Just another excuse...

to get drunk
to rant about the bad
to fear the future, then
to curse your hangover.

 

Merry Christmas to all...

bye-bye Kluber...

Kluber in a Texas uniform? I am heartbroken.

In happier news...my nephew got his Master's Degree
this weekend only three years after his B.S. Degree
from U. Cinn. I am proud.

Pearl Harbor...

remembered.
 

Word of the day...

Every bit of positive helps.

It could be said...

No news is good news, they say.
But why dwell only on the bad and not so good? 

Carol has been busy with the church ladies making
stuffed cabbages and baking breads and nut rolls.
They sell them all year long to make money for the church
but, of course, the holidays are always busier.

Ann has been working crazy overtime. Finally got back
to normal 40 hours this week. She's looking forward to
the long Thanksgiving weekend and an even longer time
off for Christmas.

Tom and his family will be visiting for a day during
Thanksgiving weekend. We haven't seen them since this
summer so it will be a fun visit.

I changed eye doctors and am glad I did.
Saw my primary care and I swear, she did a
Jekyl & Hyde turn around. I've been threatening to find
a new doctor for over a year but this one has miraculously
developed a caring personality. We were both quite pleased
with my bloodwork results. (I was so pleased, I came home
and ate a gooey, chewy brownie. I'll work it off tomorrow.)

We'll watch the Browns play Miami this Sunday, but the big
show will be in Pittsburg next week. I'm really not a fan of
football. It's just something to do once in a while until
baseball gets going again. C'mon Spring Training! 

Did I make you yawn?
  

I like this guy...

Joel Sartore.

He has another book of his photographs
of endangered animal species.

https://www.joelsartore.com/product/the-photo-ark-vanishing-book-signed-copy/

 

November. holy crap...

I need to post something to move the Halloween cartoon down.

This is it. 

Life is quiet right now and that's good.
I'm almost done with Christmas shopping.
The weather's been colder and wet. Could see s**w soon.
I was hoping there'd be some comments on the little poem.
It's ok. I still like it. It's ok if you don't. 
Pondering has been pretty sucky lately.
I'll work on it.

Trick or Treat...

Tribe pride...

Life missed...

How cold

not the weather
but the soul
When the heart
doesn't breathe
When the eyes

don't feel.

Better news...

My sister had an echo cardiogram on the 16th and a 
chemical stress test on the 20th of September.

No other doctor appointment was scheduled until Dec. 10.
That was entirely too long to wait for someone to
evaluate the test results and for her to not be taking
any kind of anti-cancer meds.

Why is it up to the patient/family to demand attention?

We went to her oncologist's office on the 20th to calmly
request that someone do something soon. Her doctor was
out of the country then, so she was given an appointment
for Oct.1, the day after her return. Fine.

Not surprisingly, the oncologist agreed with me about the
unacceptable delay. She reviewed the test results and we
were pleased to hear that my sister's heart function had
improved nicely and the stress test results were very good. 
The doctor determined Carol was strong enough to resume
her treatment of Herceptin and Tykerb. Immediately. 

The doctor's office then called the oncology cardiologist
office and got Carol an appointment for the next day.
He agreed with everything we were told by the oncologist.
He prescribed her carvedilol to support heart strength.

She started taking her Tykerb that day and is scheduled
for a Herceptin treatment this coming Tuesday.

The journey continues.

a Chuckle...

for my bloggy friend Joe.


A woman was driving home after a day of shopping
when she saw an elderly woman walking on the side of the road. 
The woman decided to be a good Samaritan and offer the
elderly woman a ride. The elderly woman accepted the offer.

After a quiet minute, the elderly woman noticed a brown bag
on the floor by her feet. She asked the good Samaritan,
"What's in the bag?" and the good Samaritan said,
"It's a jug of wine I got for my husband."

After another quiet minute, the elderly woman said,
"Good trade".

Empty brain...

Except when I try to sleep.
Then it's in high gear overload
but nothing makes much sense.

