MOAB, NV or MOANA

Mother of all bombs, nausea version

Mother of all nausea attacks

I like MOANA better.

So I have been incapacitated by nausea attacks for fourteen days. That means no drink, no food, and basically no rest for two weeks. This is all cause of the delayed tolerance program and reaction to radiation oncology. I willl explain more later.

I DO NOT HAVE CANCER.

==========

Here is my food/drink experience for the past two weeks:

Water: for 100+ times, not bad; each time throws up
Warm milk: it’s staying down; later, throws up
Winter melon drink: yum; throws up
Gatorade-zero, grape: this is ok; throws up
Pedialyte, grape: tastes like Gatorade; throws up
Warm almond milk: stayed down for six hours; throws up
Sweet, crumbly watermelon: this is good; throws up
Peppermint herbal tea: 8:00 pm, it’s good; midnight, throws up
Lemon-honey tea from lemons in backyard: drank an entire cup, who knew; throws up lemon juice for 24 hours
Bland Cheerios: mouth too dry, can’t swallow; throws up anway
Banana-apple blend: looks like baby food; throws up
Applesauce: not sour; throws up
Ginger-honey candy: hey… too spicy; throws up
Ginger-agave tea: throws up
+ Chamomile tea: soothing… this tastes gross; throws up in 2 seconds

If nothing else, I am very consistent. Waiting to try ginger candy (smaller piece) and ginger-honey tea (much less ginger) again.

==========

I can at least hold down water long enough for my pills to dissolve. I found this out when I throw up after drinking water with pills.

I also threw up just rinsing my mouth with water once. Not good.

COBRA Ending Soon

When I quit my job last year, I elected to receive COBRA coverage instead of looking for my own health insurance. Due to federal law, I was eligible for eighteen (18) months of coverage. The cost was from $650 to $700 per month for health, dental, and vision insurance. Other than changes in the mail order pharmacy provider, there were no significant changes in coverage.

After eighteen months, there is a California law that provides an additional eighteen months of COBRA coverage, called Cal-COBRA. I checked with the benefits team at my old employer regarding my eligibility and was told that I would not be covered since the company was considered self-insured. I am familiar with this part since I was the company treasurer, and I paid the $million insurance bill every month.

Like everything in this world, it is not a problem if it can be solved with money. If I am no longer eligible for COBRA coverage, I can simply go online and buy my insurance. I was told in the past that our company’s coverage is equivalent to a high silver plan. Since we used the Blue Shield of California network, that is where I looked first.

The first thing you notice is the very high primium cost for any plan. Looking through my current coverage, it appears to be better than the Gold 80 PPO plan shown above. There is a Platinum level plan, but the cost is over $2,000 per month. For just one person.

For now, I will need to verify the answer given to me by the benefits analyst. Her first email said I was eligible for Cal-COBRA, but a subsequent email five minutes later said otherwise. I want to stay with Blue Shield for ease of transition, but I should also check the healthcare exchange to see if there is a better deal.

Average Weight and Height

I recently saw a YouTube video that mentioned the average weight and height of American males and I was very surprised. From the CDC National Center for Health Statistics, here is the data for men and women ages 20 and older.

Men:
Height in inches: 69.0
Weight in pounds: 199.8
Waist circumference in inches: 40.5
Women:
Height in inches: 63.5
Weight in pounds: 170.8
Waist circumference in inches: 38.7

Since I moved from Taiwan to Canada/U.S., I have considered myself fat or overweight. Depending on the scale used, I am currently around 220 lbs. I am also 71.5 inches, and my waist size is 38 inches for Levi’s jeans. Compared to the average American male, I am 20 lbs. overweight, but 1.5 inches taller and have a waist size 2.5 inches smaller. I have lost 15 lbs. in the last three months and I think I can get to a weight of 200 lbs. in a few more months.

I do not think I look average or fit at all, but my numbers are pretty close to the American average. Is everyone in Americal just overweight?

Ankle Update 20250609

Just a quick update on my ankle. It has been over 18 months since I injured it.

Here is the last x-ray from my appointment on March 31, 2025. The comparison above is from September 3, 2024. You can see definite improvements in bone formation and density in the diagonal “crack” from the ankle to the heel. During the appointment, my surgeon said I could start walking in regular shoes, but suggested I keep using the walking boot for longer distances. The first time I walked around the block, my right leg, ankle, and foot were sore afterwards, so I kept using the boot for another few months. I just started wearing shoes on both feet again, and everything has been fine since the beginning of June.

