There's something mildly alarming with my hearing. It just happened again, so I may as well document it. Every so often (weekly, monthly?) the signal from one ear suddenly gets all muffled, accompanied by a faint ringing - sorta like somebody clapped a styrofoam cup over my ear. Then, some moments later, the volume comes back up on that channel, and I'm hearing normal again. A little later, a repeat episode, not as severe. Why it do? Should I be alarmed? Perhaps bring it up tomorrow when I'm surrounded by modern medicine, horizontal in the OR? It's been happening for a long time.

Soon I must begin the pre-op fast, and it won't hurt much tomorrow but the next day & the next week it's gonna be like I stepped on the soldering iron. The anesthesiologist just called for a little chat - my screaming the last time unnerved the doctor, apparently, so I think he's insisted that they sedate me this time. I told my guy no, really and then maybe half? but he said "well we'll just play it by ear" - tomorrow morning for about twenty minutes this guy's gonna have the power to send me all the way down, just by turning a knob... I was only screaming then when the doctor gave me the big shot in my feet, the local - I didn't feel anything after that, and smelled my own flesh burning in the laser's focused beam as I talked with the nurse. It's a lot to go through to remove a nodule that's really merely the size of a pencil erasure - a used one. Untreated, it will grow to what'll feel like there's a ball bearing right in the middle of my shoe.

On Terry Gross' "Fresh Air" yesterday she interviewed James Woods, who will play O in the movie of my life; and tonight she's got the amusing Al Franken. He's somehow involved in a fictionalized presidency of himself - I'm a little unclear on that concept; more information forthcoming on that activity. I can generally relate to his world-view - when asked what he thought of culture wars and the impeachment he said that "Bob Barr [R-Ga] in 1969 was the guy who didn't like me because I had long hair".

After absorbing a long letter my brother J let me preview, which he plans to send our parents, I called him to discuss it. With his wife J on the other line we talked everything over. It addresses difficulties in family communications and etc. One phrase he used I liked especially was:

"There are things which lose their value if they need to be requested."

Still no solution to the Big Problem at work, but only minimal pressure for a solution so it's great - for me just an exercise: "Learning to Use Break Points".