Lyle Harrison Cate

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Hello everyone. I want to thank those of your who held my brother Lyle in your hearts, however briefly. He succumbed yesterday to a very aggressive lymphoma B cancer about three days after it was diagnosed. He was in a great deal of pain and there wasn’t anything the doctors could do except make him comfortable. It was fortuitous that Lyle & Ruth’s granddaughter, Sarah, is an RN at the hospital where he was, and he had first class care. For that, we’re grateful. He will be missed. Especially all those emails he signed with “older and wiser big bro”.

As I write this I’m on Delta flight 1156, headed for Atlanta. From there I’ll continue on to Bradley Field in Hartford. I’m in the middle seat near the rear of the plane. To my left is Lionel who lives in Lake Oswego. His son is a redshirt freshman Oregon Duck, #33, outside linebacker. To my right is Don who lives in Firlock Park in St. Helens. Don works at Boise Cascade and knew Diane’s dad, Mel. He also knows Diane’s uncle Bill and aunt Carolyn. Small world.

So far all I’ve spilled is a glass of orange juice. Most of it went in my hat, and all over my tray. Sadly, doing this triggered a strong desire to verify the functionality of my urinary tract. I know it was working before we took off. But, I’ll need to check it again before i can safely take a nap, which I need.

The nap would be good because by the time Diane and I made these travel plans it was after midnight and we needed to be out of the house by 4:30 for my 6:20 flight. I did not sleep at all.

I hope everyone is well. Except for my inflated bladder and my sore hip I’m fine. Oh, my eyes burn, too.

Home Safe

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Howdy All – It’s been pointed out to me, by an unbiased relative, that three days have passed since my last entry, and I suspect everyone is just chomping at the bit to know if we made it home without something breaking on the old RV. Or, maybe most of you are secretly enjoying a respite from my assault on your eyes and imagination. Maybe a little of both.

In case you’re in the first group, we did make it home with only one minor issue. When we stopped for a rest in Hood River our brakes made a horrible noise. It sounded just like a power steering pump that’s low on fluid. So, I added some to the power steering pump and it stopped. Ya, I know. How does that work? All I can tell you is that the power steering unit has hoses going back to something that looks like it might have something to do with something other than steering, so it must be a hydraulic-type secondary for the brakes. Terry knew what it was but I as baffled that there was an association between steering and brakes. Who knew?

Now that we’re home, and I’ve downloaded all my photos to the computer, I can share some of them. Once I did that I actually paid attention to what was going on and discovered that I’ve got almost 72,000 pictures on my hard drive. I’m thinking it’s about time to burn some of those to a DVD, or something, before the computer crashes and I lose them.

For the trip, you already know we did some work on the RV so we wouldn’t be embarrassed at our destination. Turns out that wasn’t an issue because all the owners of the huge rigs, with all those slide outs, were happy to see us and we even had to host a visitation period for them. It was surprising how many of them came over.

So, here’s how it went …

We departed from the Troutdale Outlet Mall and hour and a half late, which is right on time for us, and mosied east on I-84. About 60 miles down the road, in Hood River, we pulled in the really, really windy spot I mentioned in a previous entry. It looked like this …

After a scrumptious PB&J sandwich, made by my favorite cook, we continued our trip east, finally turning north somewhere east of Boardman. The goal was Kennewick. It was a brutal trip, 91+ in the shade, and there wasn’t any shade. We lost numerous pounds even though we had our windows open. It was hot, and I didn’t think we’d ever stop, but we did.

We got there right about supper time, parking in the Kennewick Elks Club parking lot. No hookups. Just a parking lot. But, it didn’t cost anything. We were allowed to sit in the shade in the little patch of grass next to the lodge, and sniff the one rose that was blooming there.

After a long hot night, we continued our trip north to Moses Lake, arriving in the town about noon. Seems like we always managed to stop just about the time to eat a meal. The first stop was the Moses Lake Dollar Tree where we parked in the shade while some people went shopping. Truth is, we were waiting until 1pm when Jeff was supposed to arrive at the fair grounds.

As we drove to the fairgrounds, we found ourselves in a long line of really huge Winnebagos. I may have mention this before. I would have taken a picture, but I’m the only one allowed to drive the RV so couldn’t. It was pretty impressive. When we finally arrived, we were directed to the first 6 spaces just inside the gate. I think we were put there so everyone else driving in could see what they were missing in their big fancy rigs.

