduling an MRI for me, and I’m off of work until next week with plenty of time to heat, massage, and stretch the affected area. I literally have a pain in the neck! A pain in the neck that’s being a pain in the neck to the rest of my right arm… I’ve had to wrap my wrist or wear an arm brace to stop random shocks from happening. It’s like literal electricity flowing through my arm, and with that sharp coldness it makes it extremely annoying to go about my day to day routine of scaring people with my mad lifting skillz.
As a result of recent events I’m currently operating in left hand mode for basic computer usage, and so far that seems to help alleviate the pain. I don’t think I’d be able to game with my left hand, but for my own personal work usage I have no problems getting by. I even got a small bit of work done in SFM tonight! I’m a bit slower, but working with the other hand causes my whole arm to freeze and go numb… I’d rather go a little slower on a project and have happy limbs than go fast and regret it later. I’m just hoping some time off and a little medication will help get things back to normal; I really don’t want to go into surgery unless it’s a last resort.
Lost in Sleep and Imagination
During my time in bed most of yesterday I pretty much kept to myself, with my Linux Surface at my side. It’s really nice for reading, watching videos, spying on my corner of the internet, etc… I’ve been watching all kinds of music videos recently, to both see what the songs I grew up listening to were like in video form, and to also study the cinematography of each video. I’ve been kind of playing a game of “if I were to recreate this music video in SFM, what game would it represent?”. I’ve already come up with a few ideas!… that will never fully see the life of day thanks to YouTube’s copyright bot demons. Maybe I can get away with using them in future cutscenes? Speaking of cutscenes, here’s a WIP:
Goodnight everybody!
Memorial Day/Night Open Thread
Happy Memorial Day!… evening.
I’ve pretty much spent the day in bed. My shoulder is continuing to give me grief, in fact parts of my hand and arm get a strange cold numb feeling. It’s at the point now where I’ve had to use a sick day to see a doctor tomorrow. I know it’s just a pinched nerve, but two days off of work doesn’t seem to be enough to get my shoulder to stop yelling at me.
I think a couple things that would help would be to replace my old mattress, and get a new computer chair. Something comfortable but ergonomic perhaps.