My hope for the future of the country has been restored.

Events of the past 4-5 years have not been that positive for this country and so my attitude toward the future has not the best...Until Thursday morning.

I awoke and while waiting to leave for work I turned on the TV.

I was amazed to learn that right here and now, I (and every other American-and anyone watching that channel) can get $500.00 worth of kitchen knives for ONLY $39.95!

With a deal like that, how can I not be optimistic? Only in America could we be that fortunate!

Now I feel so much better...Is that the UPS truck I hear?

Something I really miss and may never see again.

I love reading. I always have. I remember browsing Gibson's Discount Center (the "WalMart" of my youth)and poring over their several racks of books.(On a related note. Will there ever be a publisher to rival the glory days of Bantam Books?).

I was very selective in my reading, so it might take several visits before I found a title that interested me enough to spend a couple bucks to make it mine. Many of them were read and forgotten but some became like old friends and found a permanent place on my bookshelf.

One of my favorite experiences was when I would be browsing the racks and find just the book I was looking for!

I couldn't wait to take it home and get started on it. The smell, the feel and look of unwrinkled pages and an unbroken spine!

Over the years, publishing has changed and the number of new non-fiction titles has dwindled. Most of the new books are published in trade size and no longer in the beloved paperback size I love so much.

The worst thing is that now everything is available on e-books or whatever they call the electronic versions that you have to download or whatever and then read on the screen of some electronic gadget. Sure it is handy, but it is not the same and never will be.

Sometimes just browsing my bookshelf brings fond memories and smiles, and each book has its own character.

I'll check back in 20 years and see who has fond memories of their Kindle...

Just thinking out loud

Why would Detroit produce, much less the public buy, a flesh colored car?

I had forgotten about them, but I saw one from the late 70s early 80s the other day.

If you don't remember, the color can only be described as "flesh". Look at your crayolas (64 count box, I think) and the cars were the same color as the flesh color crayola.

What were they thinking?

A good kind of tired.

Drove 400+ miles Friday afternoon and evening to go quail hunting. Got to bed around 10:00 pm. Up and out by 7:30 Saturday morning. Hunted 8 hrs behind two bird dogs and walked several miles through pretty rough country. Got back to the motel and was in bed by 9:00 pm. Exhausted. Up and on the road home by 9:00 am Sunday. Arrived home at 4:00 pm.

Tired and sore but oddly refreshed. Spent time in some beautiful(to me)country, enjoying the wonder of God's creation in the company of my 16 year old son. Even took a 30 minute nap in the truck Saturday afternoon with no sound but the wind.

Physically tiring but spiritually refreshing. I will take it any time it is offered.

what are the odds?

Just got back from a weekend hunting trip. Over 800 miles roundtrip.

Much to my surprise I passed the home of the both the "world's best hamburger" (15 miles away)AND the "world's best barbeque"(75 miles away)...I won't mention the names of these august establishments as I think they probably would appreciate it, but since I have not eaten at either place I have to say that all the votes are not yet in...

I guess both restaurants must use a good measure of hyperbole in their recipes...

Dreams

I dream alot. Usually a number of times every night. I seldom remember more that a little of this one or a little of that one. Very seldom are the dreams scary or even unsettling. I actually enjoy most of them and in some I am actually aware that it is a dream. Weird.

Last night I finally dreamed about zombies...Full fledged zombie attack. Bottom line we survived and I guess destroyed all the zombies.

The next dream was work related. It was weird. It had elements of the job from over 10 years ago but with some current and some former co-workers. Things were not going well in the work dream but it ended before there was any resolution.

All in all, I prefer the zombie dream.

Habits

think it is easy to break a habit?

Try wearing a pair of pants with a hole in the pocket where you carry your keys and coins...

How easy it is to be a leader-or a follower...

I love outdoor stores. Our town has Academy and Gander Mountain and I wander the aisles of both on a regular basis. As a result, I am familiar with the restroom locations in both stores.

While each store has its unique floorplan, the restrooms in both are located down a short hall with the restroom entrances facing each other on the left side of the hall.

In Gander Mt. it is MEN on the left door and WOMEN on the right. In Academy it is MEN to the right and WOMEN to the left.

One day, I walked straight down the hall and it just happened another man was right behind me. I pushed open the door on the right and fortunately realized I was at Gander Mountain, in time to avoid any "real" embarrassment.

