New Knees

For the last few years I have been experiencing a lot of pain in my knees. I had arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in the left knee and it looked like it was going to be needed in the right knee.

On July 30th I had bilateral total knee joint replacement. Yes, both knees were cut open and new titanium alloy prosthesis were installed. I spent 4 days in the hospital at Vanderbilt and then a week in the rehab hospital. It is now 7 weeks after the procedure. I have full flexibility in both knees I continue to go to physical therapy where we are now working on strengthening all of the leg muscles. Generally I can walk around the house without a cane but I do use the cane in public. When I am sitting still or laying down there is usually little or no pain. Moving around, standing up, walking around produces varying amounts of pain but mostly tolerable. Mentally I am just exasperated with the pain and wonder when it will be gone. I had the surgery so that I could get back to living and not constantly limping about in pain. There was a further consequence in that the nerve blocks they put in so that during and for a few days after the surgery I would feel nothing in the legs but after they were removed I still had numbness on the outside of my left leg from my hip to the big toe and about a hand size patch on the outside of my right leg just below the knee. Feeling is coming back on the left leg but now it is ultra sensitive so that makes it difficult to get a good nights sleep. I am hoping that by November I will be completely healed and I can then look forward to being able to travel and walk without pain again. I have lost about 32 pounds so far and hope that I can keep losing and keep the weight off. So far I continue to lose a pound or two a week.

Here is the before x-ray of both knees:

Here are the x-rays taken immediately after surgery:























Here are pictures of the knees a few days after surgery while I was still in the hospital:

And here they are at 7-weeks post-op:

Trying to win a Drobo. I am running out of room on my media server.
Scott Bourne is giving some away. One of his sites is http://mydl.me/

Power Pole Colors

Just need to document something that I will integrate to my web site later.

Anderson Powerpole colors for 15-45A connectors.

White - 5v
Blue - 9v
Pink - 12v regulated
Red - 12v nominal (11v-15v)
Violet - 24v
Yellow - 48v

From Wikipedia

For the larger Multipole design, each color is keyed so as to mate only with a like colored connector, and Anderson publishes a list of recommended voltages for each color:

• 12 V: Yellow
• 18 V: Orange
• 24 V: Red
  • Used by Warn for its 12 V winches (should have used yellow multipole)
  • Used by Tripp-Lite for some of its 24 V external UPS battery packs
• 36 V: Gray
  • Used by Tripp-Lite for some of its 38 V external UPS battery packs
  • Used by APC for some of its 24 V external UPS battery packs (should have used red multipole)
• 48 V: Blue
  • Used by Tripp-Lite and APC for its 48 V external UPS battery packs
• 72 V: Green
• 80 V: Black
• 96 V: Brown
• 120 V: Purple
• 144 V: White

Some manufacturers have ignored this color coding recommendation. One should always test the connection with a voltmeter if unsure. For example, winch manufacturer Warn uses a red housing for its winches, even though they are powered by 12 V DC, not 24 V DC.

Passing of a friend

Former TISL delegate, Robin Clay Hall - UTK, died Saturday evening and his funeral will be just a few blocks away as the 39th TISL General Assembly convenes. The funeral will be at McKendree United Methodist Church, downtown on Church Street, Thursday at 11:30. Reverend Clay Hall served as pastor of this congregation just a few years ago. I recall that Clay was very active with TISL during the 12th and 13th General Assemblies. Clay was a son, a student, a soldier, a pastor, a husband, a father and a friend. He will be sorely missed.

The Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature is a forum for the top echelon of campus leaders and political science students to exchange ideas and express their opinions on state, federal and local issues.

TISL's General Assembly, which first convened in 1966, meets in the legislative chambers of the State Capitol each November.

Spotlight on Notebooks results?

Scored 100%.

That is 100% wrong.

So much for my prognostication.

Spotlight on Notebooks

I'll go out on a limb about Apple's announcements for tomorrow.

• Sub $800 netbook without hard drive with a 10" LCD screen and an 80GB HD, no optical drive.
• New external USB optical drive that will play BlueRay Discs and work with MacBook Air and new Netbook.
• BlueRay option on all new Mac notebooks.

That's about it. Everybody else has predicted the rest.

Are Smokers Inherently Litterbugs?

Are smokers inherently litterbugs or do they just consider throwing their cigarette butts on the ground not littering.
As of Monday, Sept. 1, smoking is banned from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center campus. Since 21st Ave and it's sidewalks border VUMC but are not VUMC property smokers are now congregating on the 21st Ave. sidewalks. When they are done they throw their butts in the landscaping which is VUMC property. This ever increasing eyesore is only a month old. The visible amount of smoking trash is no longer blending with the landscaping and is not biodegrading fast enough. While I applaud VUMC's efforts to be a smoke free campus, having the smokers concentrated in a single area where ash containers are available and clean up of refuse is easier may have been the better option. Workers, patients, and visitors taking a smoke break must now go further for their habit and no longer have convenient receptacles for their waste.