When I was diagnosed with cancer, a few months ago in August, I weighed 226 pounds or 232 pounds depending on the person who weighed me. You would be surprised at how difficult it can be to make an educated registered nurse understand that the gun, magazines, bullets, handcuffs and other gear on your belt weighs between 6 and 7 pounds and that is not your body weight. Someone finally got it right after about 2 months and when they figured how much weight I have gained or lost since this ordeal began, they now use the starting weight of 226 pounds. That means I lost about 22 pounds as of my last weigh in since I came in at 204 then. I have maintained that weight, within a pound or two either way, for about a month now. If I am still that weight tomorrow, my radiation oncologist will recommend removal of the feeding tube that was surgically implanted in my stomach through my abdomen.
The question then becomes what to do. Should I lose weight or should I gain weight. I am leaning toward losing weight at a slow pace, say maybe a pound per week, maybe 2 pounds. Of course, I will have to discuss this with the docs and see what they say. They may want me to maintain my weight for awhile yet or possibly even gain weight. I was not supposed to lose any weight during treatments, I had been fitted for a facial mask that held my head in place for radiation treatment and it had to be tight. Well, I lost weight due to being placed in the hospital and them not feeding me for a few days, then them giving me a few cans of liquid through the feeding tube before I was allowed to resume eating. I lost about 12 pounds while in the hospital and the downward slide began and I lost the rest not long after that. I lost several pounds more before radiation treatments were completed but the radiation technicians say they got the right place each time with the radiation treatments regardless of the weight loss. There was always a chance my head would move while in a mask that had become too loose because I lost weight but they made me lock my chin in each time and I guess it stayed in place. Whatever, in all, I lost about 22 pounds as of my last weigh in.
I go in tomorrow to see the radiation doc. I will be ecstatic if he gives the okay to remove the feeding tube, which by the way, I hardly ever used. I think I used less than or just about a half case of 8 ounce cans of the dietary supplement. I was given 210 cans of it, or 8 3/4 cases of it. I never got passed that 3/4 case. The stuff made me sick, I felt as if I had a hard lump in my gut for many hours after using it and sometimes it me me up-chuck or it wound up coming up and coating my tonsils with a burning ooze. It was not good for me, so I avoided it like the plague and forced myself to eat. I missed a few to several days of eating here and there when the radiation got my throat too cooked to eat but otherwise I surprised my medical team by eating even at the height of treatments.
Well, enough of that. The question now is to gain weight or lose weight. I opt to lose it slowly and I can only hope that the doctors will agree. I think this is the perfect time for me to do it. I think I can cut out the snacking totally if I try now. All that regardless of me eating 2 packs of Yodels yesterday and a good amount of other junk over the past few days - just making sure I am at least maintaining my weight for my weigh in tomorrow. I just think me not getting back to mini-blimp size would be a good idea. I think it would be even better if I went back to being fairly svelte. Imagine that, my wife might actually like it, heck I might like it myself!
All the best,
GB
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
A Tale of Two Newts
In ancient times, creatures like salamanders and newts were often attributed with magical powers. It was once believed that certain salamanders were born out of fire. The truth is that when some wet logs were taken from the wood pile, or picked up from the forest floor, there were salamanders that had taken up residence within nooks, crannies or cracks in the wood or the dampness under the bark. Throw that log onto a fire and what is a smart salamander to do but crawl away from the heat. People must truly have been much less intelligent than they are now to have been so ignorant of their surroundings not to have known that salamanders often lived in damp or rotting logs. One salamander, native to most of Western Europe, was even named Fire Salamander.
Then of course there was the famous witches' incantation, from Shakespeare's Macbeth:
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,--
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
That little newt must have been one powerful little critter to have an eye that was the first ingredient in a witches' brew. There were plenty of other powers attributed to these creatures some based on nothing more than fantasy and others based upon reality. A down to earth, reality based, power of these creatures was their ability to kill. Some have very powerful toxins in their skins that are released when these small amphibians are attacked. These toxins, dependent upon newt species as each carries varying amounts, can in some instances easily kill predators from other amphibians, to reptiles, to birds to mammals including those as large a bobcats (see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/toxin.shtml). Chances are that enough of that toxin could also kill a human. One has to wonder, were newts ever used by man to mix a poison to kill off an enemy.
I am not sure if newts or salamanders were ever believed to have the ability to live forever but it would not surprise me if such had been the case. First, just look to the Fire Salamanders or any salamander that would be able to crawl out of a fire and still live. Then look at the life span of the same salamander. Fire Salamanders are believed to have lived for as long as 50 years. While that was news to me, and was questionable to me since the source was Wikipedia, I found another source stating that some live up to 55 years, others to 25 years but most much less than that but still many up to 10 to 12 years. Even 10 to 12 years seems pretty long for such small creatures. (Note, the one that lived up to 55 years is the giant of all newts and salamanders, the Japanese Giant Salamander which can reach a weight of 140 pounds.) Such life spans could make them seem immortal but then again people back in medieval times were not keeping these creatures as pets nor studying them scientifically and likely had no idea how long they lived.
I am still wondering though if they have some magical power that allows them to live when they almost assuredly they should have died. My wonder is not fueled by the fact that they have crawled out of fires nor by the fact that some have very long life spans nor that they can live with deadly toxins within their skins. What makes me wonder is something that I have witnessed for myself, the astonishing ability of a particular Iberian Ribbed Newt to have survived for well over one year, without a watery home (they usually live in stagnant or slow moving bodies of water), without a ready source of dampness in which to shelter itself in the absence of watery home, and without a readily available source of food. Sometime over one year ago, I had 3 juveniles of this type of newt. I first got them in July 2010. Then, sometime before October 9th, the date of the Long Island Herpetological Society's annual show in 2010, I lost two of them. I think it was in September but just know for sure it was before the LIHS show. I figured that either they had somehow climbed out of there tank or that while cleaning some plants out of there tank I had inadvertently scooped up two of them with the plants and then thrown everything into the trash. As it turns out, at least for one of these tough little newts (little only when juveniles, they can and do grow fairly large for a newt - up to 12 inches), it had probably climbed out of its tank and escaped or I had dropped one on the floor when cleaning out the plants. After I realized that two went missing, I put up a good effort at searching the basement for them. I moved just about everything on the floor while looking for them. I could not find an sign of them and finally gave up after at least a couple of hours of effort on my part. I figured I had thrown them out with the plants that I had culled from the tank and figured they were gone forever.
I was very wrong, they, or at least one of them was not gone forever. I know this now because about one week ago, I was somewhat startled to see something crawling on my basement floor that looked like my single remaining Iberian Ribbed Newt. I wondered, for a moment: "Had that last one escaped its tank". Then I realized, there was no way that this small, skinny, little creature was the same as the fairly large and robust one I had in my community fish tank. The one in the tank had to be at least 7-8 inches long and this one was lucky if it hit 4 inches. The one on the tank was well fed and was quite a bit larger in girth as the one crawling on the floor. Then it hit me, surprised me, that the one I was looking at crawling across the carpeting in my basement had to be one of the two that went missing over a year ago. I wondered where it had been, what it had eaten and how in Hades it had survived for that long - out of water and without a ready source of food. I did not wonder too long. I got a net, scooped it up, and put it into the tank with the larger one. Why a net? Well, because of my current medical condition and because these newts can shoot there ribs out through their skin to pierce a predator. Why put it in the tank with the bigger one? Yeah, I know, that was a mistake, it should have gone into a quarantine tank for at least a month to make sure it was in good health before placing it the same tank as the other one. That was a brain fart on my part and I only thought of the quarantine tank after a few days of it being in with the larger one. What was done was done and it has been in there over a week already and seems to be adjusting with no ill effects on the other newt.
Yes, I said it seems to be adjusting well. At first, it seemingly wanted nothing to do with its new watery home. I keep the other Iberian Ribbed Newt in there with no land area on which it can crawl out. These newts are primarily, if not totally aquatic in there native range so I thought little of putting it right in there. Had I been thinking, and not been suffering from brain fartitis, I might have realized that since this newt had been out on dry land for over a year, that a completely aquatic environment would not suit it well. I would have been right. It squirmed this way and that and continuously tied to climb up the glass or atop the floating plants to get out of the water. It has since stopped trying to climb up what little glass is exposed above the water line. Now it primarily stays atop the floating plants and seems comfortable in the water now. I am happy it stays near the surface atop the plants as I am somewhat concerned that the bigger one might eat it if it gets the chance. The sad truth is I do not have another tank available for it so in there it will say at least for now.
Speaking of eating, it has started eating. Well, it actually started within a few days of it being found on the floor. It took part of a trout worm from my fingers when I held in front of its snout. It has eaten other parts of worms since then. As I said, it seems to be adjusting to its new home. My guess is it has gained a bit of weight as its belly has filled out somewhat since I found it. Now mind you, it was pretty skinny when I found it, still is, but not emaciated by any stretch of the imagination. For that to be the case, it must have eaten something over the course f a year. My guess is that it caught at least several of the creepy crawlers that run rampant in my basement. I don't know if they are silverfish, or centipedes but they are long, with lots of legs and are pretty darned fast. I have never tried to kill them off because while they are around I have never seen any other type of bugs in my basement with the exception of some flies, mosquitoes and spiders. I don't kill off the spiders either, I let them take care of the flies and mosquitoes that I don't get. Back to those creepy crawlers. Regardless of them being fast, my guess is that the slow little newt must have caught at least several of them for it to have survived that long without becoming emaciated. I guess one thing it had going for it was the fact that its natural habitat is somewhat arid and sometimes the ponds in which they live dry up forcing them to estivate under rocks, in crevices or anywhere that they can find dampness (see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pleurodeles/P_waltl.shtml). However it did it, whatever it ate, wherever it found moist spots in which to shelter itself, it made it for more than a year. It is one tough newt species and one tough newt in particular!
