The Baker's Acres

Work Comp is smoking rocks! Are they INSANE!?

2011-12-31T15:56:00.001-07:00

I got a letter from Pam at Esis. It says:

Dear Ms. Baker:

I have scheduled an Independent Medical Evaluation with Dr. Schumpert on January 23, 2012, Monday at 9:15 AM. The appointment will take place at [address] Missoula, MT 59807.

If you decide to go to Missoula the night before, I will pay for lodging and meal fees. Please let me know and I will release a check to you.

If you are unable to make this appointment, please let me know at your earliest convenience. My phone number is [phone #].

This appointment has been made per State Statutes and you are required to attend. Please confirm with me that you will be able to attend.

Has she lost her mind? I can't drive to Missoula! It's going to cost me $100 in gas to drive there and back, for starters. It's hard enough for me to drive to Kalispell, MT and back, much less Missoula! I have to have someone go with me so they can drive me back.

I am all for the Independent Medical evaluation but the Montana statue says

A. Section 39-71-605, MCA. Yes, the examiner is allowed to schedule periodic independent medical evaluations (IME). The time and place for the examination, must take into consideration the employee’s convenience, physical condition, and ability to attend at the time and place that is as close to the employee’s residence as is practical.

How the hell is a 4 hour drive, in pain, without the chance of any pain relief and a 4 hour drive back the VERY NEXT DAY, convenient? How the fuck is a 4 hour drive "as close to the employee's residence as is practical"? What they don't have doctors in Kalispell? Seriously!? This is BULLSHIT!

If she thinks I can make it that far, she is smoking rocks!

Urologist and Sedentary Work

2011-12-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor on Monday to see the urologist. They had me pee into a special container under a funnel attached to a bedside commode. I didn't really feel like I had to go but I tried anyway. I felt like I had completely emptied my bladder so I went back to the exam room. They did an ultrasound to measure the amount of urine in my bladder.

When I came in I had 15 ounces of urine in my bladder (or close to 445 cc's). After "emptying my bladder", I had 7 1/2 ounces of urine still in my bladder (or close to 222 cc's). At 222 cc's, I should be having the urge to go to the bathroom. But I am not having any sensation that I need to pee, even at 445 cc's.

January 6th they will teach me to self catheterize so my bladder will empty. On the 11th, I have an appointment for urodynamics. They'll be testing my bladder to see how it reacts.

On January 19th I will have a scope done on my bladder. I can't remember the specifics of that one. But they'll be checking out my bladder again. Plus I have an EMG at the Glacier Neuroscience and Spine Clinic, so that will be a long day of appointments.

Today and yesterday I have been having horrible pain in my bladder. It's so bad that I am doubling over in pain.

I can't wait until the 6th so I can finally have an empty bladder again. When I went to the ER the Saturday after my epidural steroid injection, they drained my bladder. I felt so much better after they did but since then, I feel a constant fullness on my lower abdomen that doesn't go away and it's getting worse.

I also go in on the 10th for another follow up at The Montana Center for Wellness and Pain Management. Hopefully they will do something besides just have me call in each week and diagnose how I am doing over the phone. I am really not impressed with that at all.

They released me to sedentary work only. That's awesome except I don't sit in a chair because my legs fall asleep and go numb if I do. Sitting actually causes me a LOT of pain, so I am not sure how I am going to go back to work sedentary only.

I have tried sitting in a chair the last two days and my back is KILLING me now and it's getting harder and harder to walk. I think I will go back to my reclined position for now. I call in tomorrow fir the update but frankly, this is ridiculous. How can they determine how I am over the phone? I am SO not impressed!

Epidural Steroid Injections and Burning Legs/ Leg Weakness

2011-12-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

I spent my week on Benadryl so I mostly played video games, homeschooled my kids and tried to stay awake.

On Tuesday I had my follow up appointment with the Pain Doctor. I explained about that I think I am having a reaction to the epidural steroid injection and he actually agreed. He is also sending me to a urologist to make sure there isn't some anatomical reason why I am having trouble urinating if I stop taking Benadryl. He didn't seem too concerned about all the other symptoms I am having. But he was very interested in the urinary issues.

After the appointment, Nikky and I discussed how odd this was. We started asking around to see if anyone else has had an epidural steroid injection or knew someone who had. Then we asked about side effects and if it helped. We found quite a few people who have had them and more that knew someone who did. ALL of them, and I mean ALL, have said they had the same problems. All of them had teh Burning sensation down the legs like acid being poured on you and most of them had leg weakness. The others reported other negative symptoms also like headaches, unable to stand up by themselves, extreme stiffness in the back and joint pain.

Mikky and I talked more about it and we think the reason the doctor isn't really concerned about my reaction to the epidural steroid injection is because it's a normal side effect they failed to warn me about... but the urinary issue isn't! That's why they are so interested in it.

I can tell you, I will NEVER get another epidural steroid injection again! But, if you had one and you are having side effects, I would love to hear your story too. Obviously my case is not that unique or they wouldn't be so "couldn't care less" about it. And I am finding that reaction is not some weird or unusual reaction. It's common.

What do you think? Do you know someone who had an injection and had a reaction like this? I wanna hear it.

Working on Minecraft

2011-12-13T05:02:00.001-07:00

My game testers are working on Minecraft. I have been pretty busy with paperwork this weekend. Wednesday we will start working on the blog posts for game reviews on Battlefield Play 4 Free and Minecraft and hopefully we will have them up for this week.

My Game Testers

2011-12-08T20:56:00.001-07:00

Here are my kids in "helping mom test games" mode. We are trying a Halo trial. I am getting a lot better at first person shooters. It helps that I can kill my kids all day long and not go to jail for it LMAO! Oops, gotta go! They are trying to run me over!

Video Game Review: Pirates of the Caribbean Online

2011-12-07T00:20:00.001-07:00

I heard about Pirates of the Caribbean Online from my youngest son so I had to check it out. Miles, Mendel and I spent days playing this game to see how far you can get on a free account. Each of us picked different skills to test and worked as a team in battles and whatnot, to see how the game would be. I also tried to accomplish each of my missions and here is what we thought.

