Mostly medical

I saw Dr. Wehbe yesterday (Thursday), getting in to see him was a bit annoying, but I did get in to see him.  Firstly, they wouldn’t let Teresa come with me as I am mentally and physically able to do a doctor appointment on my own.  Secondly, I chose to wear a mask; hot and uncomfortable and doesn’t really fit right.  And thirdly, when I got there a nurse was blocking in the elevator and made me wait to have my temperature taken and made me use hand sanitizer; she said my temp was 99.3… .2 points short of not being allowed to go upstairs.  And my hands weren’t infected, my car had sat there for a couple months before I drove to see Dr. Wehbe, any virus in there had plenty of time to die.  But I am being petty on the third point, rather have them check everyone than let a sick person through to infect everyone else.

Anyhow, the place looked shut down.  Very few people in a usually packed waiting room.  Caution tape liberally used over the book shelf and the appointment area.  All the staff (except Dr. Wehbe) were in masks (the masks fit them).  Labs were good for being an off week:  Hemoglobin was 11.5 and Platelets 160.  After all that I finally got in to see Dr. Wehbe’s nurse. She asked all the pertinent information and after a brief chat went to fetch the doctor himself.

Dr. Wehbe knocked on the door and said, “Are you wearing a mask?  Because I am not”, when I responded affirmatively he strode in.  For the first time since 2015 he was wearing a white doctor coat instead of his sport coat.  We chatted longer about his coat than we did my illness, but its cool, we are friends too.  About my illness, he said he is very happy with the results of the chemo.  Then he said I might be in line for a second transplant because being on chemo forever would suck.   Then we chatted a little more and then he told me the scheduler would call me later in the day.  I left and came home.

The scheduler may have called, Verizon put anti-spam on my phone, and EVERY call that comes in that isn’t in my phone’s contact list comes up as Possible Spam with zero details.  So, I don’t answer my phone and she didn’t leave a message assuming she called.  Heh, it’s going to be a problem I think.  Since I receive a dozen actual spam calls a day, finding the one that is her is going to be a challenge.  But I have to get scheduled for chemo starting April 13th, so I will figure something out to get to talk to her.

Next doctor thing is Mayo for the bone marrow biopsy and the normal series of appointments.  Will get to see Dr, Alkhateeb lastly.  We have decided we are getting up early to drive there as opposed to going up the night before.  Less chance of being around someone with Corona Virus.  Not that we are not walking into Corona VIrus central that day, as Mayo is a major testing site.  But I gotta go and the sooner the better.  April 10th, I will be masked and let Teresa open all doors and push all buttons.  I will NOT get the Corona VIrus.

Getting up early shouldn’t be much of a problem as I am still waking up between 3:30 and 4am every day.  Staying awake all day IS going to be an issue.  I am used to taking at least 1 nap before noon and occasionally 1 or 2 naps after. So, I will have to figure out how to sleep in the car on the way there and the way back.  I normally can’t sleep in a moving car.   However, I have done it a few times when totally exhausted.  I will get a short nap when they do the bone marrow biopsy at 10:30am, I get mined sedated.  Waking up may be a challenge.  But hey, its all good.  I will survive, just I will be tired as all get out all day.

In Civ 4 Warlords news.  I beat my 20,104 score.  I scored 21,000.  I have a firm grasp of the game on Settler (basic) level.  I kick butt.  However, I still get my buttocks handed to be by Barbarians on Chieftan (the next level up).  It’s just so different between base level and 1 level up.  I will, however, figure out the difference and beat that level too.  Then move up.  There are like 8 levels of difficulty.

The governor still has not issued a stay at home order.  However, Teresa is working from home now.  And all sorts of businesses are closed now, and the restaurants that haven’t closed completely are stuck with carry out or delivery.  We live in a small town, to get anything good restaurantwise we have to drive a fair distance.  So, Teresa is cooking most nights as the grocery stores are still open.  But I am having cravings for a Grinder from The Other Place (yes, that is the restaurant’s name) or a Philly Steak Stack Sandwich from the new IHOP that is a lot closer.  So, maybe this weekend I can convince her to make a run for food, or take me on the run for food.  Oh wait, there is a good Mexican restaurant is in town.  Maybe it won’t be much of challenge convincing her of that.

Well, its 11:56pm, I should really sign off now.  Let me go grab a video.

