Update ... or something

I guess I have gotten out of the habit of posting. I don't think I realized it has been so long. I guess the easiest thing to do is to post a few highlights to catch everyone up.

July:

-Took the Bar Exam.

- Moved to the Northwest side of town.

- Had about $2,200 charged to my AmEx. $680 to the Monte Carlo Hotel and $1,500 to Bed Bath and Beyond. AmEx shipped me a new card overnight and reversed the charges without question. That alone was worth the $125 annual fee (or whatever they charge me).

August:

-Trip to Utah for Troy's farewell.

- On the drive back to Las Vegas, had tire tread separation on I-15 about 15 miles outside of Vegas. Had to change the tire on the side of the freeway at 10:30 p.m.

- Started working on August 13th. I am working in the area of medical malpractice defense, so I represent hospitals and doctors when they are sued by patients. It is pretty interesting work. Plus, I have a pretty nice office (about 12x14 or so) and Lindsay bought me a mini-fridge as an early birthday present.

- Witnessed an attempted shooting at my apartment complex. I had literally driven 15 feet past this little punk 14 year old kid when he turned and fired three shots across the street in the direction of some other apartments. I called 911 and got to give the cops my statement and make an ID of the kid when they caught him.

- Had fine-needle biopsy performed on my thyroid nodule. Not fun. They numbed the surface but not the thyroid, so I could feel it each time (5 total) the needle was inserted into my thyroid.

- Got results of biopsy. The results came back benign. That is a good sign, but my Ear Nose and Throat Dr. wants to keep an eye on it and have another ultrasound performed in 6 months to make sure it hasn't grown/changed, etc.

- Had "the montezumas" 19 times in 4 1/2 hours from 3:30 to 8:00 a.m. last Sunday morning. Thought I was going to die. Beat that you little trout sniffer.

I think that pretty much catches me up for the past two months.

Cancer? Is it cancer? Do I have cancer?

Some of you might know that I was recently diagnosed with a thyroid nodule after having an MRI for neck pain. After the nodule was discovered, my doctor sent me for a thyroid ultrasound (it's a boy!!) to determine whether it was a solid mass (potentially bad) or a cyst (not a big deal). The ultrasound results showed that the nodule was a solid mass, with a small secondary nodule that was part mass and part cyst. The next step in the process was to go for a thyroid scan where I was given a special medicine in an iodine capsule (iodine eventually makes its way to the thyroid) and 6 hours later they performed a scan to determine whether the nodule was hot (making too much hormone), warm (normally functioning tissue) or cold (not functioning tissue -- bad). I had an appointment with my doctor and an Ear Nose and Throat doctor yesterday to review the results of the scan. The good news is that the scan found "no cold defects." So it is unlikely that the nodule is cancer. The ENT wants me to have a biopsy performed just in case, but he said there is no rush to get it done, so I can wait until after I take the Bar before getting the biopsy.

Anyway, the whole process kind of reminded me of one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes where George has a "white discoloration" on his lip that he fears is cancer. I've copied a few of my favorite scenes below for your reading enjoyment:

[setting: doctor's clinic]
GEORGE: You see, It's right here. It's all white...
DOCTOR: Oh yeah. Yeah. I've never seen this before.
GEORGE: You've never seen this before?
DOCTOR: I'm gonna have to take a biopsy on that. (George grabs the doctor's arm)
GEORGE: (dramatically) A what?
DOCTOR: A biopsy.
GEORGE: A biopsy?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
GEORGE: Cancer? Is it cancer? Do I have cancer?
DOCTOR: Well I don't know what it is.
(scene ends)
[setting: Jerry's]
GEORGE: A biopsy!
JERRY: What did he say?
GEORGE: He said he didn't know what it was.
JERRY: Alright. So?
GEORGE: When I asked him if it was cancer, he didn't give me a "get outta here". That's what I wanted to hear: "Cancer? Get outta here?"
JERRY: Well, maybe he doesn't have a "get outta here" kind of personality.
GEORGE: How could you be a doctor and not say "get outta here"? It should be part of the training at medical school: "Cancer? Get outta here!" "Go home! What are you crazy? It's a little test. It's nothing. You're a real nut. You know that?" (Jerry gives him half of his sandwich to hopefully shut him up) I told you that God would never let me be successful. I never should've written that pilot. Now the show will be a big hit, we'll make millions of dollars, and I'll be dead. Dead Jerry. Because of this. (showing his lip)

The next day ...
GEORGE: This is George Costanza, I'm calling for my test results. Negative? Oh, my God. WHY! WHY! WHY? What? What? Negative is good? Oh, yes of course! How stupid of me. Thank you. Thank you very much. (he hangs up)

It's official...