The two newts in the accompanying picture (click on it to enlarge it) are the two newts that I have right now. I took the photograph this evening (heck, it is only 5:15 and its been long dark outside already). I wanted you to see them side by side for a comparison of what a year can do - a year for one that was well fed and living in the appropriate environment, a year for the other that was spent in what must have been newt hell. Yet, it survived. The smaller newt measures in at about 4 to 4.5 inches. The larger one is between 8.5 to 9 inches in length, probably closer to 8.5 but it may have reached a full 9 inches had I straightened it out when I measured it; instead I estimated around a small curve in its tail. It is definitely at least a bit longer that 8.5 inches long. These reportedly grow up to 12 inches in the wild but in captivity they normally max out at about 8 inches in length. My larger one is well on its way to becoming an atypical captive as far as size goes since it is already well over 8 inches in length. I am hoping it grows at east a couple more inches but only time will tell. I am also hopeful that the smaller one will grow to a normal size for an adult but this is questionable right now since it was not allowed proper nourishment for over a year and therefore may be stunted in any further growth. Again, time will tell and you can bet that it will be fed a good diet from now on. It will, at least, have the opportunity to grow over whatever time it has left in its lifetime. Besides the obvious difference in the length of each of these newts, the other obvious difference is their girth. I did not measure them around, I did not want to upset either enough to have it shoot out its ribs through its skin. This is a defensive ability they have that apparently does not harm the newt but can pierce a predator with the sharp rib tips (see both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Ribbed_Newt and http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pleurodeles/P_waltl.shtml). Despite my not measuring them, I would offer a guess that the larger one is at least three times to four times around in girth than the smaller one. A good and steady diet will do that just as lack of food will prevent such growth. Yet as I said, the little one was not emaciated when I found it, nor did it seem excessively dehydrated. While I would not normally consider this newt to be in good shape (it was skinny and had not gown enough for its age) I am flabbergasted as to how it survived a year in as good a shape as I found it. Maybe immortality is another of their traits otherwise this was just one lucky newt.
All the best,
Glenn B
Then of course there was the famous witches' incantation, from Shakespeare's Macbeth:
"Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing,--
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
That little newt must have been one powerful little critter to have an eye that was the first ingredient in a witches' brew. There were plenty of other powers attributed to these creatures some based on nothing more than fantasy and others based upon reality. A down to earth, reality based, power of these creatures was their ability to kill. Some have very powerful toxins in their skins that are released when these small amphibians are attacked. These toxins, dependent upon newt species as each carries varying amounts, can in some instances easily kill predators from other amphibians, to reptiles, to birds to mammals including those as large a bobcats (see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/toxin.shtml). Chances are that enough of that toxin could also kill a human. One has to wonder, were newts ever used by man to mix a poison to kill off an enemy.
I am not sure if newts or salamanders were ever believed to have the ability to live forever but it would not surprise me if such had been the case. First, just look to the Fire Salamanders or any salamander that would be able to crawl out of a fire and still live. Then look at the life span of the same salamander. Fire Salamanders are believed to have lived for as long as 50 years. While that was news to me, and was questionable to me since the source was Wikipedia, I found another source stating that some live up to 55 years, others to 25 years but most much less than that but still many up to 10 to 12 years. Even 10 to 12 years seems pretty long for such small creatures. (Note, the one that lived up to 55 years is the giant of all newts and salamanders, the Japanese Giant Salamander which can reach a weight of 140 pounds.) Such life spans could make them seem immortal but then again people back in medieval times were not keeping these creatures as pets nor studying them scientifically and likely had no idea how long they lived.
I am still wondering though if they have some magical power that allows them to live when they almost assuredly they should have died. My wonder is not fueled by the fact that they have crawled out of fires nor by the fact that some have very long life spans nor that they can live with deadly toxins within their skins. What makes me wonder is something that I have witnessed for myself, the astonishing ability of a particular Iberian Ribbed Newt to have survived for well over one year, without a watery home (they usually live in stagnant or slow moving bodies of water), without a ready source of dampness in which to shelter itself in the absence of watery home, and without a readily available source of food. Sometime over one year ago, I had 3 juveniles of this type of newt. I first got them in July 2010. Then, sometime before October 9th, the date of the Long Island Herpetological Society's annual show in 2010, I lost two of them. I think it was in September but just know for sure it was before the LIHS show. I figured that either they had somehow climbed out of there tank or that while cleaning some plants out of there tank I had inadvertently scooped up two of them with the plants and then thrown everything into the trash. As it turns out, at least for one of these tough little newts (little only when juveniles, they can and do grow fairly large for a newt - up to 12 inches), it had probably climbed out of its tank and escaped or I had dropped one on the floor when cleaning out the plants. After I realized that two went missing, I put up a good effort at searching the basement for them. I moved just about everything on the floor while looking for them. I could not find an sign of them and finally gave up after at least a couple of hours of effort on my part. I figured I had thrown them out with the plants that I had culled from the tank and figured they were gone forever.
I was very wrong, they, or at least one of them was not gone forever. I know this now because about one week ago, I was somewhat startled to see something crawling on my basement floor that looked like my single remaining Iberian Ribbed Newt. I wondered, for a moment: "Had that last one escaped its tank". Then I realized, there was no way that this small, skinny, little creature was the same as the fairly large and robust one I had in my community fish tank. The one in the tank had to be at least 7-8 inches long and this one was lucky if it hit 4 inches. The one on the tank was well fed and was quite a bit larger in girth as the one crawling on the floor. Then it hit me, surprised me, that the one I was looking at crawling across the carpeting in my basement had to be one of the two that went missing over a year ago. I wondered where it had been, what it had eaten and how in Hades it had survived for that long - out of water and without a ready source of food. I did not wonder too long. I got a net, scooped it up, and put it into the tank with the larger one. Why a net? Well, because of my current medical condition and because these newts can shoot there ribs out through their skin to pierce a predator. Why put it in the tank with the bigger one? Yeah, I know, that was a mistake, it should have gone into a quarantine tank for at least a month to make sure it was in good health before placing it the same tank as the other one. That was a brain fart on my part and I only thought of the quarantine tank after a few days of it being in with the larger one. What was done was done and it has been in there over a week already and seems to be adjusting with no ill effects on the other newt.
Yes, I said it seems to be adjusting well. At first, it seemingly wanted nothing to do with its new watery home. I keep the other Iberian Ribbed Newt in there with no land area on which it can crawl out. These newts are primarily, if not totally aquatic in there native range so I thought little of putting it right in there. Had I been thinking, and not been suffering from brain fartitis, I might have realized that since this newt had been out on dry land for over a year, that a completely aquatic environment would not suit it well. I would have been right. It squirmed this way and that and continuously tied to climb up the glass or atop the floating plants to get out of the water. It has since stopped trying to climb up what little glass is exposed above the water line. Now it primarily stays atop the floating plants and seems comfortable in the water now. I am happy it stays near the surface atop the plants as I am somewhat concerned that the bigger one might eat it if it gets the chance. The sad truth is I do not have another tank available for it so in there it will say at least for now.
Speaking of eating, it has started eating. Well, it actually started within a few days of it being found on the floor. It took part of a trout worm from my fingers when I held in front of its snout. It has eaten other parts of worms since then. As I said, it seems to be adjusting to its new home. My guess is it has gained a bit of weight as its belly has filled out somewhat since I found it. Now mind you, it was pretty skinny when I found it, still is, but not emaciated by any stretch of the imagination. For that to be the case, it must have eaten something over the course f a year. My guess is that it caught at least several of the creepy crawlers that run rampant in my basement. I don't know if they are silverfish, or centipedes but they are long, with lots of legs and are pretty darned fast. I have never tried to kill them off because while they are around I have never seen any other type of bugs in my basement with the exception of some flies, mosquitoes and spiders. I don't kill off the spiders either, I let them take care of the flies and mosquitoes that I don't get. Back to those creepy crawlers. Regardless of them being fast, my guess is that the slow little newt must have caught at least several of them for it to have survived that long without becoming emaciated. I guess one thing it had going for it was the fact that its natural habitat is somewhat arid and sometimes the ponds in which they live dry up forcing them to estivate under rocks, in crevices or anywhere that they can find dampness (see: http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pleurodeles/P_waltl.shtml). However it did it, whatever it ate, wherever it found moist spots in which to shelter itself, it made it for more than a year. It is one tough newt species and one tough newt in particular!
