Are we having fun yet?

If not...

1. go on over to Suldog's and see the knock, knock jokes [if you haven't already done so].
2. check out Buck's happy hour music.
3. see what's flyin' at the Sarge's place
4. find out what's stirring in Merry Olde England
5. or what's challenging the Cranky Ol' Man [GIYP - girls in yoga pants?]
6. hit the road
7. stargaze [Moongaze?]

It's raining again here... not like the other night.

Thank God!

It's only a little more than a drizzle.

So there's no further damage leakage.

We actually were luck yesterday.

The weather system that blew through mostly missed the southern part of the county.

Up the road, from Redding north, it was gangbusters.

When I went out in the afternoon I could see the rainclouds dumping all over them.

There were even local flood warnings for that part of the county.

On the plus side... a good part of that rainfall ends up in Lake Shasta, rather than as runoff.

It isn't much.

But, considering the circumstances, we will take what we can get.

Our roof situation is a true puzzle.

It appears the only time we have a leak is when the wind is from the east to east-northeast.

It has to be either heavy rain or the coming in sideways.

It's definitely a poser.

TGIF

Uh, oh...!

When I came back to the house last night. after a meeting, it was raining cats and dogs ...not quite a gully washer.
After about twenty minutes I went in to the bathroom off the master bedroom [I hesitate to call it a master bathroom].
I notice some water droplets on the towel bar under the window.
Upon further inspection, I found a steady drip through a weak spot in the ceiling.
I cleared a spot on the floor and placed a plastic basin to catch the drip.

Then I went back out to the family room to watch some television.
But before I actually had an opportunity to actually watch anything something drew my attention to the pantry.
That's where I found even more water.
It was coming from the same place I mention in this post from three years ago.
That time it followed another roof leak and the whole experience took three months.

the joys of home ownership

Where were we

Oh, yeah!
So I had an early appointment with the dentist.
We are still correcting some issues that were created about a month ago when an adjustment was being made to the lowers.
It looks like it will go on for awhile longer.
At least there appears to be some resolution.

On the other hand, GS continues to be treated for symptoms.
When I returned from the dentist we headed up the road to the Outpatient Services at the hospital [probably should say a hospital because there are two major hospitals in Redding].
The system they use is slightly antiquated.
The nurse at the center can fax the order for the medicine to the pharmacy only after the patient arrives.
Then it can take as long as an hour for it to be delivered to the center.
That usually means we will spend at least an hour sitting around.

GS had an appointment with the oncologist yesterday.
The oncologist had been in consultation with the GI doc [as well they should be because they are husband and wife].
They concur that GS should again visit the fine folks at Stanford because the expertise at this end of the state has been exhausted.
The conclusion, thus far, is there is no improvement.
OTOH, it appears it is no worse, either.

I talked to the schedulers at the Stanford Women's Cancer Center.
We will be tripping off to Palo Alto in two weeks.
I wish it was sooner.
Those Docs have really full schedules.
Here's hoping they have answers, too.
Right now it's just questions ...like, can you send us copies of scans, labs, and what all.
Yep, I talked to the nurse, Laura, who works for the Doc we'll be seeing.
The next step from here is to make sure Stanford's Docs have all the information available before we get there.
It kinda looks like a phone tag day today

This is what we awoke to this morning

Yay!
We'll take what we can get.

even if I have to go out in it

Today's picture

msn.com

I'm off to the dentist.
Then GS has an appointment with the outpatient folks.

maybe more later

This may take awhile ...but it is SFW

Please bear in mind it takes awhile for me to start this type of post.

Then, my attention span being what it is, take almost as long to actually get it down in black and while.

Yeah... it took awhile (a day and a half) to put it into usable form.

The best thing about it is I have managed to keep from embarrassing anyone.

Finally, I felt it isn't fair to post it on a weekend.

So I have saved this story for a Monday.

Because Monday's are as much as wasted anyway.

Maybe, by the time you finish reading this, GS and I will have returned from Redding. 

So I got this assignment inspiration while reading a post by another blogger.

Okay... so it was the Ol' AF Sarge telling about being a bailiff at a court martial.

