Last Friday I had a colonoscopy. There was no problem. It was just recommended screening (for colon cancer) because of my age (let’s just say 50’s and leave it at that).

I had put off the colonoscopy because of fears about it. I learned my fears were unfounded. What I should have feared is the consequences of putting it off. Colon cancer is a silent killer. Without screening (i.e., a colonoscopy), by the time of your first signs of colon cancer, you have a big problem, or worse.

So let me address my fears in the event some of you are putting off a colonoscopy for similar reasons.

The procedure itself is painless. Really. I was given “conscious sedation” which puts you out but is much “lighter” than general anesthesia and therefore without the latter’s side effects. One moment I was joking with the anesthesiologist to give me something so I would dream of Las Vegas showgirls. She asked: “How many?” I next remember seeing my doctor and asking: “When are you going to start?” He laughed and told me he was done. One hour had passed. I didn’t remember anything, I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t even feel that I had slept or had woken. The two moments seemed separated by a blink of the eye. Weird.

The aftereffects were minimal. No pain. Some gas, but that goes away quickly.

The preparation is legendary. It’s called MoviPrep. To call it a laxative is like calling a hydrogen bomb a weapon. But that just means stay home and very near a bathroom the day before. Really no pain involved.

The main fear of MoviPrep is its taste. This famous comedy piece characterized that taste as “a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.” However, I found it more like a lemony, salty Gatorade. To be sure, it would never be my favorite beverage. But it wasn’t that bad either, especially if you refrigerate the mixture first.

Bottom line is the procedure and its preparation are not anything to fear. But what it’s designed to prevent is something to fear. So if you are putting it off, don’t. Just do it! If not for your sake, for the sake of your loved ones. And me. I can’t afford to lose any readers.

My students have asked me which sites I follow. The picture is a screen shot of my subscriptions in Google Reader.

I use Google Reader to try to keep current on technology news. It’s a losing battle. As you can see from the 275 unread posts in the Technology category, I’m behind in my reading. While I try to set aside time each day to go through my unread posts, more posts keep pouring in.

My Google Reader  list is not exclusive of the sites I follow. There are other sites to which I subscribe to email updates. So having them in Google Reader would just cause duplication.

I do update the list from time to time, as my interests (or phones) change. For example, I added Streak Smart after I bought my Dell Streak.

Any other technology sites you suggest I follow?

[courtesy of one of my students, Kash]

Personally, I think the pictured Cat5 ring would be perfect for the love of your life. After all, what is marriage if not the networking of two people?

Of course, your love may not be into Ethernet. They may be more into USB perhaps? If so, this USB ring should be perfect!

I wrote about six months ago about TeamSam. Margot Hutchinson is my literary agent. She and her husband Neil have three beautiful sons. One, Sam, was diagnosed in January 2005 with Stage IV Neuroblastoma, a very serious childhood cancer. Margot has chronicled the last 5 years in her blog, TeamSam.

Sam’s tough and a fighter. But for the parents, as you can imagine, there are good days and not so good days. Please drop over to TeamSam and post a comment. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Thanks. Jeff

Now I feel better for missing CES. I hope Jason feels better too.

Nice. But I wish I knew how to use Google Wave My fault though. I still haven’t read the online book.

[via Android Central]