The two newts in the accompanying picture (click on it to enlarge it) are the two newts that I have right now. I took the photograph this evening (heck, it is only 5:15 and its been long dark outside already). I wanted you to see them side by side for a comparison of what a year can do - a year for one that was well fed and living in the appropriate environment, a year for the other that was spent in what must have been newt hell. Yet, it survived. The smaller newt measures in at about 4 to 4.5 inches. The larger one is between 8.5 to 9 inches in length, probably closer to 8.5 but it may have reached a full 9 inches had I straightened it out when I measured it; instead I estimated around a small curve in its tail. It is definitely at least a bit longer that 8.5 inches long. These reportedly grow up to 12 inches in the wild but in captivity they normally max out at about 8 inches in length. My larger one is well on its way to becoming an atypical captive as far as size goes since it is already well over 8 inches in length. I am hoping it grows at east a couple more inches but only time will tell. I am also hopeful that the smaller one will grow to a normal size for an adult but this is questionable right now since it was not allowed proper nourishment for over a year and therefore may be stunted in any further growth. Again, time will tell and you can bet that it will be fed a good diet from now on. It will, at least, have the opportunity to grow over whatever time it has left in its lifetime. Besides the obvious difference in the length of each of these newts, the other obvious difference is their girth. I did not measure them around, I did not want to upset either enough to have it shoot out its ribs through its skin. This is a defensive ability they have that apparently does not harm the newt but can pierce a predator with the sharp rib tips (see both http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Ribbed_Newt and http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Pleurodeles/P_waltl.shtml). Despite my not measuring them, I would offer a guess that the larger one is at least three times to four times around in girth than the smaller one. A good and steady diet will do that just as lack of food will prevent such growth. Yet as I said, the little one was not emaciated when I found it, nor did it seem excessively dehydrated. While I would not normally consider this newt to be in good shape (it was skinny and had not gown enough for its age) I am flabbergasted as to how it survived a year in as good a shape as I found it. Maybe immortality is another of their traits otherwise this was just one lucky newt.All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, November 26, 2011
No Translation Necessary
Watch this brief video. It is reportedly a Russian News Report and the newscaster is obviously talking about a certain political figure. She then does something, as she mentions that political figure's name, and no translation is necessary - believe me on that one. You have just gotta love it regardless of what she was saying.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
I wish you all a safe, healthy and Happy Thanksgiving; likewise for your families and loved ones. As for me and mine, you might think that there is little for us to celebrate today but I was at home with my family and with our daughter's fiance's family and we had a wonderful dinner together that spanned most of the afternoon and is still going on this evening. I had to pardon myself to take a break for awhile. I am especially thankful for my wonderful family; they have been a pillar of strength for me during my hard times lately. So, even though I have a lot today which I could lament, I chose to keep it happy and to be thankful for the good stuff. There is a cornucopia of it of it to go around. Allow me to repeat it one more time: I wish you all a safe, healthy and Happy Thanksgiving; likewise for your families and loved ones.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Occupy Wall Street Explained - Don't Miss This
A friend, Pete Q., gets the hat tip for sending me this in an email. This video is great, it truly shows the absolute hypocrisy of the leftists loons who are participating in the Occupy Wall Street fiasco.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, November 14, 2011
Still Alive and Kicking and Adding To My Gun Collection
Well, all of my cancer treatments are over and done with. Radiation ended almost 2 weeks ago and Chemo ended last Tuesday. I am still feeling the effects of both, it was a tough weekend, real tough. Something that made things a bit easier or at least a bit more interesting for me was that I finally decided to open a carton that had been delivered to me on October 31. Can you say 'belated trick or treat'! I ordered a 1955 Polish WZ-48 .22 LR Trainer from Centerfire Systems, they were nice enough to hold one for me until I could get my paperwork together which took me a few days to a week considering my current situation.
I am fairly happy with it. The metal is in VG condition, the wood is F to EX. I wish the metal were as good as the wood but what the heck. I bought it for a shooter and a fun gun not as a wall hanger or conversation piece. As luck would have it, my digital camera went legs up sometime during the early stages of my illness and I have not had the chance to get a new one or to find my old spare. When I do, I will post pics of it. Basically, it looks like a Mosin Nagant rifle, which is the rifle it was being used to train troops with which to be familiar. It is a single shot. It has a weird way of loading it. Since it did not come with a manual of any sorts, I will be waiting to find one and read it before I fire this thing. I will also wait to find and read a manual before I try to disassemble/reassemble it for a good cleaning. I did an online search for just such a manual but had no luck. If anyone knows of a source, please let me know.
Of course, I could not have afforded this rifle being that I just retired and what with the medical bills and such. Luckily for me, my sister and mother sent me a check for my birthday that just about covered every penny I spent on this rifle. How could I resist but to snatch one up when I saw it and had birthday money in my pocket. My wife seemed none to pleased to see another rifle had arrived via UPS and I never got around to explaining to her it was a sort of birthday gift from my sister and mom. Maybe I had ought to do that, then again - maybe not. For now, the riffle sits in the man cave and I await the day I will be well enough to head to the range with it for some shooting fun.
All the best,
Glenn B
I am fairly happy with it. The metal is in VG condition, the wood is F to EX. I wish the metal were as good as the wood but what the heck. I bought it for a shooter and a fun gun not as a wall hanger or conversation piece. As luck would have it, my digital camera went legs up sometime during the early stages of my illness and I have not had the chance to get a new one or to find my old spare. When I do, I will post pics of it. Basically, it looks like a Mosin Nagant rifle, which is the rifle it was being used to train troops with which to be familiar. It is a single shot. It has a weird way of loading it. Since it did not come with a manual of any sorts, I will be waiting to find one and read it before I fire this thing. I will also wait to find and read a manual before I try to disassemble/reassemble it for a good cleaning. I did an online search for just such a manual but had no luck. If anyone knows of a source, please let me know.
Of course, I could not have afforded this rifle being that I just retired and what with the medical bills and such. Luckily for me, my sister and mother sent me a check for my birthday that just about covered every penny I spent on this rifle. How could I resist but to snatch one up when I saw it and had birthday money in my pocket. My wife seemed none to pleased to see another rifle had arrived via UPS and I never got around to explaining to her it was a sort of birthday gift from my sister and mom. Maybe I had ought to do that, then again - maybe not. For now, the riffle sits in the man cave and I await the day I will be well enough to head to the range with it for some shooting fun.
All the best,
Glenn B
Thursday, November 3, 2011
RETIREMENT
My last day in Paradise, of a sort, came today. As of close of business today, I was officially retired from my service with the government as a civil service employee. Thirty-two years, a month and about 6 days of government service, all in law enforcement, are now behind me. Now I get to enjoy retirement to the max. Well, maybe after my cancer treatment has ended, I will be able to do so to the max, for now I may have to take it a bit easier on myself. So, I will enjoy it as much as I can until treatment has ended and then I will enjoy it even more, as I said - to the max.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Cold Wet Slushy Snow...
...but snow nonetheless and on October 29th! Wow. I do not remember the last time it has snowed in October but I can say it is pretty rare here in my area of NY. Heck, in NYC's Central Park, 1.3 inches of snow fell today, making it the snowiest October ever on record for NYC and we still have two days to go before the month is over. No wonder those climatologists changed it from Global Warming to Climate Change.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Just Saying "Hi"
Just wanted to post a quick one to say hi to all my readers. The last several weeks, especially last week, have been trying on me but I am hanging in there. I have about 2 more weeks (a little less I think) of radiation and one more chemo treatment to go. I am dreading the chemo, the other two sessions have knocked me on my ass and I was in the hospital last week for 4 days as a result.
Feeling somewhat better this week, even went to work yesterday. Had planned on going in today today but felt too worn out and spent the day in bed. This, like everything else in life, has its ups and downs. If when it is all over, the cancer has had its ass kicked, I will be on one hell of an upper and rejoice. If not, what can I say? Maybe I'll have to watch Secondhand Lions again, for inspiration to maybe learn how to fly and soar with the eagles (or something along those lines).
All the best,
Glenn B
Feeling somewhat better this week, even went to work yesterday. Had planned on going in today today but felt too worn out and spent the day in bed. This, like everything else in life, has its ups and downs. If when it is all over, the cancer has had its ass kicked, I will be on one hell of an upper and rejoice. If not, what can I say? Maybe I'll have to watch Secondhand Lions again, for inspiration to maybe learn how to fly and soar with the eagles (or something along those lines).
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, October 14, 2011
Friday The 14th
As it is plain to see, I have not been doing a lot of blogging lately. My personal health battle has been taking its toll on my time, my ability to do anything because of fatigue and all the other lousy feelings I have been experiencing. For example, I spent the last 3 days in the hospital for my second round of chemo. This time around, much to my surprise, they gave me a double dose on the first day and nothing on the second day. I only found out on the second evening when I asked when they would be giving me my chemo treatment for the day. Called the chemo doc today to make darned sure they had gotten it right and he apologized for not letting me know ahead of time. I was concerned maybe they got my order screwed up because when they started chemo on Wednesday, they had the wrong date of birth on my labels for the meds. They actually sent an admin person from Admissions up to interview me to see if I was who claimed to be and she checked my driver's license for my DOB. Funny they had to do that because when I checked in they took a copy of it. So that, with the surprise of not having a second day of chemo got me concerned enough to call the doc. I was told by his receptionist that he was out of the office on a Physician;s Day (early weekend would be my guess) and they would send him an email but did not know if he had email service (can you imagine). Then I asked the receptionist to call him and she said that they do not have phone numbers for the doctors when they are not in the office (can you imagine that, she must have thought I was born last night). So I told her that if she did not call him, I would just check myself out of the hospital. He called back within about 20 minutes or so. He was quite apologetic.
