Is Something Wrong?

I’ve written this 100 times before over the three years (almost) since I had my gastric bypass surgery. There are times when I will be feeling real pain in my stomach and I cannot tell if it’s because something is wrong or because I am just hungry.

The last couple of days have taken that to a pretty obnoxious extreme. It’s always hunger, but it’s just ridiculous now. When things are going according to the normal routine I can have something to eat and then be okay for a few hours. Breakfast at 7:00, a snack at around 11:00, lunch at 1:00, a snack at 4:00, dinner at 7:00, a snack before bed. Perfect. Hunger pains avoided.

Today? Breakfast is over at 8:00, hunger pains at 9:45. Snack at 10:00, hunger pains at 11:15. What the hell? It’s 11:50 right now and I am slowly making my way through a little package of crackers. At this rate I’ll be finished by noon and then hurting a little before lunch at 1:00. I need to wait 60 minutes after eating before I can take a drink (and having a drink usually doesn’t help the hunger pain the way having something to eat does) which means the pain is back before I am clear to drink.

What the hell, bro? Is there something wrong AND I’m hungry? No, I don’t think so. I think I am unable to keep my surgically altered stomach from getting too empty. If I try to have a big lunch I am going to be full and have to stop, and (assuming this continues today) I still won’t get three pain-free hours.

To add the usual caveat, I am not complaining at all. I lost 220 pounds and if dealing with this now and then is the price I have to pay then I pay it with a great big smile on my face. Still… looking at my stomach and asking, what the hell, bro??

RPM Challenge Day 13/28

After two days of nothing, day 13 had some progress, but only a little and not nearly enough to make me feel better about the state of things.

I put rhythm guitars onto one song, and wrote lyrics and a melody for another. That’s it. This weekend is going to need a ton of work, and I don’t think I am going to have any time for any of it. I might need to take a personal day next week to play catch up.

Another Screwy Day

Today is Thursday and much like yesterday and the day before it is turning out to be a screwy day. Fun.

I overslept this morning. I had a bunch of things I wanted to do before the work day started and then I overslept and screwed up all of my plans. I did get the big things in, my day’s worth of goofy exercise, breakfast, routine stuff like that, and I managed to sneak in a little bit of guitar playing. I put rhythm guitars onto one RPM Challenge song. Not much but better than nothing.

We got a little snow last night. Probably less than an inch. The snow turned into rain and now we have a driveway covered in a nightmare of slush. At some point later today the temperature is going to drop and that nightmare of slush is going to turn into a nightmare of ice and I don’t know if I am going to have time to clear any of it before it freezes. I am super happy about that. Really. There’s not an ounce of sarcasm here. I am thrilled to the teeth by this potential outcome*.

It’s not even noon yet and the work day has been just as crazy as yesterday. Not bad, but a weird combination of hectic and frustrating. It’s looking like tomorrow will be similar, but after that things should settle again. Here’s hoping at least.

In closing, here’s a few guitar pictures from this morning because I am insane.

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*Contrary to the above statement, I was in fact being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic. My words were dripping with venomous sarcasm. Just call me a sarcasm machine.

RPM Challenge Day 12/28

Nothing. Again. Two days in a row with no progress at all.

Day 13 has already been a little better but I’ll spell that out another time. Am I running out of steam? Yes and no. I think my internal, gimmicky challenges (10 electric and 10 acoustic songs, and using two different guitars for the rhythm tracks) are probably about to be toast, but the project as a hole is still on, though getting to be massively behind schedule.

Genesis Birthdays

Today is Steve Hackett’s birthday. Tomorrow is Peter Gabriel’s birthday.

Let’s listen to some Genesis while wishing them both a happy birthday.

I’ve probably posted this video before. It’s actually pre-Peter Gabriel wearing costumes on stage. Not by much, but it is. Weird, huh?

Four Nations Face Off

Are any NHL hockey fans psyched up for the Four Nations Face Off? The first game is tonight. Canada and Sweden are going to start in about 10 minutes. USA and Finland play tomorrow.

Do I care?

Usually I get pretty hyped up for this sort of international challenge. When NHL players are in the Olympics it is THE BEST HOCKEY EVER. Now? Today? With the United States crumbling into a fascist cesspool? It’s really hard to get up for an international hockey tournament when you are completely fucking ashamed of your country.

If there were a Massachusetts team, or a New England team, instead of a US team I might be excited. Otherwise I wish the US weren’t involved. If it were Canada, Sweden, Finland, and someone else (not Russia either) then I would be more excited. As it is? I just don’t care.