News I was not looking forward too

I just found out that Teresa was right, Dr. Alkhateeb (well, his nurse) wrote back to schedule the next chemo the week after the bone  marrow biopsy.  That means, no matter what the results of the biopsy are, Y am still getting chemo.  No travel for me foreseeable future.

So I won’t be going to the Region to celebrate my 2nd Birthday (2 years post transplant) And I probably won’t get to have my STILL AIN’T DEAD party in August.  I may never actually get to see my mom’s house in person.  Heck, I may never see my brother again; mom will come visit.

I know that this chemo is keeping me alive.  But what kind of life is it?  They’re changing it to 5 days every 4 weeks.  So, I will be out of commission 2 out of every 4 weeks, one week for the chemo and two weeks later feeling like total crap for the week.   Yay, not.

I am not looking forward to more chemo.  At this point, I do not think I give a crap.  I need to talk with Dr. Alkhateeb, we have to come to an agreement on this subject.  I want to wait for the results of the biopsy, and if it’s clean, not have chemo.  But apparently, I am outvoted, or rather my desires don’t matter.  I will get the chemo, I will be nice to all the nurses as well as Dr. Alkhateeb and Dr.Wehbe.  I will be the perfect patient that I always am.

In other news, Albannese Orange Cream Gummi Bears are phenomenal.  Taste just like Orange Cream soda in a chewable form.   They are delicious, soft and chewy.  Normally I eat exclusively Harib gummsy.  A little education for people…  There are two types of gummi bears,  Hard and Soft…. Haribo are Harder than the Albanese gummis.  I tried these soft gmmis non-intentionally.  They surprised me in a very good way.

Heh, the Orange Cream Gummis are so good, Teresa and I ordered more from the Albanese company directly, along with some chocolates for her.  A perfect anniversary present for her… chocolates.  We normally just go out for dinner on our anniversary, but with all the restaurants closed, had to scramble to find something else.  Thank you Albanese company for having the gummis for me and the chocolates for her..

In Civ 4 Warlords news.  I really Trounced on Conquest.  I cleared 10 enemy nations by 1840, which gave me 20,140 points.  5000 points higher than ANY of  my previous high scores.  I wanted to wake Teresa and tell her right away, but it was 5:50am and that would have been rude; I waited for her to wake.  I did get up and leave the bedroom and practically jumped for joy.

In other news, the drooling has pretty much ceased.

Teresa loaded my phone with a bunch of mp3s she burned off my CD collection.  So now I have portable tuneage always at hand.  This was my Christmas present from her last Christmas (yes, she started in Mid-March on it).  Really cool of her in my opinion.

Now I am ordering 154 dollars worth of mp3s from Amazon (well, Teresa is ordering them for me, but I am paying for them.  A really weird assortment in my opinion, Ska, Punk, Classic Rock, Soft Pap, Alternative.  Yup, my music tastes are very varied.

We haven’t gotten the Stay at Home order from the Governor yet.  Just a strongly worded suggestion. But the police will come if you gather in a group more than 10 and make you disperse.  We are up to like 50 cases of Corona Virus here in Iowa.  Since some of those cases are in Dallas County (where Adel is), I am not leaving my house except for doctor visits, and then I am going to be wearing a mask.  I have a compromised immune system still,, I want to avoid this Virus, I have to avoid this Virus.

OK, so I thought that maybe my sleeping problem was partially caused by my napping. So, yesterday I did not nap at all.  I was so tired, but I didn’t nap.  Went to bed around 11 thinking I would get a good nights sleep.  Bah, I woke up at 3:40am anyway.  So, today I am going to embrace the nap or two.  Screw it, if I am going to wake ridiculously early anyway,  I choose to sleep whenever I can (like right after I post this blog).

Just so you know I am alive

Nothing new to post here.  Got a Wehbe labs/visit on Thursday, then its wait for April 10th to have to Bone Marrow Biopsy and see Dr. Alkhateeb.  Then wait a week or so to find out the results of the Biopsy.   Yup, it is a lot of waiting.

Finally truly beat Civ 4 Warlords on Domination.  Scored over 15,000 points, which gave me the highest rating.  Actually kind of weirdly proud of it.   Trying to do it on Conquest, still too slow on my part.  Did score my 2nd personal high score on Conquest.  Was just 100 points shy of the highest ever done by me on Conquest.

Still haven’t played Skyrim in a long while now.

Still looking for a new game to play.  Bethesda is releasing a space game later this year.  I don’t know much about it really, but if it is from Bethesda, I will probably buy it.  Bethesda is the company which put out Skyrim, so the space game shouldn’t be too bad.