Shortly after he called, another doctor came by and she told me I could go home today. I was beginning to think that this Friday the 14th had somehow become a Friday the 13th but nope, it was a lucky day after all and lucky 14 came through for me. Check was rapid, my son was there within a half hour to get me, and they rolled me down to the exit pretty much just a minute before he rolled up outside with out chihuahua Pepe (named after Pepe le Pew). We had a nice ride home. Even though I was still feeling kind of miserable from the chemo, the effects so far are nowhere as bad as the first time and my spirits are up because of it. I hope the effects do not go in a downward direction but really do not know what to expect. For now, as I said, nowhere nearly as bad as the first time around.
Well, enough of boring you to tears with my personal crisis. If I am feeling better this weekend, I will try to give you something more enjoyable to read.
All the best,
Glenn B
Shortly after he called, another doctor came by and she told me I could go home today. I was beginning to think that this Friday the 14th had somehow become a Friday the 13th but nope, it was a lucky day after all and lucky 14 came through for me. Check was rapid, my son was there within a half hour to get me, and they rolled me down to the exit pretty much just a minute before he rolled up outside with out chihuahua Pepe (named after Pepe le Pew). We had a nice ride home. Even though I was still feeling kind of miserable from the chemo, the effects so far are nowhere as bad as the first time and my spirits are up because of it. I hope the effects do not go in a downward direction but really do not know what to expect. For now, as I said, nowhere nearly as bad as the first time around.
Well, enough of boring you to tears with my personal crisis. If I am feeling better this weekend, I will try to give you something more enjoyable to read.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, October 9, 2011
The Great: Should I Sell Some Guns To Pay My Bills Debate...
...has been raging in my head between between a good little angel and a little devil. The good little angel keeps telling me not to be an asshole and to be responsible and to do the right thing and to hold onto my guns while that nasty little devil keeps telling me the boogey man debt collector will soon be at my house seizing them from me anyway because I most certainly am not going to be able to pay my debts on time for the first time in a long time. Oh great and pontificate Obamessiah, where art thou in this citizen's time of need, with thou edict of Obamacare!
Seriously folks, I have a few to several thousand dollars of medical bills looming. While I am not even sure how much yet because the bills have not all arrived, I do know I will be something above $3,500.00 because I have met my out of pocket catastrophic limit for the year ans back in August when this started I had only met about $1,500.00 of $5,000.00. Now, in and of itself, a bill of about $3,500.00 plus maybe another $1,000 at most for things that did not go toward the limit, would not be to bad. I could pay on time. But being that someone in my household decided to bring 3 of the 4 dogs to the vet for check-ups at the same time (for fleas no less) @ of about $ 788.00, then just kept piling stuff onto American Express and VISA regardless of me warning not to do so, we now also have credit card debt of about $4640.00, almost $1,900 of which has to be paid by the due date because it is on Amex. Mind you, the VISA account balance is a lot higher and I readily admit that a lot of it is because I charged my son's college tuition on that card, as I have been doing each August & October for his Fall tuition each year for a few years now. Someone else knows that, yet that someone else decided to add that vet bill to the AMEX!
Now in addition the credit card bills and the doctor and hospital bills, the first half of the school tax is due on my property taxes. Ouch that is another 2530.00. For some reason unbeknown to me, there is not enough money in the account that I use solely to pay our property taxes and our homeowner's insurance. We are short at least a few hundred bucks on that and I cannot figure out why since a set amount goes into the account each month.
Of course that is not the end of it, just found out yesterday that the drain pipe under the kitchen sink was leaking so badly the water was pouring through the floor into our basement.That was, or will be, one of those all of a sudden 'oh holy crap' type of expenses. Last time I tried to fix something like that, I tightened the collar around the drain pipe and the pie fell apart in my hands. Joe the Plumber I am not, I am more like Curly the Stooge, so a call to my local plumber is in order. For now, we will use a bucket under the pipe so dishes can get done or we will use the slop sink in the basement. On Monday, I will call the plumber to see if they do not celebrate the holiday and consider a call out on Monday to be a regular call. If not, then we wait until Wednesday.
Again, all would not seem so bad until I consider that I just handed in my retirement papers and my official retirement day is to be November 3rd. After that I get one regular pay check, my lst, then go to my retirement pay or what will pass for my retirement pay for anywhere from 3 months to 6 months or even up to 8 months. I will receive about 55% of my retirement pay in that time until the gooberment figures out precisely just what my retirement pay should be - or that is what I have always heard until a few days ago. In actuality, they know exactly how much I should be receiving early on yet, for some bureaucratic reason, or just to screw the federal employee one last time, they delay full pay for up to that long. That means I will be receiving about 39 to 40 percent of my regular pre-retirement pay) for 3 to 8 months of my retirement. Now that would seem to mean I would get a windfall at the end but oh no, that is not the case. I was recently informed that they do not withhold or pay my portion of my health insurance or life insurance and use the windfall to make up for missed payments (yes my coverage continues during that time). I would normally only retire at on the last possible day of any pay year because we can build up 448 hours of annual leave and be paid a lump sum for that. Being this was my planned retirement year, I wanted to go out with no sick leave so I used it all up. I planned to have the maximum amount of annual leave. That is not going to happen now, not with the cancer. I will be forced to use a substantial amount of my annual leave because I have so little sick leave left. That means much less of a lump sum annual leave payment, which is then taxed at 25% for federal taxes, and I will not have as much of it to carry me over during that period of 3 to 8 months of reduced pension payments. Ouch, some little creepy imp just shouted in my ear to sell some guns.
Yes the bills are adding up and that annoying little bastard, the "Hey pal, just sell some of your guns to pay the expenses' creep has really begun to sound quite tempting to me. I have done it before too, sell guns when in financial need to pay bills. If I remember correctly, the last time I sold some guns to pay for things like household expenses was, right after I got married, when I suddenly realized that two cannot in no way, shape or form, can live as inexpensively as one - especially newlyweds who needed everything. My idea of furniture had been a few boards atop cinder blocks for a TV sand and atop and in between the blocks for bookcases, a fold out couch for just about everything else, oh and maybe I had a dresser. My wife had different ideas. It was over 25 years ago when my Spartan living accommodations came to an end and I helped accomplish that by selling several of my guns including a Remington 870 Wingmaster to die for. Yes, I have sold other guns on that time frame but not to pay off household, or medical or college debts (or any other debts of which I can think) and the number of guns I have sold since then probably does not add up to all the guns I sold at that one time (if it does add up to it, it certainly does not surpass the mark by more than 1 or 2). Oh what to do, what to do. I hate having bills I cannot pay. I hate having an American Express bill higher than my biweekly take home pay.
I may have to sell some guns! hat would suck if it comes to pass. Of course, there is the wife's bank account, the one she has been shoveling at least part of her paychecks into to buy herself a car. Hopefully she will realize the need and step up and help out with getting the bills paid this month. Don't get me wrong, she helps out, I think she does anyway. This time though - more help than usual is needed. would hate to have to part with my Remington 241 Speedmaster, or the Remington 513T Matchmaster or the Marlin 336, or one on my Beretta 92 SB pistols, or the Beretta 92SB of Ballseye fame, or any other one of them. I guess before I freak out, I should ask her and I should check the few lottery tickets that have been sitting in my wallet for the past two weeks or so. I buy a few dollars worth at most now and then and who knows. I know, my luck sucks. Oh well, if I have to sell any guns, my readers likely will be the first to know but for now that little angel, the one with the rosy red cheeks and cute little face is telling me "If you sell them, I'll kick your ass" (what language for a good little angel but well intentioned for sure) so maybe I had best hold off on any sales for now.
All the best,
Glenn B
Seriously folks, I have a few to several thousand dollars of medical bills looming. While I am not even sure how much yet because the bills have not all arrived, I do know I will be something above $3,500.00 because I have met my out of pocket catastrophic limit for the year ans back in August when this started I had only met about $1,500.00 of $5,000.00. Now, in and of itself, a bill of about $3,500.00 plus maybe another $1,000 at most for things that did not go toward the limit, would not be to bad. I could pay on time. But being that someone in my household decided to bring 3 of the 4 dogs to the vet for check-ups at the same time (for fleas no less) @ of about $ 788.00, then just kept piling stuff onto American Express and VISA regardless of me warning not to do so, we now also have credit card debt of about $4640.00, almost $1,900 of which has to be paid by the due date because it is on Amex. Mind you, the VISA account balance is a lot higher and I readily admit that a lot of it is because I charged my son's college tuition on that card, as I have been doing each August & October for his Fall tuition each year for a few years now. Someone else knows that, yet that someone else decided to add that vet bill to the AMEX!
Now in addition the credit card bills and the doctor and hospital bills, the first half of the school tax is due on my property taxes. Ouch that is another 2530.00. For some reason unbeknown to me, there is not enough money in the account that I use solely to pay our property taxes and our homeowner's insurance. We are short at least a few hundred bucks on that and I cannot figure out why since a set amount goes into the account each month.
Of course that is not the end of it, just found out yesterday that the drain pipe under the kitchen sink was leaking so badly the water was pouring through the floor into our basement.That was, or will be, one of those all of a sudden 'oh holy crap' type of expenses. Last time I tried to fix something like that, I tightened the collar around the drain pipe and the pie fell apart in my hands. Joe the Plumber I am not, I am more like Curly the Stooge, so a call to my local plumber is in order. For now, we will use a bucket under the pipe so dishes can get done or we will use the slop sink in the basement. On Monday, I will call the plumber to see if they do not celebrate the holiday and consider a call out on Monday to be a regular call. If not, then we wait until Wednesday.