There’s only five in the picture because Sue and John didn’t arrive until the next day. Every day we were there it was sunny and warm. When the sun went down it was cold. Every move of the day was planned, from sun up to sun down, so it was busy, busy, busy, all the time. Wore us old folks out. One day they even made us guys serve dinner. I don’t know who’s idea that was, but it was fun. Here’s what we looked like in our Mexican theme getups …

That’s me, Cliff, Terry, John, Les, and Jeff, who grew an especially flashy mustache for the occasion. Quite impressive. The guy on the right, in the white shirt, was practicing his moon walk.

Everything went along quit nicely until Terry found something under his hood the got Les’s interest. I don’t know that anyone ever found out what it was.

I rigged up a TV antenna for Diane using my camera tripod. It went nicely with the rest of the decor.

Here are a couple of pics of what a real Winnebago looks like today …

Soon it was time to leave, but we waited until almost all the big guns were gone because we wanted to give them all a nice send off …

The only stop I was allowed to make on the entire trip home was at this fruit stand for something refreshing to drink and eat. Thankfully, we had some of that in our refrigerator …

We made it home without mishap and all is well.

Yakima, Washington

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Greetings Humans – today is Sunday, Jerrie’s birthday, and we successfully traversed the treacherous roads between Moses Lake and Yakima. No dents, no dings, and still have gas in the tanks. It was cool enough on the trip that we didn’t have to run the generator for the A/C. It even sprinkled on us a little as we drove.

Before we left the fairgrounds, we lined up our chairs along the exit road and waved at all the multi-hundred-thousand-dollar rigs as they left. It was pathetic, but they all left with a smile, and we had a wonderful time. We’re like the poor cousins to this organization, and it’s OK. We can find parts in Wal*Mart to fix ours – they can’t. But, they’re really, really, nice inside.

Today’s drive was relatively short. Only about 100 miles. We are currently parked in one of the 30 RV sites at the Yakima Elks Club #318. It’s pretty nice. Has it’s own very large golf course. I suspect it’s a thriving club.

After we got all hooked up, we all piled into Susie and Cliff’s rig, which is a Toyota Itasca Spirit, and easy to park. It also gets 16 mpg, which ours don’t. Terry and Carolann have a tow car but it’s a tiny little Ford Festiva, and it’s full of “stuff” that wouldn’t fit in their RV.

We went to dinner to celebrate my birthday, which was nice. We ate at Old Country Buffet which was perfect because it has food to fit everyone’s taste. I ate too much, but it was really, really good. I had seven kinds of chicken and a piece BBQ ribs. Didn’t even get any on me. I was very proud. So was Diane.

Grant County Fair Grounds, Washington

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I only have a short time to render a plea for assistance to help us escape from this place. We tried to get away this afternoon, but all we managed to do was get our holding tanks dumped before we were forced back to our designated spot inside the fairground permiter.

Five days ago we began this adventure when we motored to Troutdale and met up with three other vintage Winnebago/Itasca RV’s which range from 1973 to 1990. Ours, as you may recall, is a 1979. The trip began nicely with a mosey across I-84 where Terry led us to a nice secluded location where we ate a scrumptious PB&J lunch. This location had a peek at the windsurfers on the Columbia, but we hesitated to stay long because the wind was blowing so hard we feared for our safety.

After lunch Terry led us on a tortuous journey of about 7 hours to Kennewick, Washington where we holed up in the Elk’s parking lot. The temperature during this grueling drive was around 114 in the shade and we were melting since we do not have dash air in our rig. Once parked, we had a chance to set out in a shaded grassy area for a bit, letting the generator run so the roof A/C could cool down the interior of the RV. In doing this I realized that we could have been running it all day long during the heat of the day while bombing down the highway. While all the others went to the Kennewick Mall, and had dinner, Diane and I walked two blocks to McDonald’s and got chicken sandwiches which were very good. I had bacon on mine. When everyone returned, we visited a bit then retired to our respective vehicles.

The night was OK, and we were up early enough to get a breakfast sandwich and coffee from Mickie D’s, then we were off again for a short trip of about 89 miles to Moses Lake. No one encountered any difficulties and we made it safely, stopping at the first Dollar Tree we saw. Next to it was a DQ which was good for a chocolate malt for me and a caramel something or other for Diane. We parked in the shade, killing time, so we could arrive at the fairgrounds about the same time as Jeff, who was coming from the Seattle area.

