I've just returned from a long weekend in Dresden where I went for some sight seeing and relaxation with my love. It was very fascinating as the city has lots of treasures and historic sights to see, so many in fact there was not anywhere near enough time to see all of it. Much of it was destroyed in WW II. and has only recently been rebuilt, like the Frauenkirche, the Taschenbergpalais and the world famous Semper Opera. On saturday we went to see Masters of the Dance - Best of Irish Dance, which is something I hadn't experienced before and which was quite exciting.

We stayed in what is probably the best house in town, the Taschenbergpalais, which used to be the palace of a countess, and we had a really good time. Tomorrow it's back to work, but I think we'll always remember this trip.

That sounds great! Glad to hear you're doing well

I'm struggling to imagine you at the "Best Of Irish Dance" though From Ministry to an Irish jig

The world is crazy. There's a "magic goat" being detained in Nigeria...the goat is a suspect in an armed robbery case.

Crazy world...

And now for the updated veterinary report- after several bad days and nights, I took myself off to the doctor, who wasn't sure what was wrong with me, either. Told me (Friday) to take Tylenol and that if I wasn't better by Monday to come back. Considering my temp spiked at over 100 on Sunday and Monday (lying on the kitchen floor sweating was a real high-light), I went back. Fortunately, the little viral scoundrels had finally manifested in a recognizable form- I have shingles. Same virus as chicken pox. Not contagious to anyone except those who have never had chicken pox. So if that means you, you should probably stop reading....

Not going to go into a lot of detail, except to say I will be out of work all week. And I don't feel much like doing anything with my suddenly free time.

Ibis- having spent a year on unemployment, I understand you situation. Beyond that, I usually managed to leave jobs just before I got any vacation days, or in some other way miss out on time off. As I see it, you have consistently contributed to society- you aren't taking a free ride.

Stargel and Irish Dance... either the fever is coming back or else that just cross-wired my brain....

To all, if your health is good, I applaud you; if it is not, you have my empathy and hopes for a quick recovery.

Sorry to hear it Treydog,

I really hope you'll feel better soon.

And Ibis, judging from what you told us, you deserve to take it easy for a while.

Shingles is nasty, I hope you have a speedy recovery and don't feel too awful.

I just went through one of the worst experiences of my life within the last few days. I was a victim of an ice storm that left me without heat or power for nearly 52 hours. Trees and power lines fell all around northwest Arkansas and I was trapped within the suburbs I call home for the first 36 hours of the ordeal. When the power company cleared the roads I could get out but there weren't any stores open anywhere, they were out of power as well. I heated my small room with two dozen candles I had in storage.

I'm just glad to have power and heat again. I called in to work on both days because solid ice was covering the road, keeping me from leaving. Hopefully their weather policy was in effect or I might lose my job...there was no way I could've gotten out of here though.

Really makes me feel thankful for the little things I take for granted in life, now if you'll excuse me I'm off to enjoy some warm soup and a hot glass of tea.

@treydoggie! i sincerely hope you're better by now! shingles is crappy to get, yes indeed...now I'm immune I think..yes..yes I am so I can visit you....and my god I wish I was in Tennessee again, that trip two years ago was by far the funniest vacation ever!

@Mr Oven! I've seen ice-storms and their effects on TV..it's just terrible!I do hope you're all ok! brrrr

For me..it's ok, I'm working far too much, I've had 35hours overtime in three weeks, and you know what? I don't even get paid for it! It really sucks, but it's necessary....

Other from that I'm ok.....I think..

Right now, out of the blue, I started to really, REALLY miss an old friend of mine. He was on my debate team. His name was Jake Roshell. I don't think I'm ever going to see him again - certainly not at a class reunion, since he was a different year than I was.

I remember a story he was working on. He was writing it in his notebook. Out of curiosity, I looked it up, and he had posted it to his DeviantArt account. He hadn't finished it. Here it is, if you're interested:

http://lordburritor.deviantart.com/art/Har...ologue-54555512

Sadly, he hasn't been on his account in over a year, and I have no idea of where else I could find him. For some damn reason, I want to talk to him REALLY badly. Maybe it'll pass, but...I really miss those days when I was on the debate team. Best years of my life so far.