Pirates of the Caribbean Online: Starting Out
Starting out we got to pick our pirate characters. I picked a female pirate and the boys picked male pirates. They have a random name generator or you can scroll through the various combinations of names to pick "pirate" names. Some examples are Hector Bernmalley, Miles (by request), Constance Dreadsteel and Jack Bladekidd.

You start out in jail and Jack Sparrow's face is the first you see as he tells you something about being in jail and blablabla... sorry, I can't stand the sound of his voice so I hit esc and skipped it. Once you kick your way out of jail while the guard sleeps, Jack Sparrows gives you a little tutorial and you are ready to use your WASD keys to walk to the door, shift to open and then leave to explore the area. You can also you your mouse to help you walk faster and easier. Just right click and point where you want to go while walking forward. It will lead you in that direction.

A Note on Pirate Sexes
Out of curiosity, I noticed that the boys pirates seemed to move faster, heal faster and generally seemed better than my female pirate. So I created a male pirate character and played as Bartholmew Yellowbeard for a little bit. He seemed to be a lot better than my female character. Sexist Disney! But I played the rest of the time as Constance.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Missions, Follow the Light Beams in the Sky
By following the light beams in the sky, you complete steps to your missions. They are things like, find Gibbs, talk to Jack, kill a few cadets and such. I was the mission tester. For the most part, the missions are pretty fun except the boring dialog that you have with each character. One of the missions leads you to Barbosa and you have to shoot at his monkey, then he gives you a gun and tells you all about the code. *yawn* but at least you get a gun... then you are told not to shoot anyone with it. Alrighty then.

The missions went well up until I was told to go get a tattoo. I managed to find the place (after sailing all over to find out it was on the island I just left LOL, even in virtual worlds I get lost) When I went inside and went to get a tattoo, ALL the tattoos are for "unlimited members only". I checked into the prices just to see how much it costs to become an unlimited member. The prices of $9.95 a month, $49.95 semi-annually or $79.95 annually brought my mission to liberate the Black Pearl to a screeching halt. I don't want to complete missions that bad. (of course, if someone else wants to pay for that, I'll happily play the game a LOT and let you know how it plays out.)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Notoriety and Skills
Each thing you do (battle the cadets, sailing, fishing, etc) gains you notoriety and skill levels for each thing you are doing (sailing, fishing, fighting with a sword, shooting, firing cannons, etc). After awhile, trying to gain notoriety becomes so insanely difficult that it's hardly worth it. We also found that each skill level tops out at level 7. Unless you want Disney to rape your wallet, that's as good as it gets for free.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Earning Gold
I found that I could gain gold by helping repair ships by going to the benches near the piers and by fishing. The benches have mini-games you play (sawing woods, hammering nails, plugging holes, etc) and you get paid coins when you are finished. Depending on the difficulty level depends on the amount of coins you are paid.

Fishing was pretty fun. Cast your line, try to snag a fish and then reel it in. When it starts fighting you, stop reeling. Depending on the fish and the size determines the amount of coins you get and the amount of coins and skill gained. As you level up your skill, you can catch larger fish. Once you hit skill level 7 though, that's it. No more skill levels and the joy of hoping to snag a shark is gone because you won't be able to unless your willing to fork over a small fortune to Disney.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Sea Battles!
You can't have a game about pirates without sea battles! I found that the three of us are a pretty awesome team! Mendel worked on his cannon skills as his game test and Miles worked on his sailing skills as his game test.

First, Miles sailed the ship while Mendel and I blew up ship. Note: do not fire at ships with flags! You will have to board the ship and you will be killed and end up back in jail.

As you level up on cannon skills you will unlock new types of ammo which you can use in battles. It's pretty fun until about level 7. After that, it's all the same and gets rather dull. I agree with this wholeheartedly and I stopped playing at cannon level 6.

As you sail, you level up which gives you a speed boost ability, which is good for turning and running away like a little sissy pirate; and come about which tightens your turn so you can turn around faster (which also helps you run away like a sissy pirate... but also keeps you alive).

Overall, the battles are fun up until you level out at level 7.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Overall Game Rating

My rating: 7 out of 10... only because that's the only level you can reach in free game play.

Miles rating: 9 out of 10: It's so massive that it would take forever to explore everywhere.

Mendel Rating: 6 out of 10: The glitches can make it fun at times, although they are hard to find. Other times it makes it difficult (like when you have to kill a cadet and he's standing in a tree). It would get a 7 but I played Assassin's Creed.

Game Play Rating

My Rating: 7 out of 10: since I don't know what is beyond that skill level.

Miles Rating: 8 out of 10: The characters glitch while running and the server lags which throws you off a lot.

Control Rating

My Rating: 9 out of 10: The controls are pretty easy to use but so easy I fell asleep at the helm. During battles onboard, you would have to press esc to leave one cannon and run to the other. The esc key made it awkward. But other than that, it was good for controls.

Miles rating: 8 out of 10: It can be hard to play on a laptop where almost every non-letter key has two functions.

Fun Factor

My Rating: up until skill level 7, it's really fun. It has so many things to do, it's hard to get bored on the game until you level out all your skills. I'll say fun factor is a 8 out of 10. I take away two stars, one for the monthly membership and one for the low level cap.

Miles Rating: That's a tough one. It's such a unique game that you really have to try it for yourself. I don't know how to rate it with the wide variety of games within the game.

Family Friendly?

Oh yeah! By far this is very family friendly. I am thinking of borrowing a younger kid and parent and having them test it out for a "young kids family" review.

Fun for the whole family! I didn't even cuss while playing! (It's a miracle!) <<< Miles says, "Yup!"

OurWorld Question: Can you buy coins with real money?

2011-12-07T00:14:00.001-07:00

I looked around ourWorld and didn't see any place to buy coins for real money, but you can buy gems for real money. Almost everything that I have seen can be bought with gems. I'll update if I find something I can't buy with gems.

Have fun gaming!

My allergies are going bonkers.