Following too closely, the man behind me almost collided as I pulled up short.

I muttered something and we reversed direction to the correct door and there was no further conversation.

It is funny how sometimes leadership involves just heading in a direction with an apparent purpose (but no requirement for intellligence) and it is surprising how many will follow without looking to see exactly where you're headed...The result can be embarrassing...or worse!

Star Wars reflections

To me there are only three "Star Wars" movies.

I know it was supposed to be a "trilogy of trilogies," but they just took too long to get the second three (or is it the first three...) completed, so anyway, there are just the first three but they're known as four, five, and six. Confusing enough? See? I'm angry already.

Anyway, I read where Bob Anderson, Olympic fencer and sword master has died at age 89. According to the paper, he worked with everyone from Errol Flynn to Antonio Banderas in his Hollywood career.

Anderson did the light saber fights with Luke Skywalker in the second and third (or fifth and sixth, if you insist). He didn't even get any credit until 1983 when Mark Hamill made an issue of getting Anderson's name before the public.

Darth Vader. Voiced by James Earl Jones, played by David Prowse and portrayed in battle scenes by Bob Anderson. No wonder he was so mixed up!

Anderson also did sword work on another cult classic, "The Princess Bride," as well as the Zorro movies and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (made 1,2,3, real quickly and you could follow it-if you like that kind of stuff)

But, I'm not through with "Star Wars" yet.

In the original third movie ("Return of the Jedi") at the end Ray Milland played the unmasked Darth Vader.

To my horror, in the revisionist version I viewed he was replaced in the scene by whoever it was (I don't care because it was not the "real" DV) that played Vader in those "other three" movies.

That was a dishonor to Ray Milland, a great actor who might only be known to today's generation for that role-but too late now!

In the words of Yoda..."off pissed I am" about the whole thing!

Iowa and the Carpenters...

"We've only just begun..."
The Iowa causus night is over and what did we learn?
Surprises? No Surprises? Rick Santorum tied for first? Michele Bachman out?
She won the Iowa straw poll in August. Santorum had single digit support two weeks ago. Newt was up...Newt is down. Ricky P was the sweetheart for a day, then oops! but don't forget Herman what's his name...and then Ron "Eeyore" Paul is always around.
The American(not just Iowan) public is as fickle as a middle school cheerleader. (He's cute...but he's sweet...)

Oh,well. Politics gives the TV personalities something to talk about and unfortunately, some of us watch!

Just wondering...

When was the last time you saw an actual picnic basket?  I can't remember the last one I saw or  even the last time I thought about a picnic basket.

this just in...

Descartes, after watching Doctor Who..."I think,  therefore I am...but, in a PARALLEL UNIVERSE!"

tidbits

Soft diet discovery-Cream of Wheat is not as bad as I remember from childhood. It is actually pretty good-especially the cinnamon flavor. Nice surprise. BUT, even the best CoW doesn't compare to a single bite of biscuit and gravy stolen while nobody was looking!

In light of the tragic killing of a park ranger the debate over allowing weapons in National Parks has arisen again. I am baffled by the logic that says if guns were illegal in parks  the man(who had already shot several people) would have been compelled by the ban to make sure he left his weapons at home before fleeing into the park..

.I guess I just do not realize the incredible power of laws and signs that enforce them. ...That would explain why nobody speeds...

Advice to anyone planning to finish the entire internet...skip the porn...a lot of it is redundant.

The Most Mundane Activities Post-Surgery

This morning I woke up went out to get the paper. The first day home and obviously my movements are slow and methodical. I walked slowly (grabbed a small rake from the front patio to actually pick up the paper to save bending over) and made sure of each of my steps.

I counted 1568 acorns on the walk out and 1569 coming back...I think I know which one I counted twice...

My fears were proven true...but there is something worse!

When I was a kid I watched many western movie and TV shows. I always feared being shot with an arrow or stabbed with a knife.To me it was an almost phobic dread of what I believed would be a terrible fate.  Well, this surgery proved me right. but added a whole new aspect to the injury.

The day after surgery, the surgeon's PA came in to check on me. We were discussing the incisions and soreness and he said " basically you have been in a controlled knife fight"...I hadn't thought of it that way but he is correct,

Now, thinking back to those poor TV cavalry soldiers who took an arrow, lance or bowie knife to the gut...If they survived, it would  be a long painful recovery for sure. However, if it happened today, they would wake up with yet another painful reminder of the encounter...A FOLEY CATHETER!!!