Going out without using the boot has also let me drive more comfortably. It was difficult to control the pedals with the boot on, so I avoided driving too much. With shoes, it is much easier to drive, and it also feels more natural.

Let us hope the ankle keeps improving. I have another appointment with my surgeon on June 28 so I will get another x-ray view of the ankle.

Time Flies

So it has been over five months since I last posted. I am not sure why I stopped again. Every few days I think about posting something, but I was never motivated enough to follow up. In addition, not much has changed since January so there was nothing new to report. I still have difficulty walking, even if I do not wear the boot, and there has not been any opportunity to travel. I am still retired and not looking for another work opportunity yet.

Maybe I will restart by posting at least once every week. That is a low-level commitment I feel I can meet.

Mesmerica 360 Costa Mesa

While scrolling through Instagram, I came across an advertisement for a show called Mesmerica. It is basically a visual plus audio show playing in a planetarium. I did not know there was a planetarium near my house, but evidently there is one at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

When I check the Mesmerica website, I thought the January 18th show was the final show so I bought two tickets. I was wrong; there are still more show dates available. The general admission tickets were $34 each, while VIP tickets with priority seating were $39. I just bought the cheap ticket.

*Planetarium building at Orange Coast College*

Being the OCD person I am, I researched for the best seats in a planetarium auditorium. The Internet said I should get a seat near the middle or back. After lining up for the show, I noticed there were a lot of VIP ticket holders. Luckily, there were several handicapped seats in the back, and they were empty when we finally entered the planetarium. We ended up with great seats.

The show, however, was pretty weak. It was very repetitive, but the video and the audio. It felt like I was watching a screen saver for 45 minutes. There were several cool visuals, with one looking like the city bending scene in Inception, but they were rare.

Likewise, the audio was pretty boring too. The artist is James Hood, and the soundtrack sounded like generic new age music. The main musical instrument appears to be a hang, which is similar in sound to a steel drum from the Caribbeans. The first few songs were nice and relaxing, then the soundtrack became repetitive. My friend fell asleep after about 15 minutes. I stayed awake so I can make my $34 worth while.

Throughtout the show, the artist (James Hood) would make some commentary about mind and conscience. It sounded like psychobabble as he tried to make his music much more significant than it really was. That also got old really fast. Finally, there were some lens aberration issues so the planetarium screen has three large bright circies which further discracted the audience.

Overall, I would not recommend the show at current prices. It is at least double what the price should be. Even with the excitement of watching a show in a planetarium, I was thoroughly bored with the experience. I would give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Ankle Update 20250120

I saw my orthopedic surgeon early this morning. This is the three month follow up appointment after I started wearing a CROW boot for walking. From the x-ray images, the doctor said it looks similar to the results from three months ago. There may be some minor improvements, but it is hard to tell. He did say the ankle is definitely not worse, which was my biggest fear. A worsening ankle will lead to more surgeries and possible amputation.

The surgeon said to keep everything the same and make a follow-up appointment in three months. I was hoping that he would allow me to walk without the boot, but I am happy with the current results.

Natera Billing

I received a bill from Natera today. This is for the research study I participated in post kidney transplant at UCLA. For almost three years, I had blood drawn quarterly at home for early detection of any signs of kidney rejection. This was all covered under Medicare.

After my Medicare coverage ended, Natera or UCLA wanted one more test. I was told by my rep at Natera that this would be covered by my work insurance. Even if it was not covered, Natera will cover the cost. Well, the bill I received was for $50. The original charge was $1,591 and my work insurance paid $1,541, leaving me with a $50 bill. The amount is low, so I am fine with paying it, but I am frustrated with all the billing bureaucracy and surprise billing.

Why does it cost so much to do a blood test, even if it is specialized? I received another bill from Quest for lab tests. This was denied in error by my insurance, so I was billed $1,327 for a few blood tests. Since I have a lot of doctor visits and tests, I have many wrongfully denied claims which leads to many bills from providers. It is such a timer suck to deal with all this.

Useful Idiots

A useful idiot or useful fool is a pejorative description of a person, suggesting that the person thinks they are fighting for a cause without fully comprehending the consequences of their actions, and who does not realize they are being manipulated by the cause’s leaders or by other political players.

