February 2009
How long have Girl Scout cookies been $3.50 a box?
I was at the grocery today. Remind me never to again go the day before Superbowl. The place was jammed. Please remember I live in a very small community in the foothills of the Poconos. There are two convenience store/gas stations in the area. If somebody stops and asks me where is the best place in town to get a good bite to eat, I tell them the Sunoco station, because it has a microwave. Anyway,...
January 2009
Know anybody at St. Luke's Hospital?
Trixie’s having an awful time there. I don’t think they’ve found what the problem is, she’s still in terrible pain and on morphine, they put her on a bland diet then brought chili and pizza, and on and on. I went over to check on her house, set the lights and the security system, pointed the shotguns at the doors on trip wires (I just said that in case there are burglars...
The word for the day is cannula.
At least I think that’s how it’s spelled. It’s pronounced CAN-you-luh. It’s the little plastic thing that sticks in your nose that you get oxygen through. You hold it up with your ears and it hooks in your nose and looks pretty dorky. And it is really a nuisance! At home, I have a couple of longer ones, one 25 feet, the other 50, and when one of those is hooked up I can...
Hmm....
Another big snowstorm predicted for this evening and tomorrow. Biggest of the season so far they’re saying. We’ll see. I put some salt down where the mailman has to walk up to the door. Little Jake is supposed to start puppy kindergarten this evening at Petsmart. They say they’ll call if it’s postponed. I have a 4WD vechicle but if it’s nasty I’d just as leave...
If I could bottle whatever it is....
I’m having a great breathing day. The humidity is down, so that backs up one theory I have. But I started breathing better about midday yesterday and the humidity was still up some. So now I’m also going to start watching the barometer to see if that might have something to do with it. Some days it takes all I have to get up out of a chair, other days, like today, I can take...
It is well with my soul
On this blog you’ll see me refer now and then to the old hymn “It is well with my soul”. For those who have known me for very long, you’ve probably never really known me to be a particularly religious person. I went to church when I was a kid and while I always believed there was a higher power I drifted away. Fortunately, I’ve been finding my way back. When we...
Did I mention this before?
I guess I’m not talking out of school by telling you that my son and his fiancee have decided to get married. I guess people who are engaged generally do that at some point but they actually went so far as to set a date. Then changed it already. Her name is Julie, she’s a nurse in Indianapolis, really Irish, and really sweet. Being around them it’s obvious they care for each...
Two docs down...
Busy week, up and down the halls of Lehigh Valley Hospital. I went to the pacemaker guy. We decided we’re going to try it awhile longer, regulating the heartbeat, if I need to with Metoprolol. That’s a pretty interesting drug. I can predictably raise or lower my heart rate with 12.5 mg. If my heart rate is running too high, or too erratically, take another 12.5 mg. ...
Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, today's...
And boy am I glad yesterday is over. As much as I don’t want to do it, it looks like once in awhile I’m going to feel sorry for myself. Like yesterday. Whew! It was probaby a combination of stuff that set it off, not the least of which is that I have to go to the pacemaker guy tomorrow, and back to my lung guy on Tuesday. I really don’t like going to doctors and I see a...
Not the best day...
This little blog is now a Tumblr.com staff pick so we’ll have new people stopping by to check us out. I wish it was fancier. And tonight I’m a little sad. Warning you in advance….
It’s really cold, has been for a few days now. I’ve stayed inside except to the take Jake out and then I’m all bundled up like a kid in a snowsuit who can’t bend over. ...
Excuse me while I rant.
My printer is falling apart so my kids got me one for Christmas. Today I planned to install it and hopefully start using it because I have a big print job coming up. HP 2240 All In One. But there was no power cable adaptor in the box like there was supposed to be. So for the next hour I bounced around from Abu Dhabie to Punjab to who knows where else. Either the person I was trying to talk...
And nobody lost a shoe.
I watched President Bush sign off last night. He has to be really happy that he’s going to be out of the public eye. I thought the address was actually pretty bland. I sort of hoped he’d take a few shots at some of those who’ve poked fun at him over the years for things like mispronouncing nuclear, and for broadcasting the video of him letting a loogie fly once after he got...
Can oatmeal be used as concrete?
It’s really cold here. When I was a kid my mother would feed me oatmeal or Cream of Wheat on cold mornings. Sticks to your ribs, she’d say. Now that I’m older, I eat oat stuff to try to bring my cholesterol down, but it still seems like comfort food these cold days, like tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, which she also used to fix. Does oatmeal stick to...