Sounds like just the same situation I felt myself in about a month ago with my forum friend, Bofra. Same thing going on, doubt I'll ever hear from him again.

Greetings one and all! Just thought I'd stop by and say hello.

I haven't been around here in quite awile but I do notice that many of the regulars are still present from my foray at these forums and that's great to see.

I feel a bit bad for somewhat abandoning this website, especially since I was given my own sub forum for my written works, but when one loses their interest in writing Elder Scrolls fanfiction and has to deal with a busy real life they tend to not visit said sites as frequently. It definitely wasn't because of the people, I just basically got burnt out.

So why am I back? Well, I currently have a lot of time on my hands. I recently got diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and I'm undergoing treatment for it that will hopefully put the disease into remission (currently the disease is only treatable, not curable). Treatment right now consists of taking a lot of medication and supplements, one of which can have some nasty side effects. I only started the serious treatment this weekend but I'm feeling much better than I have been for the last three months. My bowel specialist doctor has taken me off work until late March so that has left me with absolutely no responsibilities at the moment since I'm in the middle of taking a year off from college. I may as well converse with some nice people!

I'm not sure at the moment whether I might resurrect the story I was writing before my hiatus, I do know the direction I wanted to take it I just don't know whether I care enough to take it there. I also don't have any plans at the moment to start anything new that's Elder Scrolls related. I'll probably check up on some of the stories I read back in the day and mayhaps some of the new ones and participate in the general forums here.

Hopefully, I stick around for a bit because I do miss this place. I just felt like explaining myself there.

Oh mallie! it's great to see you here again, I've missed you, you know!

Now Crohn's disease is nothing I'd wish upon anyone! It's really not funny at all, but you may have long times with no symptom, and then it just comes over you...ewww you know I know a lot about both Crohn's and Ulcerative colitis, since my eldest daughter is diagnosed with colitis!

Those two diseases are really quite similar, the symptoms are alike but! but but..Colitis just affects the large intestine while Crohn's can appear in other parts as well. But you know that of course!

Well the infection or inflammation can be reversed by cortison f ex. My daughter responds to cortison immediately, as soon as she feels the slightest symptom she starts a cure with cortison.

Now cortison isn't a very nice drug, especially not for young ppl, so...but it helps!

My daughter has had 3 major attacks since she was diagnosed and that was 4 years ago when she was 18. Between attacks she's totally ok! But she has to eat medicine throughout her life! Some substance that will keep the inflammation away. But she can eat anything she likes and live a completely normal life...apart from the medication of course! But that becomes routine after some time, she doesn't even think about it, she just takes the pills.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you will be as ok you can be...

Oh and please stop by and tell me how you are....now and then!

Writing should be a good thing to do..keeps you from thinking too much about it

So take care!

Thanks for the welcome back minque, I really appreciate it!

I haven't done a whole lot of reading on Crohn's yet but I do recall seeing what you mentioned above with the similarities to colitis. I'm pretty sure I'll be on medication the rest of my life as well. After my (hopefully) 8 week treatment on the "dangerous" medication (the stuff can cause stuff like mood swings, irritability, weight gain which I need since I lost I lot of weight before getting on treatment, and calcium deficiency), I'll probably be put on a preventative medication to help avoid relapse.

From what I've heard from others, it seems that people deal with Crohn's in different ways. Some people live completely normal lives and can eat anything while others have to go on specific diets and such since certain foods cause problems. Hopefully I'll end up in the former rather than the latter.

Right now I seem to be responding well to the medication. The stuff is supposedly supposed to make me feel hyper but I really felt like taking a nap only an hour and a half after taking the medication. We shall see I guess. The annoying thing is I still have one more unpleasant examination to go through this week and the preparation for it requires me to take laxatives and go on a liquid diet over 24 hours before the procedure. I was just starting to get my appetite back too!

And mayhaps I will get the writing bug again. It just might take the Cabin Fever to bring it on haha.

uhhh yeah! i recall when My daughter shold go through that examination! She was in a veeery bad mood, not so much for the examination, what caused her angriness was that she had to fast 24 hours! When she doesn't eat she becomes very hard to be with....oboy that was an ordeal..

As a matter of fact I was with her doing it...very interesting indeed! She got a sedative so she wasn't even aware of it, and when she woke up she was high as a chimney...