–Wikipedia

I found out recently that a ban on TikTok is supposed to go into effect this Sunday, January 19, but Joe Biden will not enforce the ban. I do not use TikTok, but fully support the ban, since I believe the app and content is 100% controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). You would have to be an imbicile to belive any app from China is free from CCP influence. I remember playing Age of Zombie or something on my iPhone, and the word “Taiwan” and the Taiwanese flag icon were banned.

As a response, I heard many TikTok users are switching to “RedNote” instead. The app is currently the most downloaded social media app on Apple’s app store. Some users are claiming the app is free from US censorship.

The developers did not even create a non-Chinese app icon. The simplified Chinese character literally says Little Red Book. I am unsure if all the new non-Chinese users are ignorant teenagers or adult useful idiots, but the Little Red Book refers to a book of Quotations from Chairman Mao. Mao Zedong is the communist founder of the People’s Republic of China, and he was responsible for 40-80 million deaths during his rule over China. Do you think this app represents free speech and non-censorship?

There have already been numerous posts online regarding users being banned within hours of posting about topics deemed “sensitive” by the CCP censors. If you mention anything about Taiwan Independence, Tiananmen Square massacre, Uyghur genocide in Xianjiang, Cultural Revolution, or even a picture of Winnie the Pooh, your account will be banned.

I am just so disappointed that Internet users are too lazy or stupid to do a tiny bit of research. With so many information sources online, there is zero excuse for anyone to download communist propaganda apps unless they are little pinks supporting the CCP regime.

Ukrainian Friend Update 20250116

I just had my weekly phone call with my Ukranian friend/student. I met him through ENGin in May of 2023, and we have been having video calls once or twice a week. We try not to discuss Russia and the war too much, but it is a difficult subject to avoid.

Photo by u0410u043bu0435u0441u044c u0423u0441u0446u0456u043du0430u045e on Pexels.com

Right now, he is okay. He still has not registered with the Ukrainian military yet, but they is a lot of pressure. The military police have been stopping men randomly on the street to check their military registration paperwork, and now they need proof of registration to continue employment. My friend switched careers to be a software engineer since the war started, but since he is working freelance, he also has a second job to make ends meet. Mamy of his friends and acquaintances have been called to fight in the war, and some are already dead.

I really hope Ukraine and Russia can come to some agreement to at least stop the fighting. If Israel and Hamas can work out a deal, maybe there is room for negotiation between Kyiv and Moscow.

Tesla Self-Driving Error

This evening, we had dinner with a few friends at a Korean BBQ restaurant in Rowland Heights. On the way home, we decided to turn on self-driving to see how well it performs. From Rowland Heights, you would take the 60 East to 57 South to 91 East to 55 South and exit Chapman Avenue. Everything worked fine until the 57/91 interchange. My car decided to take 91 West towards Los Angeles. We looked at the navigation map and the planned route does tell the car to go to 91 West, exit at State College, turn left to go under the freeway, then take the on-ramp to 91 East. Strange.

I guess the fault is with the navigation computer since it planned the route that way. The self-driving algorithm just follows what the navigation computer tells it to do. I did notice that the car kept changing lanes to the right but was too late to take control. The previous time I used the self-driving feature my Model X ran two red lights and did not stop at a stop sign.

It is a cool feature and I put it at about 95% accurate. However, the other 5% will likely cause an accident or car crash.

Peripheral Neuropathy 20250110

I mentioned in a previous post that I was prescribed Cymbalta, primarily for anxiety, but the medication also helps with neuropathy. Over the past six months, Cymbalta has helped as the number of neuropathy attacks have decreased in frequency. However, it does not eliminate them altogether.

Yesterday, I had an attack on my right foot. It was more a buzzing numbness rather than pain. The weird thing was that the attack was on my lower leg instead of my foot. I have never experienced any neuropathy that high up, and I am worried this is a new trend. This morning around 2:00 am, I woke up to a new attack on my left big toe. This one hurts a lot and is about an 8/10 on the pain scale.

I took two Tylenol PM pills and so far, it has done nothing for pain or sleep.

==========

Ouch. The neuropathy attack in my left foot has gotten worse. I was unable to sleep after I made this post so now I am really tired and in a lot of pain.

Tesla Cabin Air Filter

The air conditioning in my friend’s Tesla Model 3 has had a terrible smell for months. The car is only 15 months old, so I wanted to try replacing the cabin air filter to see if it will improve the situation. After buying a new set of filters for $30, we spent about an hour installing it.