Ordered Teresa’a birthday present day before yesterday, was told it was out of stock and wouldn’t be here till the 31st, then I received an email saying the 28th, today I received another email saying it will be here this Sunday.  I hope it comes early Sunday so I can get it and hide it before Teresa wakes up.  I think I did good on the gift buying thing.  Not as good as her necklace, but yeah, a good gift it is.

Still not able to sleep through the night.  Have tried just about everything now.  So, just gonna wait it out.  Sleep like crap until whatever cycle I am in runs through.

Still drooling a bit.  Not nearly as bad as it was.  I think whatever caused it is gone and it is going to be better now.

I’m stuck +/- 200 pounds, which I guess is a good thing.  I weighed 230 before my transplant.  190 shortly after.  And have now be close to 200 for a few months.  It’s all good, I fit in 36 jeans again, instead of 40s.  I still have a gut and a 2nd chin.  But my sleep apnea has gone away for the most part (although Teresa says I do have it when I sleep on my back).   I have more energy when I am not dead tired.  Yeah, it feels good to be 200 poundsish.

Teresa says she wants to take me around town when I have my chronic cough.  No, I am not sick, this has been going on for years now.  Cough, cough, cough, shortness of breath.  She says it would scare people.  Boo, cough, cough.

I am already over the Corona Virus.  NO, not literally.  Mentally, emotionally, I am over the Corona Virus.  Floods my TV, floods my Facebook feed, comes up in just about every conversation with anyone and everyone.  Teresa seems obsessed with it, she keeps me up to date with all the information.  I practice social distancing anyway.  I wash my hands for 20-30 seconds anyway, I am a stickler for clean hands.  I am immuno-compromised, so both of those things were normal for me, now the rest of the world has finally caught up.

So, I only leave my house to go to doctor/lab appointments.  So I am on my laptop continually.  My new laptop makes everything prettier and sharper. I am hoping it keeps working until I die.not that a 4 month old laptop that is working fine is going to just up and stop (I hope).

OK, I am done blathering here.  Stay safe folks.  Self-isolation is the answer.  Thanks for reading my blog.  You guys rock.

Mayo question – Answered

A secretary from Mayo called me on Friday asking me to move my appointments 4 to 6 weeks further out due to the Corona Virus.  4 to 6 weeks will put it in the time frame of my 2nd anniversary (2nd 2nd Birthday), which I don’t want to do.  Dr. Alkhateeb was very adamant that I get the bone marrow biopsy done in April anyway.  So, I told the nice lady that she would have to check with Dr. Alkhateeb to see if changing the date was okay.  She was supposed to call me back on Friday after checking with Dr. Alkhateeb’s nurses, no call.  So I am sort of expecting a call today.  I do not want to postpone my bone marrow biopsy, I want to get it done and over with so I can get on with my life or resign myself to chemo for the rest of my life (however long that will be).

I just got over a case of a minor flu, I never run fevers unless deathly ill, but I had EVERY other symptom.  It lasted for 4 days.  It sucked.  But I feel better today.  I picked it up from someone at the chemo place as that is the only place I had been last week.  Not a fun way to spend 4 or 5 days, but at least it is over.  It did, however, make me miss an appointment withe Kristal, Dr. Wehbe’s head nurse.

My sleep problems continue.  Bed at midnight, up at 4:45am today.  Yesterday was better, bed at 11:30pm, up at 5:50am (the time Teresa gets up for work, I normally get up with her).  I have stopped taking all sleep meds and am just toughing this cycle out (I am still taking Melatonin which eases me into sleep at night).  I just want to get a good night’s sleep again. Oh well, it is not like I need to be awake at any point during the day right now.

I thought the drooling was getting better (less) but yesterday showed me that it is not.

Our Credit Union in California changed it’s name.  It is no longer Kern Schools Federal Credit Union it is now Valley Strong Credit Union.  I guess they opened it up to non-teachers or family. That is cool I guess, they had too small of a customer base as it was.  Now they might just attract other peoples.

The Corona Virus panic is driving me crazy.  Yeah, it is bad, but it is not a reason to panic.  Yes, it has killed a lot of people worldwide, but so many people have recovered from it, I don’t thin it is as big of a deal as the media is making it sound like.  No reason to stockpiles tons of toilet paper and hand sanitizer, just  be careful and practice avoiding people.

Speaking of Covid-19, someone from out County has it.  Our county is population sparse, 90% of the people live in Adel.  And all of them come to Adel.  So, I am just going to practice social distancing and stay home.

