The story of my weekend actually begins on Thursday, when my right knee started to give me trouble. Walking was precarious, stairs a new and unwelcome challenge. I took some ibuprofen, did the heat and ice thing, and hoped Friday would dawn with whatever the problem was in my rear-view. Of course, that wasn't to be.

So it was on Friday that I trundled over to Newton-Wellesley Hospital (my doctor being booked solid) and spent a lot of time sitting around. I got some x-rays taken, and eventually got to meet with a doctor in one of the pediatric rooms, where the only places to sit were in a regular-sized chair and a Snow White rocker that would have worked for any age up to four.

In any event, it turns out that I'd sprained my knee through some process that remains a mystery. I was given a knee immobilizer (which works fairly poorly as it's too small, though it does help keep things in place when I sleep), instructions to heat and ice much more frequently than I'd been doing, and a prescription for some big-ass Motrin tablets.

So I've spent the better part of the weekend in bed, missing a variety of engagements. I did get to watch quite a bit of football, most of it lackluster. The Tennessee-Alabama game was fairly entertaining, and the Northwestern upset of Wisconsin was notable, but most of the games didn't hold my interest.

Which is how I wound up watching a marathon of Jamie's Kitchen on Food Network. Jamie Oliver, better known for his series The Naked Chef, took on 15 young unemployed Londoners and had them go through a crash-course on becoming a chef so they could work at a new restaurant that he opened, called (appropriately) Fifteen. It actually turned out that there were only 13 at opening, as one got sacked for an incredible level of absenteeism, the other was suspended after blowing up at the head of the college where most of the instruction took place.

I'm not sure how this stacked up with NBC's The Restaurant, though there are some very similar themes (outside of training the unemployed to cook). I will say that there was probably more cursing in Jamie's Kitchen; there were some very long beeps.

As far as today goes, it was nice to see that Pats win, even if it was in a fairly ugly fashion. I am fairly dismayed at the Giants beating the Vikings in Minnesota, as I'd gone with the lads in purple in the Craig Barker cutthroat pick 'em. Seemed like a good idea at the time. At least I didn't choose this week to go with Seattle. I'm also fairly intrigued at the coming NFL Network, which has slightly re-kindled my interest in digital cable. Not that I trust the Comcast people as far as I could throw them (especially now, as I wouldn't get much drive off of my right leg), considering that the techs are probably still the same ones that were working for AT&T when they couldn't find my apartment in three chances.