As we traversed the last couple of miles through town to the fairgrounds, we found ourselves sandwiched between dozens of really huge Winnebagos, much newer, and far more expensive, than our little group of four. It was pretty intimidating.

Once we made it through security we were directed to our designated spots just inside the gate. As we were parking, Jeff arrived making us a stronger group of five. Still, we were isolated from all the expensive rigs which cost anywhere from $150K – $500K or more so, I believe, we wouldn’t scratch them.

The first day we had our own Mexican pot luck for dinner while the expensive RVers spied on us through their fancy blinds, eating surf & turf supplied from town. They do this because they don’t use their kitchens like we do. Our little group had a wonderful time until it was time for me to get the TV going so Diane could watch Dancing With The Stars, or America’s Got Talent – one of those. It took a while to get the antenna pointed right, and at the right altitude. The final solution was achieved by attaching the antenna to my camera tripod, and attaching that to the ladder on the roof. Tricky. A real redneck setup, but it worked.

We slept well that night. I think it was a Thursday.

Friday, John & Sue showed up with their 1970 unit making us a stronger group of six. We ate the remainder of our Thursday evening potluck for Friday lunch.

It was a hot day, but cooled off nicely when the breeze kicked up to around 87 mph. John was happy because he had a kite to fly and it worked well. Friday night, last night, we were fed more Mexican food, and were entertained by the Winatchee High School Mariachi Band. They, and their teacher, were just awesome. A great group of talented kids. It was a real treat.

Then we slept. Got up, got coffee, ate tacos for lunch, and tacos for dinner. It was brutal. Everywhere you looked it was Mexican food, Mexican food, Mexican food … Somewhere in there our group was forced to serve the food as people passed by with their plates. I was the left line “Meat Guy” … Jeff was the right line “Meat Guy”. We had a lot of fun and provided proper portions, ensuring there was enough for everyone, unlike the “Soup Guys” who ran out about halfway through the line. It was horrible. We thought there would be a terrible mob scene clamoring for their soup, but it didn’t happen. It turns out that by serving old people, those who didn’t get soup apparently weren’t aware that there was soup so it was a non-event.

Yesterday the hoyfaloye Winnebagoers came by to tour our pitiful little rigs and were really interested in how they’ve been fixed up, or not. Most of them used to have rigs like ours but have since moves up to the hugs ones with computers, and TVs. It was interesting to visit with them.

Today it was more of the same for lunch, but for dinner they lured us into the dining hall, conveniently located about 100 feet from where we were forced to park, with a BBQ pulled pork and chicken dinner. It was truly awesome, and we didn’t have to bring our own plates! It was all very delicious.

After dinner we were forced to sit there through various forms of entertainment, raffle drawings, and various give aways, during which our table of six RV’s won four of the door prizes. Getting to the end, the 50-50 drawing, took almost 2 hours. We were dying in there, but had to stick around to see if any of our group won. They didn’t. Finally we were released to go “home”.

After visiting in the cool night air, we retired to our respective units. John & Sue are leaving at 0600,
Jeff at 0800. We don’t know when we’ll be leaving yet because we haven’t received clearance from the organizers.

We plan to make our escape and make it at least to Yakima tomorrow, then head across Highway 12 to I-5. So, if you don’t hear from us for another couple days, send help. We’re probably stopped somewhere along that road where there’s no cell service.

Pray for us …

Painting, Upholstering, and Softball

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Wow, what a day! I was up fairly early, when doesn’t matter, and went right to work on the RV. Today was paint an upholstering day. The front stripes were pretty ragged so Diane decided I was qualified to wield cans of spray paint. First I had to tape everything off which wasn’t too difficult, but made me sweat anyway. Could be I did a lot of that because the temperature was about 700 degrees by 10am. Well, maybe it was only 80. But it was exciting standing on the ladder wondering what was going to break when I passed out and landed in the driveway. Here’s what I accomplished … I taped out the blue stipes at the top because the white was really gnarly. Worse than the brown front stripe. I won’t bore you with the details. But I tried. The computer decided to delete a bunch of stuff, and pictures, so I had to start over. So, you’re getting the Reader’s Digest version. Here’s a shot about halfway through … … and the finished product … It came out pretty nice considering I used spray cans. Diane was pleased which is the important part. She said “Fabulous” a few times and I thought I was going to wet my pants it made me so happy. Now I have to adjust the opening in the front so it lines up better. I keep forgetting to do that. After that was done we started on the upholstering for the driver and passenger area overhead panels. Then we took a break about 3 pm for a trip to Longview to get some neessary parts and some medicine for Cedric. He’s got an infection in his eye. When we pulled into the pharmacy lot we saw this …

So, had to take a picture of it for Arizona Gene. He’s got one just like this, I believe. Last I heard he and Shirley took it out for a ride and it caught on fire. I do not know the results of that mishap, or how many firetrucks were involved, but sounded like it was pretty exciting.

