This morning the Lions are cooking Breakfast with the Bunny. [Hurry or the link will be gone]
It's like breakfast with Santa, but   . . .   you know.
We'll be done somewhere around 11am.

Then it's home to prepare for the arrival of multiple members of family from Washington —  three generations.
They're here to celebrate Easter   . . . and the opening of Baseball season.
A coule of them are going to the Giants home opener vs. the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday we are all (15 of us) going to a game.

Interesting times . .?

fun times

Friday cat

source: dailytimewaster

What happened?

So . . .   if you came by lately there was no one home.

Tuesday there was a mens group breakfast, eye doctor appointment, noon meeting, and it just kinda got away.
Yesterday was even better more of the same: tax guy, banker/broker, and a dentist appointment.
Tuesday's was easy in that I could dash home between appointments because they were all here in town.
Yesterday was a road trip before and a road trip after, followed by a Lions Club dinner meeting . . .   and it took almost a full tank of gas [not to mention leaving before the Sun rose in the east].
On the plus side, it will be awhile before I have to do another road trip involuntarily and we got to have lunch at Burrito Bandito [yes, MB was with me].

Now we get to prepare for company from up north.
That is after the new bed we ordered for MoB is delivered.
We looked at the calendar this morning and realized we will be nonstop until at least April 8.
Then we get a little respite until convention season begins on April 19.

can't wait — not!

Monday update

. . . not really!

I had a political type post right on the edge here.
Then I decided I'm not going there.
I will read them, maybe even enjoy some of them, but so many are on the verge of trolling.
I won't stoop to that.
It puts me in the same category of those for whom I have little regard, the bullies of the world.

There is way too much of it on both ends of the political/social spectrum.
It is facilitated by easy access to social media and the capability to remain relatively anonymous.
I've decided not to contribute even so much as an acknowledgement of their existence   . . . other than with this post.

Okay . . . okay

Yesterday I alluded to the fact said that I knew a lot of old former Air Force Sergeants [they're all younger than I, hence the strikeout].

Off the top of my head I can think of six.
There may even be more, but memory can be fleeting when it comes to acquaintances.
It's really kind of interesting because I have not met two of them in person.

One, Buck Pennington, is no longer with us and I lament that we never connected in person because we shared a number of similar experiences and interests, being of an age.
We shared of those some on our blogs.
That's how we met.
He introduced me, indirectly, to a number of other bloggers.
Tomorrow would have been his birthday.

Another is also a blogger.
He's over there on the left side, usually at the top of the list (or near it anyway).
He daily posts at The Chant or has a little help from Juvat or Tuna.
There's supposedly a third contributor, Lush, but the name says a lot [jk].
We may yet meet because I have never been to Li'l Rhody and that's on my list of places to visit [along with Alaska, N. Dakota, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, S. Carolina, N. Carolina . . .  all of the states I haven't yet actually visited  — passing through doesn't count].
I like him because he has a more than passing interest in history, among other things and he understands women about as well as I.

The other four may also blog.
But if they do I don't know where.

In chronological order:
The one I've known longest lives up north and our paths crossed several times a week over the past 15 years because of a major lifestyle change.
I still see him on fb.
I can't say any more without breaking his anonymity ['nuff said].
 
I've known Andy for as long as I've known MB.
Now he's almost a neighbor and since he and I are both Lions Club member [and PDGs] we catch up on a regular basis.
He's one of those folks who'll give you the shirt off his back, if needed.
He's also seldom seen without a cowboy hat and boots [probably a genetic thing, as he's a Texan].

Then there's my Brother in Law, one of MB's brothers [she has three brothers, I have eight brothers in law . . .   or is it nine, or seven?].
I met him once when we were just dating.
(I've seen more of the brother from, Arizona who lives in Cairo, Egypt, but that's another story)
AF BiL lives on the East Coast and spends time in both Maine and Florida [Maine's on the list].
He travels all over the world [was just in Korea] as a motivational speaker.
He also rides his bike a lot [I get fatigued just looking at my bike].
He's currently tuning up for a cross-country fundraising ride by doing shorter fund raising rides in Florida.
I know this because he another on fb.

Then there's Mike.
He's on fb, too, but I see him in person more.
He is also a Lions Club member [and a PDG].
I think he's hyperactive   . . . or he can't tell people no when they ask for assistance.
That said, I was more than happy when he, his wife, Sheri, and Andy showed up to help move the stuff from Anderson last year.
It's nice to have friends with a logistical services business.

