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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 257 responses total. |
russ
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response 125 of 257:
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Sep 4 01:38 UTC 2003 |
In my experience, Aiwas are highly-promoted cheap junk.
(Ask the guy who's had the CD player fail on his, and then
heard tales of woe about the power controls failing on the
subwoofers.)
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keesan
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response 126 of 257:
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Sep 4 01:50 UTC 2003 |
Aiwas seems to be variable in quality. We have one really good quality
portable radio/tape deck Aiwa, some good small headphones, and this stereo
system, plus a cheap boombox that someone gave us as having a problem which
we cannot reproduce. Sony is also really variable in quality. Fisher used
to be good but has become junk (in the 80s anyway - we are a bit behind the
times in used stuff). This Aiwa just played Bach Magnificat and three
related pieces all evening. I like that. We don't have CDs. The radio works
fine. The tape deck is double and one side reverses then it switches to the
other side. It seemed like Dvorak was repeating a lot. Jim had put in two
Dvorak tapes. Toledo classical comes back at 6:30 pm. Maybe I can get the
insurance company to donate to them.
Jim is still fixing things for people. About phone calls today from a former
Ann Arborite, Chinese, now in Chicago. She is trying to figure out why her
car battery is not working - the battery or the circuit. It rained in.
Before that Jim tried to fix the plumbing long distance. They are selling
the house and her husband is going to be in charge of pagers in Beijing, with
a very large housing allowance for living 'overseas'. He was my housemate
in 1985, and cooked a lot of bland cabbage. He shared a room with someone who
cooked Szechuan. We would open the kitchen door to outside and try not to
breathe when walking through. When my first roommate's wife arived he forgot
how to cook. She is a superb cook. Offered to come cook for me for two days
if the house sold quickly. Everyone is trying to feed me.
Another call from a grexer whose new DVD player cannot be plugged into his
TV. It will go into a much older TV that Jim found at the curb, with
different connectors.
Yet another grexer and Jim are trying to make her computer work (via telephone
advice). He wanted to bike there (an overnight trip to Milan) but is sticking
around here instead for my sake. Her 1987 XT works for grex.
More Baroque music.
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jep
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response 127 of 257:
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Sep 4 02:41 UTC 2003 |
re resp:120 (re resp:79): Yes, Brooke and Jamie are in some of the
pictures on my picture site, http://jep.tonster.com. Look under the
picture of the scrambled egg.
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mynxcat
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response 128 of 257:
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Sep 4 16:34 UTC 2003 |
Thanks for the info. The scrambled egg looked really yummy
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keesan
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response 129 of 257:
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Sep 4 19:36 UTC 2003 |
I notified the Basic Linux group - started by someone in Australia who put
together a linux that would work well on a 486 DX2 66 with 16M RAM, and now
a large collaborative effort - why I had dropped out for a couple of months
and not switched to a speedy 166MHz pentium with a hard drive more than 125M.
I immediately heard from an English speaking group member living I think in
Spain (we have members in Singapore, a rather odd one in Hong Kong trying to
make things work in 4M RAM, Germans, a Pole took over the Slackware 3.5 branch
when the others updated to Slackware 7, a Czech, a French guy with his own
Linux also Slackware 7 based). He says he also went through the no sleep at
the hospital and the chemo and to remember thatthe end is in sight. Lots more
communications from the translator who just started radiation and needs to
treat it like sunburn (daily treatments for 2 months).
Jim made me a 500 calorie rice/beans/veg/dried mushroom lunch and is eating
four times what he gave me.
I have started notifying friends and relatives and should answer all those
unanswered letters. A Slovene friend is taking care of her sister who had
stomach cancer remove and is doing therapy - she will be surprised to find
outwhy I did not write for so long.
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tod
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response 130 of 257:
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Sep 4 19:52 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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happyboy
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response 131 of 257:
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Sep 4 22:59 UTC 2003 |
ask him to name his tapeworm after me, k?
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russ
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response 132 of 257:
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Sep 5 02:30 UTC 2003 |
Sony is just as variable as Aiwa because Sony bought Aiwa a while back.
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keesan
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response 133 of 257:
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Sep 5 03:06 UTC 2003 |
That certainly explains Aiwa. Today I spent half an hour trying to turn on
the tape player. You have to hit 'Direction/Reset' as there is no Play.