I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway for you..They have to look inside you you know...to see where the thing is.

oh btw they say aloe-vera-juice is very good....it helps the intestine to heal.

Mallet it is so nice to see you back again; although upsetting to hear that your busy life got put on the side track for such a serious condition. I wish you very well with your examination and that it all goes by quickly. I know my hubby had to have a colonoscopy and that was bad enough.

You enjoy yourself and your time off as well as you can. I hope that you do get some writing done. I now too find myself with a lot of time on my hands but it is because I got laid off from work and haven't found another job yet. I find myself getting somewhat depressed at times which I never used to feel when I was working. But overall I am enjoying the time off and modding more for Morrowind.

Anyway, great to have you back MM!

Welcome back, Mallet. I was sad when you stopped coming by, but believe me, man...I know how busy busy and hectic life can be. At least you're back now.

And I'm awfully sorry to hear about your illness. Last Fall my dad underwent major surgery on his stomach, and then they thought he had colon cancer. Thankfully he does not. The point I'm trying to make is that I know how scary these sort of situations are. Hang in there and get better.

Good to see you back and sorry to hear you're ill, I hope everything works out as well as it can and you get better as well as possible. My sympathies are with you as far as fasting goes, I know just how nasty that is.

I hope you don't need a specific diet but I wouldn't worry too much, it's amazing how little you miss things after a couple of months.

Thanks for all the well wishes folks. My day and a bit of liquid meals begins tomorrow so I've kinda been enjoying as much solid food as possible today. I hope these next two days go by quickly and hopefully I don't do anything too embarrassing once my examination is done and I'm still loopy on the sedatives haha!

Sorry to hear about getting laid off at your work Ibis. My brother is going through the same thing right now and fortunately he's been taking it in stride. I know that if he can you can as well!

Hopefully I won't get too grumpy tomorrow but don't be surprised if you see me venting out my frustrations here.

That's kool, I don't mind it when people vent. Just ask Ibis and she'll tell you all about it.

Venting is kind of what the Coffee Shop is for, so by all means vent, my man. I also hope that you don't have to go on a limited diet. My college adviser, who is a good friend, picked up Giardia when he was young and it messed up his digestion to the point of making him lactose intolerant. More recently, he's even had to give up beer.

Still no job for me, but I had phone interviews Thursday and yesterday. The first job would stick me back around my Montana haunts working as a botanist, the second would have me working right outside Yosemite National Park in California catching and tracking sage grouse by radio telemetry.

Giardia is nasty. I know I had it very badly but lactose intolerance wasn't so bad (even with a gluten allergy to keep it company). But its amazing how many things people eat so there's always pleanty of range.

I spent most of today writing a lab report which I'll spend most of tomorrow trying to print because the computers at uni don't like none microsoft file formats. Still its done now and a good session of jitsu and a while in the pub this evening should restore my sanity.

Both those jobs sound great canis, hope you get one.

So I was at the Trinity Science Ball, this evening, which was held in the Clontarf Castle Hotel (a really fancy place). It was a black tie event, and I looked damn good in my suit (might add a photo of me in said fancy duds to this post later, who knows). Had a great time, 3 course meal followed by drinking and dancing. No luck with the ladies, unfortunately, but still a great night nevertheless.

Sounds wonderful, Wolfie; we'd love to see you in your finery. I can almost picture you in a tux.

Canis, I too hope you get one of those jobs. The one about the sage grouse sounds particularly interesting, but I'm sure Montana is great too.

OMG I love you all...yup I'm slightly...well yeah I've had a glass of wine...or was it two perhaps? Aaaaaanyway my thoughts are with you all....

Mallie...how are you? I hope you're coping with everything...I promise you'll get better...gosh I so feel for ya...

@Canis....I keep my fingers crossed..you'll get a job, jeez a nice guy like you should be the dream of any employer

@Ibis, sweet birdie, I wish you all the best....hehe one day I come visit you..so beware of the minkey

@wolfie, sweet wolfie.....see ya soon , right?