Again, all would not seem so bad until I consider that I just handed in my retirement papers and my official retirement day is to be November 3rd. After that I get one regular pay check, my lst, then go to my retirement pay or what will pass for my retirement pay for anywhere from 3 months to 6 months or even up to 8 months. I will receive about 55% of my retirement pay in that time until the gooberment figures out precisely just what my retirement pay should be - or that is what I have always heard until a few days ago. In actuality, they know exactly how much I should be receiving early on yet, for some bureaucratic reason, or just to screw the federal employee one last time, they delay full pay for up to that long. That means I will be receiving about 39 to 40 percent of my regular pre-retirement pay) for 3 to 8 months of my retirement. Now that would seem to mean I would get a windfall at the end but oh no, that is not the case. I was recently informed that they do not withhold or pay my portion of my health insurance or life insurance and use the windfall to make up for missed payments (yes my coverage continues during that time). I would normally only retire at on the last possible day of any pay year because we can build up 448 hours of annual leave and be paid a lump sum for that. Being this was my planned retirement year, I wanted to go out with no sick leave so I used it all up. I planned to have the maximum amount of annual leave. That is not going to happen now, not with the cancer. I will be forced to use a substantial amount of my annual leave because I have so little sick leave left. That means much less of a lump sum annual leave payment, which is then taxed at 25% for federal taxes, and I will not have as much of it to carry me over during that period of 3 to 8 months of reduced pension payments. Ouch, some little creepy imp just shouted in my ear to sell some guns.
Yes the bills are adding up and that annoying little bastard, the "Hey pal, just sell some of your guns to pay the expenses' creep has really begun to sound quite tempting to me. I have done it before too, sell guns when in financial need to pay bills. If I remember correctly, the last time I sold some guns to pay for things like household expenses was, right after I got married, when I suddenly realized that two cannot in no way, shape or form, can live as inexpensively as one - especially newlyweds who needed everything. My idea of furniture had been a few boards atop cinder blocks for a TV sand and atop and in between the blocks for bookcases, a fold out couch for just about everything else, oh and maybe I had a dresser. My wife had different ideas. It was over 25 years ago when my Spartan living accommodations came to an end and I helped accomplish that by selling several of my guns including a Remington 870 Wingmaster to die for. Yes, I have sold other guns on that time frame but not to pay off household, or medical or college debts (or any other debts of which I can think) and the number of guns I have sold since then probably does not add up to all the guns I sold at that one time (if it does add up to it, it certainly does not surpass the mark by more than 1 or 2). Oh what to do, what to do. I hate having bills I cannot pay. I hate having an American Express bill higher than my biweekly take home pay.
I may have to sell some guns! hat would suck if it comes to pass. Of course, there is the wife's bank account, the one she has been shoveling at least part of her paychecks into to buy herself a car. Hopefully she will realize the need and step up and help out with getting the bills paid this month. Don't get me wrong, she helps out, I think she does anyway. This time though - more help than usual is needed. would hate to have to part with my Remington 241 Speedmaster, or the Remington 513T Matchmaster or the Marlin 336, or one on my Beretta 92 SB pistols, or the Beretta 92SB of Ballseye fame, or any other one of them. I guess before I freak out, I should ask her and I should check the few lottery tickets that have been sitting in my wallet for the past two weeks or so. I buy a few dollars worth at most now and then and who knows. I know, my luck sucks. Oh well, if I have to sell any guns, my readers likely will be the first to know but for now that little angel, the one with the rosy red cheeks and cute little face is telling me "If you sell them, I'll kick your ass" (what language for a good little angel but well intentioned for sure) so maybe I had best hold off on any sales for now.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Happy Retirement To Me
Well almost. Today, I am putting in my retirement papers. I will actually have my last day at work on November 3rd and my retirement will become effective on November 4th. That is of course if the chemo does not kill me first and I am not kidding. I get my next session tomorrow and Friday - and two days after the first session, my heart rate fell to as low as 38! That was scary. Yet, the chemo doc absolutely refuses to admit that the drop in my heart rate and blood pressure (It fell too) was in any way related to the chemo. My cardiologist said if due to nothing else, it was due to dehydration caused by the chemo because the chemo had me whizzing about every 45 minutes on Friday, then about every half hour for about 16 hours on Sunday. So, if the chemo oncologist does not change or lower some of the crap I am going to get through the IV, I will refuse treatment this time around. Why? The cardiologist told me had my heart rate fallen just a few more beats my heart likely would have stopped and I really do want a happy retirement and that requires a beating and healthy heart!
Well, anyway, I am looking forward to retirement. Maybe not to the continued radiation treatments (which also have been effecting me badly earlier than normal according the the radiation oncologist) and chemo treatments but to the hopefully cancer free time after that and I am hopeful that time will be at least 20 to 25 years long. Retirement, sweet - sweet retirement.
All the best,
GB
Well, anyway, I am looking forward to retirement. Maybe not to the continued radiation treatments (which also have been effecting me badly earlier than normal according the the radiation oncologist) and chemo treatments but to the hopefully cancer free time after that and I am hopeful that time will be at least 20 to 25 years long. Retirement, sweet - sweet retirement.
All the best,
GB
Sunday, October 2, 2011
CNN Reportedly Fucks Up Big Time
Watch the video but beware because it contains racially insensitive and quite possibly offensive lyrics (even though probably sung by a black man). I have no comment, except to say that, if the video is a genuine CNN news report and not a prank, then I am highly pleased to see CNN fuck up as they did. That was not only by playing that terrible song but because they quite possibly had that absolutely disgusting song among their audio archives and if so, it shows their true nature in my opinion. Ask yourself, if not a prank video, why was it that they even had such a song in their archives or allowed their studio people to even have access to such crap! You can make up your own mind about it.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Reptiles & Amphibians & Friends
I have been keeping, hunting, collecting, breeding reptiles and amphibians for many years. I probably got my first herp when I was nine or ten. That was a Red Eared Slider Turtle. Over the years since then, I have kept and bred snakes, tortoises, and lizards. I have kept, but not bred, many other types of the above herps plus turtles, frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts. Most recently I bred my Herman's Tortoises and Corn Snakes. My most recent collection, until today, consisted of 3 Anderson's Salamanders, 2 Fire Bellied Blue Tailed Newts, 2 African Clawed Frogs, 1 Iberian Ribbed Newt, 11 Corn Snakes, 2 Hognose Snakes, 1 Musk Turtle, 4 Hermann's Tortoises, and 2 Redfoot Tortoises. I said until today and that is where 'friends' come into play.
Many years ago, I guess about 21 or 22 (pretty sure it was 22) years ago, joined the Long Island Herpetological Society (LIHS). That is when I met Rich M. Jr.. Since then we have become good friends even though we usually only see each other about a dozen to a few more times a year. Rich's dad used to be the president of the society and under him, our membership reached its apex of over 300 dues paying members. Today, I think we are lucky if we have 80 dues paying members, Yet, as a herpetological society, we are still going at it. Over the years, Ive met many others at the LIHS whom I consider friends but none probably quite as close a friend as is Rich M Jr, to me. When I told him I had cancer and that I needed to get rid of most, if not all of my reptiles and amphibians, he was the first to offer assistance and he offered to take all my herps and if I wanted, said he would care for them until I could take them back. Others also offered but Rich was the first to step forward. Now, truth be told, I told him about my cancer first, but he offered help immediately and absolutely with no conditions attached.
Today, I gave Rich most of my animals. Linda drove me to his house ad we met Rich and Ann (his lady friend) there. I gave them: 3 Anderson's Salamanders, 2 Fire Bellied Blue Tailed Newts, 2 African Clawed Frogs, 11 Corn Snakes, 2 Hognose Snakes, and 2 Redfoot Tortoises. That left me with the Iberian Ribbed Newt, the Musk Turtle and the Hermann's Tortoises. As I told ich, the corn snales are his and so are the Hognose snakes, to do with as he pleases. I am hoping, when well again, to take back the salamanders, newts and frogs. Due to the probability that my treatments will lower my ability to ward off infections, I am not supposed to clean out things like reptile or amphibian tanks and tropical fish aquaria of which I still have 3 aquaria and 2 tortoise tanks. I also plan to reduce the aquariums to only 2 tanks - one housing my newt and the other the musk turtle and both also holding some fish, Brendan will then take care of them and all of the family will probably care for the tortoises because not only do Brendan and I like them but so do Linda and Celina.
As for the herps I gave to Rich, I trust he will care for them well, maybe even better than his own, he is that kind of a friend. As far as friends go he is a blessing. My thanks to him and to the other of my good friends who offered to help: John H., Harry F. and Kirk P., and to Gideon H. and Mike R. who also sent well wishes - all great guys. (If I missed anyone, sorry my memory is sort of like swiss cheese lately.)
