Our trip to see Annalee and Ellory on Sunday went well. On Saturday my oldest sister Debra, her oldest son, Adam and his four year old daughter Olive came by and brought Olives old "MamaRoo". It is a plug in combination of baby seat and powered swing. We took it up there on Sunday and Ellory seemed to love it. I hope she continues to do so. Her crying is really bothering Annalee. Annalee was in tears from missing Brandon. He is only allowed to call home once a week for five minutes from State Police training. Annalee was saying that everywhere she looks around the townhouse she sees Brandon's stuff and it upsets her. I pray for Annalee and her little family nearly every day of course. I just can't stand to see her so sad. Didn't see a bit of the Super Bowl though I listened to the last few minutes on the Santa Fe radio on the way home. It ended while we were stopped at a gas station topping off the tank. All for the moment.
Daddy died five years ago today. I still think about him all the time. He was 88. And we still haven't been able to get his house restored to where Amy, Murphy (our dog) and I can stay overnight in it. I'll probably need to get a different plumber to work on it. At least the roof if fully repaired so at least currently it is not getting any worse. Amy and I took our one overnight anniversary trip (24th) to Tyler, TX this last weekend. I enjoyed it a great deal. I got several books at Half Price books though not the ones I had hoped to find. On the way home Amy wanted me to take her to Bungee's the vast and fancy convenience store down in Terrell, TX. I think it was She enjoyed that a great deal. We got home just after 9 on Sunday night. Murphy was a completely good dog. She caused no trouble at all. It was an enjoyable trip though Amy wants to put off another trip to Tyler for a few years. There was the threat of possible ice yesterday evening so they took us all off of dialysis early and made us go home. I didn't want to get out early but I had no choice.
If you're paying money for books and not getting what you want you should use the library more. You have to take them back but they're what you want and they're free Why do they take you off dialysis when there's ice?
My wife works in the county library. I used to go there all the time. They worried that patients and staff might have trouble getting home if it iced. Wouldn't have bothered me. My pickup is quite good in bad road conditions and I've driven in ice for years. Though that doesn't make up for other motorists.
I go to the library lots but still buy used books myself, sometimes from the library. Sorry if I seemed to mean you didn't know that but what you said seemed to indicate you didn't use it often enough. I've only recently started using it to get books I see advertised or hear mentioned. It's amazing how readily you forget such a wonderful resource is available to you. OIC, yes , that would be a consideration.
We went to see Amy's parents this last weekend. We left Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we went by mom and dads house that wear're trying to get fixed up to move into eventually. I also took Daddy's British 303 rifle and ammunition. It hasn't been fire since 1992. It was dad's rifle for deer hunting. He got it back in the 1960s. It is a 1946 model IIRC. I've been just dying to fire it for some time. I loaded four rounds (the magazine holds 12 IIRC) and aimed from front yard across the old garden in the general direction of south. There are no cattle in the pasture beyond so I figured that was about the safest place to fire it. The kick wasn't as bad as I feared but my gosh the sound of the shot was awesome. Amy wasn't standing very close and she has fired my 12 gauge shotgun before but she was stunned by how loud it was. An almighty combination of "crack & boom".!!! Another reason that rifles are purely fun!. We make more plans for future work on the house. Mainly the plumbing. Overall it was a very enjoyable visit. I went to the same Church of Christ at Dierks that I typically go to when I'm near home. All for the moment.
Saturday we helped Annalee and her family from Sherwood to Searcy. I wasn't much help as I was suffering from the same severe sinus infection that had afflicted Amy for several days. I was so ill that I couldn't sleep for two straight nights and felt utterly awful on Saturday. I couldn't even do all the driving on the way up there. After I had Amy take over the driving I slept off and on whenever we were on the road for rest of the day and while they were loading stuff at Annalee's. I also took a long nap at Brad & Sarah's house (Brandon's parents). The occasional sleep eventually served to help rejuvenate me a great deal. The Sunday before that we went to Annalee's after we got out of church. Amy and I took Annalee and Ellory to visit Mary Nel Pinkerton. The widow of my uncle Veral. She is a nice old woman of about 82 and of course she hadn't seen Annalee in years or Ellory for that matter. Though Ellory slept through almost the entire visit it was obvious Mary Nel enjoyed seeing them. I'm praying that Annalee takes here to visit rest of our family in the near future. All for the moment.
