mouse

Last week I tried to take the Honda Pilot out for some exercise. Much to my horror it wouldn't start. Dead battery. I charged it overnight; it's fine now. Yesterday I took it out for some more exercise. I was driving down the road, minding my own business, when a mouse crawls out from down under the windshield wiper. On the pilot that a large black hole sort of place, full of dead leaves and the like. Anyway, mouse looks very unhappy about being out in the open at 40 mph, so it crawls back under. When I get home, I throw some moth balls under there. They make good mouse repellent too. This is outside the passenger compartment, outside the firewall, so I don't think the car is infested. That happened once before and daughter M and I took all the interior apart and stuffed it with moth balls. The car reeked of naphthalene for a while, but I guess it all sublimed away. It's refreshed.

Yesterday I tried to download my financials to my Quicken. it sits there for an hour saying it's downloading, but not. Hmm. Sounds bad. I loaded Quicken onto my laptop, then loaded the data file to a thumb drive and opened it on the laptop. Works fine, downloads nicely and all. I guess I'm gong to have to uninstall Quicken from the desktop and reinstall it.

I have to use a thumb drive because I can't get the laptop and desktop to talk to each other, although they are both on the same LAN. I suspect firewall issues, but I checked everything I know and can't find everything.

No bail-out yet, although I think there will be one this week. They need to feed their political dogs first. Looks like a lot of finger-pointing going on this AM. This would be a real good time to buy real estate if one had a bunch of cash laying around.

I need to go see Dr D in a few minutes. My toe is much better. And Thursday is the high spot of the week, the chemo treatment.

mile

I walked a whole mile yesterday! Yes, indeed, 1/26th of a marathon. I got my wrist mounted GPS out and went a half mile and then back. Sure enough- 1.04 miles on the clock. My legs were really tired at the end, like they used to get after a 10 mile run or something. I had a dream the other night about walking- then I broke into a run! Not a fast run, but a slow jog. It really felt good, in a kinda dreamy way.

Funny, I feel really good about being able to walk a mile. After all the many miles I used to run, you'd think a mile would be nothing. I guess it's like the dog who could sing- it's not that he could sing really well, but that he could sing at all. So I guess that's how I feel- it's remarkable that I can walk at all. In fact, when you think about it, it's remarkable that I'm alive at all. Actually, I prefer not to think about it- too depressing. One day at a time!

Looks like Kyle went further east than the original forecast, up the Bay of Fundy. I guess the Northern Front survived and is quiet.

I had some more of the great beef from Wal-Mart last evening. It actually is packed by Cargill, a big name in feed, fertilizer, beef, etc. Big Midwestern company, what they call an agribusiness. Anyway I had 3/4 of a pound of chopped sirloin, mixed with chopped onion and Worcestershire, then formed into a big patty and grilled. I put a few slices of Provolone on it right at the end, long enough for it to melt, and then guacamole and salsa on it to eat. Yum!

Looks like the financial crisis is over for now. Now the question is "What's next?" IMHO, Obama looked statesman-like while McCain just ran around making a fool of himself. I personally dislike a bail-out; it violates my liberal Republican principles. I think people who make bad deals should pay the penalty, whatever it is. That includes people who take out mortgages they can't afford with no down payment, as well as the people who sold those mortgages. What were they thinking?

DIRECTV

One of my HDTV receivers has been kinda fluky. It worked fine most of the time, but occasionally would just give me a message that I had a "wrong card". I'd call customer service and fight my way through the automated voice system until I get a real person, who would tell me to take out the card and reinstall, reboot, etc, etc. None of that would work. Finally they would do something on their end and it would work again. This happened about 6 times since it was installed in June, with me getting less patient with them each time. Finally they agreed to send a tech and change the receiver. That was scheduled to be today between 8 and noon. Gal shows up at 7:45 this morning, just as my gross eggs were ready to eat. She lives in Rote and gave herself extra time since she knows the address is not very specific. Very nice person, very helpful, and did a fine job. I ate breakfast in my office while she worked. So now it should be fine. She also gave me the number of the local office, where she works, and said they would usually be here the next day if I have a problem. Sounds good!

Hurricane Kyle heading to Maine! The name sorta fits, you must admit. Looks like it'll come ashore right about Eastport, on the Maine-New Brunswick border.

Walk yesterday was quite successful. I'll keep doing it for a while. I can adjust clothing to keep myself warm, which I can't do in the pool without a wet suit or something. Dog liked the walk too, being a dog and all.

Newman

They just announced on CNN that Paul Newman died of cancer. My favorite actor, gone at 83. So may great films, from "Cool Hand Luke" through "Butch Cassidy" and "The Sting" to "Nobody's Fool".

