Let Me Tell You About My Paladin

Hello Again

Now that Gary Gygax is dead I can finally come out of hiding. No, that's just a tasteless joke.

I've had an awful few months. For years I've dealt with a wide array of worsening and difficult to diagnose medical problems. Sounds familiar? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? It's gotten to the point that it's begining to seriously affect my quality of life, and this at a time when I don't have health insurance. As much as self-diagnosis smacks of hypochondria and attention whoring, I've finally managed to find a single condition that would explain every single symptom I have, but I can't even afford the tests to find out if that's it. Very frustrating.

And just after New Year, a freak accident destroyed both my computer and my primary data backup. Then, a few hours later, another freak accident destroyed my off-site backup. This resulted in the near total loss of my unpublished creative output for the last ten years: hundreds of hours of writing, projects in-progress, music, and notes. This sent me into a spiral of depression. On the one hand it's actually kind of liberating. On the other hand: godammit.

Then I spent a few weeks in the throes of Martian Death Flu and had a 24 hour nightmare drug trip reaction to some medication. The silver lining is that I'm feeling better and I've achieved that chic P.O.W. look that was so popular last century.

So after clawing my way out of the physical and psychological grave (too melodramatic?), here I am again. I've missed hanging out at the Cafe hearing about all your Paladins. How ya been?

Tags: whining

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by matholwch on March 7, 2008 at 12:00am: You are a living reason why the USA should halve its military spending, abandon its imperial wars and spend the money on a British-style National Health Service.

I cannot understand how a country that believes that it is the model for others, and supposedly has the highest average lifestyle in the world, can allow a huge proportion of its population to languish in continuous sickness.

That said, welcome back Hypno. I hope that you can find a way out of this dilemma.

On the data loss, have you published any of this, in e-mails or online? Could be that some of your work exists in the ether...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on March 7, 2008 at 6:03pm: I've recovered a few recent bits and pieces from emails but for security and privacy reasons I've always avoided storing anything worthwhile online. Maybe I should rethink this. Of course I can recover jpegs of my various lolpaladins from old threads here at the cafe, but I kind of view those as disposable fire-and-forget jokes. :)

And since American history is a continuous oscillation between imperialistic nationalism and self-interested isolationism, give us ten years and we'll probably have done what you suggest. Big kudos to whoever started the Corpolitical Alley for topics like this!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Berin Kinsman on March 7, 2008 at 6:06am: Yay! I mean, not to the fact that you've been in a living hell for the past few month, but YAY! that you're back. The Cafe has been a lesser place without you.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Sir Golgotha, KEoPS on March 7, 2008 at 8:34am: Sick body + sick computers = teh suck.

I can relate to the TDL (total data loss). Not that there was any simultaneous backup loss (if ever there was better proof that they are out to get you...), but the backup hadn't been backing-up in months & dummy me never thought to check it. I'm still plagued by stray thoughts about an idea that I know I wrote about, but can't quite exactly remember. It's frustrating. The experience did, however, provide the perfect excuse to switch to Ubuntu Linux & live life Window-lessly.

But anyway, I'm glad you are back, and that you are feeling better. I was worried that your absence was because of something I said...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on March 7, 2008 at 6:07pm: I promise I'd switch to Linux right now tonight but to date none of the software I regularly use has an open source equivalent, or even an expensive but Linux-compatible equivalent, and I'd hate to switch over just to use a Windows emulator for everything. If Adobe ever supports Linux I'll be in heaven.

If you've ever said anything that offended me I sure don't remember it. Maybe I should reread your posts. ;); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ruminator on March 7, 2008 at 9:36am: Welcome back.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Lon Sarver on March 7, 2008 at 10:09am: Welcome back, man. We've missed seeing you claw up the trees and strip away all the leaves.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on March 7, 2008 at 5:58pm: This not only cracked me up, it's actually a pretty good metaphor for most of my contributions. Thank you. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Vulcan Stev on March 7, 2008 at 1:31pm: Welcome back. Losing one's data and one's health are both bad. Losing them at the same time? You have my deepest sympathies.

BTW not rising to the bait from matholwch's post....; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on March 7, 2008 at 6:08pm: Thanks for all the Welcome Backs, everyone. It's so good to see all those familiar names.; ▶ Reply to This