All the best,
Glenn B
Many years ago, I guess about 21 or 22 (pretty sure it was 22) years ago, joined the Long Island Herpetological Society (LIHS). That is when I met Rich M. Jr.. Since then we have become good friends even though we usually only see each other about a dozen to a few more times a year. Rich's dad used to be the president of the society and under him, our membership reached its apex of over 300 dues paying members. Today, I think we are lucky if we have 80 dues paying members, Yet, as a herpetological society, we are still going at it. Over the years, Ive met many others at the LIHS whom I consider friends but none probably quite as close a friend as is Rich M Jr, to me. When I told him I had cancer and that I needed to get rid of most, if not all of my reptiles and amphibians, he was the first to offer assistance and he offered to take all my herps and if I wanted, said he would care for them until I could take them back. Others also offered but Rich was the first to step forward. Now, truth be told, I told him about my cancer first, but he offered help immediately and absolutely with no conditions attached.
Today, I gave Rich most of my animals. Linda drove me to his house ad we met Rich and Ann (his lady friend) there. I gave them: 3 Anderson's Salamanders, 2 Fire Bellied Blue Tailed Newts, 2 African Clawed Frogs, 11 Corn Snakes, 2 Hognose Snakes, and 2 Redfoot Tortoises. That left me with the Iberian Ribbed Newt, the Musk Turtle and the Hermann's Tortoises. As I told ich, the corn snales are his and so are the Hognose snakes, to do with as he pleases. I am hoping, when well again, to take back the salamanders, newts and frogs. Due to the probability that my treatments will lower my ability to ward off infections, I am not supposed to clean out things like reptile or amphibian tanks and tropical fish aquaria of which I still have 3 aquaria and 2 tortoise tanks. I also plan to reduce the aquariums to only 2 tanks - one housing my newt and the other the musk turtle and both also holding some fish, Brendan will then take care of them and all of the family will probably care for the tortoises because not only do Brendan and I like them but so do Linda and Celina.
As for the herps I gave to Rich, I trust he will care for them well, maybe even better than his own, he is that kind of a friend. As far as friends go he is a blessing. My thanks to him and to the other of my good friends who offered to help: John H., Harry F. and Kirk P., and to Gideon H. and Mike R. who also sent well wishes - all great guys. (If I missed anyone, sorry my memory is sort of like swiss cheese lately.)
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Obama At The Bat - Too Good Not To Share
If you have never read the poem Casey At The Bat, click on the link and read it there before you watch the following video.
Hat tip to Tom K for this one.
All the best,
GB
Hat tip to Tom K for this one.
All the best,
GB
Monday, September 26, 2011
Irish Wedding
The band leader, at the Irish wedding, was about to have the band play a slow dance tune and shouted out:
"Would all the married men please stand next to the one person who has
The bartender was almost crushed to death.
Hat tip to Bob C. for that one.
"Would all the married men please stand next to the one person who has
The bartender was almost crushed to death.
Hat tip to Bob C. for that one.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Hunting Trip Plan Updates
Well, as I posted before, I am really looking forward to Brendan and I going on our annual hunting trip. It is the goal I have set for myself for when my cancer treatments are over (and hopefully successful). As usual, I set our trip to start a day or two before opening day for deer. Also as usual, I have been planning to go up to scout out the new area in which we will hunt. So far there have been a couple of bugs that have gummed up the works just a bit but the basic plan is still on for the hunt.
Since my first round of chemo knocked me on my ass for the last 9 days, I did not get a chance to drive upstate last weekend, or this one, to reconnoiter the hunting grounds. I have one more weekend before they give me another dose of that evil yet often life saving concoction and am hopeful I will be able to make the drive and get the lay of the land. As Brendan told me though, I do a good couple to a few scouting trips every year and we hardly ever even see a deer let alone bag one; so maybe we ought to just go, get out of the car, walk into the woods and shoot the first thing we see (yes he does mean the first deer we see). He may have something there but I still want to go take a look before we hunt there if for no other reason than it would do me a lot of good to get out and about for a day in the woods. If I am really lucky, he will come with me next Friday night or Saturday morning.
The other thing that has unexpectedly come into play is the timing of my chemo. All the docs were saying that I would be out of it for maybe a week or two after the treatments were over, well except for the head man who told me it would be an additional 4 weeks. I am thinking he may be the one who was right. With my last chemo session coming close to the tail end of treatment, my recuperation from it may take me longer than I expected. If that is the case, our trip may have to be delayed a week, which is not that big a deal except we will miss opening day. I think I should have ample time to recover from it but then again by the time of the last treatment I will also have received radiation therapy 5 days per week for 6 weeks, with one more week to go. whatever, I should have about 2 full weeks of recovery from all my treatments, and 3 weeks from my last chemo, before our hunt as it is currently scheduled. I am hopeful I will have the strength and determination to get it done. As I said though, if not, I can wait another week and go hunting the weekend after Thanksgiving. I guess time will tell. Shit, if he has to carry me into the woods and prop me up under a tree then so be it!
Now for the good news. We both got Deer Management Permits, also known as Doe Permits. They increase the odds of us putting meat on the table. We have one or two for the area where I hope to hunt, and another one for an area in upstate NY that is much closer to our home. If worst comes to worst, we will hunt there; it is good to have a back-up plan.
Hmm, I just had the thought that we have not been to the range in a long time. It would behoove us to go and get in a bit of practice and to make sure that the scope on the Marlin 336 is still spot on. With the way my neck feels from the radiation, it might be best for Brendan to do that himself although maybe I can go along for the ride. No great hurry on that one, it is not like it requires rocket science or anything to adjust the scope if it has been knocked out of alignment.
Other than those considerations, I guess I should stock up on the gear or supplies we may need for the trip. I am going to be very short on cash relly soon, heck I already am short. I just paid half of Brendan's college tuition by credit card and have not paid even half of that off and the other half of his tuition is coming due on October 1. Add to that the steadily building copay expenses for my cancer treatments and I can just about assure one bottle of doe piss may have to last the whole season! I may also have to wear the same leaky cold boots I have worn for the past several years. I had been ever so sure I was going to buy myself a nice new pair this year but think it may have to wait until after I pay the doctors off. Perhaps, I could sell a gun from my small collection, to help out with the hunting expenses but then I would probably hate myself for having done so - that is usually the way I feel after I part with one of my firearms. Oh well, old boots it likely will be for me, that surely is nothing out of the ordinary.
All the best,
Glenn B
Since my first round of chemo knocked me on my ass for the last 9 days, I did not get a chance to drive upstate last weekend, or this one, to reconnoiter the hunting grounds. I have one more weekend before they give me another dose of that evil yet often life saving concoction and am hopeful I will be able to make the drive and get the lay of the land. As Brendan told me though, I do a good couple to a few scouting trips every year and we hardly ever even see a deer let alone bag one; so maybe we ought to just go, get out of the car, walk into the woods and shoot the first thing we see (yes he does mean the first deer we see). He may have something there but I still want to go take a look before we hunt there if for no other reason than it would do me a lot of good to get out and about for a day in the woods. If I am really lucky, he will come with me next Friday night or Saturday morning.
The other thing that has unexpectedly come into play is the timing of my chemo. All the docs were saying that I would be out of it for maybe a week or two after the treatments were over, well except for the head man who told me it would be an additional 4 weeks. I am thinking he may be the one who was right. With my last chemo session coming close to the tail end of treatment, my recuperation from it may take me longer than I expected. If that is the case, our trip may have to be delayed a week, which is not that big a deal except we will miss opening day. I think I should have ample time to recover from it but then again by the time of the last treatment I will also have received radiation therapy 5 days per week for 6 weeks, with one more week to go. whatever, I should have about 2 full weeks of recovery from all my treatments, and 3 weeks from my last chemo, before our hunt as it is currently scheduled. I am hopeful I will have the strength and determination to get it done. As I said though, if not, I can wait another week and go hunting the weekend after Thanksgiving. I guess time will tell. Shit, if he has to carry me into the woods and prop me up under a tree then so be it!
Now for the good news. We both got Deer Management Permits, also known as Doe Permits. They increase the odds of us putting meat on the table. We have one or two for the area where I hope to hunt, and another one for an area in upstate NY that is much closer to our home. If worst comes to worst, we will hunt there; it is good to have a back-up plan.
Hmm, I just had the thought that we have not been to the range in a long time. It would behoove us to go and get in a bit of practice and to make sure that the scope on the Marlin 336 is still spot on. With the way my neck feels from the radiation, it might be best for Brendan to do that himself although maybe I can go along for the ride. No great hurry on that one, it is not like it requires rocket science or anything to adjust the scope if it has been knocked out of alignment.
Other than those considerations, I guess I should stock up on the gear or supplies we may need for the trip. I am going to be very short on cash relly soon, heck I already am short. I just paid half of Brendan's college tuition by credit card and have not paid even half of that off and the other half of his tuition is coming due on October 1. Add to that the steadily building copay expenses for my cancer treatments and I can just about assure one bottle of doe piss may have to last the whole season! I may also have to wear the same leaky cold boots I have worn for the past several years. I had been ever so sure I was going to buy myself a nice new pair this year but think it may have to wait until after I pay the doctors off. Perhaps, I could sell a gun from my small collection, to help out with the hunting expenses but then I would probably hate myself for having done so - that is usually the way I feel after I part with one of my firearms. Oh well, old boots it likely will be for me, that surely is nothing out of the ordinary.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Things I Took For Granted
The Things I Took For Granted
The things I took for granted
are piled up quite high,
They reach far enough up
to block out the beauty of the sky.
They surround me on every side
so close yet now so far, I must give a sigh.