We got back to St. Helens about 6 pm, just in time for Lydia’s ball game. I stayed to watch, but Diane wasn’t feeling so hot so went home. Here’s Lydia stealing home, no need to slide.

They were playing a 16U team … Lydia’s team is 14U. They lost 14-13 but the umpire stole a run from them when the pitcher tagged a runner stealing home with her glove while the ball was in her right hand. Still, the girls did well. Lydia played right field until the last couple of innings, then stepped in to pitch.

Now I’m going to ask you all to say a little prayer for my Big Brother Lyle. He’s having a hard time dealing with the pain of his yet to be determined malady. The test is scheduled for 21, 22, 23 May. Please pray for Ruth, too. This is not a good time for her.

Now, I must bid you adieu because I have to get up really early in the morning to finish the upholstering we started too late. It was 9 pm before we finally called it a day and we still have all the little nails to pound into the panels. Then we’re going to drive to some place in Washington for the night, and on to Moses Lake on Wednesday.

Cheers.

Redneck Lederhosen & Mother’s Day

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Greetings Fellow Humanaters …

Today I send you greetings from from a little known part of St. Helens where the Bavarian influence is strong and has been integrated with the area’s inherent redneck nature. Oompah bands proliferate the area in late November, most years, when they attempt to relive their heritage by drinking as much beer as possible, at as many Novemberfest events as they can infiltrate during the week long event. I know, most organized folks celebrate their right to overindulge in beer during Oktoberfest, but one year these folks had so much fun doing that that they decided to do it again in November. This allows them to continue the party for two full months. How fun is that?

Here’s what everyone wears … even the wimmen …

Classy, huh?

Seriously, now, I have to tell you what an awesome wife I have. I Have An Awesome Wife! Today, after church, we took Diane’s Mom, Jean, to the local Chinese place for lunch. They have the most excellent food and all three of us can eat for $12. Today we ordered a #4 and pan fried noodles. There was enough left over for Mom to keep for lunch tomorrow. What  deal

After lunch we wound up in Little Bavaria where I donned my special order lederhosen and both went to work scrubbing the RV. It was an all day affair. Diane’s Mom, Jean, stayed to watch the process because we tied her in a lawn chair and put her under a tree in the front yard, so she didn’t really have a choice.

Anyway, Diane scrubbed everything along the bottom, as high as she could reach, and I used the ladder to hit the high spots. The old rig shined up nicely. Had it not been for Diane helping with this, on Mother’s Day, it wouldn’t have never gotten done. Because of her helping, on Mother’s Day, I had time to put new screen in the screenless frames for our front side windows. We’re kind of in  rush because on Tuesday morning we’ll be firing up the old RV and head for Moses Lake. Things have to be done.

The last thing I did, before shutting the garage door, was tape off the front end stripes in preparation for painting tomorrow morning. That’s going to be fun, unless it’s windy.

Here’s a picture of the new wood on the door, and the old wood I removed …

It doesn’t have a finish on it yet because that’s going to happen tomorrow, too. Diane will be doing that part. She’s better at that than I am. She’s better at a lot of stuff than I am. Actually, she’s better at pretty much everything than I am. This is her, the love of my live …

It’s after 2200 and Diane said we can’t dilly dally around in the morning because we have so much to do. So, it must be time for me to go to bed.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Softball & Whimzie

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Greetings Earthlings – Today was hot after it got going. However, when I was meowed awak at 0528 it was a little chilly. So, I released the source of the noise, let the dogs run, then crashed on the couch. But, I made coffee before doing that – I think. I know I made the coffee. Maybe it was after my nap.