2011-12-04T14:52:00.001-07:00

I have been on hefty doses of Benadryl the last few days which makes it hard to write clearly enough to post. This morning I woke up in an angio edema attack again and my skin is burning really bad. So I have to stay on massive amounts of Benadryl. I will try to post again today but if I don't, that is why. I'll have Miles help me with the updates.

I will update later today

2011-12-03T01:53:00.001-07:00

I was having trouble updating the blog on my computer. I will work on updating it later today. We played a fun game! I can't wait to get the review up on here. Until then

Happy blogging!

Dotchi

Free Video Game Week: Battlestar Galatica Online

2011-12-02T00:15:00.000-07:00

Our next gaming session was for Battlestar Galactica Online. When you sign up, you agree that you are 13 years old or older. I am! So I signed up and got to... well, I would say "got to playing" but that would be a little overrated.

Miles demanded I put the link in here. There you go....................

Battlestar Galactica Online: The Basic Game "Play"
Oh dear, where to begin? So you pick your character (which you will almost never see again) and a ship, which is your life line. Then you start flying around. No really. That's about all you do. Occasionally some enemies will crawl out of the woodwork and then you can blow them up, but other than that... enjoy the view. I kid you not.

My youngest son joined in to help with the "play" and it wasn't too horrible. I clicked on him, clicked "follow" and then wandered off to make coffee. When I came back, we were still flying through space. *YAWN* I seriously got bored after about an hour and a half of doing almost nothing. I swear to you, in 1 1/2 hours, we blew up a few ships and flew through space. That's pretty much it.

Battlestar Galactica Online: Controls
The controls are pretty darned easy. Actually, they don't get any easier than this game. They are so easy I could fall asleep and still win. You use your mouse scroll button to start flying, move the mouse to where you want to fly to and right click. Left click on an enemy ship and when you are close enough your ship automatically fires for you. That's all folks. No, really. That is it! Looting (when you blow up a ship, you take it's stuff) is so simple, I missed it the first time I looted. I kid you not.

Dear Battlestar Galactica Online Game Makers,

Could you have made it any easier? Or boring? Why not just play the game for us?

Love, Dotchi...

Screw the rest of the review! This game sucks! Like this font color!

Overall Game Play: Sorry, I went for coffee. For the parts I was here for... 3 out of 10 stars, and that's being really nice.

Game Play Rating: Dotchi Says: 3 stars... boring as hell. It makes toe fungus fascinating. Miles Says: 5 stars. Sometimes your ship doesn't respond and you end up dying because of it.

Control Rating: 2 stars. It's so simple it's boring.

Fun Factor: -3. OMG! Seriously. It sucks the fun out of you.

Kid friendly?: As long as you are 13 years or older according to Battlestar Galactica Online. According to us, 5 years and younger would totally dig this.

Suddenly, Pong looks really exciting! (We just played an invigorating two rounds!)

Free Video Game Week: Combat Arms

2011-12-01T02:00:00.027-07:00

I should put a warning up here... Combat Arms is not really child friendly. It is a first person shooter game and does show blood when you shoot someone. But we really enjoyed it.

Combat Arms: The Basics
Combat Arms (by Nexon) is an online game that you download to your computer to play. It runs on windows but not on macs. Sorry guys :( I will try to find mac games to post. Sign up is very easy. I signed up and got the email verification from Nexon within a minute. Then I downloaded the game and opened it. I got to choose my soldier and pick a name. Then I went in for some basic training that helps teach the controls of the game. Once you pass training, you are ready to go get killed... er, I mean, battle some enemies!

Combat Arms: Game Play Controls
During training I learned the controls. You use your mouse to aim and fire. Pressing the a, s, w and d keys makes you walk. That's the basic movements. Then ctrl lets you crouch down, shift lets you run really fast, E is the action button (like opening doors), C let's go slow, R is reload, 1-6 is your weapon selection and space bar lets you jump. As you can see, you use a lot of keys on the keyboard which takes some getting used to.

Combat Arms: Getting Ready For a Game
You start out as a trainee and as you gain experience, you level up in rank through 50 (or so) different levels. Once you are ready to play, it has you pick a server then a channel. You can join a room to start blowing your enemies to smithereens or you can create your own room to fight in. Creating your own room is rather cool because you have a lot of settings to choose from (maps, friendly fire on/off, abilities on/off, kill cam, amount of players, # of rounds/minutes/kills and more). Then you get ready to blow people to bits by going to "my character" and picking your weapons.

Combat Arms: Blowing People to Bits... the fun part
Luckily I had experienced gamers to show me what to do (Thanks HeavyBoozer, BakerM_STE__ and AE-Dusk). My first round was kind of sad LOL. I just followed HeavyBoozer or BakerM_STE__ around and tried to figure what we were doing. I did manage to kill 3 of the enemy though. That was pretty cool on my end but looked rather pathetic to HeavyBoozers kills of 718. But I still had fun. The second round I made it further (only because I hid for most of it). But I was getting the idea. (Then my Benadryl kicked in and I had to log off.)

Combat Arms: Respawn Tokens
In Combat Arms, if you are killed during a fire team mission (which is what we were doing), you don't just respawn and keep blowing things up. You have to have respawn tokens. Respawn tokens cost real money. In 90% of the other missions, you respawn. So for the rest of the game I got to watch my team mates who didn't die, all 3 of them (we were a team of 4), run around and shoot people. I did take notes though, so it wasn't wasted time.

Combat Arms: Clans and so much you can do!
There is so much you can do on Combat Arms that it would take forever to list everything. One thing I do want to mention is the Clans because they are such a big part of the game. A clan is a group of people that work together to level up their clan so they can get access to special weapons. Being in a clan gives you a special logo on your characters arm. Clans can war against each other to gain experience points so your clan can level up. If you don't have a clan, you can start your own and have your friends join you. You can only be part of one clan so pick your clan wisely!

