I haven't wanted to post much about the new place until we knew for sure. hollyqueen and I signed the lease paperwork and have the key. Our new address is effective December 1st but we won't be moving most of our stuff until the 19th. Guess we won't have time to put up a tree this year.

We aren't moving far. Our new digs are in Madrona. We're renting a newly renovated basement and the other person living above us is the landlord and homeowner. So she is going to take care of the place and not be destructive. Also, I love the fact that she's a lawyer who works with youth. Did I mention she has blue/green hair?

Oh, it's 1/3rd of a mile from some cafes and Verite Coffee. Less than that to King Creole BBQ. Can't walk to the grocery store, but I'm ok with that.

...I'm tempted to give them stupid answers.

So I'm filling out the rental application paperwork for the place that hollyqueen and I found on Saturday. We both have to fill out a copy although the forms have space for all of our information. At least this one doesn't ask for my credit card or bank account numbers.

Bad: Another night without sleep.

Good: Finishing The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt. I enjoyed the and I agree with the Fantasy Book Critic's review. I want more and I find that there are three more novels set in this world.

Next up is Level 26 by Anthony E. Zuiker. L26 is a “digi–novel” and according to the book jacket and website there are codes scattered in the book that unlock videos on the website. I hope that the book isn't just one large gimmick. We'll see.

Just a quick reminder. hollyqueen and I are opening doors for folks this Friday at 7pm for movies. The selections this time are Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Cannonball Run (1981). Given the time we weren't planning on dinner but snacks wouldn't be turned away at the door. ;)

Christian Swinehart has produced a beautiful and interesting analysis of Choose Your Own Adventure books. I don't have time to read it at work, but I wanted to share this and save it for later.

Do you consider yourself vegan? If so, is yeast acceptable?

Your baking friend is curious.

Looking through my address book I find a lot of conflicting and missing information thanks to a crash, new phone and other changes. I'd like to have accurate information so if you wouldn't mind please add a comment with the following information:

• Full Name in your preferred form
• Mailing address
• Home address, if different
• Preferred email
• Preferred phone
• Birthday (and Anniversary if you have one)
• Vegan? Vegetarian? Allergies?

Thank you. Comments screened to protect privacy.

German Chocolate Cheesecake! This could be a wonderful thing! It could also put me in a coma. Only time will tell...

While hollyqueen and I were off celebrating our marriage I brought my copy of Peter Reinhart's book The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I can see why so many people recommend this book. I'm only seventy pages into the book and what I've read so far is going to improve my bread making skills. Somehow I don't think I'll have a shortage of volunteers to help eat my experiments.

Speaking of baking I'm planning at baking some bread, Springerles and other cookies weekend. Yes, I have a fondness for anise flavored cookies. Hmmm... Now to go make a shopping list...

Five years ago today publius_ovidius used his powers for good and officiated my marriage with hollyqueen. It's been quite a ride since then and one I'm glad I've been able to take.

I love you, my Princess! Happy anniversary!

Friday November 20th starting at 7pm is another movie night at the Polar Palisade. Come! Bring snacks! Laugh at my cheesy choices! The selections for the evening are Galaxy Quest (1999) followed by The Cannonball Run (1981). How's that for a pair?

Quite a few folks said they would like to get together. I'm open again on Tuesday November 10th. Does that work for anyone else?

hollyqueen has lost her mind. (Her words, not mine.) We're opening our doors for Thanksgiving. And you're invited. She'll be cooking a turkey and I've been drafted to bake bread and pie.

Depp to give Lone Ranger's Tonto the Jack Sparrow treatment

What the fuck? If you didn't bother to read the link Jerry Bruckheimer is developing a Lone Ranger movie is attached to play Tonto. I thought the world had progressed where we don't have to suffer through Caucasians playing Asians. (And I like Joel Grey and John Wayne!)

