Monthly Archives: November 2014

Jennie & Diabetes

Posted on by

Someone in the family was going through some old photos and came up with this one

Jennie

It’s my new favorite. That looks pretty much says it all, don’t you think? It’s an old Polaroid photo and Diane wrote “Broom Hilda before perm” across the bottom. There is no date but it was a long, long time ago. A really long time ago. Maybe 35 years.

About diabetes. Today I attended a diabetes class on how to conduct myself henceforth since I’ve been officially tagged with type 2 diabetes. Now I must start counting carbs and actually exercising. As you all know, exercise is something I generally talk about, not do. So, this new journey begins.

I thought retirement was all about lying around and eating whatever you want.

 

Ferguson

Posted on by

I am sitting safely in my chair this evening, waiting for the the grand jury decision from Ferguson, Missouri. I’m not waiting for the verdict with the same expectations as those who live in that town. Personally, I don’t think it’s going to matter what the decision is because I believe, either way, that town will continue to suffer the consequences of the decisions made by one troubled teenager. If the officer involved is exonerated, I suspect the town will burn due to the perceived injustice. If the officer involved is deemed guilty of misconduct, I fear the town will burn as the result of celebration by people who probably don’t even live in Ferguson. A pretty sad state of affairs, I’d say. Really sad for both families involved, and sad for the town.

Sad.

Microwaves, Comcast, Metal Art, Shopping, & Sports

Posted on by

The microwave tech from Stan’s showed up right on time. His name was Steve, I think. I had to rip a cabinet door off to access the power cord so he could dismantle the unit without fear of electrocution. I would have done it without unplugging it. That’s just the way I am because I have good insurance. The diagnosis was a bad fan motor so it’s down hard. Now we need to wait while a new motor is shipped from China, or maybe El Paso, so the tech can install it. To do so, he said, will require me to rip off another cabinet door so he can access the screws that keep the micro from falling on the stove below it. That part of the cupboard, in case you’re interested, was made unusable because I had to modify the space and couldn’t find a cabinet door to fit. So, I used two small ones, for which I didn’t have hinges, and just nailed them to the frame. I don’t think Diane was a fan of that nifty move. Might have to rectify that since the doors will be off. I guess I could just make a single door out of a chunk of plywood.

I went to Comcast to get another cable box to replace the one I turned in a few weeks ago because we didn’t really need it. Turns out that was a mistake on my part. It has been rectified, and I had them boost our internet speed just for the fun of it. Right now we’re running at 55.93 Mbps download and 11.93 Mbps upload. I figure the reason it’s running a little slow is because I’m going through the wireless router that’s at the other end of the house from the modem which means they are about 1/4 mile apart. That’s a lie, of course. Our house isn’t that big. It’s only about 40 feet separation, but there may be 1/4 mile of wire involved. Can’t remember where I strung the wire when I connected the router to the modem. I know what you techies are thinking … I’d need a booster in there someplace because the signal would attenuate to nearly nothing well before reaching the 1/4 mile mark. So it’s probably only about 40 feet, like I said.

I made another stop at a machine shop to see about getting some metal wall art created to cover  holes in the front of the fireplace. The holes are actually missing bricks that would allow hot air to vent into the living room from the heating chamber associated with the fireplace when it was actually a fireplace. We had a gas insert installed so the heat exchanger is no longer needed and the holes in the front have been deemed to be unsightly by one of the occupants of our home. So, I talked with John, who owns the shop, explained what I was looking for and he got some creative juices flowing. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with. For sure it will be one of a kind. I’ll take a picture for you when it’s done. It will be colorful, I’m told.

Diane went shopping for sustenance after I returned from my voyage of discovery. While she was gone I connected and activated the replacement cable box then tried to program the remote for the family room setup. With all the work Diane’s been doing downstairs there’s actually room to walk into the room and sit down on the couch. There’s even talk of moving the big TV down there, a discussion we’ve had in the past. Maybe this time it will happen and we can use the living room as a living room instead of a TV room. Then we’ll spend all out free time down there, in the family room.

I will end this with news that the Portland Trailblazers made short work of the Chicago Bulls, winning their 6th straight game. I have no idea where they stand in their division, but don’t really care at this point. I’ll get more interested toward the end of the season and hope they make the playoffs.