Amy's uncle, her moms younger brother (77) Gene Clements died Friday. He was driving a four wheeler, all terrain vehicle along with one of his preteen relatives and he had a massive heart attack that led to them wrecking. He suffered massive head injuries. Everyone knew that he was not going to live long but he died that night. The funeral is Thurday at 10:00 in Magnet Cove (near Malvern). Gene was always a fun character. He loved doing wild and dangerous stunts. He was a lineman for the electrical utility and he talked about climbing the electric line polls, attaching his harness to a cable looped around the electric line and "zip lining" from one pole to another. That strikes me as horrendously dangerous on so many levels. Extreme electricity, heights, and speed. But I guess he learned how to do it safely. He will be missed. Annalee said Ellory has entered her "cooing" stage. Where she sounds like she is trying to talk by making cooing noises. I always thought it was cute when babies do that. I miss her and her mother. All for the moment.
Gene's funeral was nice. About as positive and upbeat as any funeral can be. I wasn't feeling well later at the graveside part of the service but then Gene's church served us dinner (lunch) and it was extremely good. Amy and I hung around the Hot Springs area for awhile and did some shopping. I got a chocolate shake at The Purple Cow and it was delicious. Amy misses Ellory and Annalee terribly. So we're going up there this Saturday after Amy gets off work. We're staying at a hotel in Searcy that Annalee agreed to pay for. I don't like having to expend the gas and wear and tear on our best vehicle (the SUV) but what can you do. Amy desperately wants to see Ellory and I can't deny her that opportunity simply for base economic reasons. At least not at this point. I sure hope my prayers are answered soon and Annalee brings Ellory to see the rest of mine and Any's families. My dialysis yesterday went okay except it was agonizingly cold in the dialysis center. The worst that I can recall this last year. And I wasn't dressed for war weather either. I had my heaviest coat and my blanket yet neither made much difference. I'll probably make sure I wear one of my vests tomorrow.
Not a bad day today. Today was my oldest sister Debra's 65th birthday. I called and left a message of greetings for her. Haven't heard back from her yet. This last week my dialysis went well. Easy needle sticks, easy extractions, and they only had trouble stopping the bleeding on Friday but otherwise all was well. I kept my weight for weigh ins down nicely as well. Tuesday I have an appointment at UAMS for consultation regarding a possible kidney transplant so that's what this next week is built around. I'm looking forward to it but then again I enjoy almost any road trip with Amy. And next Saturday we're leaving to go see Amy, Ellory, Brandon and Bo. We wanted to take Ellory to church with us next Sunday in our old home of Augusta but Annalee doesn't want to given Ellory's continued reflux problems. All for the moment.
Bad news. I can't move forward with the transplant process until the sore on the bottom of my left foot heals completely. They said because the anti rejection drugs will suppress my immune system they can't take the risk of me having any open, unhealed sores. Plus, the kidney transplant is major abdominal surgery and they have to take pains to make sure my body is strong enough to heal after the surgery. I was very depressed and it makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to get a kidney transplant. I mean what happens if I get a cut or sore after having the transplant and it takes forever to heal. Not to mention this causes me to really doubt whether even if my foot does heal and even with a successful kidney transplant whether I would able to resume my career as a teacher and football coach. At least the football coaching part. As I was continually getting minor injuries to my extremities as football coach. And I have to be a coach in order to bring in some serious money again as no one is every going to pay big bucks for a mere history teacher. I'm not even sure I could do what I've dreamed of and take a shot at running for office as in most forms of Arkansas politics it involves walking around a great deal and meeting people. How can I do that if I risk blistering my feet from walking around? And there are things I want to do. What about the people who need new kidneys and need and advocate at the state level? What about all those black people who need to get angiograms before having a foot or leg amputated? Those issues have become a couple of things I'm passionate about. I guess all I can do is pray. All for the moment.