Along the way I hit GEQ and got a choice of rock or classic (with lots of
bass).
Jim eats bulk - and since he is working full time at feeding me he has been
eating maybe once a day plus popcorn.
Today he got a bottle of fruit-juice sweetened cranberry juice concentrate
to make juice as I need to drink a lot while the tumor is being eliminated.
Then he realized it cost $17 and will trade for some other things.
He also picked up the ads for the Swedish (all they did was test it) foam
mattress sold by the Birkenstock guy and wants me to lie down once on it.
It only costs the same as a day in the hospital. They also sell assorted
pillows, lumbar supports, mattress pads, camping mats (most likely for $300)
and other items made of their special foam such as a mask to keep the light
out of your eyes, a doggy bed (really) and three sizes of bike seat cover.
If it sells, sell it.
Tomorrow they draw blood and show Jim how to change the dressing. Or I can
have a visiting nurse come every week to do it (minimum charge $130/visit for
skilled care). Jim has done much more difficult things than peel off one
layer and put on another. He even managed to inject heparin into both picks
today (it is foolproof - the blunt-ended syringe only holds the right amount).
They offered me physical therapy at $156/session. Jim says I have to do
things for myself. I got up repeatedly to change the tape and pour orange
juice and spill things off the sewing kit (Jim cleans up by piling). I even
cleaned off the table so Jim (learning disabled) could find things. He says
he has piles of things for me to sort if I can sit up long enough. We will
have a perfectly sorted house in a few months of this (downstairs anyway).
The building department expects us not to stop building for 6 months. I may
ask for a special dispensation this year. The neighbor offered to weed my
front yar and cut the back (first time since May).
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jaklumen
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response 134 of 257:
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Sep 5 05:23 UTC 2003 |
Swedish foam mattress? The Tempur-Pedic System, a.k.a. memory foam?
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gull
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response 135 of 257:
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Sep 5 13:36 UTC 2003 |
My experience with Aiwa is that they have some of the worst front panel
designs in the world, from a usability standpoint. They look pretty,
though. I have an Aiwa Dolby Digital receiver, which I bought because
it was over $100 cheaper than any other Dolby Digital system on the
market. I've been satisfied with it, other than the really awkward
front panel and the intermittent remote control.
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keesan
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response 136 of 257:
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Sep 5 15:07 UTC 2003 |
I think the Aiwas are modelled on running shoes. I was looking for the usual
levers that you depress for play, FF, RW, stop, etc. Nothing similar. The
remote control at least has words on it but not PLAY, just Direction/Reset.
They should have tested their product on some real people before marketing.
The direction reset button on the remote control is part of a little set of
buttons with a teal background the rest of which I think are for the tuner.
Except what does SET do? The other tape-deck related button is in a different
area entirely and says tape deck 1/2. You would think they would have put
things together.
Oatmeal with dried Chinese jujubes. I am spitting out the skins. He was very
generous with them.
Got to go do a blood draw (after three pills - I am told I can mash them in
apple sauce instead of choking on them).
How to preset an AIWA? THere is a PRGM button and numbers 1-10+. The tuner
goes in increments of .05. I turned on some really bad music to drown out
this mornin'gs power mower. Lots of trumpets and drums and no melody.
Three pills and I am off to lie on a posturepedic mattress and hope I have
energy after hiking into the store and back to also make it into the hospital.
I will try to get Jim to leave the mattress until afterwards. Maybe I can
try the doggy bed instead, in the car. (Yes, we had to insure it, I can't
bike for a while).
The bad music was Glazunov 1895.
I am going to lie down for 15 minutes to recover from the jujube skins and
the cloying sweetness. Never again. I am thoroughly sick of sugar.
Yesterday he put ice cream and mango pulp on the oatmeal. I could have had
a second cup of milk instead.
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keesan
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response 137 of 257:
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Sep 5 15:34 UTC 2003 |
I keep choking on the pills - the thrush may be causing problems. Jim is now
mashing them in apple sauce and will get liquid vitamins. I have been
dreading taking them. Don't normally take pills.
Jim says his daily popcorn with olive oil and nutritional yeast is about 700
calories. He is active. He was biking to the hospital 2-3 times a day and
also biking all over on errands.