Tomorrow the Oregon Ducks, #2 in the nation, plays Colorado in a Pac-12 game. Then it will be the Civil War against the Oregon State Beavers. The last one is always a fun game to watch. If the Ducks win out, they will be in NCAA playoffs.

Today it rained all day which is just fine with me. I feel the pain of those folks in Western New York who are going to go from 7 feet of snow to serious flooding when it melts. A little rain for us is insignificant by comparison.

Sorry. I really thought I was ending this a couple of paragraphs back. I will do so now. G’nite.

MELCA, Wood, Jerry, Work, & Drones

Posted on by

MELCA Coffee was at 0900. Although I was right on time, I was late. All the other guys must be on Mountain Time. Once again we solved many of the worlds problems, but no one was listening. Everyone knows what MELCA is, right?

Fireplace Mantel is coming along. I glued a couple more pieces on it today, and sanded the top, again. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll be able to put it all together so I can figure out a way to attach it to the wall. My Gorilla Glue seems to be working OK so maybe that’s the solution. That, and some two-sided sticky tape.

Jerry 3 decided that our women should conspire to schedule a group meeting at which we will ingest food of some kind. This is for the group we normally have lunch with about once a month. You know who you are. Hopefully the decision will be made in such a manner that nothing associated with a goat is considered good. Yes, they are cute, generally, but I personally don’t think they taste good.

While I was enjoying coffee this morning, then researching “stuff” this afternoon, Diane was wearing herself out organizing the Big Room In The Basement (BRB). Up until today, it’s been a gathering spot for a variety of things that were never assigned shelf space, or arrived here without warning. Things like that are what comprise a single layer that makes cleaning the floor impossible because we can’t see it. That’s changing now, however. Diane found lots of extra stuff that is going away and we’ve already made arrangements for part of it. The old curtain rod was removed, a new one installed (with new curtains), and the furniture has been rearranged. Doing that opened up access to many more items about which decisions will have to be made. I’m sure that none of you reading this have similar problems. Everything is in the right place, nice and tidy, right? That’s exactly the way our house is in one of those alternate universes I’ve mentioned in the past. I must point out that whenever Diane wanted me to do something, I did it without question. Ask her. I even did some things without asking. Those are the ones that get me into trouble.

Tomorrow the repair guy is paying us a visit to see if he can resurrect our microwave. In Diane’s words, “it’s tits up.” I thought it was just broken but apparently it’s worse than that. So, just in case, I’ve been researching replacements at DISCOUNTMICROWAVESTOREPLACEBROKENONES.COM. They claim to have distribution centers all over the country and can deliver a new microwave to their customers within three hours of placing an order. They use drones, just like Amazon, but bigger.

Footfall is on now so I’m going to quit.

Family, Friends, Golf, & Crafty Stuff

Posted on by

Last Sunday Daniel flew to Houston to attend Intel training this week. He arrived safely, but his bags didn’t. Nifty. I understand that an Alaska Airline representative told Daniel to go out and buy some clothes while they searched the world for his luggage. They eventually found it on a beach in Hawaii. Well, not really on a beach, but pretty close since the airport in Honolulu is very close to Hickam AFB which is, essentially, on the beach. The luggage has since been returned to Daniel.

My psychiatrist visit on Monday went well. I completely fooled her and passed with flying colors. Turns out I’m not totally whacko after all. She wants to see me again in three weeks anyway. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s so I can pick out the color of my straight jacket. Rumor has it they come in an array of hues, not just white.

I’m still in the PC resurrection business it seems because I worked on Diane’s yesterday. Turns out Microsoft’s operating systems haven’t outgrown me completely after all. Granted, I’m more comfortable dealing with DOS and Windows XP, but Diane is using Windows 8.1 with a touch screen. The latter aspect is sometimes an issue because I am prone to pointing to areas on the screen to make a point. In my old life as a PC nerd that wasn’t a problem because all I did was leave smudges. Lots of them. Diane’s screen, however, reacts to touch causing it to open all kinds of programs I don’t necessarily want to access while ferreting out solutions for the issues she complains about. I’ve discovered, recently, that many of those issues are the result of one update or another to the operating system. Love those things.