As a Caucasian (really look at my skin) I find this offensive and unacceptable. This is beyond remaking a favorite movie of mine and trashing it because it needs to be "modernized" with more action (read violence). There are plenty of Native American actors who do great work in Hollywood. Why not hire one of them?

Update: I've been called on the carpet and I agree. It's not for me to decide race to play a role. I still think that Johnny Depp is a bad choice to play Tonto. I would hope that the character is more than a "mystical Negro" who can drop dust from his hand and tell which way the bad guys went on their horses.

This morning I took my Byetta injection before preparing my breakfast of some Kashi oatmeal, a bit of creamer, some Splenda, and a Diet Coke. I was also a bit bad and had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup I "swiped" from a candy bowl in the break room. I noticed that my lips and mouth were itching so I figured I was having a reaction to the oatmeal. I had eaten half of it but I stopped and didn't finish. The itching got a bit stronger and when I started having problem breathing I told my acting boss I was having an allergic reaction and was going to the emergency room. Off to Overlake Hospital I went.

At the ER the intake was quick and efficient. Of course there wasn't anyone waiting when I got there. I saw a few people in rooms when I was taken back to mine, but it was really quiet for an ER. In a few minutes I was covered only in a robe with no back and hooked up to machines that go ping. I know they go ping because they did a few times while I was there.

The nurse asked me for an update and my lips were numb, my tongue felt like it was swollen and I was still having problems breathing. She gave me some Benadryl and said the doctor would be there in a few minutes. While waiting for the doctor my tongue swelled noticeably and I started having trouble talking. Also we noticed that the Byetta injection site was red and blotchy. I told this to the doctor and scribe and they left saying they would be back soon.

I could hear them talking out in the hall so I knew what treatment they ordered and I heard the dreaded words "I.V. drip." Taking blood samples from me is difficult. I.V.s are damn near torture for me and this time wasn't any different. The nurse came back and gave me a shot of epinephrine, which I hoped was instead of the dreaded I.V. (No such luck.) Then she explained my treatment plan. First a nebulizer with some steroids to help my breathing, then an I.V. with some other medicine for the reaction I was having.

The next visit was from a tech, sorry I didn't notice her role or name tag. She had me put a nebulzier in my mouth and inhale normally. Every minute I was to take a deep breath and hold it for five seconds. I wouldn't have minded it much except the next treatment started while this was going on.

The nurse started attempting to put in the I.V. and I told her about my history with the record setting 90 minute session when I was about 11. She promised it wouldn't take that long and in the end it was true. She tried for about ten minutes and tried sticking me twice. It's not just sticking in the needle. The part that really trips my triggers is pulling the needle out part of the way, moving it around and pushing it back in. Gah!!!! It takes everything I have not to break down when they do that. After ten minutes she gave up and called in a nurse with more experience.

The experienced nurse took another fifteen minutes trying once on my right arm, which was the same side the first nurse attempted. Then the experienced nurse switched to my left arm and finally found a good site and got the I.V. in place. I asked her to not warn me before inserting the needle and she said she had to or I might jump and ruin the attempt. I explained that the anticipation was worse than the actual sticking and I would tense up if she warned me. Thankfully she believed me and was able to get it done. Off she went to care for other patients and update my records.

While I was waiting I heard the nurses and the doctor talking about how calm I was and that most people with breathing problems in the ER would be freaking out and difficult to handle. The thing they didn't know was that I was freaking out but having plenty of experience with hospitals I know that thrashing around just makes things worse. So I was using all of my tricks to keep physically calm and relaxed. Also every time I did start to freak out it became much harder to breathe which was a good reminder to relax.

In came the nurse and attached a saline bag to the I.V. and injected the medicine into the bag for delivery. Oh, did I mention that while this was all happening the machine that goes ping would take my blood pressure every few minutes by inflating a cuff to tourniquet levels of pressure? That's how I know that machine goes ping. Because it does if your blood pressure raises or drops too much and mine was reading high. Turns out the cuff had slipped and was giving false readings. So a nurse came running in to check on me and fixed the cuff.

