Back from TMJ specialist. He took one look at the X-Ray results (text only), felt my jaw, and than asked me why a tooth was missing on my right side (the side that has the problem). This led to me telling him everything about my face from Radiation therapy in 1975 to my root canal in 2014, which he absorbed like a sponge. At every new piece of info he nodded knowingly, as if he expected it.

Basically everything is related back to my uneven jaw bone growth due to my cancer treatment, the latest symptom being my TMJ pain, but is also the cause of my molar splitting in 2014 and the subsequent root canal.

I won't go into the finer details, but the specialist said my teeth and jaw are excellent considering my history (something he's apparently familiar with), and my condition can be fixed. So, for the next six weeks I get to wear a "re-programmer" during the night to re-train and re-align my jaw to move the way it should.

Maybe I made the specialist sound like a know-it-all jerk here but that wasn't my intention. He was very personable and seemed to be very familiar with my condition and confident that it could be resolved. He said I should notice a difference by next week.

Back from my latest trip to the Great White Frozen North of Minnesota for my 2018 Q1 office visit. Yes, Frozen. Highs were in the 40's and I had a heavy jacket and big furry hat on while my co-workers were only in flannel shirts. They are nuts.

The Q1 visit is where we go through "The List" and prioritize what will be worked on for the rest of the year. This visit was definitely different (better) than last year's which was much more scatterbrained, disorganized, and painful to get through.

I was able to meet up with a couple friends this trip, however it is clear that all things Minnesota-related are fading fast from my memory. I did not recognize local streets and geographical markers I use to know intimately. I even had no idea where we were when driving to a couple restaurants. I wonder if Main Street Anoka has changed.

Now back home where the highs are touching 80 degrees and everything is nice brown desert. Love it.

My photos from FC 2010 are now online. Not too many from this con because I was fursuiting a lot of the time.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/toonfox42/1i8515

My pics from TFF 2018 are now online:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmeoN5rw

No videos this time.


Also, as part of my catch-up project, I also have my pics from MFF 2010 finished:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/toonfox42/vb542T

And a couple videos:
https://vimeo.com/254780423
https://vimeo.com/254782576

I must admit I had some trepidation at attending TFF what with invalid registration confirmation links and an initial email from the Hyatt full of broken links, but thankfully I arrived with a room and a badge waiting for me. I did end up arriving about 45 minutes late because my flight landed at Terminal B and there was nothing on TFF's website that said I had to go to Terminal A to pick up the DART and I'd already left the secure zone when I found this out.

The Hyatt Regency Dallas was impressive to say the least. Too bad I only got to use the elevators twice while I was there. It was impossible to get a downward one. As I was on the 5th floor I used the stairs a lot. This would not have worked if I had fursuited and I'm sure I dropped a few pounds.

As I don't know many southern furs I was alone most of the time. I met up with  buckyboy on Saturday, the only southern fur I knew would be going to TFF and had arranged to meet with. We went out for dinner and caught up on deer and digital tablets.

I took lots of pics and saw many strange things. I saw DJ's playing music to empty rooms. I saw crowded dances with only 2 or 3 people actually dancing. I saw a severely under-promoted and under-utilized Fursuit Playground. I went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing and saw half naked people dancing.

Saturday night was the highlight of my time at the con when I found  RabidRabbit56 and  mmmatches to hang out and spend time with. Sincere thanks to both of them for making a guy feel not so alone for a while.

Sunday was a clusterfuck of chaos. I came down to the con a little after 10 to pick up my art show winnings, but the line was long and not yet moving so I went to get breakfast but that was an even worse line. Went back and stood in the art show line. Won all 3 of my items which was "Yay!" Got out of there around 11 AM after saying some goodbyes. Check-out was at noon so I headed up to pack and check out. The check-out line was mad. Now it was noon and my flight was at 3 PM. I had a choice: have breakfast or watch the first 20 minutes of the fursuit games. I chose option 3 and headed for the DART with the intent on using the extra time to eat at the airport. Unfortunately half way to the station I realized I had forgotten my house keys in my hotel room. Cue guy running back to front desk to get a key, running up 5 flights of stairs, running back down 5 flights of stairs (ironically passing the fursuit games twice during this), and running to the DART station. There went my 20 minute time cushion. The DART trip itself was uneventful aside from I probably boarded the last train that would get me to the airport on time. Arrived at DFW around 1:45. Luckily my flight out was from Terminal A. No separate TSA Pre-Check line where I was but it still went pretty fast as I didn't have to undress. Arrived at my gate with a whole 20 minutes to spare, so my breakfast consisted of a soft pretzel and a coke from a stand next to A20

Why did I describe all that? I donno. It was the most freaked out part of my trip I guess.

So, will I try TFF again next year, or go back to MCFC, my previously declared favorite local con? There's nothing really wrong with TFF. I could start going to there yearly. It's closer and after maybe 2-3 more years I'll know some people, or I could go to MCFC which isn't local but I'd walk in knowing a LOT more furs in a more intimate setting and they would know me. Hmmmmm.... decisions.