I received my diploma in the mail today. Here are a few pictures of my graduation for those of you who weren't able to be there.

I love these scams ...

I received the following email today. Ironically, this scam involves a bank called Butterfield Bank in the Cayman Islands.

FROM ; MR.JOHN LEWIS OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION URGENT REPLY!!!MR.JOHN LEWIS,BRANCH MANAGERBUTTERFIELD BANK CAYMAN LIMITEDBUTTERFIELD HOUSE,68 FORT STREETGRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDSPLEASE SEND ALL YOUR REPLY TO MY ALTERNATIVE EMAIL: johnlewis2k@88.am

Dear Sir/Madam , I feel quite safe dealing with you in this business proposition having gone through your remarkable profile on the internet.Though, this medium (Internet)has been greatly abused, I choose to reach you through it because it still remains the fastest, surest and most ecured medium of communication .However,thiscorrespondence is unofficial and private, and it should be treated as such. I also guarantee you that this deal is hitch free from all what you may think of.I am MR.JOHN LEWIS, Branch Manager(West Shore Branch) BUTTERFIELD BANK CAYMAN LIMITED. I am contacting you based on Trust and onfidentiality that will be attached to this deal. The Management and the Legal department of our BANK (BUTTERFIELD BANK CAYMAN LIMITED) in a recent meeting, Recommended that the account of MS.ANGELA SUSAN SCHEINBERG, who was one of my branch depositor, should be declared Dormant,confisticated and the depositor's fund sent to the Bank Treasury according to cayman island Banking and financial law. he died in world trade centre as a victims of the september 11,2001.Incident that befall the united state of america,the bank is still unrelenting in it's bid to contact any of the relatives to claim This money, you can confirm through thishttp://www.september11victims.com/september11Victims/victims_list.htm She is an account holder in my branch, She owns a dollar account with the sum of US$38.6M (Thirty Eight Million, Six Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only) deposited in a numbered account with the account. In fact it happened that since her death, the next of kin of the dollar account holder(the brother) or whom ever that is related to her has not show up for the claim. This is where I am interested on and his is where I want you to come in. I want you to come in as the relation of the deceased, I will give you the contact of the attorney, you will have to write to him Telling him you are a relation to the deceased and that you have found out that MS.ANGELA SUSAN SCHEINBERG has account with BUTTERFIELD BANK CAYMAN LIMITED. which you wants to lay claims through his legal authority.He is going to be happy to assist you.I will be the one to provide the vital documents for the claims of the money and then advise you exactly how we should handle it.Please include your telephone/fax number/ Home Address when replying this mail and I will give you more information as soon as you indicate your willingness to assist in this transaction. We will use our positions to get all internal documentations to back up the claims .The whole Procedures will last only 7 working days to get the fund retrieved successfully Without trace even in future. Please need the following:1.YOUR FULL NAME2.PHONE AND FAX NUMBER3.HOME ADDRESS4.COMAPNY NAME AND ADDRESS.After successful conclussion of this transaction, we shall share the money 60-40..Yours truly,MR.JOHN LEWISjohnlewis2k@88.am

In-n-Out Burger

I have to admit, I am a huge fan of In-n-Out. It wasn't until I moved to Las Vegas that I had the privilege of eating there, and I am proud to say I am hooked. Apparently, there is a "secret menu" that if you know about, allows you to order your food with some interesting modifications. For example, an "animal style" burger (pictured below) gets you a mustard-cooked beef patty, additional pickles, extra secret sauce with grilled onions. Here is a link to the "secret menu" if you think you can handle it.

Good News

Its a BOY!!!

Close Call

I received the following e-mail from my friend Nishan in Sri Lanka yesterday. It's a pretty amazing story.

Dear All,



We berely scaped and It's was so scary!!!! It was on Saturday, we all were watching cricket world cup final between Sri Lanka & Australia. at about 1.30AM 0r 2.00 in the morning we experienced a power cut, we all thought it is normal, after about 20 minutes re-connect the power, we start watching the match again and suddenly another power cut. Then our Son Garrett got up because no fan and it was sweating. I took him to outside to make him sleep.