So you can see I've had pretty good experience with NCOs of the Air Force variety.
I highly recommend them.

✰✰✰✰

Okay, so . . .

. . . the other day the Sarge composed an essay on his blog about one of my favorite topics, squirrels.

source

Then he got sidetracked elucidating about fastidious spammers; hijacking blog posts from historical figures; alleging there are four contributors to his blog and legions of readers [that's not really an allegation — it's true]; but, mostly he digressed, as he is wont to do, into a discourse on blogging, both [digress and blog] of which he does well.
He has been at it for six years now, almost daily, and has yet to fail at posting something of interest, unlike yours truly.
He has many more followers    . . . and viewers   . . . than this blog, but I chalk that up to being on the coast that's three hours later, when most of the really interesting and productive folks have gone to work or turned off their computer for the day.

Some day, maybe, I will sit down here and write about all of the AF Sergeants I know or have known.
It kinda boggles the mind.

really!

Friday cat

Wait for it!

Back in the day

There might have been a phone call, probably instigated by her.
Yesterday was my Mom's birthday.
She'd have been 104.
She and I shared a lot.
I miss our conversations.
She been gone awhile now.
I didn't grieve when she passed . . .   at least not that I am aware.
I was glad she passed quickly, without suffering.

It's raining

I'm making soup.

So . . .

On Sunday I somehow accidentally became separated from my phone and all other things electronic.
We were away from the house all day.
It was kind of refreshing.
I may leave it behind more often.

Yesterday I had reason to call the VA . . .   twice!

I had to hang up the first time, after being on hold for about 40 minutes, because I had an appointment.
I am writing this post as I wait for them to answer.
It's been 50 minutes over an hour.

I am calling because I want to get an ID card.
The only benefits for which I'm still eligible I no longer need, but I would like to take advantage of veterans discounts I can only get if I can prove I served.
I don't feel like carrying my DD214 around.

Anyhow, there's a recording telling me I can do it online.
The only issue is I tried and when I finally was able to log in received a message to call the assistance number.

. . . and another thing.

It appears everyone on the street arranged to have some kind of work done yesterday.
When I came home from my appointment both sides of the street were lined with work vehicles of some sort or another.
My own driveway was partially blocked such that I had to wait for someone to move so I could park.
Sadly, I did not want to park in the driveway because where I have to park is directly beneath the neighbor's liquidambar trees.
They are as insidious, maybe more, as the palm tree next to them.

then there're the dogs

Who says that husbands aren't helpful!

        

On a bitterly cold winters morning a husband and wife in Edmonton were listening to the radio during breakfast.

They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have 8 to 10 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the Snow plows can get through. So the good wife went out and moved her car.

A week later while they are eating breakfast again, the radio announcer said, "We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today.  You must park your car on the odd numbered side of the street, so the snow plows can get through."

 

The good wife went out and moved her car again.

The next week they are again having breakfast,when the radio announcer says, "We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. You must park...." Then the electricity
went out.

The good wife was very upset, and with a worried look on her face she said, "I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snow plows can get through?"

Then with the love and understanding in his voice that all married men exhibit, the husband replied, "Why don't you just leave the car in the garage this time."

I didn't see it coming either!

Éirinn go brách Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'
The man said, 'I do, Father.'
The priest said, 'Then stand over there against the wall.'
Then the priest asked the second man, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'
'Certainly, Father,' the man replied.
'Then stand over there against the wall,' said the priest.
Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'
O'Toole said, 'No, I don't Father.'
The priest said, 'I don't believe this. You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?'
O'Toole said, 'Oh, when I die , yes. I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.'

got an early start on this one

Friday cat

Up and back

not

Nostalgia

My home town is changing.
Actually it changed long ago.
But those who still live there are now noticing.
They're complaining that nobody cares about the "old" places.

This is one of the old hangouts.

Even this picture doesn't much jibe with how I remember it.
For one thing, there was a driveway on both sides of the building when I was a kid.
The place was there when we moved to town.
It was new then.

Today it looks like this.

Progress, eh?

Ironically, some of the folks were lamenting the demise of the A&W Root Beer stand.
The A&W wasn't there yet when I moved from home.

