Still Waiting Part Deux

I'm still here, waiting. I've been reminded on numerous occasions that waiting is probably the best thing right now, because we want all the doctors to have the information they need to come up with the best course of treatment. But that doesn't change the fact I'm getting extremely impatient.

I don't really have anything new to report. I'm meeting with a surgeon tomorrow who could potentially be performing a liver resection. I'm hoping the discussion is that she is ready to move on to the next phase which is actually doing the surgery.

Next week is Salt Lake Comic Con FanX, and I have a concert on the calendar for next week as well. Those are two things I've been looking forward to for some time, and purchased tickets well before my diagnosis. I'm going to be bummed if I can't attend either of these (I may need to sell my VIP Comic Con ticket.)

I will update again tomorrow after I've had a chance to meet with the surgeon. Again, thank you for all the support, love, and encouragement.

read more...

After A Few Days With Amazon fireTV

Once the Amazon fireTV was turned on, and connected my Amazon account without any action on my part, I was excited to get right into it.

The obvious difference between the fireTV and other streaming boxes is the fireTV is based on the Android operating system. The biggest difference with this box over others is the natural integration with Amazon Prime Instant Video. Just like the Kindle where books are the primary interface, Prime movies and TV shows are the primary interface, Netflix, Hulu and others are secondary apps.

Finding items to watch is as simple as speaking into the remote what you want, and it did a great job of finding nearly all the items I searched for. At first it was a little clunky, I was pressing the speak button and letting go then talking into the remote. Nothing was happening. Turns out you need to hold down the speak button until you are through speaking. Either I didn't see the instructions or I was trying to use it like Siri. The other thing that I thought was weird is I couldn't speak my username and passwords when setting up Netflix and Hulu? Seemed like I should be able to do that just as easily as speaking a search.

I like that the remote is very minimalist, however, the ring used to navigate left, right, up and down, should have some kind of arrows on it for those not used to that kind of interface. I was ok but my wife wasn't sure what to do to go back and forth.

I haven't had time to check out games, but I'll get there. I don't see games becoming a huge boon for this device as people aren't trained to use their streaming media box as a game console, they are using their Xbox for that.

Everything about this box is excellent. The thin size, speed, and simple remote make it a great choice. I'm certainly glad I picked it up.

read more...

Why I'm Ditching Roku For Amazon Fire TV

I've been a Roku fan for a while, owning versions 1 through 3 and several variations. I don't have cable TV and use streaming almost exclusively, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu Pro are my main stays. But throw in Plex streaming from a local server and Roku struggles.

The three things that sold me immediately on the Amazon FireTV (affiliate link) were

• Quad core processor - screaming fast


• 2GB of on board memory - reduces buffering


• Voice search - find things without using the crappy single character on screen search

I'm not a gamer, but games are included with this box. I'm sure that will be one way of bringing devs into the fold. I should be getting the device tomorrow and will post what I find, but in the mean time, go buy one right now.

read more...

Angiogram

Over the past couple of days my dad has had a few tests to determine if he would be a good candidate for a procedure that would allow the doctors to surgically remove the tumor on his liver. We still don't know the outcome of the Pet Scan from last week, but the Angiogram performed today seemed to have very positive results. The Angiogram test was to take a picture of how his blood vessels are laid out and how they supply blood to the liver and surrounding organs.

We're hoping the oncologist and surgeon find both tests positive so a surgical procedure can be performed that will help my dad fight the cancer quicker. More to follow.

 As always, we appreciate the love, thoughts and prayers from everyone.

read more...

Wristbands

Hey everyone,

My dad wanted a wristband (the rubber kind) in his cancer color to wear, and a few family members have them to. If you would like one I can get you one for $3.50 a piece. Where I get them, they do not have child ones but you could always get those online (Amazon) or here and here.

Please contact me at ashlenalley@gmail if you would like me to get you one!

Thanks.

read more...