"What we have here is a failure to communicate!" and then the prison warden blows him away in "Cool Hand Luke".

The scene in "Nobody's Fool" where Melanie Griffith flashes him is great too- he says a lot with making a sound.

And of course he raced sports cars as a hobby. What a hobby! Later he just owned the team, but he actually raced at a fairly elderly age. How cool is that?

rain

Rain is happening here in the EF today. We do get a rumble of thunder once in a while too, but it's not a serious electrical storm. It was dark at 7 though- first time this season I've needed lights to get dressed. A sure sign of fall.

Looks like the Northern Front is about to get clobbered with rain and wind. Keep your powder dry, you guys!

I went swimming yesterday. I only did 2 laps again, and I was cold, so I beat it into the hot showers. The gal at the front desk told me they are trying to keep it between 84 and 86, but it was down to 82. That sounds a lot warmer than it felt. I'm beginning to wonder how they measure the temp. I've seen the lifeguards dip a thermometer in at the edge, but the pool is very often stratified; i.e. warm on top and cold under the surface. Hey, warm water rises, cold water sinks. I think the only mixing it gets is the people moving the water when they swim. I don't know where the pick up for the heater is, nor where the discharge back into the pool. It needs to be discharging warm water into the bottom, obviously.

Maybe I can't swim, at least until the get their act together. Maybe I should try walking. I started swimming after my orthopedist told me to minimize impact on the bad knee, but that was a hundred pounds ago. Less impact now, which may be the only good side of the battle with the gorilla. I can ride bike too, which is low impact. I'm really weak, and I don't like it one bit!

quiet

All quiet on the Western Front. Funny to think we're about to become the Western Front in PA! With one offspring in New Hamster and the other two in down-east Maine, that's what will happen. Anyway, it's quiet here today. I'm in the third week of the chemo cycle, and at my best. I do feel pretty good. I have a little discomfort in the left lung, but nothing serious. Thinking about trying the Y again today.

Does anyone else think McCain is self-destroying himself? I think the Palin thing was a big pander- I thought better of him. He should have stood his ground and held out for Leiberman or Tom Ridge. Ridge was a governor too, in PA which is a battleground state. Only trouble was he's pro choice, as are most Americans, who are moderates, but not the right wing lug nuts who think Palin walks on water. And now McCain is just making a fool of himself over the latest financial crisis and the bail-out. Obama, on the other hand, is making all the right noises at the right times, in my view.

I studied economics in the MBA program, and was pretty much up on what was going on, but they are starting to confuse me. Only think I can figure, after reading an explanation in The Economist, is the value of the assets the companies hold are declining, since they are mortgages in real estate. And of course when a companies assets decline past the value of their liabilities, they are technically bankrupt.

Yesterday when the dog and I went down for the paper at 7, the crows across the street in the Mark's pasture were carrying on, cawing and flying around. So we stopped and watched, and sure enough a big hawk flew out from behind the trees. No, I don't know if it was a red tail or not, but the red tail the most common hawk around here. I guess the crows took exception to the hawk hanging around. Don't think they are nesting at this time of year.

I see Rep. Barney Frank is getting some air time about the financial bail-out. Nice to see him not being castigated because he's gay. He's just another politician, and you can agree or disagree with him. Sometimes I think society is actually making progress. As Queen Victoria is said to have said, "I don't care what they do, as long as they don't do it in the streets and scare the horses." Amen, Vikky. Or should that be Queeny?

I made a killer batch of chili for dinner last evening. I've discovered that Wal-Mart, of all places, carries meat by grade. They have ground chuck, sirloin and round. Nobody else I've found has that; they all have just "beef" with no comment on the specific source. The Wal-Mart sirloin is particularly good- good taste, better, IMHO, than the generic "beef". it's also labeled as to ft content- 10% in this case. Anyway the chili- I browned the beef with onion and garlic in olive oil, added frozen green peppers and a few pieces of Jalapeno, cooked it down, and added a can of diced tomatoes. Cooked down a little and ate with some grated cheese and sour cream on top. Yum!

memory

I think I'm losing my memory, but I forget. Yeah, yeah, there are a million "losing your memory" jokes out there. But I seriously have holes in mine. What's with that?

Incident 1: I made bookcases a few years ago; son in Bangor has one. I was admiring it when I noticed there is a block on each side holding the top onto the side. Pretty clever, screwed and glued, nice and stable, adds strength. Picture the block attached to the side and the top attached to the block. But I have no memory of installing it! How could I forget a significant detail on something I built?