Oh, I was a customer at that Foster's Freeze many times.
But I was an even more frequent customer at the place across the parking lot when it was Johnny's Smoke Shop . . .
. . . and the Chines laundry, Wo Sing, on the street behind the parking lot   . . . on hangars, no starch, please.

road trip tomorrow

I was fussin' around

Yesterday I got to looking back on prior blog posts from this time of year.
Last year was honeymoon posts.
The year before some silliness was prevailing.
So then I looked back at 2009 [wasn't blogging in March of '08] and found I was anticipating an arrival.
No, two!
St Patrick's Day was on the near horizon.
The perfect grandson soon to follow.
Hard to believe he's almost nine.

time flies

Maybe it was something else

Yesterday was like no other day . . .    at least not in a long time.
I would point at the much hated [in my own mind] time change, but that was only a minor factor.
Most likely I'd've been relatively upside down anyway.

It was probably Saturday that stirred the dragon.
Many of you know MB and I are Lions Club members.
Though I remain a member of the Anderson Lions Club, I have associated with MB's club club here in Elk Grove.
She is the current President.
They are a very active club.
In addition to their own service activities and fundraising efforts they assist other organizations in the community and out.

Saturday was such a day.
It started with a pancake breakfast for the opening day of Little League Baseball.
The league provided breakfast, but the Lions cooked it.
We were at the park by 6:30am and by 10:30, when we had all cleaned up, we'd served over 800 meals.

Afterward we came home and did some odds and ends around the house before getting ready for another club activity.
We'd had our choice on Saturday evening.
The club has liquor liability insurance, thus they are in great demand to assist at events where alcoholic beverages will be served.
Saturday night the local Farm Bureau was having a fundraiser in Elk Grove and Lions Project for Canine Companions for Independence was having a fundraising Crab Feed in Citrus Heights.
We opted to tend bar in Citrus Heights, as it was the larger of the two events and would need more bodies.
The room where the 30' bar was set up was shared with displays for the silent auction and the opportunity drawings, so, early on, it was very crowded.
Once the dinner started and the crab was being served it slowed down quite a bit.
My uneducated guess, from observation, is there were probably about 800 paying guests.
They were all thirsty.
We ran out of beer [through a logistical glitch — long, sad tale], wine, water, and we were almost out of soft drinks when the bar closed at 10pm.
It took another 30 -40 minutes to pack up.
We were home by 11:30pm, finally in bed a little after midnight because MB only had one more chapter left in the book she was reading.

We made it to the evening service at church, not because we didn't wake up early enough, but because there didn't seem to be any urgency to rush anywhere.

clam chowder,

if you wanna know

More eh

You knew there had to be more than one, right?

Also courtesy of the very same Pastor.

looked for videos

 came up empty

Eh?

A little seasonal music.

Courtesy of MB's son, the Pastor.

...and there's more

Friday cat

ooh and you can click it bigger

Why?

Where in the World does anyone think we are getting more by taking something away from the beginning of the day and adding it to the end of the day?

it's insane

Closing out the series (episode 7)

Sometime in the spring of  '78 I was doing yard maintenance [mowing the lawns].
I dutifully dumped the clippings in the dustbin garbage can.
(Wheelie bins had yet to make there appearance in the hinterlands)
I carried the can back to wherever it was supposed to be.
Then I felt a twinge in my lower extremities.
Then I felt pain.
Then I felt extreme pain.
I was in agony and only comfortable laying in the fetal position.
"Oh $#|+!" was the thought that crossed my mind.
No, actually it was more like, "Oh $#|+! Oh $#|+! Oh $#|+! Oh $#|+! Hernia? "

There was no way my wife was going to drive me to the ER.
We, by then had a four year old, a two year old, and an infant, who was about three months old.
My wife was able to reach her sister [as opposed to the sister in law* in the other post].
She drove me, doubled over, to Mercy Medical Center's trauma center.

So it turns out it wasn't a hernia, or even a muscle pull.
I had a urinary tract infection.
Evidently they're not so common for men.
The ER contacted my urologist and had a brief conversation with him.
No, I don't know what was said.
Anyway, I was given something at the hospital and an Rx for some antibiotics and sent home to rest [with a four year old, a two year old, and an infant in the house].
That's what the hospital had done when #3 was born, too.
So my wife wasn't getting any rest, either.

Since then, my only visits to the ER have been to accompany others.
None of those visits have been any more pleasant than the ones discussed here.

*there's a short story about those two, POCIR

Uh . . . I forgot one

There was a trip to the ER at Valley Medical Center in San Jose.
This one's work connected and involves beer.