Teresa made me lasagna yesterday.  The recipe she uses (in her head) makes 1 big pan and 1 smaller pan.  Teresa doesn’t eat lasagna, so I got leftovers for the next week or two.   She makes incredible tasting lasagna too, so I am a happy man.  Although I did not have lasagna for breakfast today, I will have it for lunch today.

Teresa is transferring all of my CDs to mp3 format to transfer some music to my IPhone.  This is her Christmas present to me.  Yeah, I know it is March and she just got to it.  No biggie, she is cruising thru them.  When she gets done, I will a good collection of music to listen to when waiting for Doctors and such. This might be the best Christmas present she has ever did for me.

Still playing a lot of Civ 4 Warlords.  I have beaten it a couple more times, but my high scores stay as high scores for now.  I have yet to be able to repeat whatever I did to set those high scores, so all my subsequent attempts have fallen short.  Oh well, I am still having fun and that is what matters.

Still haven’t touched Skyrim: Special Edition in weeks.  I am taking an indefinite hiatus from that game, I didn’t realize that I had burnout, but I do.  I still consider it one of the greatest games ever, I just don’t want to play it right now.  Maybe I will play it again later.

I don’t want to go change my first section of this blog, but I heard back from Mayo just now and the appointments are still scheduled for April 10th.  Yay for clarification.

I wish I was in Tijuana

Today marked the end of my 4 month-3 days Chemo run.  Chemo that helped me get to almost normal stage.  I said in an earlier post that I was in the normal male range, I was wrong, I was just 2 points short of that goal.  However, whereas my Hemoglobin is not within male normal range, my platelets are strongly in that range.  My white blood cells that I never talk about have never fallen out of normal male range except when it was expected to during my chemo for the transplant.

Speaking of the transplant, I am about to hit the 2 year mark, which apparently is practically unheard of for MDS patients.  May 17, 2018 was the day of my transplant, I have 2 months and 6 days to go to reach 2 years.  Mayo transplant nurses refer to your transplant day as your Birthday.  So where I turn 50 this year, I turn 2 before that.   This year, May 17th is on a Sunday, I would like to go to the Region (Chesterton, Indiana) that Sunday and invite any of my friends to come up and we do lunch.

Said lunch would be an informal thing, just a sit and chat and eat thing.  Nothing special except that it is my 2nd Birthday of my post transplant life.  Friends, let me know what you think.  Right now, I am not sure if I’d be able to do this, but I would like to get an idea of how many would be interested, so I know how much I fight for the right to travel.

As I have said before, as long as my bone marrow biopsy is clean, I should be allowed to travel (by car, I ain’t getting on a plane with Corona Virus floating around).  However, if my biopsy isn’t clean, I won’t be allowed to go to Indiana.  I am pretty sure that I will have a clean biopsy this time.

Teresa and I took different ideas away from our last conversation with Dr. Alkhateeb.  Teresa says regardless of the bone marrow biopsy results I WILL be on chemo for the rest of my life.   I say he said he was going to put me back on chemo after the biopsy if the biopsy wasn’t clean or if my numbers started failing again.  Big difference.  Well, I think either way I will end up back on Chemo again eventually.  If Teresa is right, I will be back in Chemo probably the last week of April.  If I am right, it may never happen, probably will though eventually.  I do not want to be on Chemo, even the wimpy Chemo that I was getting.  We will find out what he meant when we see him on April 10th.

I still am sleeping all wonky.  Go to bed between 10:30 and midnight, and be wide awake between 2 and 4am.  Even with a nap or two, I am tired all the time.  I try to function normally during the day, but blargh it is difficult to be a intelligent guy when you are half asleep all the time.  Eventually this will straighten out and I will get back to sleeping 8 to 10 hours a day.  Until then, try not to call me between 9am and noon Central Time and occasionally not around 6pm to 8pm either.  I nap, therefore, I am.

Drooling has cut down considerably, might be gone soon… (crosses fingers).

I still haven’t played Skyrim : Special Edition in a few weeks.  I have been playing Civ 4 Warlords exclusively.  I have beat my high scores on Domination and Conquest, both by a considerable margin.  However, I haven’t been able to survive hardly at all on a harder difficulty than Settler (below the default difficulty),  it is frustrating to me that this is the case, but I am working on it.