Welcome to the new Tumblr readers
I’ve been notified that the Tumblr people have found this log, and found it interesting enough that they’re recommending it to others on their home page, www.tumblr.net. Hm. I feel like I should do a “For those just tuning in…” thing, as we used to call it in broadcasting. So without further adieu…….
For those just tuning in, welcome! What...
p.p.s. re: second opinion
I just got an appointment with another pulmonary guy for a second opinion. It’s a month away, but at least it’s getting done. His name is Dr. Kintsler (no relation to my late bud Sheldon Kinser, sprint car driver) and my heart guy recommended him so he must be good. And the food is better at St. Luke’s where this guy is. So now I get to go to my current pulmo guy and ask...
p.s.
Good news! I just got a call from Dr. Kleaveland’s office, my heart doctor and they think the therapy is important enough to my health that they’re going to take the matter up with Blue Cross. Because it was prescribed by the pulmonologist, that may not work, but they’re going to try. YAY! Naomi, the doctor’s assistant is behind this. She’s one of the most...
Headed for the deep freeze.
How do you spell botchagaloop? Trixie June, in her little endearing Long Island Italian way called me a botchagaloop this morning and I have a feeling it wasn’t very nice. And I can’t find botchagaloop, boccagalup, or whatever on the internet to look it up.
The temperatures are headed down toward zero and they’re not supposed to be much above that the rest of this week. ...
Monday and once again I didn't win the Powerball
I didn’t even have one steenking number right. I think the most I’ve ever had was two. The good news is that it goes to 146-million for Wednesday and that’ll just allow me to have more to give away when I win. I don’t buy a ticket until it goes over 100-million, and then I buy one. I figure if God meant for me to win, one ticket is plenty. And for a dollar my...
Saturday, part two. :-(
Just got a letter from Capital Blue Cross. They turned down my pulmonary doctor’s request for pulmonary therapy for me. Didn’t think it’d do any good. Both the pulmodude and my heart guy said they thought it would, so I’ll get them on the case Monday and we’ll appeal it and see what happens. Kind of a bummer, though.
Oh, the weather outside is frightful....
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. And it is snowing. Huge bunches of it at this point. That’s a scientific term, huge bunches. I feel bad because I can’t shovel anymore, and forgot to get the snowblower out from behind some summertime stuff in the back or the garage. But it’s really pretty. I got out this morning early and got the little running around done that I...
The lull between the storms
Two days ago, it was an ice storm that shut everything down. Tomorrow, forecasters are calling for 4-7 inches of new snow, possibly more up in the hills where I live. So today we have to get done whatever running around we need to do, get the gas tank filled up, stuff like that. So my day started out getting the dog’s food ready and I dropped the bowl upside down on the kitchen floor. ...
What a day.
What’s that saying? “Friends are the angels who pick you up when your own wings forget to fly”? It’s absolutely true. I have some great friends and when I need them they’re right there.
Except today. Freezing rain since last night, the branches and limbs are coated with ice and are starting to break and some places will probably lose electricity, the roads are...
I knew it all the time.
When I was in Indianapolis over Christmas, my brother was sick. I stayed with him and his family a few nights and he had an awful cough. I figured he had pneumonia. I’ve heard that cough before. So he went to the doctor, came home, said it was just a bad cold, he had some antibiotics. I spoke with his wife today and she ratted him out, and told me he had pneumonia and was down until...
Sunday morning coming down...
Ever hear that song by Johnny Cash? Very sad song about a guy living alone in a city on a Sunday morning. “There’s something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone”.
I went to church this morning. It’s a great little church where everybody really cares about everybody else. Something triggered something in the middle of the service. I don’t know if it was...
I'm bored
But I’m feeling better! For the last several days I wasn’t feeling very well, more trouble breathing, and when that happens I’m always afraid it’s taken a turn for the worse. But now today’s better, so go figure. I’d been out and about more lately, so away from the air conditioning and air purifiers, and that may have had something to do with it. I...
Happy New Year!
So it’s the first day of 2009. Seems very much like the last day of 2008 except it’s colder. It’s 9 degrees outside at 10 AM. Jake’s curled up on his heating pad. I’m drinking coffee to try to warm up. I slept through midnight, as usual. Today I’m supposed to have dinner with Trixie’s daughter, Natasha, and her family. In Indiana, on New...