As far as the other things you can do, here is a small list of things you can do:

Buy and sell from a selection of hundreds of gear and weapons
Send gifts to your friends
Take jobs. Daily jobs give you items when completed and Gun emporium jobs can help you forge or upgrade your weapon.
Modify your weapons.
Choose from a wide selection of mercenaries and specialists that come with special vests.

Combat Arms: Nx and GP
On Combat Arms there is Nx and then there is GP. GP is game points that acts as currency. You can buy items with GP, gifts friends stuff, increases your chance at the gun emporium for upgrading a weapon and other things like that.

Nx is another form of currency that you get when you add real money to your account. There are a lot weapons and items that can only be bought with Nx. You can play Combat Arms without ever buying Nx (my plan), but you can also add Nx at any time to get the special items you want (Miles' plan! Allowance is so cool)

Combat Arms: Our Review
Miles and I decided to rate this game together.

Overall Game Rating: 10 stars! We really like the game. I liked it much better once I learned the controls.
Game Play Rating: Me (the non-experienced) 8 stars. It's a little discouraging at times when you are playing against high ranking players. Miles (the experienced, high ranking player) 9 stars. It sometimes lags pretty bad.
Control Rating: 9.5 stars. Only because they take a little getting used to. Miles says the controls have excellent layout and I have to agree on that.
Fun Factor: 10 stars! All the way! I really had a lot fun even as the newbie target... I mean, player.
Kid Friendly? Uh, not really. This is more for teens to adults. I wouldn't let my kids play this when they were younger.

If you are old enough and like bloody war games, you have to try this out! It really is a lot of fun. Just practice your controls first. You will thank me later.

Free Video Game Week: ourWorld

2011-11-30T02:00:00.002-07:00

Miles next pick for Free Video Game Week was ourWorld. We started out playing it yesterday. The first thing that I noticed is that it's really addictive and fun. The second thing I noticed is that it's like you go through a time warp on there. One minute it's 4 p.m. and your playing games, the next minute it's 2 a.m (when your blog post should have been already posted). Oops.

So, today I logged in with a brand new account for BlogWriter to see what it's like to be a brand new ourWorld player. Thank goodness we got the homeschooling done first or we'd have nothing done for the day. We logged in at noon as a newbie and I signed off at 8 p.m. at level 15.

Getting started on ourWorld
Getting started on ourWorld is very easy. You go to ourWorld and click the huge pink circle to start playing. Pick your gender and it starts you off with three challenges to help you get started and learn the game.

Challenges on ourWorld
I started out by trying out some of the challenges that get you started. You can find them by finding any person with ! over their head and click on them. One thing I did notice is that the challenges are set up to show you how to play, show you around ourWorld and let you explore all that there is to do. By doing the challenges you can gain flow (which is how you level up), coins and gems. Sometimes you are awarded with clothes or other cool items for your inventory.

What are gems, coins and flow?
Gems are like real money. Actually, you can buy gems for real money but I am cheap and broke. You can also earn gems by watching ads and once it had me try a game to earn gems. You don't HAVE to... but it helps you earn gems if you do.

Coins are the ourWorld money. You can earn coins by completing challenges, selling you items in inventory, using flow, doing dance off's against other players and more. I used my coins to buy cool new clothes, shoes, a dorky elf/jester hat and a stocking. Yes, I am a dork!

Flow... there is a circle at the bottom left corner of the screen that shows how much flow you have. You can click the circle to play games at Prize central at anytime but when you have enough flow it will tell you that you can level up. When you go to Prize central, there are three games you can play to earn prizes. I, personally, absolutely LOVE The Bubbler. The bigger the bubble, the bigger the prize!

Your ourWorld condo
I forgot about the condo that you get for playing ourWorld. I found it in one of my challenges. You can be like my son, bakermiles, and decorate it with all your super rare and rare items to tease people with when they come to visit. Or you can be like me... go play everything else and forget you have a condo. LOL

Places you can go in ourWorld
You can go to different places in ourWorld. The higher your level, the more places you can go. Let's start with the main place...

The Boardwalk is the main landing pad for the game and where you will find Zoe. It has

Buzz: coffeehouse
Starlight Skate: an ice rink
Slideshow: where you can movies
Starlight Store: where you can buy items
Volla: buy threads and furniture
Dance Planet: where you can bust a move... is that an outdated saying?
The Beach (for residents only... I'll get into that in a bit)
Otto: Furniture, clothing... vehicles? SWEET! I didn't know they had vehicles!

The Pier is more fun and games-ish. It has:

Skyscope, where you can view downerworld (earth).
Snaps: where you can take pictures of yourself.
Splatterbox: where you can create a huge mess and call it art
Poker Cabana: where you play... well, poker.
Critter Derby: where you select a critter and hope like hell it runs faster than the rest.

Soho is, uh... Soho. It has:

Elevated Design: formal wear and fancy stuffs
Bejeweled: where you buy jewelry and power ups (they increase your flow boost)
Lady King: furniture and clothes shop
Soho Salon: buy... hair?
Catwalk: Where you vote on photo and fashion show contests

Electric Avenue is the party place!

Flo's Diner: where you can waitress or just enjoy virtually eating virtual food.
Garage: where you can pretend to be in a band.
Blue Cow: furniture and clothing shop
Skin Deep: it says "get your ink on". Tattoo and all that cool stuff.
Rock n Roll: you go shoot pool
Crews Control is where you set up your "crew" (AKA gang lol, just kidding)

Wonderland is a mystical land

Cake Mania: you can make and eat cakes.
Encahntments: buy fury friends to fly around you all day
Sugar Star: buy furniture and clothing

Nevermore is dark and scary, kind of like my basement.

Midnight Cafe where you can buy spooky treats!
Skeleton Key is a shop for clothes and furniture
Skeleton Key Dungeon (for residents only... I have no idea what's in there)

Beat Street is basketball themed and there is only one shop.

Ani where you can buy clothes and furniture.

Games on ourWorld

If I tried to list all the games on ourWorld, I'd be here until the middle of January... so let's just say, there are TONS of games to play! Whatever you like to play; puzzle, arcade, matching, strategy or action, I am SURE you will find something you like.