Actually it was when he mentioned that it happened a second time and all of the other old AF sergeants became jealous suspicious.

Does anyone reading this realize how difficult it is to sit and write about a specific topic instead of doing stream of unconsciousness posts.

Oh, yeah ...maybe Suldog?

He's kinda become Boston's answer to Dave Barry.

If you don't know who Dave Barry is...

He's the guy who wrote the best description of a colonoscopy, ever.

(Spellcheck wants me to change that to colonialist. Stupid spellcheck)

Another difficulty with writing tales like this is ADD the number of distractions available on the Intertubes as one composes the post ...like other blogs and emails [and paying bills].

So... now it is almost two days later and there's still no post about whatever it is I was going to tell you.

It really isn't all that interesting.

Well maybe the locations where it took place are interesting.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about a brief period on my life when I was working for Uncle Sam.

In 1963 the USS Wiltsie (DD716) was deployed, with the rest of the ships in DESRON 7 (Destroyer Squadron) to WesPac [the military sometimes uses misdirection. WesPac is the designation for the Far East (aka – Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines) and South East Asia (though we didn't go there)].

Sailors have mixed feeling about such deployments.

Those feelings have nothing to do with leaving home.

They have everything to do with the excitement of seeing exotic places, purchasing exotic merchandise at bargain prices, and knowing that, when the ship is underway, which is about 80% of the time, they will be working a whole lot harder than when they are back at CONUS [that is the military designation for home (continental United States)].

When at CONUS the ship only steams about 20% of the time.

The rest of the time is spent replacing paint, polishing brass, and avoiding officers [as much as possible].

So the best part of a WesPac cruise is visiting exotic ports.

For the typical sailor exotic means he hasn't been there before.

The next time he visits anywhere, he is an expert because there's an FNG [go see the Sarge about this] who hasn't been there.

But... we're on about the Far East here.

And to save time I'm gonna revert to civilian language as much as possible.

By the time 1963 rolled around, this sailor (me) had already made Second Class Petty Officer [kinda like a sergeant], which is pretty heady stuff for a kid who's a little more than halfway between 19 and 20 years old.

With the rank of Petty Officer comes certain responsibilities.

Those involve extra work assignments.

Or, alternate work assignments.

My normal regular work was as a Radarman (RD) [today they're called Operations Specialists (OS)].

It was our job to break the radar equipment so the Electronic Technicians had something to do run the Combat Information Center on the ship.

I could go on and on about what we did, but it was more than write backwards on plexiglass plotting boards.

Alternate and extra work assignments occurred when we were in port, typically when we were away from our home port.

Extra work assignments involved things like guard messenger work, or, because our ship didn't have postal clerk, serving as ship's Postmaster.

It seemed like the Petty Officers from CIC were the guys who got all of the fun stuff this stuff because the perception was we only had work to do when the ship was underway [that's sailor talk for steaming around the ocean].

That happens when you have to keep the door to your workspace locked when in port because otherwise everybody comes in and drinks all of the coffee because it is better than the mess deck coffee it is a restricted area.

Then there are the alternate duties.

A regular duty is one which is performed on duty days, which routinely occur every third day, (or in the case of weekends every third weekend).

Usually it meant standing at least one four hour watch, sometime during during that 24 hour duty day (more watches on a duty weekend).

Alternative duties were performed in lieu of regular duties... and they usually involved the full uniform of the day and a lot more than four hours.

Most of the time that alternative duty was Shore Patrol.

Shore Patrol is the Navy version of Military Police.

Unlike other branches of the service the Navy does not have a law enforcement arm.

A sailor on Shore Patrol might be a laundryman, a storekeeper, a bosun's mate [yeah, yeah Boatwain's mate].

Only a few rates avoided shore patrol duty.

Only occasionally were ships personnel required to serve on Shore Patrol when at their home port.

At many ports in the Far East ships were required to police their own members, or to augment the the Shore Patrol already in place because of the increase in the number sailors the arrival of the ship would create.

The arrival of an aircraft carrier and the accompanying task group created all kinds of issues challenges

for the permanent military [and civilian] establishment.

So, what have we established so far?

The Navy takes sailors overseas to exotic places.