Time changes SUCK

I hate the Daylight Saving Time changes.  I always feel like crap for at last a week after no matter which direction they change.   Last night was no exception.  I woke up at 3am, which was 4am yesterday.  I am going to be more messed up do to the time change, I wish they (the powers that be) would just abolish it and find a time they like.  But alas, I doubt any changes to this archaic practice will occur in my lifetime.  So, I guess I will just have to live with the time changes for the rest of my life.

Tomorrow starts my last round of chemo before I have my bone marrow biopsy on April 10th.  This chemo has done wonders for me without any side effects that I could tell.  The nurse at Mission: Cancer and Blood (formerly MOHA) have all been super and nice.  It hasn’t been that bad, especially not compared to the  chemo I have had before.  This chemo has almost been pleasant except having to have it.

I (and both of the doctors) are amazed by how good my body reacted to this chemo.  Color me surprised at the blood stats.  Last week’s blood test put me in the normal male range.  I told the nurse at the Infusion Center, before this chemo started, to expect to see a lot more of me, but my body reacted almost immediately.  I needed no blood or platelets for the last 3 months and that is great.

If my bone marrow biopsy still shows problems, I will be on chemo for the rest of my stunted life.  The thought of that is kind depressing.  The plan is to move me to 5 days every 4 weeks, so 1/4 of whats left of my life will be spent getting chemo.  I shudder at the concept.  But anyhow, my body is producing what it is supposed to, so I am pretty sure the chemo fixed the problems I was having (for now) and I will be in remission again.  That is what I really want,

My sleep is still messed up.  I go to bed between 10:30 and midnight and wake up between 3 and 4 (Occasionally I make it to 5).  Makes me one really tired guy.  My shrink says I am not getting enough or any REM sleep and that can cause problems in its own right.   But other than being tired, taking 1 or 2 naps during the day, I feel fine.  So, I don;t get 6 or 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night, I get 6 or 7 or 8 a 24 hour period, it’ll have to do.

I want to go see my family.  But I am not allowed to travel until after the bone marrow results.  If the results are good and I am in remission, off I will go to the Region, to Chesterton specifically.  I will stay a week, I will have a good time, and I will try to see ALL of my friends and some of my extended family.  Yup, I will go visit mom and Jim, and have a great time, assuming my bone marrow biopsy comes back normal again.

You want to know something, I hate the drooling I have been doing for a couple months more than I hate the cancer which will kill me.  Drooling is unsightly and darn right annoying.  I really wish there was something I could take that would magically make it stop, the irony is I am on meds which can cause dry mouth.  Well, that’s not my problem at all, my problem is I cant always tell when I am drooling and my shirt color gets soaked and that is annoying.

Whoa, I just now got around to putting my glasses on.  Heh, the fuzzy words are now clear.

I have beaten the snot out of Civ 4 Warlords on Domination,  I won before 1900.  WOOT. I also beat my old Conquest score by over 150 years.  Both of these feats I think were luck.  I haven’t been able to come close to repeating them YET.   I know I can do it, but I just got to get lucky again and get the right map and play it right.  The map is the key I think.  But I am still having fun with Warlords and will continue to try to beat my previous high scores.

I haven’t played Skyrim in weeks.  I was/am burned out on it.  So, I have nothing to report there.   It is still one of my all time favorite games.  I’m going to go back to it eventually I am sure.

Teresa, so kindly, shaved my head and beard last night, I was desperately needing it done.  My head is shaved to a 2 and my beard is shaved to a 1.  I look much better this way, younger if anything else.

I weighed in this morning at 199.0 pounds.  I was down to 195, but that is too low.  I like 200, I feel good at 200.  So, I am happy with 199.  I have 2 pairs of 36 jeans that fit.  All my 40 jeans have been tucked away.  My shirts are still 2x cuz I like to swim in my shirts.  But I have found that some of the stuff that used to be tight now fits me again.  NICE.

So, overall I would say that things are going fairly well.  I live, I love, I laugh.  As of this moment at 7:14am on 3/8/20 It’s all good.  Oh, that reminds me, I have to take my hypothyroid medicine shortly, it was due at 7.

Anyhow, I am off to find a video to post here.  And then off to try to beat my Conquest score in Warlords,  As most people are getting ready to start there day, I hope you have a good one and that the evil time change isn’t too bad on you.

Go Bone Marrow Go

Yesterday was my regular blood test.  I didn’t expect it, but my hemoglobin climbed again to 11.2 (which is a normal range for men) and my platelets dropped from 242 to 172, but this is my 2nd week from chemo and they always drop after chemo, so it is no big deal (they are still in normal range for men).  So, the chemo is working very well.  Yes, spending 2+ hours 3 days of every 4 weeks is working quite well.  I am happy with the results.