Becoming a resident on ourWorld

I couldn't become a resident because I am broke, but if you want to skip the ads, you can become a resident. As a resident, you get extra gems each month (on the monthly plan), access to the residents only area (like the beach), a mondo condo (and exclusive items for your condo every month) and 2x more flow. If I ever get to be a resident, I'll update what it's like. Also, Miles just told me that the resident jackpot, in Prize Central, will win you gems instead of coins (awesome, since I didn't even know there was a jackpot!) I went and looked in Prize Central, YUP, there is a jackpot!

For rating ourWorld

10 out of 10 all the way across the board! This online game is the best of the best and my personal favorite! It has a little something for everyone and is totally kid friendly too! It was designed for kids... I'm a kid at heart :)

Miles agrees with my rating.

There is so much to do and it is so much fun that all I can say is GO PLAY! While you are at it, add me as a friend. I am BlogWriter... Shameless plug there.

Update: Question: Can you buy coins with real money?

Video Game Week: Some games take a little longer...

2011-11-29T11:58:00.001-07:00

I am learning a lot this week about video games. One thing I learned yesterday, playing one game can be fast and fun, while playing another game can take all day long and be more time consuming, more involved and pull you into a time warp. WOW!

We are working on the review for OurWorld and I have to say, I am going to need a 12 step program. That game is FUN! and addictive. LOL

The review will be up by 2 a.m. tomorrow morning though. This is exciting to me :) And my avatar is just AWESOME!

FREE Video Game Week: Need for Speed World

2011-11-27T17:54:00.001-07:00

For our first game, Miles picked Need for Speed World. You sign up (which is very easy) and download the game. Then log-in and pick your car and driver. You can practice driving first, which I highly suggest, and then join races or do an outlaw race where you run from the police and try not to get busted before the finish line.

Need for Speed World controls
I practiced driving around using the keyboard and then an xbox controller. I have to say, the xbox controller is MUCH easier for me to steer. It took me a couple hours to get comfortable driving around at full speed without crashing into every obstacle in my path (and to my sides).

There are a lot of keys on the keyboard that you use also. H is the safe house, E... uh, I forgot already, one of the keys looks behind you, another gives you a different view. It's pretty easy once you learn all this. There is a How to Play guide. I guess I could have started out by reading that, but where is the fun in that?

Need for Speed World Pros
Of course, being free is a huge bonus.

I also really enjoyed the different maps and routes. Huge blue blinking arrows point the way you need to go on your course rather than just guessing how you are supposed to find the finish line.

When you get busted in the police chase, you can respawn three times before you are out of the game, which is nice. If it weren't for the three respawns, I wouldn't have made it very far.

You can decorate your car, add power-ups, different colored paint and vinyl decals to your car for ultimate coolness.

If you are first to third in a race, you can pick from five different winning cards (gold, silver and bronze depending on your place) which gives you added bonuses for the game.

You can add friends that you meet on the game and teleport to them when they are online. That was a lot easier than spending 20 minutes going "What landmarks are you near? What do you mean the dinosaur? Where is the dinosaur? What building? What blinking lights building with the arch? Are we on the same map?"

Need for Speed World Cons
Police chases turn my language to rather colorful and offensive language.

Racing actually makes my blood pressure rise!

But seriously. the biggest down side to Need for Speed World that I found was, depending on your computers performance, the server you are on and the number of players online at a time, you can experience a lot of lag which throws the control of your car. I had a few issues with it when I was trying to turn. By the time the server/computer caught up with my controls, I was plowing through street signs, cars and into walls rather than smoothly sailing through the police barricade. Playing on Miles' computer I did MUCH better!

If you want a cool decal or a pricier paint, you need to level up first. The higher the level, the cooler pricier things you can buy. This isn't a huge con, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Need for Speed World Rating (out of 10 stars)

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars (the lag pissed me off)
Game play: 9 out of 10 stars (see comment above)
Controls: 9 out of 10 Once I knew what I was doing driving was easy. But there are a lot of keys to press for different things. I highly suggest reading "How to Play".
Fun factor: 100 out of 10... oh, darn, my rating system doesn't go that high!
Kid friendly? Well, I think so. I didn't see anything that would make me gasp in horror. Unless running from the police offends you, I think it could be a fun family game for... oh, maybe 10 and up... unless their sign up has an age (I didn't notice one)

Teenager Review of Need for Speed World

Dotchi: So Miles, what do you like best about Need for Speed World?

Miles: I would say the intense police chases and the wide variety of cars.

Dotchi: Cool. What do you suggest to new players who have never played before?

Miles: First, figure out if you are better at keyboard or xbox controller, that's if they have one, of course. And then, I would start driving around at a slow pace so you can get used to it and learn the map.

Dotchi: So, how did I do learning to play?

Miles: The first six hours? Or the last six hours?

Dotchi: *blush* uh, erm, uh... both...

Miles: In the beginning, you started out like most people, slamming into everything. After a few hours of driving around and getting used to the controls, you weren't bad. In the end, you were right on my tail, along with the cops. And holy cow, I didn't know there were that many cuss words!

Dotchi: ON TO the next topic! How would you rate Need for Speed World?

Miles: Overall rating, I would give it about an 8 out of 10. It's a free game but you can't expect too much from it because you didn't pay for it. If you do pay for it, you pay for it knowing the quality of the game.

Dotchi: How about game play?

Miles: Game play is good. I'd give it about a 7 out of 10 because you can't rotate all the way around your car. They took that out a few months back. It's just like any other Need for Speed if you are using a controller. If you are using the keyboard, it can be a little difficult.

Dotchi: That's an understatement.

Miles: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Lando Kitten: Meow

Dotchi: Hush kitty. How about fun factor?

Miles: I'd give it a 10 out of 10. I personally like racing games so I find it to be very fun.

Dotchi: I like that answer. Do you think it's kid friendly?

Miles: Oh yea, very. That's assuming their parents don't mind them running from an automated police officer.

Dotchi: Cool, thanks. Anything else you want to add?