@Olen, redsie....sweet friends of mine....I wish you all the best



OMG...I'm quite....hmmm

My procedure went all right I suppose. I nearly fainted when they prepped me for the procedure (basically putting a needle in my arm and leaving it in there until after the procedure, the drugs get added later). I think the fact that I hadn't eaten anything in over 24 hrs plus the thought of having something stuck in me and just left there sorta got to me a bit. At least I got to lay down on a bed instead of sitting in a chair because of that.

I was consciously sedated for the procedure so I did get feel some unpleasantness but it wasn't anything severe. I guess I was still loopy from the drugs because I supposedly had a conversation with my doctor after the procedure about when we were going to have a follow-up. I think I was too focused on the swirling ceiling to remember what she told me. I think she told me 4 weeks, but I intend to call her office to make sure.

Other than that, my mom took me to my favourite burger joint afterwards and I slept a lot that night. The next day I hung out with my friends and won the poker game we had. It's been awile since I've done that!

I'm glad to hear you coped well with that procedure! As I maybe already mentioned my daughter was high as a chimney afterwards.

It's a good thing to have frequent follow-ups now in the beginning, then the medication can be adjusted in a good way for you!

I'm glad you're here and please us with your presence, you know we support you right?

I wish you all the best..

m

Well I had a strange weekend. More or less on a whim I decided it would be fun to have a mohawk, so out came the scissors and a razor or two and I now do. I raised a bit of money for charity while I was at it. Of course removing most of my hair during a cold spell in winter was perhaps not my finest idea, but it definately is a fun thing to have.

Just got a new AWESOME computer. It can run Oblivion with max settings and Quarls texture pack III without lag. It doesn't even lag with fraps running!

Minque needs to lay off the booze!

Lucky I can barely play with the settings turned almost all the way down.

@MM- I wish you the best!

Now back to what I was going to say... The weather here in Nashville finally warmed up! But of course I get sick as soon as it does. First strep, then an ear infection, and now the flu. Fingers crossed I can actually go to school tomorrow!

uhhh?? Me?? nah....hehe I'm really not that bad...But I do appreciate a nice glass of wine, that I admit

Here's an amusing story of this evening.

So, I was having a few beers in the pub a short while ago with my aikido friends. My friend Bob had showed up and I hadn't seen him in a while. Bob's 57, ex army and second dan in jui jitsu. Looks like a random old guy but could seriously hamster you up if you crossed him. And he's always joking around. Every other thing he says is not intended to be serious. He's a good laugh.

Anyhoo, the conversation takes a weird turn (I forget what it was now and its irrelevent) so to change the subject I shout out to Bob "So how have you been anyway".

Bob says "well, my wife just left me".

I assume this is a joke and immediatley follow up with "Good".

It wasn't a joke. She had left him.


I'm quite glad he saw the funny side of it, because the alternative would have been a very brutal bar room brawl.

EDIT: hamster... I see. Well I'm sure we know what Bob could do from the context.

Still jobless, here. But hopeful. Just learned I snuck past the bureaucrats at Bryce Canyon National Park (in Utah), so I'm looking forward to a probable interview there. Probable.

Working on an application to do botany work in northeastern Nevada.

Weather's been good the last few days in Illinois, so I've been getting my disc golf and ultimate frisbee fix, which is always appreciated.

Try fiddling with oblivion.ini, there's a few settings there which hardly make any difference if you change them but can give you a boost (most noticably turning the number of grasses per tile to one (or turning grass off its its really desperate). My last computer was very borderline one running it.



I've heard its good for the heart, I certainly hold onto that thought.


Sorry to hear you're still havnig no luck with jobs canis, still at least you can fully enjoy the weather

I think that Minky is positively sparkling and effervescant on wine .. brings out the sweetness in her personality. teehee

And Canis, you certainly have a wide scope of job locations. Must be interesting.

greetings everyone. it may seem a little unreal... but for those of you who remember me, it has taken me this long to re-establish a steady internet connection. things have changed; im a senior in high school, i now live in the-middle-of-nowhere tennessee, and my only choice for internet access is... *gasp of horror* dial-up. i should be on here more regularly now though, and i'm glad to see this place is still alive. or at least as much as it ever was

Hey, welcome back! I sympathize with the lack of internet. My work often takes me out into the boonies. Not that I mind; that's just what I do.

Oh aye...that's why I do it tehe...




Yes yes... as a matter of fact I am....



Awww sweet to see you again Shogun! Missed ya!