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keesan
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response 138 of 257:
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Sep 6 06:08 UTC 2003 |
Today we were supposed to go have a blood draw (well I was anyway) and wait
for results and if low hemoglobin have a transfusion. On the way we stopped
at the new mattress department of Birkenstock. (We had already quizzed the
guy all about his electric bikes a while back). I lay down and did not want
to get up. The bed itself is about $900. He had at home a camping mat (30")
wide 2" thick which I got instead for $200. It is heaven, no bones hitting
the futon or lost circulation waking me up. I went to his house to try it
on the living room floor and did not want to get up. (He is one of the people
who moved a house and then tried to make it livable again, in my
neighborhood).
I walked in and out of the store and the house. Then I walked around
Kerrytown a bit. Then I discovered (after walking) that I was actually hungry
for the first time in a few months - the lymphoma must have ruined my appetite
and maybe also the chemo which is now wearing off). We got Kerrytown figs,
Zing's bread and a really overripe avocado and picnicked at the cancer clinic.
Good news from the clinic but it will wait as I am going to try to get back
to sleep now. My digestion tends to keep me awake but that should get better
soon too. Tune in tomorrow. This is the good 10 days of the cycle coming.
I walked everywher instead of a wheelchair.
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keesan
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response 139 of 257:
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Sep 6 14:20 UTC 2003 |
Morning.
Yesterday went to draw blood and was told my hemoglobic was still fine and
no transfusions needed (hopefully won't need any at all again - the last one
was just after chemo). The visiting nurse told us they would change the
dressing on the PICC catheter and show Jim how (he has a box full). The
cancer clinic said they were busy and to have the visiting nurse come back
and show us how. She had come Wed and was coming back Wed. It needed
changing Monday so they rescheduled her. It is also a different nurse - first
one is changing to Chelsea and another one called us a few days ago.
Half an hour later they came back and said my white blood count was low and
I was supposed to have been given some injection or infusion on day 6 of chemo
(last day of prednisone) to boost white blood cell production. Day 6 was
labor day weekend and nobody remembered. Yesterday was day 12 and they said
my body would start making white blood cells on its own any day now so they
would skip it unless the count dropped and come back Mon and Thurs to draw
more blood. (This only ends up taking a few hours to get there and back, wait
an hour to draw blood, wait an hour for results).
Half an hour later they came back and said the PICC line was subject to
infection and since my count was low they would take it out. We WALKED to
a room that was locked, I got left standing there unsteady on my feet while
she hunted for the key and then another room and she pulled out 15" or so of
thin plastic tubing from my vein after which nobody needs to teach Jim to do
dressings. The one who put the thing in said it would be used for all
the chemo treatments (5 months). It is heaven to get it out, so what if they
stick needles in my veings twice a week and put in 7 more IVs (I have had that
many, they keep messing them up and redoing them) for 2 hours each.
The visiting nurse Monday got cancelled. The big box of supplies to care for
the PICC line will be picked up again (more phone calls). I can bathe without
Saran Wrap (Jim wonders why I took it out of the bathroom). I am ecstatic.
I can sleep on my left side without sticking my arm off the bed to protect
the little plastic dangly things. This is even better than getting the two
IVs out of my right arm so I could eat and brush my teeth and get out of bed
with it. I can sleep on both sides on my new foam camping mat thing.
Jim is still pushing calories but he said I hit over 30 yesterday. It helps
that I got hungry An awful lot of butter and avocado on the bread. My mother
did this to me when I was 12 (buttered everything) and went to overnight Girl
Scout Camp for two weeks and ate kosher with the other Jewish kids. They
served a lot of pork so we did not eat much (the alternate there was peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches which I find as edible as spaghetti with hot
sauce). At a computer recycling conference they served us box lunches (a few
years ago in conjunction with us doing truckloads of computers at Kiwanis we
got invited to the conference at the Ann Arbor plant). Carnivores got a
sandwish with an inch of meat and two slices of cucumber and one of tomato.
Vegetarians got a sandwich with the two slices of cucumber and one of tomato!
Jim put enough avocado on one slice for maybe 5 slices. Maybe he likes it
that way. The result may be that I each only half a slice of bread. I hated
when my mother buttered everything. Or maybe he had to weigh out an exact
2 ounces. He is going nuts with this calorie count. We had a long argument
about whether the pears a friend dropped off (not very sweet) had fewer
calories than the sugary ones in the store.