The Navy polices its own.

The Navy makes just about anyone above a certain rank a cop.

I was in the Navy.

I was overseas.

I was above a certain rank.

The superiors on my ship didn't think I had anything better to do on my duty days.

The first time I was sent on Shore Patrol duty, I was sent, with a Boatswain’s Mate Third Class, from Yokosuka, Japan by truck [actually it was a Chevy Suburban, but they didn't call them Suburbans back then] to Yokohama, a distance of about 20 miles.

That drive is a whole 'nother story involving Japanese drivers and the wrong side of the road.

We were patrolling the area in the military housing unit where the movie theater and exchange were located.

It turns out we were to keep dependent children from misbehaving.

At no time did we have any contact with any of our own shipmates ...or even any other military personnel.

And it was boring.

My second tour on patrol was at Sasebo, Japan.

There is a major Naval facility there.

We were in port for a brief R&R stay (rest and recreation) with a carrier, probably the USS Coral Sea, a couple of supply ships and a flotilla [meaning I don't know how many and it really doesn't matter] of frigates and destroyers.

What I mean is it was overwhelming and the local bar owners were overjoyed until they found out that tin can sailors don't mix well with carrier sailor, particularly after being at sea for three weeks, dodging typhoons after R&R in Hong Kong has been cut short, from two weeks to five days, with the missing nine days in the middle.

Five or six of us from the Wiltsie were sent down to the Fleet Landing, at around 2 PM, to report for duty, along with those assigned from the other ships from the group.

(I could use military time for the purposes of this post, but to tell the truth I don't much think like that any longer.

I don't say bulkhead, deck, overhead, hatch, or head, either.

I still have to stop to think about port and starboard, but then I have to think about right and left, too.)

There were at least 70 of us.

Liberty for ships crews would commence at about 3:30 PM.

We were paired with another patrolman from out own ship and given assignments.

Some were sent to Fiddlers Green, the Enlisted Mens Club, others were to patrol the night life area, still others were to remain at Fleet Landing to help maintain order during the arrival of liberty boats from the ships at anchor in the harbor.

My partner and I were assigned to the snack bar at India Basin.

That was right down the pier from where our ship was moored.

Our main function at the snack bar was to check ID cards to make certain nobody underage was drinking beer.

The drinking age was 20 years.

There is a certain irony in that I was underage myself, at that time by about a week.

Nobody created any challenges at the snack bar, and it closed at 10 PM.

We returned to Fleet Landing, where the fun was just beginning.

The typical aircraft carrier has a crew of about 3000 sailors and Marines (for security).

Additionally there may be as many as another 3000 men, who are attached as part of the Air Wing aboard.

Also at anchor was an ammunition ship, with a healthy size crew.

I should mention somewhere, here, the permanent Shore Patrol in Sasebo was made up almost entirely of sailors from the minesweepers and a degaussing ship, the USS Surfbird, who were all home ported at Sasebo, along with one repair ship.

The combined crews of the minesweepers and Surfbird might have equaled that of one of the destroyers.

Anyhow, it was back to Fleet Landing and organized chaos.

The biggest issue at the landing was waiting for the next liberty boat.

That, and the fact that there probably wasn't much chance that any of those on liberty hadn't had at least one drink.

Liberty ended at midnight.

It ended on the quarterdeck of the ship, not at Fleet Landing.

The sailors knew they would have to return well before midnight if they were going to catch the boat back before their liberty ended.

Although they all served in the same ship together, most of them did not know, or even recognize others from their own crew.

Carriers can be pretty impersonal.

There was a lot of pushing and shoving.

There'd even been a few scuffles downtown.

By 11 PM all but a few of the Shore Patrol were at Fleet Landing.

Control was maintained.

After that first night there were no incidents.

That was my only turn as an SP on that port call.

I pretty much decided the best liberty was at the snack bar.

There were no Shore Patrol there for the rest of that port call (or any other time we stopped at Sasebo).

The next time was at Kure, Japan, a few weeks later.

We were steaming with another carrier task group consisting of the carrier, USS Ticonderoga, and six or more other destroyers.

They went to Iwakuni, where there was a Marine Corps Air Station.