Incident 2: I had my pistol locked in a lock box in my closet. There were two keys to the locks; I had one. My memory was that I gave wife the other, but when I asked her for it, since I will be using the new cabinet instead, she claimed she never saw it. I looked in the place where I keep spare keys and there it was. OK, I have it, and that's good, but why does my memory continue to tell me I gave it to the wife?

Incident 3: I kept a 20 gauge shotgun in my closet. I thought it was loaded, but yesterday when I took it out to clean it and put it in the new cabinet, it's empty. My memory is that I kept it loaded in case of burglars or whatever, but there are no shells in it. How did I unload it and why put it back in the bedroom closet instead of in the hall closet in it's case with the other empty long guns and have no memory of doing so?

The bookcase was built before the cancer surgery, where I got a lot of drugs, so I can blame the drugs. The key could have been that I intended to give the wife the key, and then brain decided I did so, even though I didn't. But the gun throws me for a loop. I was feeling secure since I had a loaded gun handy, and it turns out it wasn't loaded. How did it get unloaded without me remembering doing so?

cold

The cold is getting to me, and it's only the first days of fall. Monday I went to the Y pool- it was so cold I didn't want to even get in. Oh, actually I guess I could have, but it really wasn't comfortable. I told them it was too cold. they said they have a new system and they can't leave it on all weekend. Why they can't control it, I don't know. The Y is open on the weekend, so there are people there. I don't think I'm going to try it today either.

This morning it was 45 when the dog and I got up at 7. This time of year, 7 is before sunrise. There is no indication of sun at all. A few weeks ago, The sun was shining on the top of the ridge across the valley, but not now. BTW, we live on the north side of a mountain ridge that runs east and west, and there is another ridge to the south up past the Marks dairy farm. It's a really nice view, most of the time.

The cabinet project is going well. Since it's in my office, I work in here. At one point yesterday I found myself sitting at my desk in my desk chair running an electric drill. Seemed incongruous. The photo at the top is my desk, without the drill. ( I can't put it in the text.) The LCD with the dog is the monitor; the one with the tennis match is the hd tv. The drill really doesn't go in there!

Now that I'm a week and a half past my last chemo treatment, I'm feeling better. I get a little discomfort in my left lung, which is undoubtedly the cancer pressing on the lung, but usually changing position, like in bed, makes it feel better. So far I haven't needed an oxycodone. Of course, the down side is I'm only a week and a half away from my next chemo.

tea

Well, folks, tea is a lot easier to live with than coffee. My whole GI system seems happier. I still had some gastric distress last evening, but I feel a lot batter. Like, a 1000 percent better!

I got into British-style tea when I was on a flight to Britain on British Airways. Those of you who have done this know that from the east coast one leaves in the evening and gets to Europe in the morning, after you wake up. BA served breakfast, and when asked, I asked for coffee. It was totally awful! When the flight attendant came by, I apologised and asked him for tea. (Yes, him.) The tea was so great- hot and tasty, add sugar and milk, and it's a little sweet and the milk makes it taste great and not so acid. I should have know better- on a British airline, never order coffee, always order tea. Of course, on both that trip and a subsequent one to the UK, I drank tea. One can get good coffee in the UK, but you have to go to a coffee shop and get what I think they called a "filter" to do so. Why bother when the tea is so good?

Yesterday I bought a steel cabinet to go in my office. I walked it up the stairs myself! It weighs 75 lbs, so I was impressed with myself. Today the plan is to modify it with hooks and so on. It's nice to have a project to do- one I can actually do.

I'll be reporting on the progress of daughter Maggie- aka Bootstrap Maggie- as she progresses across the country since she won't have any Internet on the way. She'll be able to call on the cell, of course, and I'll pass on progress reports. Stay tuned to this space!

coffee

I went back to drinking coffee about a week ago. It seems to me, purely subjectively, that the gastric distress is worse. So I'll stop coffee again- back to tea with milk and sugar, British style. Seems to me I ran this experiment once before with the exact same result.

An old friend and blog reader, P, asked about GORP and gross eggs. GORP stands for Good Old Raisins and Peanuts. I encountered the concept when cross-country skiing. One makes a mix of stuff to nibble on the trail in the cold. The way I make it at present is to start with a bag of granola, add mixed nuts (not just peanuts), dry fruit, raisins, apricots, dry apples, and a small bag of M&Ms. Mix well and eat. At home I use a spoon.