And my prayers have been answered. The doctor at Wound Care signed off on an official paper that declares my foot is healed and I have no open wound there anymore. So I'm apparently back in business regarding being cleared to get on the kidney transplant list. We went to visit Annalee this last weekend. Stayed Saturday night in La Quinta (because they are pet friendly. I think Murphy has almost gotten used to spending the night in hotel rooms with us. Seeing Annalee and Ellory was of course a joy as expected. I love watching Amy carry Ellory around. Does my heart so good to see my wife hold a baby again. And I know that she loves to do it. Ellory was in good spirits overall. She seems to enjoy laughing alot. She loves sitting in her "MommaRoo" and watching educational programs for infants that Annalee plays on her tv. Annalee and Brandon worked on putting up new curtains in several of the rooms. They look nice. Annalee and Brandon have a really nice house. I wish we could find one up there just like it. I love everything about it. Including the neighborhood. Thursday Amy is taking the day off and we're going up to my parents house. I'm dropping off some books to store up there and I may pick up a couple that interest me. All for the moment.
Looking back the trip to my parents house a week ago Thursday went pretty well. Though it was raining heavily pretty much everywhere that day and the day before. My father in law Travis in DeQueen said they had gotten nearly three inches and my sister Deanna in Hope said they had gotten about an inch. The rain must be really widespead as when we went over the Red Rive it was up noticeably. In addition to leaving the six boxes/plastic totes of books and newspapers there I picked up a handful of books to take back. Mainly ones dealing with military hardware and hypothetical World War 3 situations (long a particular interest of mine, I'm trying to make copies of the key things like WW3 battles and collect them all in a single binder). Don't know why that interests me so much. The yard at daddy's desperately needs mowing so I finally called Robert Taylor and contracted with him to handle it the same way he and his father did last year with their two big Zero turn mowers. We'll go back to visit Annalee, Ellory, Brandon and Bo the weekend of my birthday. All for the moment.
I wish I was unbanned from various online boards I've been banned from. PoliticalHotwire.come was the most recent. Banned for advocating the killing of large numbers of Russians. (though I specifically said that I didn't want to suggest genocide). Unfortunately one of the other members has family living in Russia and he got all pissing about it. Wordforge.net . A science fiction related board (heavily into Star Trek). The people there were prone to mocking me because I liked space battles. Yet they adored Star Trek DS9 even though they had a major war featured during its last couple of seasons. Likewise they love Star Trek: Discovery even though it featured a major war. What really bothers me is that I maintained an online diary there that I failed to run print outs of mostly. Spacebattles.com. Despite the name this forum is mainly concerned with history and military issues. I was banned from there after being seen as indifferent to people that commit suicide. TrekBBS-naturally a Star Trek site. The progenitor of Wordforge.net. Too many issues to even list right here and now. Maybe I spend too much time online.
I emphasize with you about the dialysis. My kidneys have been trying to kill me for years and I'm right on the edge of needing dialysis. I plan to try 'at home' dialysis, and am on a kidney transplant list here in New York. Getting old isn't for sissies, I guess.
That wasn't why you got banned there and you know it. From all the information you put out into Al Gore's Internet, there's no question about that. Please never go to Twitter, for your own safety. :\
I have a Twitter account though about all I posted were parts of "If I Were President" document. Unsurprisingly, it attracted little interest. There were many reasons I was banned from Wordforge, I'll readily concede that. But I was never able to keep track of them. I can only go with what I can recall. Regards.
You know its too bad. I had a lot to contribute to the Star Trek threads there. Like my "Mistakes You Think Were Made In Star Trek that were not". I came up with some more for that. Oh well. I got a special treat today. Amy decided to come to Church with me at Norphlet Church of Christ instead of having me drop her off at First Baptist. I even got here to feed treats to Elvis and late pet him. She even fed Viola one treat. Given he fear of the massive Viola and the fact that I had to put my arm all the way into the cab of Lynn's pickup to feed Pearl only I could feed Pearl. Amy was surprised that when she reached in to hug Elvis that Viola made no effort to jump back into the front seat and snap at he. Viola did "talk" to me a lot and licked my face. Still Amy seemed to enjoy my church a great deal. Again I'm grateful. All for now!!!
Massive heavy rains last Saturday night caused Amy and me to oversleep dramatically Sunday morning. I didn't wake up until 9:42. It was too late for Amy to get ready for church or she would probably have gone with me again. I barely managed to get there myself though I did manage to feed Lynn's dogs. I'm glad I got to feed them and go to church given I won't be there this next Sunday. For my birthday (55th) in part we're leaving Saturday morning to go to Annalee's. Can't wait to see our granddaughter again. She is really starting to gain weight and fill out nicely. Amy's parents, her oldest sister, brother in law and his mother all drove up to visit them on Saturday. It was the first time Amy's parents and Melody's mother in law had seen Ellory in person. They sent us some great pictures. Including one of Bo laying his head on Verna (Ricky's mother). I never thought I would see a time that the hotel bill when we go stay overnight at Searcy is exceeded by the gasoline bill but it is what it is. I voted in the primaries this morning. No big surprises. The ballot was only four pages long and two of those pages were uncontested elections. A guy that used to be one of my best friends was running for country judge in Howard County but of course I couldn't vote in that election as we live in Union County currently. At least if Brent wins I'll know who to call to ask that they don't grade the road in front of daddy's house. All for the moment.