The old filters were absolutely filthy. My friend said she does not usually use the A/C while she drives so we are not sure where all the dust came from. To remove the old filters, we had to pul out the panel under the glovebox, then the panel at the right of the center console. The instructions that came with the new filters were confusing so we watched a few YouTube for further instructions.

The nasty smell disappeared right after we changed out the filter. Now two more friends, one with a Model 3 and the other with a Model Y, are also experiencing this problem so I asked them to purchase new filters, and we will help them do the filter swap.

Amazon Purchases Since 1998

Amazon.com allows you to dump your entire account order history since the beginning of time. I ran the report yesterday and was about to get data starting late 1998. I am 100 percent sure I purchased items from Amazon before that, but the historical data is gone.

The request said it could take as long as a month, but my report was done in three hours.

The data came in a large .csv file which I opened in Micrsoft Excel. There was only one tab with 28 by 2037 rows. I am going to focus on the Total Owed column which includes taxes, shipping, and discounts.

Total orders = 2,037
Total owed = $69,361.89
Average total owed = $34.07
Max total owed = $1,463.98

In case you were wondering, the top five items were computers and electronics:

Apple MacBook Air MD232LL/A = $1,463.98
Apple MacBook Pro MB990LL/A = $1,194.00
Sony VAIO VGN-CR420E/L = $1,099.99
Sony A55VHZ 16.2 MP Digital SLR = $1,049.00
2012 Apple 11-inch iPad Pro = $924.19

On the web, there is a statistic that said the average Amazon Prime customer spends $2,400 per year. Prime was introduced in 2005 but did not become popular until 2011. Here is my spend by year.

After COVID, I went shopping crazy and bought a lot of stuff. I also forgot to add return data, although I do not return many items from Amazon.

Jury Duty 2025

I received a jury summons for Orange County Superior Court late last year. The deadline to register online and check your status was last Friday, January 3, 2025. Since I am retired, I really have no good excuse not to serve my time on a jury. Therefore, I filled out the questionnaire indicating I could serve.

Over the past weekend, however, I started to have some doubts. Even though I tested COVID free a few months ago, I still have a nasty and loud cough. That will get me many dirty looks from the other jurors and disrupt the court proceedings. Additionally, I am still wearing the CROW boot. The longest I have worn the boot was only several hours. I have no experience wearing it continuously for 8 to 9 hours. After pondering the worst-case scenario, I call the Juror Service phone line, and postponed my jury service to January 31, 2025, due to medical reasons.

I really want to sit on as jury not that I am retired, especially if involves any type of financial or engineering evidence. I did near both counsels do not like knowledgeable people since the lawyer’s job is to spin a believable story for the jury to follow.

Wind and Fire

The weather is crazy windy tonight. We are getting 30 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph where I live. Currently there is somethihg hitting one of the walls of my house. I hope nothing was ripped free by the wind. I am glad I got the huge eucalyptus tree in my backyard trimmed last month.

This is a wind map from earth. You can see while most of Los Angeles is calm, both the San Fernando Valley and Orange County (where I am) are experiencing high winds.

The winds are also driving three brush fires.

All three fires are near or have already burnt down structures. I do not remember having so many fires this late in the season before.

Day At The Races Party 20240810

I mentioned before that I know my last manager for almost 25 years. We started working together in 2000, and soon after he started hosting a party at Del Mar Race Track every year with his wife. I was invited last year since the invites went out before my retirement. We will see if I am still invited this year now that I do not work for him anymore.

Usually the invite “package” is extravagant and over-the-top. Last year was no exception.

The invite came in a rolling carry-on luggage and was packed with items related to Amalfi Coast in Italy. I kept the limoncello bottle and the luggage and gave the remaining items to my plus one (coworker).

Here is what the racetrack looks like from our reserved room.

I have been to many of these parties courtesy of my boss. It is always a fun time, and I get to see some old ex-coworkers from different companies. However, last year I was on crutches, and it was difficult to get from the parking lot to the grandstand. On the way out, I found out Del Mar provided a golf cart for disabled guests, so I suffered for nothing.

Ankle Update 20250107

This will be a pretty long update since it has been over seven months since my last ankle post. The bad news is that I still cannot walk without medical devices, either using crutches, a wheelchair, or my new walking boot. I only had six weeks in 2024 where I was walking with both feet in shoes.