The Wiltsie was detached to make a Show the Flag goodwill appearance at the Japanese Maritime Defense Forces base in Kure.

We were the only U.S. Presence in Kure.

We were to provide all of the Shore Patrol for our entire short stay.

Headquarters was set up at a local police station.

The SP detachment consisted of a Junior Officer (Ensign or Lieutenant Junior Grade) or a Chief Petty Officer and 8 Second Class or Third Class Petty Officers.

The Officer in Charge and two of the petty officers remained at the police station.

The other six patrolled the commercial area of the city, rotating through the police station about every hour or so.

There were no incidents in Kure and the advantage of having Shore Patrol was discovering places to go while on Liberty without having to use precious off-duty time.

That, and the businesses remembered who'd been on Shore Patrol and showed their appreciation.

The local cops treated us well, too.

They provided Cokes for those at the police station.

It turned out we were the first American Navy ship to visit there since the Korean War.

The peculiarity of this Shore Patrol story is I was the only sailor from my division ever selected for this duty the entire time we were in WesPac.

My immediate shipmates were just a little suspicious.

I'm only curious.

I had Shore Patrol duty a number of other times before the deployment was finished.

All of those were at Sasebo.

In fact from that point on, every time I had the duty when we were at Sasebo, I also had Shore Patrol.

It was almost like having liberty.

Only maybe even better.

Somehow we found ourselves steaming independently.

We were attached to a task force but as a picket ship.

So for the most part we didn't even see the other ships in the force.

That was bad in that we didn't get mail on a regular basis.

But it was good, because it meant we weren't doing plane guard.

Plus it meant we went to Sasebo.

They went to Yokosuka.

They aren't even on the same island.

In fact we were finding that the Surfbird was the only other ship at Sasebo.

We had the whole city to ourselves because even the minesweepers were at sea somewhere else.

We'd also had a regime change.

First we had a new Executive Officer replacement.

Then the Destroyer Division (of which we were the flagship) had a change of command, so there was a new Commodore (a senior Captain).

Then, finally, our Commanding Officer's replacement arrived and there was another change of command ceremony.

Each of those officers made for an improvement.

Two of the three who were replaced were *******s.

I just won't say which ones.

Anyway, the first time after the change of command, there was a riot in downtown Sasebo.

A bunch of Gunners Mates and Deck Apes tore up a bar.

I think it was the Paramount.

I wasn't there.

The Radar gang had their own hangout, a little stand bar nowhere near downtown.

We (the ship's crew) were certain liberty would be shut down or at least restricted for the rest of the port visit.

But the skipper personally got on the 1MC (loudspeaker system) and announced that he wasn't going to discipline the entire crew for the actions of a few.

When I had duty again, I was assigned to ride along with a permanent Shore Patrolman.

He was also a Radarman, from the Surfbird.

There were only two other permanent Shore Patrol at the time.

They were also from the Surfbird.

It was almost like we were at Kure.

The difference was there was no OIC from the ships.

The Naval Fleet Activities Station Legal Officer was in charge.

We never saw him.

Patrolling was in a Jeep.

The rider had to be careful where he put his feet.

There's a button on the floorboard that activates the siren.

First time riders are not told about the button.

They're allowed to discover it on their own.

The SP really had two jobs.

One was to observe the sailors on liberty.

The other was to make routine checks of activities in the Navy Housing area and at the EM Club, which were both outside of the Naval Station.

The EM Club could pretty much take care of itself.

The only challenges in the Navy Housing were from teenagers doing their best to avoid adult supervision ...like all boys and girls with raging hormones.

It was all pretty routine stuff.

It was also almost like going on liberty.

The best of it was on weekends, particularly on Sunday mornings.

The SP detachment from the ship would be sent to Fleet Landing at 8 AM.

The Petty Officer of the Watch would check us in.

Then he'd us what time to report back and hand out chow passes for the Naval Station Mess Hall.

Sundays at the Naval Station Mess Hall were a sailor's delight.

They served brunch.

Everything was prepared to order.

And it was all you can eat.

Those who'd finished eating could hang out and kick back until they had something important to do.

I kinda kept this to myself until now.