We had to pick Lydia up at noon and transport her to Clatskanie for her game, so work on Whimzie (the Winnebago) was curtailed at 1130. During that time I was able to remantle the door, and get it installed. Remantle, by the way is the opposite of dismantle. Just makes sense. It was tricky getting it back together because the receptacles for hinge screws on the door are threaded inserts. I was able to remove all but two of them (there are 12) so had to cut them off and, ultimately, remove the insterts. Doing this required that I find two nuts with the proper thread to replace them. I was amazed that I actually did that after digging around in a shoe box full of various sizes of screws, bolts, and things. As I said, “after” I dug around in the box I looked up and spied a little drawer containing just what I needed. I really don’t know why I keep that shoe box full of “stuff”. I think it has something to do with mental illness.

Anyway, we got a little bit done, then Diane made me take a shower and we went to get Lydia. After doing that we stopped by Burgerville, which is virtually across the street from Dan’s & Jennie’s house (they own Lydia), and got lunch. I had a Tillamook Cheeseburger basket with a large chocolate milkshake. Diane had the same with a Sprite. Lydia got the Pepper Bacon Cheeseburger basket.

For Lydia, the lunch choice turned out to be a mistake because she got a headache and kinda sick to her stomach. Complicating that was the fact that she forgot her cleats at home. Luckily, Jennie got off work early and was home so she showed up before the game started. There were some nerves going on so during the first game of their double header she only pitched a couple of innings because she was having a hard time. She went to 3rd base and did great for the rest of the game, but they lost that one 10-4, or something like that.

To start the second game, she remained at 3rd and continued to play really well while a couple of other girls pitched. Then she went back to pitching during the last inning and helped with the 12-7 win. It was fun. She got to slide in to home and everything. Here’s what it looked like from my point of view …

Scooped a hit and tossed out the runner at first.

Sliding in at home – safe … though she didn’t get any hits today, she walked a number of times and got to do this slide a few times. Took out the pitcher on this one …

Took out the catcher on this one …

Back in at pitcher, scopped up a hit and tossed the last out

One pitch I wished I had captured was of the catcher in the 2nd game. The batter hit a high pop up just behind the plate. Our catcher jumped up, flipped off her mask, and tripped, landing flat on her back behind home plate. The ball landed about an inch from her head. It was one of those mesmerizing moments when all you can think about is what’s happening, then it’s over. She was very lucky but it didn’t seem to phase her in the least.

After the games Diane and I headed home with a stop at Lowe’s. The intent was to get some Red Max floor wax which really puts a dazzeling finish on RVs. Alas, Lowe’s no longer sells it so we’ll have to find another source, or just drive a dull rig to Moses Lake.

Tomorrow we need to tape off and paint the stripes on the front. We’re both curious to see how that goes.

After the game

Doors, Dogs, Glue, and Softball

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OK – I skipped a day. Yesterday just wasn’t a good day to write anything. I don’t even remember doing anything yesterday. Oh ya! I went to the Kozy Korner and had coffee with the guys from church. We talked about everything – even politics and religion. I believe we may have solved a world crises or two. Maybe three. I don’t remember which ones, but they were really important at the time.

Oh! Jeff and his friend Tim, I think, came up yesterday and removed the old lawn mower that’s been “yard art” for the last 1.5 years. It quit one day and I just left it where it died. Tim thinks he can fix it, and Diane’s glad it’s gone. A real win-win.

It’s coming back now … yesterday afternoon I built a grid thing for the driver’s area ceiling in the RV. This is what it looks like …

This is what it looked like after I put the “skin” on it and clamped it down until the glue dried (I didn’t have any half inch nails or I would have used those) …

I don’t have enough clamps, and the ones I had were already in use, so I just tossed on all the heavy, and semi-heavy things I could find in the garage. Seemed to work OK until I started drinking the Pepsi. The clamps were busy holding the other grid, for the slanted part of the ceiling …

Today I removed the RV door so I could remove the rotted interior wood, and kinda straighten up the frame a little. I got all new screws to this evolution. I got stainless steel ones because the old ones got all rusty. Very unsightly. I spent hours, literally, taking it apart, making the new inner door skin fit, cleaning up all the metal, and putting it all back together. When it got to be 9 pm I decided I’d had enough and just closed the garage door and called it good. Diane made me go back out and put the screen door in the RV door so animals couldn’t get in and do something bad. I put the step ladder in front of it so it wouldn’t fall out. Made her happy.

Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures of progress on the door, but will take one tomorrow when I install it. Honest. Instead, here’s a pictue of Panzee to make up for that omission …

Breezie snuck into that one. Sorry.

