Thanks to a fraudulently cashed $3000 check, I had to close a checking account and open a new one. So, my weekend was a little bit stressed. However, I got it all taken care of, and ordered some checks with the 'Mystery Machine' on them. 

While I still have two Hitchens books I need to tackle ('Love, Poverty and War' and 'Hitch22') I received three more books that I had ordered this week. These include Hitchens' 'Letters to a Young Contrarian,' Ayaan Hirsi Ali's 'Nomad,' and 'What's God Got to Do With It?: Robert Ingersoll on Free Thought Honest Talk & the Seperation of Church & State.' 
The questions remain - which will I tackle first? and How long will it take for me to get around to it? 

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on any of these books? 

While I am staying at my sister's house, and I do get headaches putting up with her, I am recovering nicely. 

I am going out tomorrow for lunch with several old friends, and had dinner with another last night. 

The thing I am waiting for is for my "patient advocate" - i.e., my sister - to find a cardiopulmonary rehab that accepts my insurance and is close enough for her to drive me back and forth. According to her, it is likely to be 3 sessions per week for 10 weeks. I will need to stay at her house until it is all over. This doesn't exactly make me very cheerful, but I can't really see that I have much choice in the matter. 

In other news, I got a new laptop and a new cellphone, so I have been having fun getting them all set up t my liking. 

Next thing is to start participating in some atheist forum other than facebook. 

It's been that long since I've put anything in this blog thingy. I really don't do journal-type things very well, do I? However, there has been a lot going on in that time. Rather than recite ten months worth of updates that won't matter since no-one who reads this will know who I am anyway, I'll just give the basics and the latest.

I was out of work for close to four years. I never really had what I'd call a regular job - at least not one that went year 'round. I am a musician, so I used to do a lot of musical theater - playing shows or musically directing them. I often did jobs in churches, either singing or playing piano. About a year ago, I got a regular full-time position in a department store, selling shirts and ties. It pays minimum wage, but it's regular and there are benefits provided.

About a month or so ago, I mentioned to my doctor that I hav noticed what he refers to as Hematospermia. I actually noticed it about a year and a half ago, but I attributed it to the removal of a catheter after my surgery and the fact that I was on a buttload of blood thinners. The doctor ordered some blood work, and gave me a referral to a urologist. The urologist ordered (probably the same) bloodwork as well as a CT-scan (urogram.) I got the cat scan on my 50th birthday.

I should mention that about a year and a half ago my surgeon told me that in 2 or three years I would probably need to have a second mechanical valve put in my heart, this time on the right side (making two.)

I had an appointment at 8:30 this morning, and so I called last night for a cab to pick me up at 7 a.m. I was going to take the cab to the train station, then walk from the train to where the appointment was (or take another cab.) At 7:05, there was no cab in sight, so I called the company. The guy said he'd look into it, but never took my number. When I called back he said someone would be there in two minutes. I went outside and had a cigarette but no one showed.

The guy had mentioned that he was calling another company. After about 45 minutes of waiting and phone calls, I called another cab company myself. The lady that answered told me that they had sent a cab to my house (I hadn't even identified myself, or the address) and that she called and told me the cab would be there, but I never came out. When I told her that was not true - and I was not yelling, or even rude to her - she hung up me.

Eventually, I got another person on the line from the first company, who told me that they had nothing available.

I called the person with whom I had the appointment, and was told the person wasn't in (at 8:30) but had called out sick.

I've spent a few days enjoying various atheist sites and blogs. It has been difficult to do much of this in my current situation, but I hope to continue for the next couple of weeks at least. The RSS is proving to be a good place to visit, but I have grown tired of arguing with theists, at least considering how much I was doing it a year ago (on a different site, and under a different name.) Still, I think if I had a more stable life situation I think I would be much more engaged and engaging.

Still, I have hopes that this year will bring some stability my way (a decent job would be a start.) I have some catching up to do both personally and on line.

I have a rehearsal today during which I will be teaching music to about 80 to 100 kids, and then it is inventory time at Macy's until 1:00 a.m. Plus business to take care of in the morning.

...and what do you know? My sister took her 7 year old kid to church. Way to go, did. Make a liar out of me.

Of course, the kid had to come in and wake me up so I will be ready to help him build the Lego Star when they get back.

Spent the morning attending an orientation session with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR,) which is designed to help people with disabilities find gainful employment. I really am not sure what disability I can claim to have, but my family seems to think I have one. I am sure that this process will prove to be as useful as any other I am currently engaged in, so I guess time will tell what benefit I will derive from it. At the very least, it will get my sister off my back.

Sam Harris' book, The Moral Landscape. I found parts of it interesting, certainly, and his general thesis is refreshing. However, I am not sure I quite understood all of it, so I think I will have to read it more closely at a later date.