I'm still curious about how I was singled out.

I hope it was because someone was trying to victimize me.

please, oh please... whatever you do

 don't throw me in the briar patch!

Up and out

Early for a Sunday...
There's a district meeting for Lions this morning in the city of Shasta Lake [almost said in Shasta Lake, but know how one of you thinks].
I have a report to make .
Fortunately it is only a few miles up the road.
Unfortunately you can't see Shasta Lake from there,
...or I'd take pictures to show how far down the lake level has dropped.
It still isn't as low as the late seventies,
But it's close.

The story is finished,.. more or less.
I will post it when I have had a chance to re-read it [and when I remember where I saved it].
The decision now is whether or not to serialize it.
It runs just a tad long.
In any event, look for it tomorrow.

more rain, please

Buck beat me to it

The BP posted the result of one of those Internet quizzes yesterday.
I was going to post the outcome today.
Buck got it first.
He and I had the same result.

I'm still working on the tale I promised.
It's taking longer than I projected.
I don't particularly like posting those thins on weekends.
I probably won't finish it before Monday anyway.

I have an all day thing with Lions tomorrow and I am already running late for a meeting this morning.

I found this earlier,

Our Galaxy

Dr Heckle

Fascinating...

hate deadlines

So... what's this all about

The "Happiest States in America" is what it's about.
You can probably go read the article at the link,
...or you can make up your own story about why wherever it is you reside sits where it does on the list.

California, my home state, which used to be envied by others, actually moved up one place (from 18th to 17th) this year.
I figured out why Californians are happy.
It's because we're not Oregonians [or Texans].

I'm pretty sure I know why Coloradans and Washingtonians are happy, too.
It has nothing to do with the Super Bowl ***** **** and a lot to do with the last election.

did ya know there's smoking

 lounges at the Denver Airport

I've been challenged

Or is it, I've been goaded?
Nah... inspired is the word I want.
Now, the trick is to actually write something that will make some sense.
That means, dear reader, you will have to come back another time if you want to see what it is.
Then, I'm not sure it will be such a great story anyway.
The reason you have to wait is I only have a topic.
It is almost ancient history,.. almost!

It is what is sometimes called a sea story

I should have time to work on it later today,
...maybe some time tomorrow,
...and with any luck at all,
...you should see something by July,
...or Saturday.

maybe sooner

Today

GS has an early show time at the Outpatient Services.
Another hemo shot.
There's some concern because there've been some subtle changes.
Maybe they aren't so subtle.
Maybe we've been too complacent lately.

Crap!
I.
Hate.
This.

Hate's a really strong word.
I use it sparingly... or, occasionally, with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek.
This is not one of those occasions.
I should mention, also, hate is used relative to my own feelings about myself and situations in which I find myself because of those feelings.
It comes just before a loss of control.
Control over anything is tenuous anyway.
That's because those in the know realize just what it is we control.

Anyhow, this, too, shall pass.

in its own time

We haven't done anything like this in awhile

Who doesn't like bacon.

that's not a question

Hey kids! What day is this.

If you want to hear about the holiday, go here.

It is only circumstantial that today is my brother, who is related by marriage, has a birthday.
He is is suffering foul weather on the island of Maui [my sister in law says it's been raining there].
The one time GS and I went with them there was a drought.
This is how my brother celebrates.

Not Maui

Happy Birthday!

yeah...

 missed the traditional

 Thanksgiving photo

We were promised more rain

The forecast for Saturday was rain.
Actually they said after 4pm.
But all day it looked and felt like it was imminent.
That, and it was pretty breezy, too... and gusty.
All in all a sucky weather day.
Indoors was the place to be.
All.
Day.
Long.

Except for PHG.
She had a date for lunch.
...in Red Bluff, 20 miles down the road [when I mention the road, I mean I-5].
Her luncheon companion was also coming from another direction out of town.
(Red Bluff offers multiple directions for entering and leaving ...unlike Anderson, which doesn't)
They were meeting at the restaurant.
It was closed.
They worked it out.