My fingers are all black because I used Liquid Nails to put all the wood stuff together. I have gloves, but didn’t want to get them dirty. Probably a bad choice. I think if I stand in the shower long enough, with really hot water, it will just fall off. I’ll let you know how that works out, if I remember.

News from Connecticut – Lyle is still home. The hospital scheduled his next test for June 21st which really wasn’t a good idea because it made both him and Ruth mad that they moved it out so far. But, his doctor took over and got it moved to next week which makes much more sense to everyone … except the hospital staff, I suspect. The first obstacle was the insurance company becaue they had to get a pre-auth for the test. Glad they’re doing it sooner. More news when available.

Tomorrow the door goes back on the RV, then we take Lydia to Clantskanie to play ball and eat hotdogs. Playing ball is a definite, but I’m guessing at the hotdogs. Maybe we’ll go to Fultanos and eat pizza instead. I think I’m hungry, but it’s 10:30 pm. Maybe a banana …

Speaking of ball, it’s been reported that Maryssa’s team lost a heart breaker 4-3 for the state 4A championship. To get there, they had to beat another really good team and Maryssa did it in the bottom of the 7th inning when she hit a double allowing the runner on first to score. Steffani said Maryssa’s batting average is around .450 or so. She had it over .500 for a while, meeting a personal goal she set. We’re looking forward to their visit in June where we’ll have a chance to watch her play a few games. Yea!

OK … that’s all folks.

Oh, wait! I forgot to mention that my epiglotimus, that little thing that hangs down in the back of my throat, is apparently swollen and is hanging down further than normal. It’s dangling on my tongue. Cool, huh?

Woodworking as an Exercise

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Day One – sruggled through my four assigned exercises this morning with no discernable malfunctions to any of my major joints. It took me 15 minutes. Still remaining is the commanded 30 minute walk which will be difficult because Diane took Jennie to Portland. Since I’m not normally allowed to leave the house when I’m left alone, and she won’t be home until after supper, I seriously doubt that the walk will happen. She left the keys to the PT, as a test of will power I suspect, but cautioned me against attempting to drive it because she knows what the mileage is. I guess she’s afraid I won’t find my way home. Either that, or she wants to ensure I stay home to work on the lists that she leaves laying around on my computer keyboard and my dresser. She used to just put them in my underwear drawer, but I hardly ever look in there so she’s changed tactics. By putting them on my keyboard there’s no way I can miss them. I can, however, at great risk, ignore them. I rarely do that, and never intentionally. I have several scars that serve as reminders should I sway toward the dark side of non-compliance.

It’s now almost 6:30 pm and I’ve been alone for over six hours. Diane left at noon. I suggested that I could save them both a trip because I’m prefectly capable of doing toes and fingers. I have wire cutters, files, and lots of spray paint, but the unanimous decision was to ignore me and leave me to fend for myself. Diane texted me at 4:30 pm to ask if I’d eaten lunch and I was able to honestly say “Yes, I did!” And, I really did – I had a delightful PB&J on white, side of milk and 4 pieces of fruity candy that Diane left on the counter. The serving size for the candy is 3 pieces which I thought was absurd, because there are four different colors, so I modified the rule. I had one of each color – lemon, orange, lime, and red. I’m not sure what flavor the red one is. Probably cherry. Now I think I’ll have a dozen or so red vines which are almost universally, incorrectly, called red licorice. All true licorice lovers know that licorice is black, not red. Two notable exceptions are Sambuca (an Italian anise -flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur), and Ouzo (the classic Greek anise-flavored liqueur). Both are typically clear until you throw up at which time they assume the color of the last solid food you may have eaten. Consumed on an empty stomach, the color is normally the same as bile directly from your liver.

I’m not saying Sambuca and Ouzo are not good, because they are. I prefer Sambuca because it has the consistancy of thin syrup, unlike it’s watery cousin Ouzo. In Italy Sambuca is traditionally consumed as an after dinner drink with three coffee beans in it. I’m not sure if the coffee beans are meant to be eaten, but I always did because they have significance – one represents health, one represents happiness, and one represents prosperity. If you get more than three it’s because the waiter either doesn’t like you, and wants to ensure you get a raging headache, and an uncontrolable urge to caress the nearest commode about an hour after you leave the restaurant, or he sincerely believes your blood pressure is far below normal. I know this is true.