I was working at Round Table Pizza on Stevens Creek Boulevard in Santa Clara.
It was after the lunch rush and I was working the beverage station [which looked a lot like a bar].
Someone had ordered a bottle of beer.
For some reason we did not have an opener attached to the wall so it was necessary to use a church key.

There was some issue with the bottle and glass came away with the cap.
The residue in the cap managed to cut my thumb.
There was a rather large flap of fleshy skin and much blood.
Again, be glad there are no photos.

As mentioned before, open wounds get priority and I was seen almost immediately.
The hand was soaked in saline for awhile before I was given a local anesthetic and several stitches.
I also got a little sympathy back at work.

very little sympathy

When I moved north (episode 5)

Sometime in the late '70s, when domestic tranquility had, somewhat, settled overcome me, we'd purchased a boat for family outings at Whiskeytown Lake or Lake Shasta.

One summer evening, after work, we decided to get in a little water skiing before dark.
We loaded everyone, wife, my son, sister in law, and her daughter.
We left the dog home.

It was perfect water on Whiskeytown.
It was like glass.
As we took a wide left turn past the northeast corner of the lake, below the visitor center, with the throttle wide open, I dipped the tip of the ski and found myself in the water.
I only had a slight inkling that something was wrong.
I inventoried all the visible parts and found a nasty gash, about 3" long, in my right knee.
I also realized that the leg was a little more traumatized, as I had difficulty moving it.

The fun part was for the ladies getting me back into the boat.
Then they had to load the boat on the trailer and get me out again.
I don't really remember too much about those details.

Then it was off to Mercy Hospitals Trauma Center.
I pictured sitting in the waiting area for a couple of hours as each patient was called one by one to be seen and attended to by a physician.

Not so.
It seems open wounds get priority over just about anything else, other than heart attacks, strokes, and head trauma.
It was my lucky day [sic].
The wound was just a tad more serious than I'd originally discerned.
Whatever had opened my up had cut all the way to the patella.
So there were five self-dissolving stitches to close up the inside (patella bursa).
Then they glued shut and used butterfly bandages to close up and then wrapped it with gauze and gauze pads.

I was off work for a week.

nice to be a boss

The next time (episode 4)

This will be short and sweet.
It was the next year [after the sledding incident], when a classmate was getting married during the break between semesters.
There was a bachelor party.
After the party, on my way to my car, I was jumped.
Be happy there are no pictures to post.

I again went to Stanford Medical Center.
There was some concern about head injuries [yeah, again] because the entire left side of my face was swollen and badly bruised.
I had double vision and the crowns of two teeth were badly cracked and one was completely gone above the gum line.
Back then there were no CAT Scans or MRIs so what is know as a skull series was done.
The only damage they found was a fractured orbit of my left eye.
The double vision remains to this day.
It is corrected with prisms in the lenses.

missed the wedding

. . . and then there was the time (episode 3)

When we last broached the topic of ER visits, we were writing about the first half of the last century, when I was but a wee lad in knee britches [yeah, that small].
Now we advance a decade and a half to the mid '60s and, for all intents and purposes, I'd reached adulthood [almost said I'd matured].
I couldn't yet grow facial hair, but had reached my full height.
I was 21 and had already voted in my first Presidential election.

So there I was* at the South Shore of Lake Tahoe.
It was spring break from college.
Woody and I had decided some fun in the snow and a little gambling would be nice.
We had loaded a two man toboggan onto my car and packed some warm clothing.
Although it was April, a late storm had created the necessity to chain-up for the drive over Myers Summit and there was fresh snow in the Tahoe Basin.
It was my first visit.

We'd arrived after dark on Tuesday evening so we just cruised Harvey's and Harrah's after dinner and then gone back to our accommodations at around midnight.
The next morning [I think it was still morning] we got up, went to eat, and then headed for the snow play area with the toboggan.
We found a place to park, dragged the sled up the hill, and found a place to catch our breath.
We weren't used to the 6000 ft. elevation.

Then we got on the toboggan and set off downhill.
The first thing we noticed is that it does not steer very easily, changing direction only slightly depending upon which way the passengers lean.
Another thing we noticed is that there were two young ladies, also with a toboggan enjoying the very same thrill ride.
We made their acquaintance.

We also suggested we could share the ride.
That way it would only be necessary to drag toboggans up every other ride downhill.
It's funny how people can figure out how to get close, huh?
With four on the sled it was even more difficult to change directions.