I know I said I'd edit it into the other post.. but meh. Anyway, hurrah, me in fancy duds!

Whoa, welcome back mate. Its been a while eh?

It's been a while Sniper, welcome back.

thank you all for welcoming back. this forum is my home on the internet

Guess I post a status update. Haven't had any problems lately and I've begun the tapering process with my steroid pills so hopefully my body handles that well. I do find one thing annoying me lately though. I seem to often have a bad and/or annoying taste in my mouth. I find myself eating stuff just to try and get rid of it but most of the time it comes back not too long after eating. Sometimes the taste is more potent or bearable than other times. Could it be some sort of acid reflux or something?

Other than that, I get to go pick up my mail from my place in Toronto (I'm staying with my parents in a city an hour away from Toronto while on treatment). We're not going just for my mail though, the main reason is because we're picking up my brother at the Toronto airport so I thought it would be convenient to get my mail as well because I believe there is something I need there in order to file in my disability pay.

Welcome back ShogunSniper, I remember you well.

Wolfie, you look fantastic all dressed up! Definitely one that 'cleans up well' as they say lol.

Mallet, are you taking any medications yet that could be giving you that odd taste in you mouth? When I took Lithium I always had this metallic taste in my mouth, I mean for real. My hubby didn't like to even kiss me then except for a peck because he could taste it too. Rather disgusting really. If it is from medication and you're getting an overpowering taste like that .. it could be an indication that you are being a bit overdosed. That was my case.

I have had acid reflux only once or twice in my life and didn't notice any taste but I'd not be a good example since I've so rarely felt it.

Mallet - I don't know about the causes of tastes in the mouth but I do know that grapefruit can make them go away for longer than most things. I was on a medicine which tasted awful and it was about the only thing which would cut though it.

Great news here (not). Because my flat has changed tennants a lot over the past few years we get heaps of mail thats not for us which tends to sit in a massive heap by the door. Anyway we were sorting through it an saw one which seemed a bit odd, couldn't say why. Anyway a flatmate opened it and it was from a private debt-collecters saying they're coming, for someone who doesn't live here. That should be.. interesting. Hopefully we can persuade them to go away.

Well I'm currently on two types of antibiotics, one that's taken 3 times a day, the other twice. Then I have my steroids where I take 7 of them all at once (used to be 8). I take vitamin D in the morning and before I go to bed I take vitamin C, an iron supplement, and a calcium supplement. My mom believes that I have the taste in my mouth from all the apple juice I've been drinking. I'm not too certain of that myself as I don't think I've been drinking too much of lately now that I've noticed the taste in my mouth. But we'll see what a day or two of just water will do.

Could be the vitamin D, that always tastes funny to me. Try drinking WAY MORE water than anything else. If you can take all your meds with water, not juice. Could be making odd reactions when digesting.

But do try Olen's suggestion about grapefruit juice later to try to get rid of the taste if it comes back.

Mallie!
The fact that you're taking steroids can cause a funny taste in you'r mouth, but I suppose you're not taking those for the rest of your life? You might be forced to take some other kind of medication to prevent the inflammation to come back after you get rid of it for nnow. My daughter takes some other medication, for just that purpose and that one causes fairly no side effects.

But you should drink as much as you can, it protects your kidneys by "flushing" them, it also helps your liver to take care of the chemical stuff you're taking. It's not dangerous, it's just not very nice to taste like a filthy animal in your mouth. But it will pass!

I'm glad you're feeling better anyway! Oh and also be careful about your electrolyte-balance! If you drink extensive amount of water you may feel a bit dizzy, so add some salt and sugar (small amounts only) to the water sometimes!

Bad taste in the mouth normally origins from proteins in decay, so watch out for too much fried meat or so....

I'm very glad you post here to let us know how you're doing! I think about you a lot you know!

OMG MY NEW AVVY ROOOOOOCKS!!!

I'll definitely take all that you said into consideration minque. For the most part, the taste issue seems to be going away. Today was spent in bed most of the day though, I think I might've pushed my body too hard the last couple of days with staying up really late and going out. I got a bit of a cold and I think the cold and the pushing of my body kinda made me hit a wall so to speak.

I'm feeling better than I was this morning but I'm definitely going to be more laid back now.