Afternoon, everyone.
Thank, Sandy. It really was the distended bladder that was both increasing the number of clots and pushing them into the ureter. Because the clots were so large, they couldn't come out until I got enough pain meds that I was able to push them through. I still have blood in my urine but it now a light red compared looking like packed red cells two days ago. I'll be going to urologist for a cystoscopy, some that needs to be done but I'm looking forward to.
The good thing, as Mikey said, is I'm now seeing blood in an otherwise normal urine stream. That's a big improvement over two days ago.
I'll be happy to pick up the tab for the fish fry although all I can eat will probably be about half a piece. I'm sure Chris , Jeffrey, and Rex will help with the rest.
Chris, it may be that the dye in dark colas makes the uric acid more sticky and promotes the formation of stones. It's kind of like grapefruit juice. Some people drink it all they lives without having a problems and others get stones after one or two glasses worth. Most of it is in your genetics, unfortunately, and their's not much you can do about that.
BOC, most the problems in Jefferson County came from a sewer construction project that was shot through with corruption, bribery, and outright thievery. By the time the people who were supposed to know what they were doing caught on, most of the county's cash was gone.
Andrew, I guess that doc was right about me not playing baseball.
I'm out looking for a good wheelchair now.
Phillip, that was a cool performance. The Slovenian's are nation of artists and love coming up with this sort of thing.
I think the red light camera challenges will be overturned. They have been in every state where they reached the state supreme court. It was challenged immediately and upheld in California as long as they have the correct equipment. The ATS system is well proven and provides a very clear view of the driver's face and the plate. The only problem are states like Alabama that only have a rear plate, so you need two cameras per direction. Drivers in California tried all kinds of things including wearing big hats to obscure their face. They just amended the law so that any obvious attempt to obscure your face means the registered owner is the assumed driver. All those license plate gizmo's to obscure the plate also don't work, no matter how much the companies that make them tell you they do. I'm not a big proponent of more government intrusion but this is really no different they me sitting at the intersection and nailing you in person. I'll let you in on a little secret though. Only about half of those red light cameras actually work. The rest are fakes but they look like the real thing. The drivers don't know the real thing from the fake so they are more careful at each intersection. It saves the state about $15 million a year to have these fakes.
Ticket quotas have been a hot subject for years. While there's no quota on the books, it is expected that eight hours on the road will produce a certain amount of stops and warnings. Sometimes you fall under the expected number in a month because you had to work a couple of big accidents or crime scenes. The ones that get in trouble are the ones who under produce every month. If you're paid to be a traffic officer, that's what you should be doing, not spending time at Krispy Kreme. Most of the guys I've seen with problems like this were lazy and deserved to get suspended or terminated. OTOH, I'm not defending these little speed trap towns that give everyone going one mph over the limit a citation.
I'm all in favor of any seat belt violation citations. It used to be we could only give you a cite if we pulled you over for something else first and then the law was changed so we could pull you over for no seat belt. It may seem like just a way for the state to make more money but the real purpose is to decrease traffic injuries and deaths. In the three years after we were give authority cite for seat belt violations, the death rate from traffic accidents decreased by 19% and seat belt usage was about 95%. Compare that to Alabama, where the seat belt fine is only $10 ($76 in California) and rear seat passenger aren't required to wear a seat belt at all!
Seat belt usage here averages about 30%. Guess which state has one of the highest per capita traffic deaths? If you ever worked a multi-casualty with people ejected all over the place, you'd be fully in favor of anything to increase seat belt usage.
Jeffrey, be careful working in all this heat. One of the things that can cause a bladder hematoma is excessive manual labor in high heat conditions. I wouldn't want you to have to go through what I'm going through.
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I hope the boy is strong and healthy. As for your wife, hitchhiking would probably not be your best option. 
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