Yesterday I got a gift basket from the translation agency where the woman
started radiation this week. (She says it is 1 hour total drive, 1 hour wait,
and 30 seconds treatment every weekday for a couple months). She thought I
would enjoy being able to eat things that people usually can't eat because
of the calories and cholesterol and it is a huge basket full of cookies. I
have never in my life tasted a cookie that was closer to a candy. 250
calories for a 1" cookie. 20 g fat. 10% cholesterol. I forced down two with
2 cups of milk to dilute them. Jim got sick on 12 (3000 calories - my total
for the day) and wants to give them away now. Jim has met his match.
We are also weighing fresh figs and trying to guess how the size and calories
compare to dried (in the book). At 2 am. Jim enjoys this.
Next chemo may be (they left a message about an appointment) 8 am two Mondays
from now. The hospital continues to get me up early ;)
Jim's favorite Zing bread was covered with sesame seeds. Not the best choice
for a picnic at the clinic.
Today a bath!!!!!!! (what can I sit on in the tub?)
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davel
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response 140 of 257:
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Sep 6 17:19 UTC 2003 |
Go for it, Sindi! I hope you're feeling as much better as you're sounding.
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keesan
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response 141 of 257:
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Sep 6 18:48 UTC 2003 |
My big problem right now is to make/find a chair with enough padding that I
can sit on it. The short chairs at Jim's house are not very padded. His
living room chairs leave me feet four inches off the floor (with a painful
edge digging into my thighs) and the back of the chair is four inches from
my back. I have a low chair I use (which puts the table near my shoulder
leel) that we have been piling pillows on and using with a card table. I sent
him to my place to get some dense chair cushions. My office chair back is
really painful against my spine.
Right now I have one of Jim's chairs giving me a backache with a pile of stuff
under my feet and will go back to lying on my back to read instead.
Put a pillow behind my back, helps some but the edge of the chair is just
too high and rounded.
The AIWA tape player is a mystery to me. If I hit tape deck 1/2 and
Direction enough times at random (it took about 20) it will play a tape.
THe first deck may be dragging. Usually it just changes direction
without playing. Wonder how to get it to auto reverse. Someone should
give this one the 'worst design' prize, or the 'least instructions' prize.
--------------------------------
I get all sorts of encouraging email. Wonder how it got here so slowly
and how they knew on Aug 21 that I would be wanting to lose weight. I
found this buried among the things my spam filter caught (v;i;a;g;r;a,
online pharmacy, free health insurance quotes).
From bbb_6346_bs@hotmail.com Sat Sep 6 14:32:24 2003
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 16:37:51 -1900
From: bbb_6346_bs@hotmail.com
To: Undisclosed.Recipients@cyberspace.org
Subject: tiny patch
[The following text is in the "Windows-1252" character set]
[Your display is set for the "iso-8859-1" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
The ALL NEW "Patch" THAT ALLOWS YOU TO LOSE WEIGHT ALL DAY LONG!
THis is 100% safe & is guaranteed to work. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!
* Increase Metabolic Rate
* Reduce Body Fat
* Boost Energy Levels & Feel Better
* Accelerate Weight Loss
* Decrease Apetite
* No side Effects
* AND PROVEN TO WORK!
If you haven't tried it, then you have no idea how much better it will
make you feel & change your life...Try it now...
http://www.freequotelkj.com/wl3
As seen On Tv!
If you have received this email and are not a member of our health club
then please remove yourself if you wish.
http://gadgitz.biz/1/
----------------
I suggest lymphoma to anyone to lose weight instead, or hospital food.
Today's mail was a letter from U of M Home MED with a consent form so they
can bill me for home medical supplies. This is the box they delivered Wed
with the syringes for cleaning the PICC line. We used two, and 6 ml
heparin. The clinic said something about getting them picked up. I
wonder if it is worth the hospital's time and money to bill for two
syringes or they could just replace them and seal up the box (Jim can bike
it back to S. Industrial Hwy for them).
I have saved the insurance company potentially 20 x $130 on changing
dressings. They really ought to go along with a prescription for a
mattress pad. Also saved them a bunch of $156 physical therapy sessions
by walking around Kerrytown on Jim's arm and forcing myself to do things
here. Durable medical supplies are covered - a pad is a lot cheaper than
a wheelchair.
