I went to see the surgeon today for a check up following my appendicectomy. The scar is healing well and he was happy with my progress, so I’ll be back to work tomorrow. It’ll be nice to get into a normal routine again!

I found out two things today that I hadn’t been told previously:

1. My appendix ruptured while I was being operated on – a bit too close for comfort!

2. This one is incredible… apparently it’s a two-man operation – one to pull you open, one to do the removal of the appendix. Well, one of the surgeons FAINTED during the operation! The one remaining conscious surgeon had to do the rest of the job on his own! Considering he’d been at work all day, it was the early hours of the morning and he was doing the work of two people, I think he did a cracking job

Tags: appendicitis,hospital,operation,surgeon
Categories: General
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Just a quick post from my mobile. I’m currently in Sunderland Royal Hospital after having my appendix taken out in the early hours of Thursday morning.

I took ill on Monday night and stayed off work on Tuesday, hoping it was just a 24 hour thing. However on Wednesday I was in agony with my stomach and ended up calling 999. The doctors quickly diagnosed appendicitis and I was added to the emergency surgery list.

They attempted keyhole surgery at first but they couldn’t get to my appendix. After making a very long, deep cut, (including through some muscle), the surgeon was able to remove it. He said it was tucked behind my bowel and was almost black – sounds like I almost left it too late!

Anyway, it’s very sore and I’m going to be in hospital for at least the next couple of days. If I lie still for long enough the pain goes off, so I’m trying not to move too much. I’ll post an update once I’m home.

Cheers,
Dan

Tags: appendicitis,hospital
Categories: General
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The DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) is accepting donations online now to help victims of the devasting earthquake that has hit Haiti.

Donate Now

Tags: Haiti
Categories: General, Videos
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Well, it’s been six months since I’ve posted anything on here! Nowadays, there are so many sites to update – Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc… I’ve been thinking of trying to consolidate so I only have one or two to update.

I recently signed up to Tumblr and my first impressions are it’s a very good service. I’ve pointed the very first domain name I registered back in 1999 to my new Tumblr site – danmullen.co.uk

My current plan is to wind this site down and update danmullen.co.uk on an almost daily basis. My photos will be available on Flickr. I’ll be keeping Mullen.tv online for the foreseeable future and, who knows, I might do a U-turn and decide to keep going with this site.

Tags: Mullen.tv,Tumblr
Categories: General
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I just got my new car today – a Ford Mondeo 1.8TDCi Zetec. It was actually delivered on Friday 27th February, but as it’s on a “09″ plate and was registered from 1st March I wasn’t able to collect it until today.

I got up early and drove through to Darlington with Katie. (It’s the first time Katie has seen where I work). She loved the ride to work, especially the country lane between Bradbury and Darlington – we passed three farms and saw a field full of sheep! We left the Ford Fiesta that I’d borrowed in the company car park and got in my new vehicle. I spent a few minutes finding all the little cubby holes, my favourite being the overhead glasses case! I also messed around with the stereo and paired my Bluetooth phone.

We drove home via the A19 and put the cruise control to the test. It’s a much nicer drive than my old car and I think it will be a pleasure to drive to work, for a while at least!

Here’s the details of the model I went for:

• Ford Mondeo
• 5 Door
• Zetec
• 1.8 Duratorq TDCi 125ps
• Durashift 6-Speed Manual
• Panther Black Metallic

(N.b. Thanks to Northgate, the vehicle hire company that I work for, without whom I would still be driving around in my T-reg Citroën Xsara!)

Tags: car,Ford Mondeo,Northgate
Categories: General, Work
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You can now follow me on social networking and micro-blogging site, Twitter.

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

You can read my latest updates or follow me – my username is danmullen.

Tags: Twitter
Categories: Computing, Friends & Family, General
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Looking for a gift for that special someone? Need a novelty item for a friend’s birthday? Look no further – Urban Jumble is here!

Thought I better give a quick plug for my brother’s online shop, Urban Jumble. It’s a gift shop with a focus on fun, novelty items such as lighters, mugs and T-shirts. He’s adding more stock each week so why not have a look and see if there’s anything takes your fancy? If you’re looking for a particular item but having trouble finding it, get in touch with him as there’s a good chance he’ll be able to track it down for you.

Tags: Jay,shop,Urban Jumble
Categories: Friends & Family, General
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Playing Texas Hold’em on Ladbrokes Poker recently, I got lucky on the flop and hit a full house. Wanting to maximise my profit, here is how I started off slowly to lull my opponents into a false sense of security…

(My online poker name is “Stunshot”).

Stunshot: T♣ 8♣
Stunshot posted small blind (10)
Nixo posted big blind (20)
Game #522,858,739 starting
Dealing Hole Cards
julien22 called for 20
Hoken66 folded
kudu_kid called for 20
Stunshot called for 10
Nixo checked

No-one had raised, I had posted the small blind and it would only cost me another 10 to see the flop, so I decided to stay in the hand.

Dealing the Flop: T♥ T♦ 8♦

Fantastic! I had hit a full house on the flop Now, how should I play it…?

Stunshot checked
Nixo bet for 20
julien22 called for 20
kudu_kid called for 20
Stunshot raised for 80
Nixo called for 60
julien22 raised for 120
kudu_kid folded
Stunshot raised for 360
Nixo called for 360
julien22 called for 300

I’d managed to get two players to put a few hundred chips in each – hopefully enough to convince them to stay in the hand ’til the end.

Dealing the turn: K♠
Stunshot bet for 540
Nixo folded
julien22 went all-in for 1,040
Stunshot went all-in for 460
Extra chips returned to julien22, 40

I bet a hefty amount, but not enough to make my hand seem totally convincing. Just enough to coax my opponent into “calling my bluff”. Of course, I wasn’t bluffing!

Dealing the river: 9♥
Stunshot wins 3,420 with a Full House, Tens full of Eights

I’d have usually folded a 10/8 suited, but on this occasion it paid off

Tags: poker,Texas Hold'em
Categories: General
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Hello again everyone. Similar to this post from March last year, I’m back again after a number of months without posting. No excuses this time other than the fact that I’ve been extremely busy with work and moving home (again). I intend to post more regularly on here from now on, although who knows… the best laid plans of mice and men, and all that!

Tags: Mullen.tv
Categories: General
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Congratulations to whoever has just viewed my news archive from March 2007 – you have just registered the 100,000th page view since my site went live in April 2006!

Although I have been fairly quiet recently, I intend to post to my blog more frequently in the coming weeks and months. I also hope to add some more useful scripts and tools to my site.

Thanks for taking an interest in mullen.tv – looking forward to 200,000 views

Tags: Mullen.tv
Categories: General
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