I’ve been doing surveys on online lately to earn a little extra money. In doing so, I’ve learned that I’m not really a specific age, I’m 65+. Apparently survey people just lump everyone 65 and over into one large group while everyone else gets to put down their real age. I think that’s discrimination and may rise up and be heard.

Today I went golfing with Junior. It was therapeutic for both of us, but mainly Junior. His Mom passed away recently and her service was yesterday morning. I joined him, and his brothers Doug, and Jerry, at a reception they held yesterday afternoon. Normally, as most of you know, it’s usually Doug, Junior, and me who go out and amaze all the other golfers, but today it was just Junior and me. We were all alone on the course, like it was our own private club. It was really nice and we took bonding to a new level.

After golfing I returned home to find Diane working furiously in the basement, picking through an array of “things” we don’t need, making piles and lists in preparation for removing the vast majority of it from the house. This is something we’ve discussed numerous times in the past. Turns out she was serious about it. While she did that, I fiddled around with the fireplace mantel I’ve been working on. We bought it at the Restore Store a couple of months ago, knowing it was too wide. But it was pretty, and there was a good chance I could tear it apart and rebuild it to a more appropriate size. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. The parts are cut and all I have to do is glue and screw it all back together so it can be varnished. Then I’ll have to figure out how to attach it to the fireplace.

Just before it got dark Diane made me go down to the Lion paper boxes to find her a Sunday paper. She’s always loved reading newspapers but we had to cancel our prescription because she would always wind up with a stack of them next to her chair and couldn’t get anything done. But, she can handle one paper a week so I go down and dig out a couple once in a while to keep her happy. The other one is for Mom Jean. While I was at the paper boxes I figured I may as well straighten them up a little, like we do every other Wednesday. I insisted that she stay home because she’s got the sniffles and i don’t want them to get any worse.

On that note, knowing the truth that there’s punishment in my future after Diane reads this, I must quit. Hope everyone had a great day. I suspect you did, unless you live in Buffalo, NY, or thereabouts.

Garage Doors, Microwaves, Diabetes, Pintrest, Movies, & Soccer

Posted on by

Yesterday I played indoors working on the fireplace mantle. It snowed and showered us with freezing rain so I wasn’t allowed to go outside. I was happy about that because it was really cold.

Today was really beautiful – clear and sunny, but still cold. Like 9 degrees or so. I worked some more on the mantle, and we ate lunch of BLTs made with refried bacon. It’s a new treat. Diane found the cooked bacon in the back of the fridge and, since it wasn’t fuzzy, tossed it in a skillet to warm it up. Turns our even refried bacon is good. I guess that shouldn’t surprise me because bacon bits are good. I put them in pretty much everything I eat, except ice cream.

When trying to leave the house, the garage door went TU again. Guess I don’t know how to fix them after all so, at Diane’s urging, I call Metro Overhead Door. They’ll be here next Tuesday.

Went to church to ensure the movie would play for tonight’s event. It was in B&W until I put the video cable in the yellow Jack instead of the green one. Don’t know how long it’s been that way. Before doing that, we went to Columbia Heating in Scappoose to get furnace filters for the church. There weren’t any and the one in use was horribly dirty.

Sadly, I’ve discovered there are things on Pintrest that interest me. Now I have my very own page. As soon as I saved it people started following me which I think is pretty funny because at the time there was only one things there. Now I have one more thing to keep me occupied in my copious free time. I started putting fun projects ideas on it and figure I could do that every day instead of actually doing any of them.

My VA doctor has decided to punish me by making me attend a diabetes class because my A1C is too high. I went to one a long time ago and they gave me a BS Meter and everything. I used to check my BS level once or twice a day and it was always OK so I started checking once a week. That was OK, too. Well, not all the time, but it gave me enough info that I could do something about it with my bad eating habits. Finally, from lack of use I suppose, the meter kind of disappeared. I believe it just up and left the house one day in search of someone who needed it more than I did at the time. Now I’ll go to class and get another one.

We had movie night at the church this evening and Diane & I hosted it with a showing of “Heaven Is For Real.” It’s a good movie. We’ve seen it twice. We don’t see many movies twice. Lot’s of times Diane only sees half a movie so I guess watching this one twice may only count as one viewing. We were at the theater the first time, though, and I’m pretty sure she was awake the entire time. Jeran went with us.

