Despite the fact things around town will not be back to normal for many months, I feel my live coverage of Hurricane Charley is no longer required. I will instead be returning to normal conversation topics, news articles and reviews.

Speaking of getting back to normal, I am happy to report I have finally determined why I have not been myself for the past few months now. My constant fatigue, disinterest in activities and general feeling of blah are all the result of my gallbladder being diseased.

I had originally been confusing the pains associated with this syndrome with my lactose intolerance, but as the pain got worse and worse and I was able to determine I had not recently consumed any dairy products, my original conclusion seemed less valid. I took my brand new insurance card to a medical facility and explained my situation to the doctor. He ordered me on some medication and scheduled some tests to try to determine the problem.

After being nearly incapacitated with pain yesterday morning, I returned to the doctor's office to have the testing done immediately. The ultrasonic examination of my abdomen revealed the diseased gallbladder and I was referred to an area surgeon for a consultation. Once that meeting takes place in ten days, it will be a matter of only a week or so before I am in the hospital being carved like a roast (cholecystectomy). I will have to take off from work three to five days for recovery time.

As much as I may hate going to doctors, I am really looking forward to having this surgery simply for the fact that I know it has been affecting me for so long now, I can hardly tell the difference. I have wanted to embark on several projects, including a back-end redevelopment of Mount Sutro, uploading of pictures to the Gallery and the formatting and reinstall of both of my computers. I hope that the lack of a gallbladder will return my energy and desire to do things other than sleep.

ADDEDNUM: I will be working on some of the above-referenced projects tonight and this weekend, since I do not really feel up to much else. If you need to contact me, ring, send a text message or e-mail my mobile: mobile @ mountsutro.org.

Be advised during some of these procedures, parts of Mount Sutro may be inaccessible. I will also be cleaning things up around here, so expect some things to be moved, different or otherwise odd. I hope to keep downtime to a minimum, but it may be unavoidable as I install some new software and scripts to better manage content. I am considering a revamp of the Forum as well. Suggestions for improvement? Send them to upgrade @ mountsutro.org.