We scrambled back up the hill and climbed aboard the second toboggan.
Once more we set off down hill following a slightly different route.
It was a mistake.
We hit a mogul about 3/4 of the way down the hill and went airborne.
To me it seemed like we were in the air for an eternity.
I was in the front with three people behind me when the sled came down nose first, canted slightly to the left.
The toboggan came out of it unscathed.
I knew there was something wrong.
There was no pain, but my left foot was at a 90 degree angle to my leg, an angle which a foot does not normally take.
I'd also lost my watch and my sunglasses, but I didn't care.

I wasn't going to walk back to the car.
But fortunately we had a toboggan we could use as a stretcher to haul my butt back.
Everyone else survived without issue.
They somehow loaded me into the car and Woody drove to Barton Memorial Hospital.
At the time it wasn't much more than a triage site.
They x-rayed the leg, told me it was a fracture dislocation, and that I had a choice of going to Reno or traveling back to the Bay Area [or probably to any hospital which could do the necessary repairs].
The only thing more they could do for me was put a splint on my leg to immobilize it.
I opted to head home or, more specifically, to Stanford Medical Center, where I'd be under the care of an Orthopedist from the Palo Alto Medical Clinic.

We got our gear from the motel, making sure we also got phone numbers from the young ladies, loaded the car with me in the back seat, leg propped up on the passenger side of the front seat and set out for the five hour drive.
The first hour wasn't too bad.
Sometime in the second hour, as we passed through Placerville, I had to make a pit stop.
Getting me out of the car and into the restroom required the assistance of the gas station attendant.
Fortunately it was in the day before all there was is self-service.
Then it was back in the car and on the road.

I won't say I was in agony, but it was definitely painful.
I was sure happy to see the Dumbarton Bridge.
We went straight to the ER at Stanford Hospital.
The on call Doc from the clinic arrived shortly thereafter.
The original cardboard splint was removed, more x-rays taken and evaluated, and a plaster splint that offered more support was applied.

 It was determined that the deltoid ligament had been torn and would have to be surgically repaired.
The break was to the very end of the fibula and was not an issue.
It would heal fine.

The surgery was performed late the next morning.
I spent three months in a full leg cast.
It took another two months after than to stop limping and even longer for the leg to return to normal shape after atrophy.

So, that two ERs in one day.

not recommended

*sjc

Friday cat

Continuing to remember (aka episode two)

While not exactly a visit to the ER this incident was no less serious.

At the age of four and a half, or so, Mom and I took a little trip east.
I mean you can't go much farther east.
Back in those days folks took trains.
Airline travel was more of a novelty and expensive to boot.
I think the airlines were still using the gooney bird C-47 DC-3.
Traveling east from SF meant taking the streetcar downtown to the Ferry Building; geting on a ferry boat; and riding across the bay to the Oakland Mole to catch a transcontinental train.
That is if it was a Southern Pacific train.
If it was the Santa Fe or Western Pacific other arrangements were made, as they had their own terminals and routes east.

But I digress.

Ostensibly the trip was to visit a friend of my mother.
They'd been friends since grade school.
The friend lived near Philadelphia.
We doubled back from New York City to get there.

It was springtime, May, I think.
The friend and her family lived in a brand new subdivision where houses had been built, but streets and landscaping were still lacking.
It was a wet spring . . .   really wet [as in it rained the entire time we were there].
So there was no going outside to play.
There was a basement, as yet unfinished.
There was also some kind of attraction to the basement for me.
For the life of me I can't remember what it was.

Whenever it was time to go back upstairs I would, being the adventurous type, attempt to climb up on the outside of the hand rail [there were only newel posts and handrails, no balusters].
Then some adult would chastise me and haul me back onto the proper part of the stairway . . .   except for that one time.

Yep, I lost my grip and fell, landing on my head [yep, another head injury].
This time the only outward evidence was a bump.
From what I understand it was a pretty large bump.

There was no trip to the ER for two reasons.

One is that there was no car.
Back then families only had one vehicle.
Breadwinner used it to drive to work.
As I think about it, my parents only had one vehicle until Pop retired.
The second vehicles were mine, when I got out of the Navy, and my sisters were used for transportation to school once they drove.

But, again, I digress.

The second reason was the family pediatrician made house calls [anyone remember those?] and was available immediately.
The concern, I think, was that I might have a concussion . . .   and it was a pretty big bump.
Ultimately it was decided to keep a close watch and the physician would return another day to check up.
He did and pronounced me fit to travel . . .    and we did.

that's a different story for another time