After the May meeting with my surgeon, I was provided with a full coverage cast, which caused all sorts of anxiety. So, the next time I visited, the surgeon let me go back to using an open-toed cast. I continued to use the bone stimulation machine, even to this day. I am still unsure if the thing works as advertised.

The left photo is when I removed the full coverage cast. You can see that the cast pushed my big to to the right. Since I was experiencing cast anxiety, it was replaced by an open-toed cast. The right photo is when the second cast was removed. I cannot remember if I got another cast, or the surgeon let me use the airboot from before.

Around this time, I was told that x-rays did not show any improvements, and I should reconsider another surgery or jump straight to amputation. Since my work insurance (now COBRA) provided a second opinion service through 2nd.MD, I thought it was worthwhile to check with their specialist. After speaking to another orthopedic surgeon from USC/Keck, it was suggested that I try using a Charcot Restraint Orthotic Walker (CROW) boot first. My surgeon had told me about the boot, but he did not think it would improve my situation.

This is a comparison between September 3 and October 21 x-rays. At the September appointment, my surgeon wrote a prescription for the CROW boot. It is custom fitted to each patient’s leg/ankle/foot, and it costs $3,000 before insurance. I paid about $300 copay. I received the boot in early October and there seems to be a very slight improvement in the ankle fracture area. I was told to keep wearing the boot for three more months to see if there is additional healing in the ankle. The next appointment is in two weeks.

I have been wearing this boot for almost three months. The boot is too large to drive comfortablly so I am still using my left foot to drive. Fortunately, Tesla offered another one-month free trial of their full self-drive system, which greatly reduces the need to use the accelerator or brake pedals. I can walk short distances with the boot, but my ankle gets sore when I walk far. The boot is not too heave but gets really hot internally. I usually wear a thin compression sock or my lower leg will sweat all over the foam insert. It is definitely clumsy but manageable, and much better than using crutches.

My ankle also feels fine. No sharp pain nor are there any metal parts sticking out of my foot. My hope is that the ankle bones have been healing well, and that I can walk without the boot. If so, I plan to make small road trips in the next few months. My niece is planning her senior (high school) trip to Asia for this June, and I want to go too.

Hello Again

I want to apologize for going MIA for the past seven months. Truthfully, after getting news that I have another broken bone in my foot, I was depressed and anxious at the same time. I believe I am in a better mental and physical state now so I will restart posting again.

The template I used previously started posting everything to the extreme left of the page so I applied a new template. Hopefully this one will be easier to read.

New Medication

I went to see my new family practice doctor yesterday. He did tell me that my previous primary care physician at the same office left. That is why I could not make an appointment with her again. The new doctor seems very personable and was attentive in listening to my issues.

I was there mainly to address my recent panic and anxiety attacks. I also mentioned that I would like to see if there is anything for my diabetic peripheral neuropathy. I was expecting something like Zoloft or Xanax for the anxiety, and maybe gabapentin or Lyrica for the neuropathy. Instead, he prescribed me some Cymbalta. I have seen the commercials but did not really know what the medication was for.

At first glance, Cymbalta seems to be marketed as an anti-depression medication. It is a selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SSNRI). The doctor explained that Cymbalta should address both the issues I presented to him regarding anxiety and neuropathy.

Duloxetine is used to treat depression and anxiety. It is also used for pain caused by nerve damage associated with diabetes (diabetic peripheral neuropathy).
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/duloxetine-oral-route/description/drg-20067247

Since Cymbalta takes time to address anxiety, the doctor also prescribed me hydroxyzine or Atarax. This medication is “used to help control anxiety and tension caused by nervous and emotional conditions.” This is supposed to be fast acting and also helps with sleeping. He said this is an antihistamine, bascially like Benadryl. Cymbalta was not covered by insurance, but Albertsons pharmacy let me have it for $14.

Last night, I took one pill each of the Cymbalta and Atarax. Very quickly I felt my cold chills fade but also drowsy at the same time. When I got up to use the bathroom during the night, I felt my neuropathy was worse than before. I managed to fall asleep, and I do feel better this morning. The neuropathy did settle down, though I cannot determine if it was better or worse than before taking the new medications. The anxiety symptoms were absent, but as I am typing, I am starting to feel chills again. Hopefully all this will improve over time.