 Regarding woodworking and exercise … I believe, in my case, this should serve as a suitable substitute for exercise because I spent much of my time going to, and returning from, the basement to either measure something, or to get something I’ve forgotten. Also, my saws are downstairs so I measure, cut a piece, check the fit, then measure for another. I could write all this stuff down and make just one trip for measuring and one for cutting, but that wouldn’t be any fun at all. Being that efficient does not qualify woodworking, in my house, as exercise. I bet I walked 8 miles today. All up hill.
Gotta quit and look busy – Diane just drove in the driveway. Bye.

VA, Psychology, and Mowing The Yard

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It’s a little late for me to start this entry, 10:36pm, but I feel obligated to provide something to read for those who make it a routine to check this site every morning, knowing there won’t be anything worth reading, unless they’re simply insterested in seeing just how long a sentence can be and still make sense. Typically, I make an attempt to add natural breaks in my narratives, but occasionally become so involved with the topic that I find it difficult to put an end to whatever it is that I’m “saying”. Complicating that is the fact that I really have no idea what’s going to happen. I have no plan. Things just start appearing on the screen. Sometimes I think, perhaps, I’m the victim of a remote viewer who has the ability to take over my mind and do this “stuff” but that doesn’t really doesn’t make any sense because remote viewers are not supposed to have that ability. They can just look at what’s going on. I think it’s something else. Maybe an alien infestation.

I went to the VA rehab clinic today for the first time and met Katie, my therapist. Diane thinks it’s unfortunate that all she does therapy on is body parts – nothing mental, which is something Diane’s been campaigning for since 1989. She thinks I’m nuts most of the time. Perhaps I am, but I’m really OK with it. I’m comfortable in my head most of the time, and I have this blog for a relief valve to unload all the excess bits I no longer need. It’s kind of like cleaning your garage, but I do it every day. I purge. Sadly, it’s not a purge that results in weight loss. Bits don’t weigh hardly anything at all because they’re really tiny. I guess that’s why I have so many of them to unload. I just wish I could find a reason why I wind up with all those extra ones. Am I depriving some other lost soul of bits because I have so many? Or, do I actually have the right amount of bits and I’m actually rendering myself a little bit less capable by getting rid of some that haven’t yet been designated as active? That would explain why some … most of what I share is meaningless drivel. I should be unloading expired bits, instead. But, to bits expire. Somehow, I think not.

Wow! That’s just getting way over my head, there. Reminds me of a Child Psychology class I took once. Scary stuff, psychology. BF Skinner was a weird guy, but devoted to his chosen line of work. For that I applaud him. I’m sure his daughter does, too.

I mentioned that I met Katie today. Nice young woman. Tall, lean, and could probably fling me to the floor without batting an eye. She was checking my right hip action because it’s being problematic and hurts most of the time. The preliminary diagnosis by my primary care doctor was sciatica. I think that’s something to do with nerves. Anyway, it hurt a lot most of the time, until my PCD prescribed legal drugs for me to take. I take them twice a day for inflamation. Now my body has an alarm clock that goes off every 12 hours because the next pill is due. My goal with therapy is to get rid of the meds because I have happy places in my head I can access when the pain is too bad, and they constipate me. I know, the last thing you need to know before you begin your day is that Jerrie’s constipated. Too bad. He is. Now you know. So there.

Moving on …

Before going to the VA, I mowed the front yard twice. I had to do it twice at different heights so the exhaust tube to the bagger wouldn’t plug up every 15 inches. The grass is tall because it’s been well watered since the last time I was allowed to mow it. Lots and lots of rain. I did the lower yard for the dogs, too, but could easily have mowed the three foot square area they use. Since Ziva went to live with Jeff, Panzee and Ozzie seem to be lost puppies, so to speak, because they have no one to follow into the field. Especially when it’s dark. I have to hold a flashlight for Panzee and walk down to the yard with her. She doesn’t like the old compressor Jack gave me. It scares her. She came out the kitchen door this morning, saw it on the lowere patio and ran all the way around the house to the front door. There was no way she was going to be around if there was a chance it would start up. Ozzie could care less. He just spins in circles and barks.

I’ve been at this for 34 minutes and it’s time to stop. The leg and hip hurt again and I have to get prone. Please feel sorry for me. I have a list of exercises from Katie that I must do multiple times a day. She said I have to walk 30 minutes every day, too, and walking around the house, and up and down stairs doing “stuff” doesn’t count. The walking HAS to be part of an exercise routine. So, let the walking begin. Tomorrow. Well even take the dogs with us.

Buona notte.