I saw each of them just about every day
Without realizing that in them treasures lie.
I daily passed them with nary a glance,
I had more important things to try.
Yet now, I cannot enjoy even the least of them
without illness, pain, and all my effort to try.
I embrace them, from this moment, as dearer to me
So much more precious to me until the day I die.
And should I be well again I make this sacred vow
To pay more attention to them, than I do to I.
You know, there are a lot of things I used to take for granted. Being able to swallow without pain, being able to walk up the stairs without feeling as if I had just run 10 miles (uphill), being able to go to work every day, being able to drive, having relatively normal blood pressure thanks to my meds instead of way to low BP thanks to other meds, that my heart was in relatively good condition, that I would probably live until I was in my late 70s at the least, my relative health, that I would wake up tomorrow, that I would soon retire fat and happy, that food smelled and tasted good, that my wife loves and cares for me, that my wife is a good woman, breathing without an effort, feeling relatively well even when I thought I felt miserable, feeling alive and well, not being depressed, that I would be around to shoot up all the ammo I have stashed away, that my son and I would go hunting together this fall, that my daughter would marry her sweetheart and I would be there to see it, that I would visit my mom at least once a week, friends and friendships, AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON AND ON. It was just way to easy to take all that stuff for granted but I don't anymore not now with the cancer and other developments with my health. Apparently the chemo, after only one 2 day treatment, may already have severely damaged my heart - as per my cardiologist. Heck, I even took the chemo for granted but now certainly cannot do that, not if it is going to cause heart damage but the jury is still out until further testing.
My health issues are not really my concerns in this post although my health issues brought that concern to light. Taking things for granted, a common human flaw or condition, that is my concern as it relates to me having done it. For now at least, I have stopped doing it as best I can. Sure, I guess I still expect the lights to go on when I flip the switch but now I am thankful that they do go on. A day or two ago, I actually caught myself thinking how wonderful it was that the lights went on when I flipped the switch, I thought to myself: "That is a good thing". I mean that most honestly - I had that thought over such a simple thing I used to take for granted. I have had a lot of thoughts like that lately, about things as wonderful as my wife being there for me to something as silly as the toilet flushing.
Now, I don't know if I can maintain not taking things for granted but will try if for no other reason than to let those who care about and for me know that I do not take them for granted but that I appreciate everything, every big or little thing, they have done for me. Along those lines I have my family, loved ones, close friends to thank but I also have others like you. You folks out there who have sent me well wishes and spirit lifting messages of hope yet, you do not even know me. To all of you, thank you ever so much, with all my heart.
All the best,
Glenn B
The things I took for granted
are piled up quite high,
They reach far enough up
to block out the beauty of the sky.
They surround me on every side
so close yet now so far, I must give a sigh.
I saw each of them just about every day
Without realizing that in them treasures lie.
I daily passed them with nary a glance,
I had more important things to try.
Yet now, I cannot enjoy even the least of them
without illness, pain, and all my effort to try.
I embrace them, from this moment, as dearer to me
So much more precious to me until the day I die.
And should I be well again I make this sacred vow
To pay more attention to them, than I do to I.
You know, there are a lot of things I used to take for granted. Being able to swallow without pain, being able to walk up the stairs without feeling as if I had just run 10 miles (uphill), being able to go to work every day, being able to drive, having relatively normal blood pressure thanks to my meds instead of way to low BP thanks to other meds, that my heart was in relatively good condition, that I would probably live until I was in my late 70s at the least, my relative health, that I would wake up tomorrow, that I would soon retire fat and happy, that food smelled and tasted good, that my wife loves and cares for me, that my wife is a good woman, breathing without an effort, feeling relatively well even when I thought I felt miserable, feeling alive and well, not being depressed, that I would be around to shoot up all the ammo I have stashed away, that my son and I would go hunting together this fall, that my daughter would marry her sweetheart and I would be there to see it, that I would visit my mom at least once a week, friends and friendships, AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON AND ON. It was just way to easy to take all that stuff for granted but I don't anymore not now with the cancer and other developments with my health. Apparently the chemo, after only one 2 day treatment, may already have severely damaged my heart - as per my cardiologist. Heck, I even took the chemo for granted but now certainly cannot do that, not if it is going to cause heart damage but the jury is still out until further testing.
My health issues are not really my concerns in this post although my health issues brought that concern to light. Taking things for granted, a common human flaw or condition, that is my concern as it relates to me having done it. For now at least, I have stopped doing it as best I can. Sure, I guess I still expect the lights to go on when I flip the switch but now I am thankful that they do go on. A day or two ago, I actually caught myself thinking how wonderful it was that the lights went on when I flipped the switch, I thought to myself: "That is a good thing". I mean that most honestly - I had that thought over such a simple thing I used to take for granted. I have had a lot of thoughts like that lately, about things as wonderful as my wife being there for me to something as silly as the toilet flushing.
Now, I don't know if I can maintain not taking things for granted but will try if for no other reason than to let those who care about and for me know that I do not take them for granted but that I appreciate everything, every big or little thing, they have done for me. Along those lines I have my family, loved ones, close friends to thank but I also have others like you. You folks out there who have sent me well wishes and spirit lifting messages of hope yet, you do not even know me. To all of you, thank you ever so much, with all my heart.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Candidate Perry - If Illegal Aliens, Like Mexicans, Are So Good For Our Economy...
...then why is it we (as in U.S. Corporations) keep on sending jobs to Mexico?
I was out shopping for American made dungarees (jeans to most folks born after the mid-sixties) couple of weeks ago, while I could still get out on my own with regularity. I went to a large retail store, heck let me say it, I went to SEARS. There they had a decent selection of dungarees for sale. Some were store brand, or so I guess and others were manufactured by once great American companies such as Levi Strauss, Lee and Wrangler. I had made up my mind, before going out, that I was going to buy American as in MADE IN THE USA or in other words by nation of origin and not generically meaning made in North, Central or South America. I am sick of seeing our stores filed with merchandise from shitholes like Mexico, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, Honduras and so on and I am even more sickened by seeing myself wearing things made in those countries when we need manufacturing jobs right here.
One of the things that has always flummoxed me about companies who outsource jobs like that then have to import items into our country for sale is how they can afford to do so. Heck, they have to open offices in foreign lands, maintain those offices and staff, arrange with foreign manufacturers to actually fabricate the goods or have to open their own factories their to do so, then they have to pay taxes in those countries, export fees, shipping fees, importation fees and Customs duties to get things into the USA (of course we almost have eliminated Customs Duties which once were the mainstay of the US economy) and have to get them to the retailers here and somehow - SOMEHOW THAT ALL WINDS UP BEING LESS EXPENSIVE FOR THEM THAN IT WOULD BE FOR THEM TO ACTUALLY MAKE THE GOODS HERE WHERE THEY ACTUALLY PLAN TO SELL THEM! I blame it on lots of things such as available slave labor in foreign countries, labor unions in the USA greedily stripping away every penny they could at every opportunity they had, politicians who were on the take, free trade agreements, illegal aliens flooding our nation, the welfare state mentality, politicians who were assholes and failed to realize how Customs Laws the way they used to be protected the revenue of the USA, and on an on. I do not blame greed of the corporations, they were always greedy, yet even with their greed the United States of America used to be among the top manufacturing nations of the world (if not number 1) but that was all before free trade, NAFTA, most favored nation status effecting trade, Custom Duties being all but done away with and unions getting as much money paid to a longshoreman, a sanitation man, a first grade teacher as is paid to a police officer or a registered nurse or even some doctors.
Somehow though I have digressed from my major point. Regardless of all of the above reasons as to why things are not made in the USA anymore, I want to know something and the question is related to the above so I have not digressed too far. What I want to know is this:
Politicians, such as President Obama, and Republican Party hopefuls such as Perry, continually spout off just how precious to our economy are the illegal aliens who entered (or remained within) our country by committing a crime. They tell us of all the good they do and of how they deserve things like the American Dream Act or whatever it is called so that they will get resident tuition in college and free health care and this benefit and that benefit that were once only for citizens or legal resident aliens. They tell us how much they contribute to the tax revenues (what bullshit Mr. Perry - shame on you) and of other supposed good things they do and they tell us that they take jobs that Americans will not take. Again, that is pure bullshit. Here is how I know it is bullshit, if they were so good for the economy, then why is it that American manufacturers are not hiring them by droves but instead are still outsourcing jobs to places like Mexico? Yep, when I checked those dungarees I mentioned above, every darned pair I looked at, of 3 major brands, were all manufactured in Mexico or some other godforsaken shithole of a country. Now mind you, at least one said the fabric was made in America and then the pants were assembled in Mexico but as far as I am concerned that is the same as being MADE IN MEXICO and not made In The USA!
So why is it that those jobs keep getting outsourced to those shitholes when we need jobs right here and when we have what probably amounts to tens of millions of illegal Mexicans here who are supposed to be the godsend for our nation?
I will absolutely not vote for any politician who tells me how good a fucking wetback is for the United States of America. I would rather not vote, and allow Obama to win reelection, than to vote in the likes of a pro-Mexican, anti-American, criminal supporting, wetback loving Governor of Texas but of course, I will vote, just not for Perry (and just so there is no doubt - most assuredly not for Obama either).
That is just my opinion.
