Our very own biggest insurance fraud fiasco ever

Lou Ryan is his stage name, but here I am referring to him as Lucas, because that is what people actually call him. He's been suffering for over a year with a debilitating spinal injury sustained on the job, yet he has been unable to get the insurance money he has been promised from this job.
` That means, lots of stress and work for us just to keep him healthy -- it seems I am finally losing my mind for real this time!

Since the daily drama has been keeping me holed up in 'defense mode', why don't I write you a nice, semi-coherent overview of the current situation as well as the larger context? Here goes:

Testing out the Blogger App!

I've just downloaded the Blogger app -- yet another way for the iPhone to change the way I do something!
It only took about ten hours of failed tech support before I learned that my regular gmail address will never work with Apple Accounts, and so had to create a new gmail account just to get any apps at all for my phone!

Granted, I don't see myself typing much blog material with my thumbs, but at the very least, I can upload my iPhone photos!

Dilly does not seem impressed. Right now, I am boiling up some turkey tail tea (see previous post), having regretted not taking it for a few days. During that time, I lost what little energy I had regained and took to sleeping most of the day and night. Yesterday, I had some more tea and improved dramatically, even regaining my appetite.

Unfortunately, my stomach felt as though it had a hole burning through it the more I ate -- which still happens for some reason when I don't get much physical activity.

I went to the gym, thinking that this would relieve my discomfort, and it did after everything I'd eaten in the past 3 hours came up and over the edge of the third story catwalk.

Luckily, I have no photos of this, although I do have one of me when I was barely able to get to the gym some days ago:

Recovering from many things right now...

Lately I've been too delirious to leave the house due to various illnesses, and am even having trouble sitting up at the moment. Didn't even have a chance to fully recover from TAM first. Grumble...
` On the awesome side, I have drawn a few Hairy Pothead character sketches, and got an iPhone 5 because of my involvement in the movie. Too many years have I relied on a basic phone that doesn't even work right!
` However, every time I draw, I keep thinking of Matthew Skenandore, that really awesome artist, who I won't have a chance to work with due to his demise.

It's been a rough few weeks.

On the positive side, I've got a little better phone service now that I've installed the signal booster -- after 6 weeks of outage! I can make calls from my house now, and I may even be able to access the internet with my iPhone, although this is proving tricky.
` I'm thinking of the spine-tingling prospect of using my iPhone to read things on Facebook, as I don't have much time for that when I'm around my computer.

For the time being, I have a lot of demands on me that I can scarcely meet due to my reduced mobility, plus there's blogging and podcast editing that I've had to mostly put on hold.
` Also, uploading photos has become technically more difficult than usual, so you're going to have to wait to see those character sketches.

Taking care of myself comes first, and I'm on the path to recovery. I'm taking ibuprofin and a little Guaifenesin, but I'm not above taking "herbal remedies", as long as they are full of useful drugs.
` A couple of cannabinoid-filled products dramatically reduce my muscle aches, general pain, lack of appetite, and lung filled-ness. It even increases my mental clarity in some ways, partly because I feel so much better.
` I even bother to drink tea made from the Trametes versicolor growing out of my dead apple tree. I'm interested to find that it seems to dramatically relieve the congestion and inflammation in my airways. I'm not sure exactly why this is, although it is worth mentioning that this mushroom is full of a variety of drugs.

Just had some frozen yogurt and my throat feels better, although I'm still sweating profusely. I slept six hours today after much activity at the house and am soon to be sleeping six more hours, I hope!

The Amazing Meeting 2013, Day Two, Part Two

The opening ceremony began after dinner, which I have very little recollection of. Perhaps, because of my stomach, I didn't bother with dinner, because I remember eating plenty of delicious TAMnoms:

 The sleep deprivation was starting to get to me, and I began to have delusions of conquering the world, along with Gary from Gothenberg:

The Amazing Meeting 2013 -- Day Two, Part One

Although I was feeling about as refreshed as the gloomy, forest fire-ridden day outside, I nevertheless felt a rush of excitement when I thought about the upcoming Amazing Meeting, and when I saw my new friend Jamy Ian Swiss.

In the Great Conference Hall, various skeptical groups were setting up their respective tables. Kyle Hill was keen on showing his... enthusiasm? while Sarah Mayhew hid inside of her fauxler bear jacket:

The Amazing Meeting 2013 -- Day One

Although I'm currently suffering from TAMnesia, I've managed to upload the photos that will be featured in the next several posts, as well as make up for the lack of housework in my absence, attend the day-after TAM skeptic meetup, etc.
` I've been going through my notes, photos and videos, and find them inadequate to describe my experiences, to say the least. Then again, I did spend plenty of time at TAM interviewing folks for The Spoony Show, Podcast of Doom.

For now, I shall bring you photos from my first day of TAM, starting with high altitude shots of such dramatic landscape features as Mount Rainier:

I like to pronounce it Ran-ye, for the entertainment value. And, there was more...

Making the best parody movie EVAR, and other big news.

Tomorrow, I leave for The Amaz!ing Meeting 2013, but that is only my second-most exciting piece of news. First place belongs to my involvement in the movie version of Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone by Dana Larsen.
` I'll likely be working with Ed Ghertner (head animator/castle designer at Disney), so there's a good chance I can learn a thing or two about a thing or two. Maybe he can also give me advice on what color I should dye my hair next:

In addition, I've done some podcasting work here and there, and plan to do a bunch more recording whilst at TAM. With all this going on, I hope you understand some of my reasons for leaving my last several posts unfinished (for now).
` But wait, there are many other things going on -- and many more cute/stunning/interesting photos to see!