Just a quick update on the health situation for those that are interested. I’m still in some pain but appear to be getting a little better each day. I’m still very sore most of the time, and mornings are the worst time as I try to slowly free up the swollen joints that have a tendency to seize up overnight, but I’m getting the knifing pain less and less, and I can walk much more normally so progress is being made. I am, however, still on quite a lot of drugs which means I’m a bit phased out at times. I’m also stupidly thirsty all the time, which is odd.
I’m spending some time at the desk, but I have to take a lot of breaks, and I’m certainly not at peak efficiency – I’m spending what productive time I have mostly on existing customer commitments, so Ogre is getting a little less attention than usual. I was in the forum briefly yesterday but I just cherry-picked a few things, and that’s likely to be the case for the next week at least.
I must say Monday’s events were a major wake-up call for me. As might have been apparent, I’ve had a bit of a peak of activity lately, what with OgreSpeedTree, Ogre 1.6 and a few new work projects coming on stream. I’ve also mentioned how Ogre has mostly slipped back into my spare time again. All in all it’s led to me spending more and more evenings and weekends at the desk again, and doing less and less other activity (Rock Band excluded, although even that suffered). I don’t resent this at all, I love my work, I love being self-employed and independent even with the lack of downtime that brings, and I love working on Ogre – and in addition I’m a stubborn git, so when faced with increasing demands I tend to just get my head down and put increasing effort in to meet it. I did have a few back twinges in the past 4 weeks but I generally just gritted my teeth and coped with it, or rested a bit for a day or two until it was better enough for me to resume business as usual. In hindsight, that wasn’t very wise.
I know, I know – people have been telling me for ages that I need to look after myself better (on this blog and otherwise), but I always find that hard when there’s so much to do. Unfortunately, being the stubborn idiot that I am, it really does take something as major as being carted off in an ambulance to finally get it into my thick skull that I might be pushing it a bit too far.
So, message finally received, loud and clear. My initial focus now is to recover enough by the end of the month to be able to travel without injuring myself (since I have a trip already booked), which means initially lots of rest interspersed with very gentle exercises. Then over the next year or two my goal is to gradually get back to the level of fitness I used to have some years ago (or as close as I can get). Believe it or not, I used to be really very fit in my early 20s, doing runs around the steep cliff paths here, regular martial arts training, all sorts. But that was 13-14 years ago now – if I can get even halfway back to that it’ll be a major boost. That means that instead of letting work take precedence all the time, my health will have to jump up to priority #1 (from about 5 or 6 
). Once I’m well enough to move about properly again, I think I’ll start with something relatively gentle, like swimming, and work up gradually from there.
As an impatient person I’ll no doubt have an urge to speed things up so I can get back to some project or other, but all I have to do is think back to this Monday if I find myself wanting to do that. Time to be more sensible, dumbass. 
October 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Glad to hear that you are feeling a little better, and I’m even more glad to see that your hospital visit has helped to put things into perspective a little.
There is (believe it or not) more to life than work, and in most instances your health really should take top priority. As I’m sure you know, due to varies health issues this year (blood pressure & gall bladder) I’ve also re-evaulated things and have made changes in both my diet and fitness in the hope of changing things for the better.
I really think that when you are feeling up to it, it would probably do you a world of good to take it easy for a while… practice that much needed slouching in front of the TV armed with nothing more than a remote and a good film.
In addition to this, I’d also recommend that you get out a bit more for some exercise. Maybe go for a bike ride or a long walk with Marie… It all helps.
Anyway – see you soon (I forgot to mention the other day, but I’ll be away for a few days, so won’t see you on Monday)
OH BTW, Roz has offered to cast a spell if you want, to help with the pain – she asked me to pass the offer on.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Yeah, I mostly need more time away from the desk doing active things.
I’ve been spoiled with offers of religeous intervention now (Christian – check; pagan – check; I wonder if I can get the full set?
) I appreciate the thought, but I’ll pass thanks 
October 16th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Hi Steve, happy to hear that you’re on the mend. Happier still to hear that you are taking this as a “wake up” call. I too have let my own health slide over the last few years – not coincidentally the time that we started the company
A month ago, feeling worse than ever, I got a gym membership and hired a personal trainer for 3 mid-afternoon sessions a week. Even just these 12 sessions have had a huge positive impact on my mental and physical health. Good luck with the recovery.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Great u improved. Realise it or not u are one tough person who can tolerate so much.
I am really happy ur backpain is coming under control. I already prayed for u, and this one was pagan, so still not complete set, hee hee.
Cheer up, walk, see natural beauty, but avoid sitting for long. I have seen healthy people go down with back pain.
I wish u recover as fast as u can.
I myself am trying to keep mine health foremost, but when something major happens then only we reevaluate. Atleast u took the plunge.
Though I suggest to forget that monday, and cheer up, there are going to be lot of good healthy mondays in your life I wish.
October 17th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Nvidia drivers v178.13 released which allows PHYSX accelaration on Geforce 8 series cards and up. Be sure to get it, it is amazing. Also it may cure the slight problem in OGRE with OpenGL as u were waiting for newer drivers.
Gothic 3 has become better now with these drivers. UT3 PhysX Mod pack is OK but still physics in Crysis or HalfLife2Ep2 looks far better.
Drivers in itself are good though, UT3 performance has improved on my Vista 64 bit. Crysis is as it is.
October 19th, 2008 at 4:19 am
Don’t over do it otherwise your over exercise might cause you more problems. You could do something like a quick walk a few times a week and then escalate it to a 15 minute jog.
Even better you could go swimming on a weekly basis, good exercise.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Hey Steve, glad to hear you’re getting better. Please, take care of yourself! Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything I’m not doing right now on Ogre that could take a little strain off you during the recovery.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Quote=Steve> “I’ve been spoiled with offers of religeous intervention now (Christian – check; pagan – check; I wonder if I can get the full set?
)”
Well, you can be sure the ancient Cthulhu Great Ones are rooting for you. I’m sure you’ve sacrificed enough brain cells in their name to earn some dark favor.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
@jabberwocky, funny observation. hee hee. u may be right.
@steve, Hope u improved more. And yes dont overdo exercise, it will certainly be very harmful.
October 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Thanks. Yes, gentle exercise is the key and that’s why I’m going to be taking more time out to do it. No point doing it in my usual rushed, lets-get-back-to-work way because I’ll just strain something.
December 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 am
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