No, I'm not doing both.

I think my drawing days are pretty much over.

When I moved in to my house here in Albuquerque I had this grand idea I'd get back into drawing. I set up an art studio area with all my supplies, but it's been rarely used, and recently has been taken over by my interest in rocks & minerals. So, today the last of the art-related stuff has been packed away to make room for some maps and rocks samples.

To tell the truth, ever since I lost my drawing supplies at either Furry Migration 2014 or Motor City Fur Con 2015 (honestly I can't remember which con I lost them at) and had to buy new supplies, my heart and drive never really came back. Maybe it was a sign.

I did like drawing. I liked it even more towards the end when I started getting semi-respectable at it, but after a while I just ran out of stuff to draw, and when I did have an idea I started commissioning other artists instead as it was just easier.

Oh well. I'm sure my $100's worth of Prismacolors have long since dried up in this desert climate and are of no use anyway.

No plans on leaving FA or anything like that. Just don't expect any art from me from here on out--unless I get bored one day.

I recently realized there are half a dozen cons I haven't uploaded pictures from, so I will slowly be working through them to get them up. This week it's MFF 2011!

Pics and videos, featuring such classics as The Peaches Shuffle:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/toonf.....57665257190588

And because Flickr is stupid, additional videos here:
https://vimeo.com/album/4960475

...lightly turns to thoughts of... buying shit

For me, the winter period from January to March has always been a weird, odd time of inspiration and of starting new projects, or digging up old forgotten ones and breathing new life into them. Maybe it's the cabin fever. Anyhow, after buying a bunch of new hardware tools to replace old ones, I'm now going to be working on setting up a new Microsoft Server 2016 to replace an old NAS box I've had for a decade. I also picked up a new pistol and rifle that will require my attention. Yes, January is the month for spending money. Out with the old, in with the new.

My next quarterly office trip to Minneapolis has been cancelled, so I won't be able to hook up with anyone for the holidays. On the + side I also won't have to endure another record cold week in Minnesota like I had to deal with last December.

Also this gives me more time to focus on TFF plans.

Registered and room booked for TFF 2018. Figured I needed to go to the biggest "local" con at least once. Haven't gotten any blips from anyone talking about attending though so don't know if it'll be fun or not, so it'll be a quick con for me: arriving Friday and heading out Sunday. No fursuit.

Ok. I finally saw "Labyrinth." For years people have been surprised I'd never seen it.

Anyway, wow. Trippy. Definitely a Bowie thing. Not something to watch while on psychedelic drugs.

And, yeah, a dog-thing riding a dog. Moving on...

Hey, does anybody else remember those once- or twice-a-year "Computer Shows" they use to hold in the early 90's? For me they were held at our State Fair Grounds and were sponsored by someone like "PC Express". They were basically a room full of computer and computer parts vendors. Aw, man. It was great. At the time I was in high school and VGA graphics with 256 colors was blowing people away. 16 MB of RAM was a lot and CD-ROMs weren't out yet, but optical drivers were. There were tables full of everything ranging from full PC systems to meticulously placed arrays of parts to build your own PC: stacks of hard drives, floppy drives, serial cards, and yeah there were also a couple tables just for Mac stuff. It was a glorious wonderland.

My dad and I would go to these and do our yearly computer parts shopping because back then there was no internet or online ordering. I remember once dad paid $200 for a 80MB hard card, and I bought 4MB of RAM for $120. Over the years these "shows" faded into obscurity as computers became less of a gadget just for geeks and more of a mainstream appliance anyone could buy and set up, but boy they were the highlight of the year for us back around 1990.

This journal has no point--just some nostalgic rambling.

I will be in Redmond, WA, all this week attending VS Live! with my boss:
https://vslive.com/events/redmond-2017/home.aspx

Never been to a VS Live! convention. Have no idea what to expect or what I'll be doing. Aside from my boss I won't know anyone else.

Images of that episode of The Office where they go to a paper convention kinda pop up in my head now and then.

I've finished uploading all the pics I took during a 2012 east coast tour where  seanc and I met up with several furs including  rapidtrabbit,  JBadger,  scooter_squirrel,  white-paw,  scooterpiety and others.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm2aeR8m

We called it "NERF" for Northeast Rail Furmeet because we used that train line to visit everyone.

Rapid's passing made me discover that I never posted most of the pics I took during my Maryland/D.C./Philadelphia/NYC furry trip in 2012. That was the last time I saw him in person.

I have several pics of Rapid as well as one of the few pics I have of JBadger. I'll work on posting them to Flickr this week.

My second quarterly office visit to Minneapolis is next week so I will be rather offline except for random blips on Twitter. At least this time the flight out is at 7:20 AM instead of 6:00 AM. The ABQ Sunport is so small no one was really awake there when I went through security around 5 AM last time.

After a day of setup and an unexpected trip to the repair shop due to a blown power supply, I am happy to say I am up and running with my new Windows 7 PC. I am surprised at how some very old programs still work on it (like Quicken 99), but newer ones don't (like some of my printer's software).