Well my birthday and our trip to Annalee's went well. It was a joy to see Ellory of course. I held her more than usual. She loves being held by someone who is standing and even better walking around so I did both. She did lots of laughing. I loved the way Annalee held her and she was cooing a bunch almost as though she was complaining to Amy. That too of course was adorable. The only downside to the trip was that I slept (or didn't) horribly on Saturday night. My stomach was bothering me a lot. Not sure why but it has gotten better since then. Murphy was more interested in licking Ellory's face and nuzzling her. No doubt that the dogs (our Murphy, Annalee's Bo) like Ellory. Loved my gifts. Amy got me a yellow shirt that I really wanted. Not as vibrant a yellow as I preferred but still yellow. And it is a button up short sleeve with chest pockets. She also got me this nifty combination pop up, activity book. Annalee got me three books by Stephen Biesty. The "incredible cross sections" (actually exploded views). The original incredible cross sections, Man-O-War, and Castle. I had one of the original editions of Man-O-War from when it originally came out in the 1990s but the other two were most welcome. The books are replete with good background information about those times. If I was teaching again, they had a lot of information I could use in my classes like the stuff on dietary practices in the 19th century aboard ships and the 14th century for castle dwellers. Annalee also got me a book that focused on a single street alongside a river from its stone age beginnings to 50 years in the future (2070). Perhaps the most interesting of all. I need to go back to wound care. It seems a large blister formed alongside the callus on the bottom of my foot and has now ruptured despite my best efforts. Amy is still troubled by that intense back pain. She fears she is going to have to go back to the doctor this week. All for the moment.
My daddy's youngest sister (one of only two of his family surviving at present) is near death. She is in a facility near Russellville and it was thought she might not make it out of the weekend (but she did). She will be 80 on July 31st. Jane is the youngest of Daddy's sisters and only her and the slightly older sister June survive from dad's immediate family. Even if mightily inconvenient and even if its all the way up in Russellville I'll still probably go to her funeral after she dies. After all, I think of what Yogi Berra said about funerals. "If you don't go to theirs, they won't go to yours". Kind of says it all doesn't it?
I had interesting events occur yesterday and last night. I got a robocall yesterday afternoon to confirm an appointment on Thursday for 10:30 or so. I couldn't hear it clearly but they did say something about my "diabetes". I did not confirm the appointment but Amy called it back when she got off work and realized it was an appointment to see my endocrinologist. Last night I had a vivid dream where I was working at a small school similar to my work at Augusta or Strong. I was told to take the afternoon bus of an absent driver. A "Mr. Jain". I didn't want to drive it because while I had driven it before the route was not that familiar to me (a common theme in many of my dreams.) but I had no choice. This morning when I told Amy she noted my endocrinologist was Dr. Jain and I had been reluctant to go to my appointment because I had never driven up there without Amy. Much like in my dream, I have only a vague knowledge of the directions. Later in the dream (when I was the last bus out of the loading zone) I got a call from a Hispanic woman who was assigned to drive the bus I usually drove (no, I don't know why I was assigned to drive Jain's bus instead of my own but I got the impression it was because I was the only available driver who had driven Jain's bus before). She was having trouble with the start up sequence for my bus and wanted me to list the steps. I couldn't remember the steps in the proper order easily so I stopped Jains bus alongside hers, shut it down and quickly got aboard it to do the start up sequence. This morning I called Jain's office and delayed my appointment to August 11th so Amy could go with me. Strangely enough the loading zone for the buses in the dream did not look like the ones at any of the schools I've driven buses for but instead look like a larger version of the loading zone at the school at Dierks where I went to school for 12 years. In addition there seemed to be an underlying theme of me running late when school was out in getting to Mr. Jains bus. I had to pick up something in the high school library.