The I.V. didn't take long to deliver the medicine and the nurse came back to remove it, but she left the needle in my arm in case the had to do anything else. Then the doctor came back to talk to me about her plans for me. My treatment was done but they wanted to keep me for observation because the treatment might wear off before the whatever was causing the reaction had flushed out of my system. This was about 10:30am. She asked if I wanted lunch and I knew I was not going to get back to work. Oh well... Needle in one arm. Arm crushing machine wrapped around the other. I had my phone and found TNT was playing shows I liked so it could have been worse.

The nurses kept checking on me and my breathing was fine and while my tongue wasn't back to normal it was getting smaller. Lunch was delivered and it was edible... Well except for the sugar free Lemon-Lime (green) Jello. Bleah.

Two episodes of NUMB3RS and one of Cold Case and the nurse came back and asked if I would walk around for a bit to see if I could be released. I could walk and so we started the discharge process. Removed the needle. Unhook me from the machine that goes ping and they even gave me back my pants. One last visit from the doctor gave me two prescriptions and my instructions. Home to rest for today, back to normal tomorrow.

I drove from Bellevue to Capitol Hill to pick up my prescriptions and there was one heck of a line at the pharmacy. I found out from someone in line that the pharmacy gives flu shots from 1pm-3pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Once I got my prescriptions I had to have a chat with the pharmacist. The steroids were new and the pharmacist mentioned some side effects, which will become important later, and then gave me a bit of instruction on how to use the epi pen. I was amused when the pharmacist told me she used to use live epi pens to demonstrate but accidentally dosed herself onetime so now she just mimes the motions. Not that I needed training with epi pens. Having lived with folks who have bad allergies I have been trained so I know what to do if they can't care for themselves. Fun, eh?

The final diagnosis was an allergic reaction to Byetta. So I'm off of that and now have to change my answer when I'm asked if I am allergic to any medicines. Damn! I thought all the hospital time was my penance and I didn't get the allergies that the rest of the family did.

Then it was off to home, finally. Which wasn't very exciting. I laid down on the couch and watched a lot of Food Network Challenge, which you might have figured out if you follow me on Twitter. :)

neuro42 offered to give hollyqueen a ride home which was great since I was told not to drive. Here's where those side effects become important. I had taken the first two doses of my pills. As I laid on the couch I was freaking out a bit because my heart was beating stronger than normal and I was a bit on edge from being in the emergency room. While I was writing up this post I remembered the side effects the pharmacist mentioned, so I went and got the info sheet and some of them are difficulty sleeping, nervousness, increased appetite, bone problems (such as pain, broken or fractured bones) and the list goes on. Now I've seen predisone fuck up a lot of people. My ex-wife swelled up like a balloon and had to be rushed to the ER on this stuff. I'm only on it for a short time but I certainly was experiencing nervousness and a panic attack earlier.

I really want to thank everyone who sent kind words and pictures during my "adventure" today. (And if you are just finding about my day and want to send me some encouragement I'd love it.) I really have a problem with hospitals and knowing people out there were thinking about me helped me get through the rough patches. Just visiting friends in the hospital sets off all kinds of triggers when I step through the doors. I know they're helping me to get better but all I remember is pain and suffering. It's rare to find an unpleasant test or treatment that I haven't experienced before.

So how was your day?

Tonight I attended the Basic EOC Operations training at the Seattle EOC. This was the first class in a series to teach how the EOC works and how to perform a role in the EOC. Since I have worked with EOCs in the past and have completed the ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course Level I and II along with several of the NIMS courses tonight was mostly review. The Seattle EOC is organized a little different than the NIMS/ICS plans, as all EOCs are to fit their served agencies, so that part was new to me. Good information there.