Miles: This game is actually a very demanding game for a computer. It's hard on your video card and CPU so you'll want to check on the gaming specs..

So there you have it. The teenagers point of view.

FREE Video Game Week

2011-11-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

My 16 year old son gave me a wonderful idea for this coming up week! Free Video Game Week! No, we aren't giving away video games, I wish I could. We will be playing a free video game a day and reviewing it from mom's point of view and the teen's point of view. Here are the made up rules for the reviews.

Miles picks the games. (Oh boy, what did I just sign up for?)
The game to be free to play.
We both play the games on different computers, using different specs.
We'll play each game for two hours each (or three... or four...)
We will both review the game play, the game itself and rate it using a 5 star system.
We will put down the novice gamer's view (that would be me) and the experienced gamer's view (that would be Miles).
We will put down how long it took us to get used to the controls (this should be entertaining on my end)
I will sign up for the new accounts and tell you how hard or easy that is also.

This should be fun! We have our list and we'll start on Monday.

Updates: Here are the reviews!

Need for Speed World

ourWorld

Combat Arms

Battlestar Galatica Online

Redundancies I Love to Hate

2011-11-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we say something that is redundant without even thinking about what we said. I catch myself doing it and I cringe. Here are some the ones that really get under my skin.

Hot water heater... It's just a water heater. We wouldn't need to heat hot water... it's already hot!

Spoiled rotten... Well, I haven't heard of anything that is spoiled fresh.

Future Plans... Uh-huh, and when you're done making those you can help me make some past plans. Okay?

Unsolved Mysteries... If they were solved, they wouldn't be mysteries anymore, now would they?

On that line of thinking... A secret that no one knows... if someone knew it, it wouldn't be a freaking secret. The whole idea of secrets is that NO ONE KNOWS!

Hot Lava... I sure the heck hope so! If it were cold lava, it would be rocks... and wouldn't be lava anymore either.

Neutered Male... How many neutered females do you know?

Tuna Fish... as compared to tuna cats? You don't need to say fish. Tuna implies that it's fish. Never have I asked for a tuna sandwich and gotten the reply "the fish or the boat?" And why do we say that for tuna? We don't order mahi mahi fish, halibut fish or a bacon pig cheese dairy burger cow.

FAQ: Where is the share button?

2011-11-25T10:59:00.001-07:00

From an anonymous comment:

"...where can I find share btn? (P.S. Don't think I'm blind)"

No, anonymous reader, you are not blind. I had a share button and apparently blogger ate my code. I fixed it by adding a new share button. Just above the posts is a line of little icons. Click on those and you can share this blog (or the individual posts) on numerous social websites. I added all of them that were available.

If you don't see one that you use, shoot me an email and let me know which one you would like added and I will try to find a button for it.

Also, at the end of each post are icons for blog this, twitter, facebook, email this post and Google+ for sharing each post. Just click on the icons to share.

If you run into any problems, just let me know.

Happy Thanksgiving to my USA Readers

2011-11-24T09:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to my USA readers! With all our food allergies, I decided today would be a good day to hang out with the kids and play video games rather than trying to concoct an allergy-friendly menu.

I am making chicken in my new roaster oven, Making biscuits for the boys and throwing some veggies on the stove. Other than that, we aren't doing anything fabulous. Just hanging out and having fun.

Enjoy your meals, time with family and vacation pay (if you are working).

Trip to the ER. I really think the doctor thought I am a dumb-arse.

2011-11-20T12:59:00.001-07:00

Do doctors even listen? I go in there and I am like "I can't pee and my skin feels like someone is pouring acid on me." I told him I am allergic to everything under the sun, including the sun. I told him I was okie dokie before the epidural injection and now I am having issues of my skin burning and urine retention.

So he does an ultrasound of my bladder. Yup, it's full. They said it has an estimated 400 cc's in it. Okay... He says I probably has a UTI. I don't but trying to be nice I didn't argue.

They send in a female nurse to drain my bladder by catheter because by now, I am in agony. She holds up the bag and it's 700 cc's full. OUCH!

Mind you, my friend is standing right there. We are both CNAs. We know how to read and everything. So the nurse drains that into a measuring basin and into a cup for a urine sample for my UA. My friend leans over to read it and it's definitely over the 500 cc's line. She wasn't close enough for a definite read. Then turns to me and starts talking about my ginormous bladder.

The nurse looks at the basin, tilts it backwards slightly, says that there is about 400 something cc's plus the 50 in the cup for, we'll say 471. Uh-uh, whatever.

Then they take me for an MRI. During this time, I am so flushed and my skin is burning so bad that they had to stop the test and pull me out to cool me down. I finish that and go back to the ER.

Hey, guess what! I don't have a UTI. I already knew that though but any doctor would not take just my word for it. Also, the MRI came back fine as could be for me. No hematomas, infection or anything that would causing my symptoms.

Then he comes back in and says "You said you take Benadryl, right?" I was like "Yea, but I haven't taken it in a week and a half and before that a half a week." He says "Benadryl can cause urinary retention so it's probably the Benadryl causing your retention. You should stop taking it." I told him I haven't been taking it because I knew I was going to be getting the injection. So I haven't had it in a week and a half. He totally didn't listen to me and I mentioned the burning sensation and all he would talk about was the urine retention and then walks out to get my papers.

I talked to my friend and we were both in agreement that this is an allergic reaction(and everyone I have talked to says the same thing. All my friends are medical professionals... I think we'd know) so I should take Benadryl since I haven't and see if it helps clear things up a little.

The nurse comes in and starts explaining the instructions. He gets to the part of "don't take Benadryl or other antihistamines" and I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I said "Oh I am taking it the second we walk out of this building." He was like "Really?" And I said YES, this is an allergic reaction. I haven't been on Benadryl for a week and a half. He was like Oh.

So we left and headed home. I waited until we were in Libby to take my Benadryl so I would be awake for the ride since the roads were bad. Got home, took Benadryl and 30 minutes later I was peeing a little easier and my skin wasn't burning as bad.