I just got a flower from the artist girlfriend of a neighbor where we are
building and a small art book. They are remodeling big time (small
house). The Art of the Surrealists. I wonder if she likes cookies.
She had other helpful suggestions says Jim.
No visitors have showed up to share the cookies. Missed them all
yesterday.
Got to get off this backbreaking chair now.
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jaklumen
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response 142 of 257:
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Sep 6 21:05 UTC 2003 |
Hospital food? Oh no, last hospital I was in the food was decent-- I
just didn't have much of an appetite because of the reason I came in
for. No, I'd say airplane food would more be likely.
I wouldn't know about lymphoma personally, but a friend of mine did
lose a lot of weight in the initial stages of leukemia.
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klg
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response 143 of 257:
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Sep 7 01:22 UTC 2003 |
". . . Half an hour later they came back and said my white blood count
was low and I was supposed to have been given some injection or infusion
on day 6 of chemo (last day of prednisone) to boost white blood cell
production. . . ."
Neupogen??? @$400 a crack. Works good, but makes your pelvis & long
bones ache. Comes in vials or in pre-loaded syringes. Had to search
for a pharm. that carried it.
" . . . she pulled out 15" or so of thin plastic tubing from my vein
after which nobody needs to teach Jim to do dressings. The one who put
the thing in said it would be used for all the chemo treatments (5
months). It is heaven to get it out, so what if they stick needles in
my veings twice a week and put in 7 more IVs (I have had that many, they
keep messing them up and redoing them) for 2 hours each.. . . ."
No word on a "port"?? The dr. & nurses said that the chemo is caustic
stuff and injecting it through an IV would pose a risk to damaging blood
veins & surrounding tissue.
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keesan
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response 144 of 257:
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Sep 7 01:26 UTC 2003 |
Hospital food may be decent if you like meat and are trying to lose weight.
Today I rested and Jim cut my hair. Amazing how exhausted you can get from
walking around one day when you have been bedridden two weeks. What is left
of my muscles aches.
I now have an interesting red rash at the bend of my right leg that itches.
I suspected some other fungus infection so called the hospital to ask about
it. The nurse in the ward where I had been said it could be:
1. Allergy to allopurinol. Usually appears on the arms. Does not usually
appear after taking the stuff for weeks.
2. Irritated hairs. My leg is not terribly hair.
3. A fungal infection. Jim got me some cheap KMart antifungal cream to apply
twice a day.
The hoarse throat may go away if I stop swallowing the Nystatin.
I have no unusual symptoms. Stop flossing my teeth. Low platelet count.
A bit of blood in my nose. Nothing to worry about.
I forgot to take home my pain medicine.
I went back to sleep. Skipped the bath and showered instead as it was
quicker. Discovered I could barely lift my spoon at supper. Went back to
bed. Tomorrow is another rest day. Eat eat eat.
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keesan
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response 145 of 257:
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Sep 7 01:28 UTC 2003 |
I managed to program numbers 1 2 and 3 on the AIWA to Toledo, Lansing and
Toledo I think by hitting clear program 2 (etc) set. Cannot for the life of
me get 1 to program to Canada - what do I try next? When I hit 1 it goes to
Toledo instead while trying to program.
Jim discovered you can set the autoreverse on the unit not the remote control.
Now it repeats once instead of not at all or forever.
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scott
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response 146 of 257:
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Sep 7 02:35 UTC 2003 |
Often you set a preset by holding down the button for a couple seconds.
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jep
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response 147 of 257:
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Sep 7 03:07 UTC 2003 |
It's great news to hear you're doing so well, Sindi!
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keesan
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response 148 of 257:
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Sep 7 15:59 UTC 2003 |
Which button needs to be held down a couple seconds - the number, prgm, clear
or set?
I gained a pound but it seems to have gone away again before breakfast. Jim
is mashing my three pills in apple sauce. I am still hoarse.
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keesan
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response 149 of 257:
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Sep 7 19:28 UTC 2003 |
I will try programming Canada to number 4. Today is a video day as I don't
have the energy to turn pages. Manon of the Spring.
Dare I ask what library videos people recommend?
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