All day it was blustery here.
It was like winter was trying to make up for the earlier lack of effort.
But the weather was holding back.
The evening news promised we'd have rain, even presenting satellite, radar images, and weather models [graphics, not people] showing how near it was.
...and how small the containing system was.
It kinda lowered our expectations.

Saturday nights the TV doesn't hold much interest.
So it is either reading or watching the weather for entertainment.
You can't see a lot when it's overcast and dark outside.
I was reading and occasionally looking to see what was up on Facebook.
The local TV station posted this...

...withe the following comment:

Line of heavy rain continuing to move to the SE. Here's an idea of when Anderson and Cottonwood could see the heaviest rain start to fall. Watch for small stream flooding and possible urban poor-drainage flooding from this band of rain.

Yep... we got nailed hammered.
There was roughly a half inch of rain in less than 30 minutes.
And to paraphrase a quote from Bill Cosby, "The noise [sic], it was tremendous!"
There were some pretty healthy puddles out front, as well, where there aren't normally usually any puddles [when it rains].

That wasn't the end of it.
But it was the main event.
The system also altered other conditions, too.
The relatively warm temperatures were scoured out of the area and replaced by much cooler, though not freezing, temperatures and clear skies.

So the Sun has once again made an appearance.

looks like we may be

 stuck with it for awhile

Saw this...

Thought I'd share...

"If some one's path is about to take them over a cliff, yeah, you might want to point it out to them; but it's ultimately up to that person to change their direction. Not yours."

keep it movin' people

Well, that wasn't any fun

Just about the time I was ready to post here yesterday everything on the Internet stopped.
So did the land line telephone.
...and it rained again, .09".
So we are at about 1/3 of the way to where the rainfall level usually is by this time of the year [fiscal year - July to June].

Oh... about the loss of Internet and phone.
The fiber optic line was cut somewhere south of here, near Yuba City.
Probably somebody forgot to have a USA (Underground Service Alert) before they started digging... or, more likely, they ignored it.
Of course the cable company was blamed and the trolls came out of the woodwork on facebook.

Hey folks!
It could've been a power blackout.
So shut up!

So we were inconvenienced.
I'm just happy we didn't suffer like a number of businesses that have switched over to the cable company's business services... particularly the ones  who were looking forward to a booming Valentines business, such as florists.
That sucks.
There are others who found it traumatic, as well.
But online gamers will get no sympathy from me [though I will tell them they can find it between sh*t and s*ph*ll*s in the dictionary].

Now I have to go look and see to what emails I must respond... and which ones to ignore.

anyway, we're back

News (Monday update)

So... do you remember what we were talking about?
Neither do I.
We heard from the GI Doc last night.
Nothing is changed.
GS, PHG, and I will pow wow this morning.

bagel for breakfast again

Amuse yourselves

I have an early show time.
Then there's a trip to Redding that will include a bagel run.
So here's a video that might rock the world for some of you.

innit more fun than watching curling?

A repost

A mature (over 40) lady gets pulled over for speeding...

Woman: Is there a problem, Officer?
Officer : Ma'am, you were speeding.
Woman: Oh, I see.
Officer : Can I see your license please?
Woman: I'd give it to you but I don't have one.
Officer : Don't have one?
Woman: Lost it, 4 years ago for drunk driving.
Officer : I see...Can I see your vehicle registration papers please.
Woman: I can't do that.
Officer : Why not?
Woman: I stole this car.
Officer : Stole it?
Woman: Yes, and I killed and hacked up the owner.
Officer : You what?
Woman: His body parts are in plastic bags in the trunk if you want to see .
The Officer looks at the woman and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up.

Within minutes 5 police cars circle the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

Officer 2: Ma'am, could you step out of your vehicle please!
The woman steps out of her vehicle.
woman: Is there a problem sir?
Officer 2: One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner.
Woman: Murdered the owner?
Officer 2: Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car, please.
The woman opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.
Officer 2: Is this your car, ma'am?
Woman: Yes, here are the registration papers.
The officer is quite stunned.
Officer 2: One of my officers claims that you do not have a driver’s license.
The woman digs into her handbag and pulls out a clutch purse with her license in it; and hands it to the officer.
The officer examines the license. He looks quite puzzled.
Officer 2: Thank you ma'am, one of my officers told me you didn't have a license, that you stole this car, and that you murdered and hacked up the owner.
Woman: Bet the liar told you I was speeding, too.