About few minutes later i heard a sound of an air craft flying right about our house, the sound is very much known to us because we don't have that type of light aircraft and I knew this is the one that LTTE have. I can hear it flying not so far from my house i looked up to see where it is, then about 3 or 4 houses away from where my house located became so brightened with a huge noise..... I saw the aircraft as soon as the bomb went off, it was a big backblast and that¢s why I saw this white aircraft, in another few second they dropped the second bomb. My house is few meters away from the country's biggest Oil storage, the LTTE tried to attack Oil Corporation, but the government knew they are making an attempt attack some of the critical areas in Colombo and they had activated the radar system and part of that planned they switched off the electricity so that LTTE won't be able to get the target accuracy. Some how they dropped it almost on to a huge oil tank but no damaged.



I took my family and ran towards a place where i can see them if they are coming back, i didn't want to stay home. The forces start firing at them, it was so much colorful as if we have won the cricket final match, but it wasn't the case it was a real war, people really thought its fire works to show the cricket celebration. Most of the bullets went off over heads and luckily not a single one hit us.



We stayed up until 4.00 in the morning and decided to go home and take a sleep, by that time we had electricity on. This is the first time i witness a LTTE attack, we are very thankful for God protecting us. I am sure this is a miracle, but I feel like we may have to face worst case scenario in the near future. I feel like we all in a big risk here, feel like have to move to a different country if the situation getting worst.



The LTTE have 3 light aircraft, we don't know what will happen, the government is going to bring the LTTE air attack down, they are fighting hard and have redeemed the east part of the country, but LTTE is a world wide organization, they have direct support from lot of rich countries such as Norway is one of the country support LTTE, we are quite sure they recieved this aircraft with support from Norway during peacetalks.



I want an end to terrorism, we can't tolerate them... they are killing not only Sinhalese but many Tamils, Muslims. They are worse than Osama Bin-laden.



I hope YOU are doing very well and send my regards to your family.



Love



Nishan family

Staci's Doppleganger???

If Staci was about 20 lbs heavier.

Lindsay's Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

My Celebrity Look-alikes (part 2)

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

My cool celebrity look-alike collage from MyHeritage.com. Get one for yourself.

Lumpy's American Idol Twin

Here are a few more photos of Lumpy's doppelganger. Am I the only one who is kind of creeped out by this???

Funny

Last night Jay was looking in the mirror and he said "I a cute widdow boy."

More faces of Jay

Who will win American Idol???

My money is on my brother Kyle.

What you've all been waiting for

Here are a couple of pictures of Jay. The first one was taken just a couple of hours after his tooth was pulled and he was still pretty loopy so it gives you an idea of what he was like that day. I took the other picture yesterday. In other news, I have now lost almost 4 of the 7 or 8 lbs I gained over Christmas break.

Jay's latest ...

We put up our Christmas tree on Monday for family night. Jay hasn't been able to stay away from it!! He has pulled almost all of the ornaments off, and even broken a couple. Oh well. Anyway, he has been really cute with the tree. He'll stand in front of it and say "Hi Tree" and wave his hand at the tree. Then he'll go up and give it a hug, and a kiss. Yesterday, I saw him go up to the tree and say "shake hands" and grab one of the branches like he was shaking hands with it. It's really funny, he treats it almost like it's a person (or at least like an animal). I think he'll really enjoy Christmas this year.

Joke of the day...

A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of contributions called him to persuade him to contribute."Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $700,000, you give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community in some way?"The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness and has medical bills that are several times her annual income?"Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um… no."The lawyer interrupts, "Or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and confined to a wheelchair?"The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was interrupted again."Or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!"The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no idea..."On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money to them, why should I give any to you?"

Nothing much

Well, I don't really have much to say, except that I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving. I have lost about 5 lbs. this semester, so I'll be in prime eating shape come next thursday. School is going ok, I'm about done with classes and am outlining for finals, which start December 8th. The weather here is pretty nice, highs in the high 60's to low 70's, and lows in the mid 50's. It's strange to think that Christmas is in 5 weeks, because the weather here is still so nice. You will all be surprised at how much Jay has changed just in the past couple of months. Travis won't even recognize him. Well, back to studying.

Good news ...

Well, I just received (and accepted) a job offer from the law firm Alverson Taylor Mortensen & Sanders here in Las Vegas. They are a 41 attorney firm that has been around for about 25 years. I'll be in their litigation department, and will start right after I take the Nevada bar exam in late July. I really liked the hiring partner I interviewed with, and they took me on a tour of their office, which was nice as well. Anyway, what a relief!