The thing that I found out tonight that I am excited about is that Seattle will be offering ICS-300 and ICS-400 classes next January and February. A lot of the ICS courses can be taken online but a few of them are only available in a classroom setting and this gives me a chance to take them. Of course that means I'll have to study ICS-100 and ICS-200 before then so I'm ready.

After the training tonight I spent some time talking with some of the other amateur radio operators. I saw a couple of examples of go bags and came up with a few ideas of my own. One nice bag had several compartments to keep things organized. I have several bags but either their designed to carry a laptop or just have a single large compartment. Time to go browse that bag/luggage store in Pike Place Market. Oh, no! Shopping! ;)

Not having any plans I decided that today was a day of baking and cooking. So I made some applesauce and baked a loaf of white bread. Today the bread really rose and I looked forward to a great loaf when it I put it in the oven. Fifteen minutes into baking things were looking good as I put some foil on the top. However, during the last few minutes of baking the top fell and instead of a nice rounded loaf I ended up with a valley in the middle. jerichobrown, cheesentoast and hollyqueen all said the bread was wonderful, and I agree that it tasted great but I still wish the loaf looked better.

I now have several baking books. (Thanks ragnorokt for my lastest, Baking with Julia.) I still would like to find a baking class as I learn best using hands-on methods and if I can get the feel of how to make a basic loaf of bread the rest will fall into place.

The bad thing today was I watched an episode of Food Network Challenge where they made haunted gingerbread houses. I do not need another hobby... No, no, no... Does making gingerbread houses fall under baking? That's not a new hobby then is it?

I really like Beth Ditto. I think she's beautiful, but damn sometimes she makes some poor hairstyle choices...

For my birthday last Friday a friend gave me a set of two glass pens and inks. I've never used glass pens before but my attempts at using Pilot Varsity pens has been less than perfect. I write slowly and the ink seems to soak into the paper and bleed which makes the edges all fuzzy if you know what I mean. Actually I seem to have a problem with most stationery I buy no matter what pen I use. I can't seem to find a happy medium where the ink dries without leaving pools that smear or the ink bleeds and the writing looks fuzzy.

So I'm hoping to get some suggestions on paper to use. What do you all use?

ragnorokt, who's here visiting, and I went on a few brewery tours today. We started with Redhook in Woodinville. They told us about Mac & Jack's in Redmond and then we also visited Black Raven in Redmond.

I learned some good things about Redhook. For example, they aren't in AB/InBev's pocket like I thought they were. Plus they make some really tasty beer. Right now a case of Late Harvest is $15 so they can make room for their winter beer that is being released next week. They also have a rye, called Roggenhammer, and a barley wine I want to try. Sadly they didn't have any in the shop so I'll have to try it later.

The tour guide at Redhook told us about the tour at Mac & Jack's which only happens on Sundays. So we made our way over there for the tour. At Mac & Jack's I met a lot of twitter folks as there was a tweetup for the tour. The tour was free and we had some nice samples. I have come to the conclusion that I just don't care for IPA's. Not that I wouldn't try a free sample when it was offered to me.

The next stop on our beer tour was Black Raven Brewing Co.. A new (only six months old) brewing company in Redmond. They didn't have a tour like the other two places so ragnorokt and I sat in their bar and tried the tasting flight. My favorite was the Morrighan Stout. If you're on the Eastside I recommend you give Black Raven a try. Small brewers like this need to exist.

After Black Raven we decided that we had had enough beer and it was time for dinner. So we off to the Crab Pot in Bellevue. He can't get good seafood in the midwest so we decided to go all the way. So full it wasn't even funny. But how often does your brother turn forty? (I'm sure he'll be sure to remind us all on Friday that 40 < 43.)

Finally, we went to the McMenamin's Queen Anne for the last beer tasting of the day. We had originally planned on visiting two more breweries today. However, four was enough and so we called it a night. We will pick up the last two breweries later this week. All in all I had a good day and I hope my brother had a good birthday.