Happy 4^th of July.  To all of our American listeners, we at THDP want to wish you a happy and safe holiday.  Don’t overdo it.  Everything in moderation but may this be a memorable 4^th for you and your family.

My Knee

Please note, this podcast will have a discussion of my total knee replacement surgery.  Four years ago I would have found this discussion to be uncomfortable to listen to.  Now I say, this is real life folks, don’t be so sheltered!!

Over the last two years I have accumulated a lifetime of anecdotal experiences dealing with the knee replacement process.  It seemed after a while that everybody over 55 either has or is getting an artificial knee.  If you haven’t had one, it’s one (or both) parents, or an aunt or whatever.

So as time goes on your actual surgery date creeps closer and closer.  Suddenly you only have a month to go, then 2 weeks, then one week.  At one week to go (when they take away all your pain meds), it seemed like your body will indeed fall apart.  The first day was a Tuesday.  No pain meds.  My body does a huge AR–r-r-g-g-HHS!!  A day or so later things seem to have calmed down.

The last week flew by.  Major surgery getting closer and closer.  I had to get as much yard work done as I could, I had to get at least 2 podcasts in the can so I could regularly publish while I was off.  Then up at 4:30 am.  Nothing to eat or drink.  Checked into the hospital and then the rest is like a blur.  I have to tell you this though:  I heard the saw.  I couldn’t care less but I heard it.  They had me walking that afternoon.  I have to tell you, the pain has been not really that big of a deal up to now.  I get home and then a week goes by.  Then the bandage came off (something I was NOT looking forward to BTW).  In another week the staples will came out and my knee ceased (or at least I think so) looking like a zipper.

The rehab person is coming over 3 x’s a week for the 30 to 45 minutes of torture.  My leg still looks like a black and blue zucchini with the bruising moving more and more south every day.  My rehab therapist would like me to spend 24 hours in bed (minus potty break and maybe food intake) with my foot propped up and iced down.  The swelling is not going down like they wished it would.  When the zipper came off my Doctor took away any restrictions (within reason).  Lots of ice and propping it up, lots of walking.  Lots of rest, lots of work.  Do you get where I am going here?

Maybe most importantly my head is starting to unfog.  Ya know, when you sleep in until 9 and then take 3 or 4 naps, the day seems to just fly-y-y-y-y-y b-y-y-y-y-y-y.

I have tried to not touch anything having to do with the podcast while I have been down and out†but that isn’t as easy as it seems when you rely on electronics for your entertainment.  A kindle for when you want to read a book (or have one read to you for that matter), audible Books for when you want to “read†a book….ok, ok when you want a book read to you, an iPad (mini in my case) when you want to do just about anything, the smart tv for when you succumb to watching tv and become reassured that what is on tv is doodoo, and a regular (HD of course) TV with cable.  I keep telling myself I will get the Amazon Fire Box or the latest and greatest Roku box to make our one tv into a smart tv.

Download without dealing with add on programs

But then I ran into this situation over the past 2 weeks:  Add ons.  They are an issue when you try to download anything from the internet.  It used to be a constant only with the “lower tier†software companies or software you download from the accumulators.  But my cup runnith over here…..I can’t help but mention this it has me so incensed, it’s a common theme if you have listened to THDP.  Do you need to download a program from the Internet?  No problem, pay your licensing fee and download your software, but first let’s slip in the ever unpopular Conduit browser (which I classify as malware BTW), then let’s try to slip a registry cleaner past the unsuspecting downloader, ok we’re on a role now, we slip in the Ask.com browser, and on and on and on….

So you say, wow Gary you really got it out for these people this week don’t you.  Well, yea, I do.  I bought a Windows 8.1 license this past week and had to swim through a school (is it called a school or a congress, or a flock, or a mob…..)of add on software before I could have the right to download that which I paid for.  This is ridiculous.

Walmart Discounts iPhone 5S, 5C in ‘Permanent’ Price Change

The headline said:  Walmart stores are selling the iPhone 5S and 5C in a deeply discounted “permanent price change” starting today, the company said. The “today was June 27 btw.â€

So, with a 2 year contract you can get a, Apple iPhone 5C, 16GB for $29 ($49).  With the same setup, the 5S goes for $99 ($149).  So why do you think Walmart is doing this?  It doesn’t take a genius……I’m pretty sure the new iteration of the iPhone (6?) is coming out Sept/Oct….how many people do you think would wait to buy a new one.  The last 2-3 months of a model must be rotten sales for the Walmarts of the world.

I think this is a good thing.  Heck anytime a seller lowers the price on a commodity like the iPhone, that’s got to be time to act and pick one up unless of course you WANT to wait until the iPhone 6 comes out. I want to re-enter the iPhone world and I’m thinking this may be enough to push me off the cliff.

Supreme Court rules against Aereo, claiming TV startup violates copyright law

The high court, in a 6-3 vote, decided that Aereo, which pulls free TV signals from the airwaves, constitutes a copyright infringement on the several major TV networks that filed suit against it.

So, for those who don’t know, Aereo is a company that while operating out of 10 cities, assigns a dime-sized antenna to each customer in order to grab tv signals from the airwaves and sends them over the Internet allowing you to watch your favorite shows via your laptop, or from some sort of recording device, whenever you wish.  Generally around $8 per month.

Sounds like way too much freedom doesn’t it. You just knew this company would have to go down didn’t you?  I mean, we can’t be allowed to just watch our favorite tv show whenever and on whatever medium we choose can we??  We can’t be allowed to make those sort of decision on our own?  What do we know, we’re just the ignorant viewing sheeplike public aren’t we??

Down it went.  6-3 decision from the Supreme Court.

We will cover stories like this (if not this one) in an upcoming episode where we can spend more time.  I will leave this story by sharing just this one thought…….sometime in the near future (as illustrated by the Internet of Things) everything will be connected to the Internet.  Your Doctor can send you home after knee surgery and still have your vitals checked via your smartphone/tablet/computer.  You can regulate your home’s climate and appliances, have dinner waiting for you, have your wine chilled for you and waiting, go through your mail (which is all electronic now).  Afterward, you sit down in front of your smart tv and look through the guide in order to determine what tv shows your are allowed to watch tonight.  Sure wish NCIS wasn’t on Tuesdays because I have to teach Tuesday nights.  If only I had a choice.  (sigh) Oh well.

Such is the safe and copyright friendly environment we live in.  Thank god the networks have protected us from those horrible pirates.  What does the public know anyway??