Poor old Trooper Dobbs might think it was some terrible form of  Comanche torture designed to add insult to injury!

New Year's Thoughts- Random and Otherwise...

Happy New Year! I wish everyone a blessed 2012.

I just spent four days and three nights in the hospital after surgery, and during that time I learned a lot and thought a lot about things I did not understand in the first 56 years of my life when I was not the one lying in that bed.

First, I owe an apology to my great aunt and uncle and their son (I don't know what degree of cousin that made him!). Include in that group my grandmother and grandfather and finally my mom and dad.

They spent many days and nights in the hospital and I was often there with them.

I now realize why they could never get comfortable and why they couldn't reach this or that and made so many requests for something only to change their mind before I could get back in my chair or to the other side of the bed.

None of these family members were complainers or burdensome, but I just never realized how helpless you really are when you are lying on your back....Man will walk on Mars before anyone will be able to sleep on their side in a hospital bed, but that's another issue!

After surgery you have to think about the most minute physical action on your part and the resulting effect on your body if you actually attempt the move. You can't just reach over and grab a cup of water, you can't do anything without looking and concentrating. I never realized how much planning actually can go into deciding if you want your glasses or not! You better really want that cell phone before you try to reach for it, because your arm may not move the way you want it to or it may hurt more than you are willing to accept just to see who sent you a text.
The buttons to adjust the bed or the remote for the TV/call button were never in the right place.

I now know that my mom and dad were correct every time they wanted a light turned on just to want it turned off less than a minute later. I realize that infinite attempts to adjust blinds to their satisfaction was a completely legitimate request.

I know now a lot of things that I didn't know then, and to all my relatives I offer my sincere apologies..

It just proves sometimes  you can't understand if you have never been there. As they say, sympathy is cheap but empathy costs something..

I have a wife and daughter who have endured relatively "short" hospital stays (10 minutes is a short stay, any longer is an eternity... no matter how much actual time passes.) and I have apologized to them several times already.

To any of my friends who have been hospitalized (and I have several that come to mind for kidney stones) I also apologize. I just never realized exactly what it is like.

Anyway, I did a lot of thinking and made some observations.

Hospital beds are designed to be able to raise, lower, tilt, adjust, everything except allow a patient to get comfortable., The sheets, blankets, and pillows are everywhere, but they are never in a position that enables you to get comfortable.

If legislators had to lie in hospital beds for all congressional hearings, committee meetings, and the State of the Union address, things would go much faster, that is for sure.

If all legislators had to sleep in hospital beds the entire time they are in Congress then there would be no debate over term limits! Of course there would be scandals over the senator found sleeping on a cot or in a recliner, but I doubt you would find many wanting to go to Washington (or Austin) and spend 30-40 years there.

I may have to look into that as a suggestion, but I don't think even a US congressman  would be stupid enough to introduce the bill! Actually, there is that guy who was worried Guam could get overcrowded and turn over....I need to get his name...

One time the remote control for the call button, TV, and lights fell on the floor. I didn't want to wake my wife to get it, so I used the skill of picking things up with my toes to my advantage. For years my wife has questioned why I would try to pick something off the floor using my toes instead of bending over and just picking it up. Well, this time all the practice paid off. It was still about a two minute activity because I had to get in just the right position and could only make one attempt, Thank heavens, I was successful.

I felt like I had performed one of those tasks astronauts do that always take so much time...

Medical care in the U.S. is the best in the world and I have no complaints about any of my treatment. The surgeons, nurses, techs, aides, and everyone else could not have been any kinder or more professional and that is not by accident.
I got what I needed when I needed it because our medical system--at least at the present time--is still allowed to function without TOO much government interference. I pray we continue to have access to this kind of care, I am so thankful that it was available to me.

Now, I do have to mention that in pre-op, before they start the actual anesthesia, they give you a little Versed-which is a conscious sedation drug.( On a side note, it is a personal favorite from various "scopes" I have enjoyed in the past.) There was only one slight problem...there was no Versed anywhere in the ENTIRE hospital...I thought it was very funny...I just hope it is not a peek at the future of American medicine!

(For those of you who were concerned, they had another drug that must have worked just as well, After all, there is a variety of anethetics up to and including ball peen hammers!)