This morning I got up and was able to pee easier again. My skin wasn't burning as bad either. I waited to take the Benadryl to see what happens. When it wears off, I have extreme difficulty making myself go and my skin BURNS again. So I quickly took another Benadryl and I will be on it until I see MY doctor again. This is an ALLERGIC REACTION! And not to Benadryl!

Top 5 Sites I Love to Stalk... er, I mean, Visit

2011-11-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

We all have sites we love to stalk or visit. Here is a list of my favorite 5 sites.

Favorite Site I Love to Visit #1
That Guy with the Glasses: This guy is seriously hilarious! Home of the Nostalgia Critic and 5 second movies, he reviews movies in a hilarious fashion. My absolute, you must watch these, favorite reviews are The Care Bears Movie and Drop Dead Fred. If you don't go to the site for anything else, you HAVE to watch these!

Favorite Site I Love to Visit #2
ProBlogger If you are a blogger, you will probably love this site as much as I do. Darren runs other blogs as well but Problogger is a great source for any blogger. He has resources for building a successful blog, Articles about making money while blogging and an impressive archive to browse.

Favorite Site I Love to Visit #3
The Incoherent Ramblings of a Single Parent What do I love so much about this one? It's not your typical "Mom blog" where mommy boasts about every wonderful detail of her sweet precious child. She is realistic and funny about parenting and life. From her blog description, you will enjoy reading about " tales of cannibalistic sheep, bullying spiders and the fact that my child is evil." and "All stories are true, slightly embellished and always exaggerated." I mean, how can you not love a blogger that posts a pic of a naked man with donuts?

Favorite Sites I Love to Visit #4
iGoogle.com This is my brain. This is my brain on internet crack. I love my brain. iGoogle is my first place to go to in the morning. By "morning", I really mean "whenever I wake up". It has so many things I can add to it that my brain could go into overload. Not only can I read news, see google trends, play games, translate a website, check out a new recipe and get driving directions to the closest store (it's right outside my window btw) I can also check email, check out my google reader, get to my documents, see all my photos from the last ten years and everything else I drool over google for! I love Google!

Favorite Sites I Love to Visit #5
Youtube Yup, I am lame. Youtube is the place I want to go when i want to rot my brain. Oh sure, I can watch something that is educational... but I can also watch bloopers, see cute kittens attack a kid, watch a gang fight, see some guy hit his girlfriend and pretty much anything I want to watch when I am supposed to be blogging.

Now that I've shared my favorite sites, share some of yours with me!

Varolo: I'm just starting

2011-11-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

Signed up Varolo. Ready to start reviewing
I am pretty bored right now and found Varolo through my friend. I did some research on it and it looks legit. I'll try it out for a month or two and let you know how it goes. I asked a few friends to join too so we can get together and discuss our experiences and give all of you a better review from different viewpoints.

Join me and help my Varolo reviews
If you aren't signed up and want to join me, I only ask a few things. Sign up under me (the link will open in a new window) and try it out. Then email me as you have an opinion or thought about Varolo, how it works, the ads or anything else for the site. If you don't want your name used in my review updates, don't worry! Unless you specifically say that I can use your name, I won't.

I'll help your Varolo village too
If you join and give me feedback to add to the reviews, I'll add your village link so people can sign up under you too.

What is Varolo?
So far, I know it's free (I won't pay for anything). It's a site where you watch ads and rate them. I've watched ads from Swiffer, Cherry Dr Pepper, The Ladder, AT&T (now that one was funny!) and Target. I rated them too. Each time you watch an ad and rate it, you are entered into a jackpot for the week. And when your friends watch videos, you get paid a little bit for them watching it...

It's the pyramid thing that makes me skeptical but so far I have heard all good things about Varolo. Including the fact that you can cancel your account at anytime and they don't spam you.

What I want to Review
So far I have no spam in my email. I've watched 6 ads and I've piddled around on the Varolo site. I want to update weekly on how it's going, whether or not I got spam, what the ads are like, what my cohorts think and their opinions and whether it's really worth it.

So who is with me?

I figured it'll give me something to do while I wait for my next appointment.

Epidural Steroid Injection... DONE!

2011-11-14T21:12:00.001-07:00

My friend drove me to Kalispell through snow, ice and gusting winds in near whit out conditions to get me to my appointment for my epidural steroid injection (Aren't friends awesome!) on Monday.

I checked in at 10:15 a.m. and they took me to the back where they had comfy recliners for me and the other patients to chill in until it was time for poking and prodding. I sat there waiting and tried to doze off but my back was really hurting; which made that impossible.

When it was my turn to go back, I was expecting that it would be quick (15 minutes) and like the epidural I had with my kids, a little uncomfortable but okay. I was warned by a couple of people that it could hurt but that wasn't usual. So I was semi-prepared for whatever they were about to do to me.

I crawled up onto the table and laid on my stomach on a pillow (so my back would arch). I had my face down in a massage pillow looking thing. It was like a donut with a cover over it and I got to stare at the floor (and the nurses cool shoes!) for the rest of it. My arms were on these arm rests thingies and I was all ready to go. They hooked me up to a blood pressure cuff and an O2 monitor.

Next the nurse washed my back with iodine and then the doctor got all ready to go. They had an x-ray machine so they could exactly where they were placing the needle and tube and whatever else they wanted to check out with it.

Now, let me take a moment to remind you all, this is USUALLY painless. Uncomfortable, yes. Painful, not usually. Let me also remind you, I am not usual.

The doctor warned me that I would feel a sting. That was the numbing medicine going in. And the rest of it should have been just pressure... I wish. Instead, I was in such severe pain that I was sobbing and my blood pressure shot up to 160/113. It felt like the doctor was shoving a pick axe through my spine and pulling my leg muscles out the hole. It was the most horrendous pain I have ever felt. I would rather give birth to an elephant through my nostrils than do that again.

