A Long Time Coming

A project I’ve been working on recently is putting together my own podcast. In preparing to publish the first experimental episode of Radio Galindo, my previous WordPress installation decided to have a thermonuclear meltdown. Rather than trying to patch things up, I decided to go with a fresh install of WordPress.

Well, the new installation did the trick and here we are, back up an running! In that spirit, check out my experiment and let me know what you think.

Here, for the first time…Radio Galindo – Experimental Edition 1!

Radio Galindo Experimental Edition 1

Show Notes

Title: Radio Galindo – Experimental Edition 1

Recorded: Sunday, August 3rd

Length: 11:05

Intro Theme song: “Sanford & Son”

Introduction: The FIRST “Experimental Edition” of Radio Galindo

Topic 1: “This Podcast – Why and Why Now?”

Topic 2: “Music to Share”

Topic 3: “Things I Like”

Disclaimer and fine print: I want to mention, in the interest of full-disclosure, at 8:16 in the recording I drop an uncharacteristic “f-bomb“. Hey, it’s my personal blog, so why censor myself?

Tunnels of Doom circa 1982

Radio Galindo – Experimental Edition 1 by David Galindo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://galindo.me/wordpress/?page_id=109.

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

It’s been a week since I woke up and found my face wasn’t working quite right. In that week, I’ve learned a lot about this condition called Bell’s Palsy and I continue to learn more. I’ve found there’s this world-wide community of people suffering from it. Still, it’s surprising that outside of that community, not many people are aware of Bell’s palsy. Or if they are, there are a ton of misconceptions, both good and bad.

The most important things I’ve learned are that having a positive attitude, being patient and just giving things time to heal are really the best and only course of action. In some ways, that’s contrary to the way that I normally function…I tend to try to find ways to fix or mend things. That alone is teaching me something greater than I probably could have learned otherwise.

Driving to Work

Today I drove to my company’s Scottsdale office to facilitate some testing classes I’ve been coordinating. The commute is 35 to 50 minutes depending on traffic. I sometimes like these drives before getting in front of a group because I get to spend a little more time listening to music. Music has always been important to me and one of my favorite bands, Journey, was in the CD player this morning.

Now, those that know me, are aware of the fact that I occasionally like to do a little karaoke now and then. And those that know me REALLY well, know that one of my more important hobbies is writing, singing and recording my own songs in my spare-bedroom studio.

In the last week, with the way my mouth was, or rather, wasn’t working, I haven’t really felt like singing a note. This morning on my drive to work, with Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin” playing loud over the speakers, I sang for the first time in 8 days.

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

It felt a little odd at first, trying to form the words and the hearing in my right ear getting “boomy” at times, but it went ok. All in all, it was a good release.

Progress Pictures

Before leaving for work this morning, I took the following pictures. I added a couple of profile pictures to illustrate my smile on both sides. I think that I notice a difference in how people react depending on the side they see first. Others tell me that’s not the case. To be honest, I’m really not sure.

When I look at these pictures and compare them with my earlier post, things look much the same as they did then. One small but optimistic sign is that it appears my right eye is closing a little more. That’s a big deal when you understand how much time I’ve been spending making sure my cornea doesn’t dry out or get damaged.

Straight Face	Smile
Eyes Closed	Raised Eyebrows
Smile – Left Side	Smile – Right Side

Tomorrow, I’m going to share pictures of what I’m beginning to call my “Bell’s Palsy Survival Kit”. I love Ziploc bags. They rank up there with Velcro and Nougat!