There's the high school reunion coming up this month.
50 years. Yep. 1969. 
I'm not interested in going so I won't. 

Carol has an echo-cardiogram Monday morning.
They'll be looking for improvement in function. 
We'll be hoping.

I'll be looking forward to the predicted cooler
temperatures this week.

May soft breezes and sunshine find you today.
 

Send good thoughts...

Charles at Dustbury has been in an accident.


UPDATE: Sad news is that Charles died of his injuries.

Dorian...

Direct hit or slightly offshore, it ain't gonna be pretty.

 

Damn speedbump...

My sister got some disturbing news.

After more than seven years of chemo, it's taking a toll
on her heart.  The last few eco-cardiograms have shown
a steady decrease in pumping efficiency. Her heart is
weak enough now that she has to stop all cancer meds.

They say the damage is reversible but only by stopping
the chemo until the heart has a chance to gain strength.
Problem is, there's no telling how long that will take.
The other problem is, without the chemo, the cancer
will start to spread. 

She has no other major side-effects, thankfully.
Her energy level is good and she does damn near
anything she wants to do... drive, housework, shopping, etc. 

She's been referred to a cardio oncologist for further
monitoring and to determine when her heart is strong
enough to resume taking the cancer meds that have kept
her alive and kicking but, in themselves, could do her in.
The options include going back on the same meds but in
lower doses or finding something else that keeps the cancer
from spreading and hopefully doing less damage to the
rest of her body. 

She's taking this pretty well right now but I am a 
full-blown basket case (inside). I have to maintain some
semblance of calm for her and the rest of the family.

Is speedbump one word or two? speed bump?
 

Light summer read...

This uniquely written autobiography is a fun read. 
Every chapter is a few pages about someone in his life
from Frank Sinatra to Cole Porter to MLK Jr. to
his parents to Lady Gaga to his wife. Forty-two in all. 
It also includes much of his artwork scattered throughout
the pages and lining the inside covers.
I highly recommend it. 
 

Slamtana...

Now, what will they do with Boston?

Toni Morrison...

A great lady gone.

Maybe too harsh, too quick...

The two new batters might work.
Salazar, however, is back on the IL. 

 

Indians' loss, Reds' gain...

And what does Cleveland get? A freak who licks
his bat and starts fights.
And they bring up a pitcher who hasn't pitched in two years.
Waste of time, waste of money, waste of oxygen, waste of baseballs. 

You will be missed, Trevor.

Weather or not...

Days and nights of drenching rain are being
traded for clear skies and extreme heat
through this weekend. I've never liked summer.

It's official...

...we are old.  O.L.D. old.

We went out to dinner tonight. Bob Evans.

We were home by 5:00 p.m. 

The end is near.

The only sport worth watching...

 This last photo is just to keep sending strength his way.
One of Cleveland's best and favorite pitchers recently
diagnosed with leukemia. Carlos Carrasco.

Celebrate...

I guess it wasn't funny...

Ignore previous post.

For all my friends who love donuts...(hi Joe)

Persistent Premonitions...

For weeks, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen.
It did, but could have been worse.

A couple weeks ago Carol went to church to help the ladies make
stuffed cabbage. About noon she called me... from the E.R.
She fainted and they called 911. I headed to the hospital.

They claimed x-rays showed results "were suspicious
for pneumonia". More tests, bloodwork and eight hours
waiting for a room, and they decided her hemoglobin had
dropped enough to cause the fainting. 

More tests. More bloodwork. More tests. More bloodwork.

Slightly anemic, malnurished (started losing weight during Lent)
and a referral to a G.I. doctor to check her liver (even though
they did a scan with no signs of cirrhosis or fatty liver.) 
Although chemo can take a toll on one's liver and she's been
taking a variety of those drugs for most of the last seven years
with no end in sight.
On the fourth day they discharged her.

She went for her Herceptin treatment this week and I asked
them to do bloodwork and everything checked out well.
Her weight has stabilized because she's eating as she should be.
Energy level is good again.
I hope the G.I. guy finds nothing to be concerned about.