Lydia got all her hair whacked off and now looks like this …

IMG_1058She tried out for a travelling soccer team in Hillsboro so she could extend her playing time and was chosen to join. She’s going to be the only goalie on the team. Being on the league team will get her goalie training that’s not available from the high school coaches. From their perspective, the objective is to keep the ball away from their goal so the goalie won’t have anything to do. If the other team gets by them, then the goalie is pretty much on their own to figure out how to keep the ball out of the net. She finds that a bit frustrating, so this will be good for her.

Now it’s time for bed.

Kids, VA, & Free Food

Posted on by

Greetings – it’s been about 13 days since my last post and I don’t’ have any good reasons for my absence that would satisfy those who, for some obscure reason, follow me. The good news is that during that time I was finally given an appointment with a psychiatrist at the VA Hospital here in Portland. This is especially good news for Diane because she’s been trying to have me committed for many years. I have until Monday to get all my communications out. After that I’m not sure I will have access to a computer. As far as I know, the psych ward doesn’t allow inmates to use electronical equipment of any kind. Especially those that require AC power. Batteries may be OK, but I’m not sure. I’ll let you know.

Let’s see … what’s happened during my sabbatical? I checked my calendar, and the bits of memory floating around in my head, and tangible information is surprisingly sparse. Not a surprise there, huh? Because of that, the following information isn’t necessarily in chronological order which, as you know, is important to me. Some times it’s important to me. Not so much today.

Gilligan and Baylee spent Saturday afternoon with us, and were going to spend the night so they could go to Sunday School. I took them next door to meet Kaia and Brooklyn, our new neighbor girls, who reside with their parents, Scott and Whitney. They moved from Hillsboro because they’d heard we were awesome neighbors and couldn’t pass up the chance to live next to us. Turns out, they’re pretty awesome neighbors, too. Anyway, Kaia and Brooklyn are 5 and 2, respectively, I believe, which dovetailed nicely with Gilligan’s 7, and Baylee’s 4. The adults, and I, sat and talked while the 4 little girls ran rampant throughout their house. It was a joyous time with good conversation and all the girls made new friends.

At bedtime, Baylee decided she’d rather go home so Daddy retrieved her, leaving Gilligan in our tender loving care. She mentioned that it would be good to have a night-light on somewhere in case she had to go to the bathroom, or get up to get a snack. She slept all night, no problem, and I had to wake her in the morning so she’d have time to get ready for Sunday School.

SS was a hit mainly, I think, because she made even more friends. She even sat through church service with minimal problem, sitting behind us with her friends, whispering the entire time.

After lunch we asked if she was ready to go home and she said, “No, I’ll just stay here.” So, we confirmed the extended visit, and she stayed. Baylee even came back to give it another shot, and did very well. It was a joy to have them both.

One of our conversations touched on the skill of cooking so I shared with them how their Dad, Jeff used to cook for us all the time when he was 7. I told them that he planned the menu, shopped for the food and prepared it all. When asked how he got to the store I said he used the car. Baylee believed me but Gilligan wasn’t convinced. She wasn’t a bit skeptical about it, either. She just flat-out didn’t believe me. I don’t understand. But, there’s lots of time left to sway her thinking.

Monday morning we had to give the girls a bum’s rush to get them home so we could be in Scappoose by 0900 to attend a free breakfast at the high school. The Leadership class sponsored the meal and a program for all Veteran’s in honor of the day. It was very nice and we got to sit with Jack and Wynette which made it even better.

After the meal, we adjourned to the auditorium to watch a movie about the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight Program. In case you don’t know, it’s a program that gives free flights to Washington DC for WWII vets so they can view the memorial created in their honor. Sadly, it wasn’t completed in time for all of them who survived the war to visit. They are dying at the rate of about 900 a day and will soon be gone.

The movie was awesome and we highly recommend it.

So, except for a couple of random visits to my primary care physicians, I have two of them, that’s all I can remember about the past 13 days. I’m sure there were a few days in there where I actually accomplished something. Then again, may not.

Oh, ya! My pending visit with the psychiatrist was arranged by my VA PCP and I’m looking forward to that visit. Should be a hoot and you know I’ll share the results.

It’s going to snow tomorrow.

Cheers