All the best,
Glenn B
I was out shopping for American made dungarees (jeans to most folks born after the mid-sixties) couple of weeks ago, while I could still get out on my own with regularity. I went to a large retail store, heck let me say it, I went to SEARS. There they had a decent selection of dungarees for sale. Some were store brand, or so I guess and others were manufactured by once great American companies such as Levi Strauss, Lee and Wrangler. I had made up my mind, before going out, that I was going to buy American as in MADE IN THE USA or in other words by nation of origin and not generically meaning made in North, Central or South America. I am sick of seeing our stores filed with merchandise from shitholes like Mexico, China, Pakistan, Vietnam, Honduras and so on and I am even more sickened by seeing myself wearing things made in those countries when we need manufacturing jobs right here.
One of the things that has always flummoxed me about companies who outsource jobs like that then have to import items into our country for sale is how they can afford to do so. Heck, they have to open offices in foreign lands, maintain those offices and staff, arrange with foreign manufacturers to actually fabricate the goods or have to open their own factories their to do so, then they have to pay taxes in those countries, export fees, shipping fees, importation fees and Customs duties to get things into the USA (of course we almost have eliminated Customs Duties which once were the mainstay of the US economy) and have to get them to the retailers here and somehow - SOMEHOW THAT ALL WINDS UP BEING LESS EXPENSIVE FOR THEM THAN IT WOULD BE FOR THEM TO ACTUALLY MAKE THE GOODS HERE WHERE THEY ACTUALLY PLAN TO SELL THEM! I blame it on lots of things such as available slave labor in foreign countries, labor unions in the USA greedily stripping away every penny they could at every opportunity they had, politicians who were on the take, free trade agreements, illegal aliens flooding our nation, the welfare state mentality, politicians who were assholes and failed to realize how Customs Laws the way they used to be protected the revenue of the USA, and on an on. I do not blame greed of the corporations, they were always greedy, yet even with their greed the United States of America used to be among the top manufacturing nations of the world (if not number 1) but that was all before free trade, NAFTA, most favored nation status effecting trade, Custom Duties being all but done away with and unions getting as much money paid to a longshoreman, a sanitation man, a first grade teacher as is paid to a police officer or a registered nurse or even some doctors.
Somehow though I have digressed from my major point. Regardless of all of the above reasons as to why things are not made in the USA anymore, I want to know something and the question is related to the above so I have not digressed too far. What I want to know is this:
Politicians, such as President Obama, and Republican Party hopefuls such as Perry, continually spout off just how precious to our economy are the illegal aliens who entered (or remained within) our country by committing a crime. They tell us of all the good they do and of how they deserve things like the American Dream Act or whatever it is called so that they will get resident tuition in college and free health care and this benefit and that benefit that were once only for citizens or legal resident aliens. They tell us how much they contribute to the tax revenues (what bullshit Mr. Perry - shame on you) and of other supposed good things they do and they tell us that they take jobs that Americans will not take. Again, that is pure bullshit. Here is how I know it is bullshit, if they were so good for the economy, then why is it that American manufacturers are not hiring them by droves but instead are still outsourcing jobs to places like Mexico? Yep, when I checked those dungarees I mentioned above, every darned pair I looked at, of 3 major brands, were all manufactured in Mexico or some other godforsaken shithole of a country. Now mind you, at least one said the fabric was made in America and then the pants were assembled in Mexico but as far as I am concerned that is the same as being MADE IN MEXICO and not made In The USA!
So why is it that those jobs keep getting outsourced to those shitholes when we need jobs right here and when we have what probably amounts to tens of millions of illegal Mexicans here who are supposed to be the godsend for our nation?
I will absolutely not vote for any politician who tells me how good a fucking wetback is for the United States of America. I would rather not vote, and allow Obama to win reelection, than to vote in the likes of a pro-Mexican, anti-American, criminal supporting, wetback loving Governor of Texas but of course, I will vote, just not for Perry (and just so there is no doubt - most assuredly not for Obama either).
That is just my opinion.
All the best,
Glenn B
Friday, September 23, 2011
We Didn't Have The Green Thing In Our Day
I don't know who wrote the following piece, I got it in an email. Maybe you have seen it too, maybe not. I can vouch for what is said as being the truth because I remember every old fashioned thing mentioned below from when I was a kid. If we went back to doing things like we did way back then we would not need to have a care in the world about going green - now would we!
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
As for me, I would gladly go back to doing a lot of things in those old fashioned ways; not everything maybe but certainly a good number of them.
All the best,
GB
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
As for me, I would gladly go back to doing a lot of things in those old fashioned ways; not everything maybe but certainly a good number of them.
All the best,
GB
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Screw AT&T
We have an ATT wireless account. We have had it and been loyal customers for years despite several instances where whom I believe are the morons at said company have tried our patience and loyalty to just about the breaking point. Tonight, I went to their website to check my account, you know the site, the one at www.att.com. Well, if you click on that link, now as you read this, maybe you will go right to the ATT site. Me, I was directed, time and time again to a foreign language site for ATT when I tried it - a Spanish language site. Not for nothing, I live in the United States of America, I do not live in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru or any number of other Spanish speaking countries - so why in hell did those morons at ATT have their web address direct me to a Spanish speaking site! Then, as if to add insult to injury, I call their 24 hour a day, 7 day a week customer service number and get a recording telling me to press a number for Spanish. Add to that, the so called 24/7 number is only operational during certain business hours (go figure) and I can say Fuck Them and fell good about it. They make me sick as if I am not feeling like shit enough already. If I keep them after this it will only be because I am too friggin fatigued, in my current state, to shop for a more American Pride sort of a company; shame on me if that turns out to be the case. Anyone know of a really decent cell phone company that does not support multi-lingual, multi-nationalist, socialist, anti-constitutional policies as I believe is the case with ATT?
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
CHEMO and RADIATION....
...suck - especially chemo so far since they tell me all the effects to date are due to it.
Fatigue could never describe my condition over the past week and I have to say, anyone who can get right back to work after the first dose of chemo has superpowers. Me, I have discovered just how much of a wimp am I. That is all, this took an effort to write, I am going back to sleep now.
All the best,
GB
Fatigue could never describe my condition over the past week and I have to say, anyone who can get right back to work after the first dose of chemo has superpowers. Me, I have discovered just how much of a wimp am I. That is all, this took an effort to write, I am going back to sleep now.
All the best,
GB
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My Son Is Going To Atlantic City To Gamble and Go Clubbing...
...and will be staying at his aunt's and uncle's time share. He said he wants to play Texas Holdem and I explained they may only have games with a limit and not any 'all in' games. He kind of got it, but I forgot to mention they may have an 'all in' tournament he can enter for not too much.
I also asked him about what hand beats what. I think it does not matter what I tell him, he is doomed. As he told me, he is going there to lose money. Well I gave him a crash course but am pretty sure he did not listen all that well, 21 you know! I did give him the best advice I could think of though and made sure he listened: Go with a set limit that you are willing to lose, with your spending money for food, drinks, clubs, gas kept distinct from what you are willing to lose gambling. Then when you gamble, take it slow and easy at first, if you lose a big pot, especially because of a dumb mistake, do not get mad and try to win it right back. Just try to win, not to win back any loses, and if you lose, never - absolutely never - take money out of the other pocket to try to win back all of your lost gambling money and never use the ATM, credit card, or borrow money to try to win back losses.
I cringe at the thought of how much he may lose but who knows, maybe he will have a role reversal come back as Elmer J. Fudd - millionaire, owning a mansion and a yacht - I just hopehe pays his taxes on the winnings does not wind up in Alcatraz.
All the best,
Glenn B
I also asked him about what hand beats what. I think it does not matter what I tell him, he is doomed. As he told me, he is going there to lose money. Well I gave him a crash course but am pretty sure he did not listen all that well, 21 you know! I did give him the best advice I could think of though and made sure he listened: Go with a set limit that you are willing to lose, with your spending money for food, drinks, clubs, gas kept distinct from what you are willing to lose gambling. Then when you gamble, take it slow and easy at first, if you lose a big pot, especially because of a dumb mistake, do not get mad and try to win it right back. Just try to win, not to win back any loses, and if you lose, never - absolutely never - take money out of the other pocket to try to win back all of your lost gambling money and never use the ATM, credit card, or borrow money to try to win back losses.
I cringe at the thought of how much he may lose but who knows, maybe he will have a role reversal come back as Elmer J. Fudd - millionaire, owning a mansion and a yacht - I just hope
All the best,
Glenn B
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Yet Another Gun Blog Joins The Blogroll Despite The Un-Gun Sounding Name
Tales From The Clothesline is the latest addition to the blogroll over to the right of my blog page. It is currently linked under TAKE A SHOT WITH THESE SHOOTIST BLOGGERS, Not At Them. Looks to be a good read; enjoy.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Wow - No Posts About Gun Stuff...
...in quite the while from me! I guess I have been to friggin busy with the medical stuff than to have time enough to go out and shoot. All the doctors visits have had my head spinning. I do need to do something gunnish to blog about; maybe get away to the range, or take a trip upstate to check out this year's hunting grounds (going to a new place so a trip really is in order especially before treatment incapacitates me), or film a video of me taking apart a gun and putting it back together sort of a how to video for YouTube and my blog. My priorities just have not been the same lately. I'll have to correct that by the end of this coming weekend; this is supposed to be a firearms related and friendly site, isn't it!
All the best,
GB
All the best,
GB
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