Exploring Possibilities

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

 [Miss Kitty] Miss Kitty is here to demonstrate (or disprove) something I just learned — an easy CSS way to wrap text around an image. The trick here is knowing your limits — if the text is not long enough, you won’t get the effect. So, this seems like as good a time as any to introduce Miss Kitty to those who are not familiar with her. I first met her while Angela & I were in college — she enjoyed playing with my shoelaces (Miss Kitty, not Angela). We have since learned many games together, including “Unsuspecting Legs Walking By A Jungle Cat” and “The Monster That Lives In The Couch.” That is one great cat. And she takes a good picture, don’t you think?

Angela had her eye surgery today. So far, so good. It’ll be a few days before her eyes achieve their best results, but she’s already seeing better.

And I got to watch the surgery. That was amazing. I wasn’t in the surgery room — they had a TV hooked to the machine and I was able to watch it from the window. They start by using some type of medieval torture device to hold the eye in place and to keep her from blinking. Then they put a metal ring on top of that — the ring has a groove for another device which can only be described as the world’s smallest meat slicer. The slicer cuts a thin layer off the top of the eye, leaving it connected to the eye on one side. The surgeon pulls that back and fires his laser into the eye for a few seconds. He then lays the flap back down and smooths it out with a tiny broom — kind of like what an umpire uses to clean home plate. Only smaller. This is followed by a variety of eye drops. Then he does the same thing to the other eye. It was so interesting to watch. And, just like that, a person who has needed corrective eye wear since she was eight may never need it again. Amazing.