I tentatively only have one more round of this chemo to go.  The March chemo which is on schedule for 2 weeks from this coming Monday.  Hopefully, it will be my last chemo round, but that isn’t likely in the long run outlook.

It does not mean that the chromosomes are fixed, but it means that my body is now making the hemoglobin and platelets necessary for me to keep living.   I may, however, have to be on this chemo for the rest of my life, which sucks, but is doable.  I won’t get upset about that thought until it actually becomes a reality.

Teresa is healthy again.  Still has a slight cough, and her voice sounds off, but she has been going to work all week, and was able to drive me to my labs yesterday and plans on taking me to chemo and the nurse visit that follows the chemo.  I am happy that Teresa is better, she was so sick and miserable for a week+.  Pneumonia is a mean sickness, she handled it well though and didn’t give it to me.

I think Teresa’s new favorite restaurant is the new IHop on the corner of Hickman and Alice’s Road.   It is a really nice place.  The service is always excellent and the food is good too.  Teresa is hooked on their chicken and waffles (LOL, for some reason I find that funny.  I have a few things I go between there, mainly though it is either the turkey dinner or the Cheese steak sandwich with fries or onion rings.  Teresa takes me to IHop every time we are done with blood tests or chemo or doctor appointments.  So, we are going there quite often.  Well, we may not go every time, but often enough that we are recognized by sight, but not quite by name yet.

I am still not sleeping right.   No matter what time I go to bed, I wake up at 4am ish.  I have, however, regained my ability to nap.  Something that I had lost for a while.  So, I get between 4 and 5 hours of sleep a night and 1 and 2 hours during the day.  I am normally in a tired state though.  It is not enough sleep and I have stumped my shrink.  He had me try 3 Restoril and I still woke at 4am.  Per him, I am not getting good REM sleep, and this can do all sorts of things to my mental state.  I have explained to him it is just a cycle and I will snap out of it sooner or later,  A very annoying cycle.

Yes, I am still drooling.

I want to go to the Region and see my mom and brother, and see their new house, but I am not allowed to travel until after the bone marrow biopsy on April 10th, well actually the results of the biopsy, which will be available a few days later.  If it is good news and the chemo fixed my chromosomes. I will make the trip to Chesterton at the end of April.  If the results are not good, then I possibly may never get to go, will never see their house, but at least they will come here so I can see them and they can see me.  🙂

A Gang member passed away a few days ago.  Steve had a heart attack.  Steve and I were not as close as I am to some Gang members, but he was family.  I am saddened by his passing.  I hope Dani (his wife) and their kids are ok.  I’m sure that someone from the Gang reached out to them.   I’m just not in the right mental state to be supportive, but I am sending all the love and good thoughts to All of Steve’s family.

I took a several day break from Skyrim (shocker, I know).  It was needed.  I was getting burn out.  Now, several days later, I am thinking about going back to it.  But I may wait a few more days, make sure that I am not going to totally burn out on it.

Instead, I have been playing Civ 4: Warlords.  I beat my old conquest record by 100 years and 2000 points.  Not sure how I did this, but I did.  I have not been able to come close to beating the game before the year 2000 again.  This is on Settler difficulty, the easiest difficulty.  See, I can beat the game handily on Settler.  But when I moved up 1 notch to Chieften I got my virtual buttocks handed to me.  And there are 4 or 5 levels even harder.  Bah, I play to have fun, so I will stay stomping enemies on Settler difficulty, no need to stress out about a game.

The music and sounds for Civ 4: Warlords suck, so I turned them off.  Don’t need them or want them.  So I play the game in silence.  Starting at 4am ish, in bed next to Teresa, who sleeps right thru it.   I turn the monitor away from her when I start it up because it does a lot of flashes, but once the game starts, it is all mellow and I Can play at night just like I play during the day.

However, I really need a new game.  The next Elder Scrolls game (Skyrim is Elder Scrolls V.) isn’t do out till NEXT year, which is a big bummer.  But Bethesda is releasing a space game sometime this year, so there is hope.   But I really need a new game NOW.  One I can immerse myself into and spend 1000s of hours playing.  Heh, I’m not asking too much, am I?

Well, this blog entry went much longer than I expected it to.  So, I will cut it off here.  I want you all to know I love you all and want nothing  but the best for you.  Peace.