The part was quite interesting. While I was sobbing and dripping snot ropes on the floor, the doctor said he was injecting the meds (both the corticosteroid and the lidocaine). At that point... I have never been so aware of my left butt cheek and thigh. They felt like led appendages. I could sort of, kind of feel them but not really... and then the INTENSE burning! HOLY SHIT-BALLS! I thought I was in pain before... HA! This was horrible! I felt intense burning, sharp stabbing and I think I actually tasted my stomach that day. It subsided rather quickly once the tube was out.

The nurse then put pressure on my back to stop the bleeding (I had a tube shoved in there, it's gonna bleed!) and I finally begged her to quit touching my back. I couldn't take any more. I took a moment to calm down and then she helped me sit up and get into the wheel chair. they took me back to the recliner. I was so nauseous I thought I was going to redecorate the recovery room with a stomach acid rinse.

They gave me apple juice, applesauce and a cheese stick to eat and put a cool wet cloth on my forehead. The pain went back to about where it was when I first came in and my blood pressure went back to normal. My O2 was fine. My left butt cheek and leg were numb and I could barely move them. They said that was normal. Eventually they came back. My leg was heavy but I could feel it.

The doctors and nurses were so apologetic. They felt really bad because this reaction (the pain and all) is not normally how it goes. I was fine with it. I mean, if it helps, it'll be worth it. If not, then at least we tried... but dang! I am NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN! At least not without sedation first.

I am home now. The first day was awful. The best part was having all my help here. I wouldn't have survived without them. My legs kept going numb, I could barely walk at times and the pain meds they gave me knocked me out a lot. I projectile vomited that night and I felt like I was going die by the time I went to bed.

Yesterday was a little better. My legs started a new thing... they burn intensely, like they are on fire, for about a minute, then they go all tingly and numb-ish. Then it clears up. My crotch is numb as hell still and I have random moments of waves of "coolness" that starts in my back and runs down my entire bottom half of my body. Not that I mind that one, it's a nice change from Satan's inferno on my legs and crotch.

Today, my back still hurts but not as intensely. I didn't have to take any pain pills until about 11:00 a.m. I managed to do a little housework (I cleaned the kitchen table WOOHOO!) and that was about it. Now I am crocheting and blogging.

I'll keep updating as the week goes on. I figure this is supposed to be the turning point where it gets progressively better so I am excited. I am looking up! It better get better now! I didn't go through THAT for nothing!

Quick update for those of you asking

2011-11-10T13:51:00.001-07:00

I did call about my bowel incontinence with my back pain. I updated my work comp blog (warning: foul language is used on that blog. I don't keep family friendly language over there... I use it to vent too.) You can read the post over there.

The short version: Doctor's office called. They made an appointment for me to see a GI doc. That will be a huge waste of money as it's not my poop factory going wrong. Work comp won't approve it anyway... so apparently, it's not an emergency to anyone else.

Sorry guys, I did listen. I tried. I don't know what else to do. Thanks for the concerns though... I feel so loved. Sometimes I sit and think about it and it just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Usually there isn't much reply when I post. Lily always replies (HI LILY!) and I get comments from friends during phone calls, a few text messages and an email or two. Not all on one post. But at least I know someone is reading. Then I post about bowel incontinence, almost as an afterthought, near the end of a post... and DANG! I have more people emailing me with concern and links that I knew read my blog begging, asking and demanding that I go to the doctor and sending links and love. I felt so... loved, such compassion... I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. You guys are awesome!

Thanks guys... I love you all too :)

The Duggars are Pregnant Again?

2011-11-08T22:11:00.001-07:00

Wow. So, I was reading the Google news and saw that the Duggars are expecting child #20. My thought is that if the world ever ends as we know it, their family alone could repopulate the earth. I say go for it. Sure, there is the whole overpopulation thing to worry about. But, I get so irritated when people don't celebrate a special life coming into the world just because

The mom is a teen
The mom is single
The mom is disabled
The mom has more than one child
The mom and dad separated
There isn't a lot of income
The world is overpopulated
The mom is 30, 40, 45, 50, 70, etc
[Insert any other reason here]

I can't say I agree with the Duggars life choices of no TV and no pets or their choice to live a Quiverfull lifestyle. I look at it this way though. I will may not want to live like them but I will fight for their right to live how they want. Otherwise someone can come take away my rights to live how I want. As a fellow homeschooler, I fully support the rights of anyone who doesn't want to live like the Jones.

I say CONGRATULATIONS to the Duggars... not that they'll ever see this blog because they don't have internet that they surf on... but still...

WAY TO GO!

Browser Compatability Concerns

2011-11-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

While checking on my comments for today, I found this one from an anonymous reader:

"Hello, I believe your internet site may be getting browser compatibility concerns. When I search at your web site in Safari, it appears good but when opening in World wide web Explorer, it's some overlapping. I just desired to provide you with a fast heads up! Other then that, wonderful weblog!"

Thanks for the compliment! That made my day!

I googled for "world wide web explorer" to see if I could download it myself and see what they are talking about so I can fix it or adjust the blog to look right for that browser but I couldn't find anything on it.

If you are having trouble viewing the blog, could you please email me or comment on the post that is having issues and let me know:

What browser you are using. Provide a link where I can see what it is. I use Firefox, Chrome and my android browser (on my phone) to view the site each week. If you are using something different, it would help me to know what you are using so I can see it for myself.
If you were viewing a specific post, add the link. I have found that when I am going through the blog to look for typos, broken links and other issues that some older posts really mess with the layout. Sometimes I can fix it, sometimes I can't. But I will always try.
If you can, send a screenshot of the page so I can see what you are seeing. You can do this by pressing ctrl + prntscr buttons at the same time. Then open the email, click on the writing area and press ctrl + V. It will copy a shot of your screen so I can fully see what you are talking about.

If you want an update, send me your email and when it is fixed, I will shoot a note and ask you to see how it looks on your end. Sometimes computers see pages differently. I have a Dell Ispiron with a 10" screen and I can tell you that it looks a tad different on my kid's HP 15" laptop screen and on my IBM desktop.

Thanks everyone for sending me notes with a heads up when my blog misbehaves! It really helps me to keep The Baker's Acres in good shape.

P.S. You can also email me about typos and pretty much anything else you want to!