Why don't I have an ulcer from worrying?
Must be all the garlic we Hungarians eat.
 

What?...

What is this bunk of
nothing that waits for eyes to
look at its nothing

and declare something
must surely be there only
because someone looks.
 

I don't know...

what bunnies and chicken eggs have to do with Easter,
but here ya go.

Wanna feel good?...

Click this link:
https://www.dustbury.com/archives/28026

Freaky, freaky weather...

It was a lovely 60 degrees yesterday.
It is now almost 2 am and it is raining
AND snowing at the same time. I swear.

I had no idea it could do that.

Finally...

Opening Day is here. All is right with the world.

 

itty-bitty FYI...

For anyone who was on the "Followers" list on
the sidebar, I deleted it. Nothing personal toward
anyone. Blogger messed with it and made it look ugly.
Plus, a lot of those followers and their blogs don't
exist anymore.

The blogs listed on my sidebar also include a rather
big batch of inactive blogs. Some of the authors have
died, some of the blogs have been deleted.
I guess it's acceptable to remove those blogs from the
list on the sidebar but... letting go can be difficult for me.
It may be silly, but it feels disloyal. Abandonment, of sorts.

When I moved from Florida, I lost/gave up a lot of things
that had a lot of meaning to me. A lot. It still hurts if I let
myself reflect on it. A huge failure on a long list of failures.

Anyway. Let's end on a more positive note, shall we?

I'm completely off insulin. Only using metformin for diabetes
control. Glucose levels are staying very stable with the
daily average 120 or lower, depending on what and how much
I eat, of course. A1c 5.6.... but the endo doc is concerned
about my levels of albumin and creatinin so he sent me to
a kidney specialist. Waiting on test results but I'm not
worrying. I feel good so I'm going with that for now.
Weight loss is slow but that's pretty much my own fault for
so rarely moving my ass this winter other than to shovel snow.
Still, almost 40 pounds gone.

Carol is doing well. She's into her second year of daily chemo
(Tykerb) and dealing with only minor side-effects. Hard to believe
that she first started chemo 7 years ago this month. Followed by
mastectomy and heavy radiation. I'm glad I was able to be
here for her. Plus the other siblings, too.

Long-awaited Spring is here today.
Yet another reason to be grateful.

 

When lazy sets in cartoons fill in...

Unfortunately, lazy has been dominating, lately.

It happens every year...

"First the howling winds
awoke us
Then the rains came down
to soak us
Now, before the eye can
focus -
Crocus."

Lilja Rogers

 Spring springs eternal, my friends. Be patient.

Another good book...

If history books were written like this when I
was in school, I would have paid more attention. 

Tomorrow's weather will make it a perfect day
to curl up with hot coffee , pillows and a warm blanket
and read. 

One of the benefits of being retired.

It's good to share...

Could be worse...

Akron -4, with windchill -25.
BUT...the sun is shining!

By the weekend, we are told by the weather wizards,
the world will be melting because the temps will be
close to 50. Holy Shit. and Yay.

In the meantime, I just keep reading.

I recently started a book on the history of pirates:

A christmas present from my sister, Ann. 

Stay warm, my friends.

Snowbound...

I have no idea what any official measure is but,
we had almost two feet of snow on our cars and
close to eighteen inches in the yard.
We haven't seen the pavement on our street since
Saturday morning.

Today is clear and sunny but still not warm enough
 to melt even one damn flake. I guess that will happen
soon, though, because we're supposed to get heavy
rain later today that will continue through tomorrow. 

Then the cold and snow come back this weekend. 

Not everyone hated it.

Mary Oliver, poet...

has passed.

Take care of the critters...

Keep them warm and safe.

There will be whining...

It's time to sharpen the snow shovels and buy more salt.

The prediction is for major dumpage alllllll weekend. 

Maybe the prediction will be wrong.
Oh, well. It is winter in NE Ohio.

Elisson...

Gone much too soon.

A genius of many sorts.
They would've loved him on Monty Python.
There's no way to remember him other than fondly.