Various stuff

[dr_kromm]

This is a list of odds and ends, none closely connected to the rest:

• Saturday was awesome. Bonnie and I hit our favorite Ethiopian place in Montréal, Le Nil Bleu, with M. and Y. Then we hung out over coffee for a couple of hours afterward. It was really nice . . . kind of a short reprise of vacation life after a couple of weeks back at work and, perhaps more important, a couple of weeks of really frickin' cold winter weather.

• I continue to play too much Left 4 Dead. It hasn't lost its cachet yet. Indeed, that's what I did for most of the rest of the weekend. Again, I go by "Kromm" there, if you're looking to play a game. I reply to friends requests on Steam almost immediately.

• The Dawn of Magic group did meet this past Tueday. There will be a recap soon. It looks as if I'll be moving the write-ups to Saturdays for good, though, because that seems to be when I have the necessary time and energy. Writing several pages after midnight – after a full day's work and five hours of gaming – wasn't working out so well for me.

• I finally saw The Messenger (Luc Besson, 1999). I can't recommend it on the grounds of historical accuracy, good acting, or well-made cinema. I can recommend it on the basis of cute Milla Jovovich (at whom I could gaze all day) and depictions of gruesomely deadly medieval siege engines. Indeed, the latter was what got me to watch it, as it isn't unrelated to GURPS Low-Tech.

• I'll be away in Austin for work-related meetings from Tuesday, January 27 to Sunday, February 1. Depending on net access, I may or may not update this blog. We'll see! Even with a laptop, iPhone, etc., however, I'd appreciate it if my regular correspondents held e-mail during that period.

Comments

[wombattery.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I was going to ask if there were some international treaty requiring that all Ethiopian restaurants be named "The Blue Nile."

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

I have to weigh in with those voting for some variation of "The Blue Nile." It's by far the most common Ethiopian resto monicker I've encountered.

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

And close-up shots of Dustin's big nose, made all the more obvious by that medieval hoodie he's wearing.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

chorale and I first ate at an Ethiopian restaurant years and years ago, in Berkeley. It was called "The Blue Nile." Last Thursday we ate at an Ethiopian restaurant for the second time, here in San Diego. This one is called "Muzita Bistro." Their food tasted quite good but was (a) definitely spicy and (b) fairly saturated with ghee. I feel a little cautious about the ghee, as too much fat at one serving offends my gall bladder . . . but there doesn't seem to have been enough to be a problem, happily.

[wombattery.livejournal.com]

"Blue Nile" in Berkeley is the first Ethiopian restaurant I ever went to as well [1]. For some reason, it was the go-to place for my fellow undergrads to take visiting parents.

1. Not the first time I'd had Ethiopian, though. When I was younger, my parents experimented with North African as they do with everything else. I remember the injera dough/batter fermenting for three days and trying to eat a wooden spoon as it went.

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

. . . as too much fat at one serving offends my gall bladder . . .

I can empathize. Since I had my cholecystectomy, though, I no longer experience that particular crippling pain. Not that I'd recommend surgery for fun.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

How does cholecystectomy affect your diet? My previous doctor never recommended it—he favored dietary control—but I have thought abou it. But I've gotten the impression that I would need an even lower-fat diet afterward than is currently safe for me, and I really don't want to deal with more stringent dietary constraints. Is the range of foods you can eat restricted now?

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

How does cholecystectomy affect your diet?

You absorb fat less well, which can lead to minor digestive upset at times if you eat a fatty meal. Nothing like gallbladder pain, though. Apparently, this can affect absorption of fatty vitamins. That said, neither the surgeon nor my regular physician gave me any special dietary precautions.

My previous doctor never recommended it—he favored dietary control—but I have thought abou it.

No sane physician will recommend unnecessary abdominal surgery! Laparoscopic or not, it isn't trivial to have an organ removed from your abdomen. Diet is a good start. However, gallbladders nearly always act up because of gallstones, which sooner or later outstrip dietary control. Drugs that can dissolve these are dangerous . . . and eventually the choleliths get too large to smash ultrasonically. The question of surgery is less "if" than "when," so it's wise to have it when one is younger and healthier, and of course when one can best deal with it financially.

But I've gotten the impression that I would need an even lower-fat diet afterward than is currently safe for me, and I really don't want to deal with more stringent dietary constraints. Is the range of foods you can eat restricted now?

I specifically asked that of both my own physician and the surgeon who treated me, the latter of whom is quite highly regarded. Neither put any special restrictions on my diet. Generally, the approach is to treat symptoms should they arise. Going on two years since my surgery, I can't say that I've noticed anything to speak to a doctor about. I did go back to my surgeon with slight pain, but it proved to be scarring – nothing you can do much about.

[aota.livejournal.com]

Got to agree with you about Milla.

[dr-kromm.livejournal.com]

I see you appreciate Leeloo in particular. Few cinematic characters have influenced the NPCs in my games as much. The entire race of Amazons in my campaign look, sound, and act like Leeloo.

[aota.livejournal.com]

I can see their border patrol. "Multipass please"