I've actually been using Windows 7 on my office PC for about 2 years now so I'm not a stranger to it: it just took me this long to warm up to it.

Well, that's all for now I guess.

Decided to bite the bullet today and invest in a new PC. It was in June 2009 when I upgraded to Windows XP. Now June 2017 I guess I'll try Windows 7. Don't even talk to me about Windows 10. It's junk on a slab of crap. Also I still runs programs from the 90's and I need all the backward compatibility I can get.

It's finally come to the point where enough stuff no longer works with Windows XP that I am reluctantly upgrading. Also, isn't it amazing how you can do absolutely nothing wrong with your PC and yet over time the internet gets slower and slower and sllloowwer to load on it? Completely stupid.

New PC won't be here for a week so there's still time to talk me out of this

Haven't posted a journal in several months, which is unusual since I use to post here at least once a week. Guess I just haven't had anything exciting/journal-worthy to report on. So, here's an update.

All tomato and pepper plants are in and growing. Lots of different varieties this year. Most of my tomato plants are already bearing fruit. The corn field is doing well. 130 plants this year in a 14 x 14 foot square should provide better pollination than last year.

In April I hosted  Seanc at my house here in the desert for a week. We geeked out and visited the Very Large Array radio telescope and I walked him ragged along Central Ave. a.k.a. Route 66. I took him to the shore of the Rio Grande, which he didn't think was very grand at all. Also forced him to watch The Happening and Rubber. Unfortunately we both got hit with a Norovirus during that week which kept us from doing anything for several days and kinda blew the experience. I tried to blame the candy Sean brought from home.

Aside from that there's really been nothing going on here to blab about--Just working and earning that money, watching Better Call Cal, and working in the yard. Man, that sounds hum-drum.

No plans for any furry cons in the near future.

Cheers.

I will be out this week Mon-Fri for my quarterly office visit. I like the office visit. I dislike having a 6 AM flight tomorrow morning, but that's what my boss booked for me. Scenes from Fight Club will be playing in my head. Having some pizza and beer before packing and hopefully getting SOME sleep.

Sometime during 2016 SoFurry dropped compatibility with Google Chrome versions 49 and below. This made the site basically useless to me. Unless SoFurry plans to fix this (and after all this time I guess that's a "no") I won't be using SoFurry anymore. I'd delete my account but that doesn't seem to be available, so my account shall collect dust like most of the other accounts there.

So I had my epidural injection of steroids to help fight my herniated disc last week. Contrary to what everyone was saying it was not the end of the world. My shoulder area was a bit sore for a few hours after the procedure but otherwise it was a non-issue. What surprised me is they told me it could take up to TWO WEEKS for the injection to have any noticeable effect. WHAT??!?!?

Oh, and I checked my records and now my doctors have me listed as having degenerative disc disease and cervical neuritis! This is, of course, in addition to the osteoarthritis and stenosis causing radiculopathy. Wow, I am really f**ked up I guess.

Anyhow, I have a follow-up appointment for my injection next week, and that will be pretty much it, I guess. My neck and arm pain are all but gone. I still have issues with my left arm tingling or the nerve aching briefly now and then when I move a certain way. I'm still trying to keep regular with my PT exercises just to make sure nothing comes back, and from now on I will always be checking my posture which (I was told by my therapist) is a leading factor in why this happens to people.

We'll just see what we'll see, I guess.

A bit of back to normal this week as I try to put in some work hours before another weekend of stuff.

Christmas was at my house this year. Dinner consisted of white chicken chili cooked by me, followed by various other munchies. Christmas Day was cold and windy (cold being 38 degrees) so we were kinda trapped inside trying to find stuff to do while the wind outside started making the fire in the fireplace chug and smolder. My dad and I got to enjoy our annual tradition of a lutefisk supper. Now everyone's gone and it's quiet and back to normal for now while I get to spend the evenings this week catching up/re-watching Breaking Bad.

Yeah, perfect timing on that trip. Got super cold right before I got there, then warmed up after I left. Was only able to meet up with one friend due to the cold.

The work portion of the trip went well and my company wants to make it a quarterly visit for me which they will pay for. Also might be going with a co-worker to a Microsoft conference in May or August. However, due to increasing PCI and TPPPA security requirements they're going to start cracking down on how I do code development for them: basically I'll have to log in to a virtual server to do all my work rather than doing it on my PC here because they can't secure my location. We always knew it was coming but now we have to address it. They're also going to replace my phone with a USB headset. Never cared for using headsets myself but.... company. Anyhoo, that's what's new.

Flying up to Minneapolis today for business reasons. Will be there through the weekend so I'll be rather out-of-contact except for Twitter.

Looks like it'll be a real fun time there with this arctic mass. High temps will be between 4-7° F, meanwhile it will be around 60° F here. This is exactly why I moved out of Minnesota.

Anyway, looking forward to drinking some Michelobe Golden Light. Can't get that here (or in Chicago apparently).