Sheesh!

The past few days, during which I have found little free time, other bloggers have posted a number of items that normally [yep, there's that word] would have some sort of related post here.
That is if I remember long enough.
The sad story is I can't even remember who posted what ...other than BP mentioning the Fat Duck.
The only reason it stands out is:

1. it is the most recent
2. it mentions a duck

I now know more about Heston Marc Blumenthal, OBE, than necessary.
Don't bother to goggle him.
Just think celebrity chef.
Meh!


I do remember being slightly miffed when another blogger commented at a third blog that he didn't bother with reading blogs of bloggers who have more than one blog.
I got over it, though.
And I don't remember where that was anyway.


I also remember saying something somewhere that I would explain from where the name I post and comment by came.
That would be Uncle Skip... or more fully (not necessarily your) Uncle Skip.
I have been Skip, or more precisely Skipper, since before I can remember.
It is not my given name, which is the same as my father and grandfather.
Folks who don't know me well have a grand time when they do find out my given name ...at least until I don't react.
No, I'm not going to post it here ...at least not now.
When I first started blogging, 2247 posts ago,..
Wait, I should mention that I've been fairly active on the intertubes since sometime in the last century.
Back then it was bbs. (bulletin board system).
They were fun, but had to be hosted by someone,
Anyway there was the necessity to clean up periodically so the board wouldn't crash.
I met a bunch of folks there and even met some in person and we have become friends ...friendly enough that we can yank one another's chains.
We pretty much had to post and comment under our own name, though we did give one another nicknames, for example, the Brighton Pensioner.
Anyhow bbs. became passe.
There were lots of lurkers, but nobody seemed to want to post anything but garbage unreadable gibberish.
Besides, I was finding my time occupied with a whole lot of other things ...GS had retired.
My niece had a blog I started reading on an irregular basis.
Then her sister [yeah, another niece] started blogging, too ...and my brother-in-law, their father, too.
I thought, "I can do this."
Besides, I was going to have some free time.
I started the blog at the time of my back surgery, ostensibly to update everyone on my progress.
That lasted about a week.
I posted every day.
But I couldn't [or wouldn't] stat on topic.
I needed a posting name.
Skip was way too simple.
In tribute to the fact that other family started me out ...sort of ...I went with Uncle Skip.
Well that was just fine when I was following family members.
But then I branched out.
And I can't just follow a blog.
I have to comment.
Well, I couldn't have folks asking, "Who the _ _ _ _ is Uncle Skip?" ['cause ya know that's what they're sayin' in their head]
So I added the parenthetical [Ooh! five syllables].

For those of you who actually went back to the very beginning, today is day 2055 since the last time I had a cigarette.
I have gone longer once before, so I'm not sure yet if I quit.
I just tell folks I stopped.
That gives me an out ...in case I want a cigar.

So you see.
This started out as a health history blog about me.
Now it is still kind of a health history blog and it's still more or less about me.
But it's not about my health ...unless you mean mental health.

now we've cleaned all

 that crap outta there

It's about freakin' time

Mother nature took her sweet time bringin' us the weather to which we are accustomed at this time of year.

We're now at about 25% of "normal."

Change up ...major!

I don't usually post music...



I also don't usually promote stuff...
But, hey. this is free!
If you like you can download it here.
I'm not sure if the whole album plays here.
The band are nephews.
This is what they do when they're not playing Irish folk music with their dad.
He' kinda proud of them.
If you're really curious about their previous albums, there are further links at the site above.

Yep... that's right... I have parking lot duty again today.
It's supposed to be windy and rainy again today.

it's still a drought, though

A brief message for my fellow Californians

Yes, we've had a little rain and more is due.
That doesn't mean the reservoirs will be refilled.
Besides, all that washing is unhealthy.

really

What day is this?

524

Some might consider this report overdue.

From here it seems like there is nothing to report.

There has been nothing but routine since last August.

The only change has been to the medications and how they are delivered.

The symptoms have remained pretty much the same:

• fatigue
• no weight gain
• chronic diarrhea

There are fewer visits to the doctor, but that's because there's no chemo.

The current medications are hormone inhibitors.

They are taken daily.

Periodically, there is a necessity to boost the hemoglobin levels, so we go to Outpatient Services at the hospital for a shot.

There's some kind of rule that causes these visits to take up a lot of time [what I mean is, forget about making any other plans].

Of course determining if the shot is needed requires some lab work (aka blood test).

That sends us across town on Friday afternoons.

It can take as long as an hour, depending on how busy the facility is.

The only real diagnostic tool, other than observing the symptoms, the doctors have found to be of any use is an endoscopic examination.

To wit, a colonoscopy.

X-rays, scans, and ultrasounds have prove ineffective.

The colonoscopy, in and of itself, provides no information.

There is a necessity to take tissue samples for a biopsy to determine if the condition has changed.

In other words to see if there is a response to the treatment.

GS will have her had third colonoscopy in a year on Tuesday.

She is was not thrilled, nor are PHG and I and we're only observers.

It will then take about a week to get the results because the samples have to be sent out of town.

We may have to wait a little longer to hear the results, but we're pretty sure we know what they will tell us.

This is about as close to a Monday Update as I can present.

If it frustrates you, imagine how we feel.

Worse, I feel as though I've been misleading you.

It has been is almost like a roller coaster ride.

If you're familiar with roller coasters, you're aware the biggest or hairiest part of the ride is at the very beginning.

But that part is probably only about 15% of the ride.

There are still plenty of ups and downs and curves to navigate, except we're only along for the ride.

Oh... and you end up right back where you started.

Only now there are a number of frustrated doctors, too.

All we can really do is bide our time and pray for some good news.

And we consider the little victories good news.

has it been that long?

Yay!!! Finally

It's raining now.
This is the outlook for the weekend.

The Lions Club has a commitment to be outside providing services at the fairground
I really don't care.

yet

Fair winds and following seas

Navy Times

I don't usually post anything about military stuff, unless it somehow relates to my short career [sic].
But since the Forrestal was the first of a kind and sort of a contemporary, it seems appropriate.
It's kinda sad to see them sneak off in the night.
Full story here.

old tin cans don't get

 any publicity when

 they're scrapped or sold

So far so good

The scoping went along without any problems.
Once more the GI Doc found nothing out of the ordinary.
He took tissue samples and sent them off for biopsy.
He is totally flabbergasted and stumped, too, because he's never seen anything like this.
We'll get the results of the biopsy in a few days.

Busy morning

GS has a "procedure" this morning.
I think I mentioned it before?
Anyhow, there hasn't been much time for posting because both of us have to get ready.

no hassles

 so far

Obligatory ***** **** post II

It's easier than writing something

Obligatory ***** **** post

How many people think it's ridiculous for the NFL to require folks to the name of the game when they are talking about it?

just sayin'

Breakfast

No time to write anything this morning.
I'm outta here.

So let's recap

Saturday & Sunday [Friday night, too] - I wasn't home so I don't know what happened was attending a conference and seeing a whole lot of people I wouldn't ordinarily see.
It was fun and enlightening... a really good combination.
Monday - We learned GS wouldn't have to go to Redding to get a shot,
I went to the Dentist for some adjustments to the appliance.
Wait ...I went to the dentist first.
Tuesday - not a lot happened... some minor tweaks to the blog.
There was a Lions Club meeting.
I missed the State of the Union speech ...again[oh, darn]!
Wednesday - Back to the dentist.
I have some issues with the lower appliance now and it appears the adjustments will be delayed... It really wasn't broken, so why the necessity to fix it?
It rained ...took all day to get 1/3 inch.
Then there's the issue of folks who must have everything revolve about them.
Thursday - Meh!
Went to Costco and didn't have any issues with anyone... either I'm getting better or everyone else it.
Friday - Meh, again.
I complained about the weather.
It's been like this since last July.
It's boring.
...and my mouth hurts.
Today - I'm going to rest because tomorrow's an early day.
The monthly breakfast is at the Senior Center and I have an early show time [the only part I really hate].
This probably woulda been better last week?

see, it's all routine