Gross eggs is really just scrambled eggs with onion and garlic. The first step is to saute the onion and garlic in olive oil. When I started making it, on Saturday mornings, it would smell up the house while the kids were sleeping, being teenagers, and they would wake to the odor which one of them considered gross. Now I make it with sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and salsa, and three eggs, in addition to the onion. Yes, I eat three eggs a day; in my present condition this is a good thing.

I'm going to try swimming again today. Can't go wrong, right?

pain

Yesterday I had a episode of severe pain, associated with a case of gastric distress. It's like I need to have a BM with diarrhea but it's blocked by something. So the bowl contracts to expel but can't so it hurts. This goes on for about 2o minutes, then things move and everything is OK again, except that my internals are really sore for a while and I'm really tired and cold. It's really painful while happening, but it only lasts a few minutes. This happens every 3 or 4 weeks. I'll discuss this with my doctor next time I go in. I think I did once before, and got the usual "hmmm" response from Dr W. I'll demand an answer this time.

Obviously I didn't get to paddle yesterday. Today the forecast is for 79 so that should be warm enough, if nothing else happens. Right now it's 50 and foggy. Boat is still on top of the car, so it's ready. The question, as usual, is am I ready. The weak link is me.

This episode has me thinking about the wisdom of a trip to the Florida Keys. Really though, the whole thing only took a few hours, including the nap afterwords, and I could do that anywhere. We'll think about it some more. We obviously need to discuss it with the doctor too before any decision can be made, since the trip will take about 4 weeks which implies missing a chemo treatment. The object of the exercise is to not be in the EF for deer season, the week after Thanksgiving. A shorter trip would work too. When we were in Oneonta, I noticed the next town is Cooperstown; might be fun to spend some tiime at the baseball Hall of Fame. And we could spend some time on the Northern Front, which should contain all three offspring by then. Oneonta and Cooperstown are about half way to the Northern Front.

Cubs won yesterday and so got in the playoffs on their own win. The Brewers lost, so the Cubs would have gotten in anyway, but it's better to do it on their own win at home in front of their fans against the Cards, the traditional rival. How sweet it is! This is the first time the Cubs have won their division two years in a row since 1907-1908, and they last won the Series in 1908. Does this mean they will win the Series? No, not really, they need to win the games this year. What happened in 1908 has no effect, except maybe psychologically, on what happens in 2008. Fun though!

Am I the only one who thinks the hype about closing Yankee Stadium is considerably overdone? My understanding is the reason for building a new stadium, as opposed to refurbishing the old one, is to increase the capacity for high-roller sky boxes. In other words, for money. Not that I have any objection to them making money- that's what it's all about. But spare us the sentimental clap-trap to justify a financial decision. There's a Miller High Life commercial about the Miller delivery guy going into a sky box at a ball game- nobody is watching the game and they can't even hear what is happening. The guy takes their High Life out.

swim

Well, I swam. Sort of, anyway. I did a lap; my goggles leaked and I had no energy at all. So I stopped and drained out the goggles and resealed them. Then another lap, which went better. Not only did my eyes feel better, but I seemed to be better coordinated and to swim smoother. Then I quit while I was ahead. I ordered new goggles. I think it's going to be OK once I get into the routine of swimming. Good result, I think. I'm kinda torn between being happy that I can swim and being unhappy that I didn't do it sooner. Oh well, one day at a time, right?

Today the plan is to put the canoe in the river. It needs to get warmer first, though. I'm still very cold sensitive.

Cubs lost, but the Brewers did too so the magic number is now one. Maybe today.

two!

The Cubs magic number is now two, after the win last night. For those who may not be baseball fans, that means any combination of Cubs wins or Brewers losses that adds up to two means the Cubs clinch the Central division. ON to the playoffs!

Cold this AM! We had a frost warning last night, but I didn't see any frost this morning. It's coming though! It makes for good sleeping, although I had a restless night. WE have dual control heated mattress pad so I can keep my side warm enough for me. I didn't nap or sleep during the day or evening again, but still had some weird dreams (blame the narcotic) and woke up lot.

I'm feeling a lot better now, being a week plus away from the chemo treatment. Today I'll go to the pool and see how that works. Tomorrow the plan is I'll put the canoe in the river. Here in central PA, "the river" refers to the west branch of the Susquehanna.

Political note: I'm feeling increasingly uncomfortable with McCain and his pick of Palin. She is a born-again, and I don't trust those people. They're too sure- they see everything as black and white. The world, in my view, is gray. I guess I don't want a born-again a heartbeat away from the presidency, especially with a president who is 72 and suffered as a POW. I had hopes that McCain would bring the Republican party back to the center, where it was until the Goldwaterites ran Rockefeller and the liberal Republicans out of the party in the San Francisco convention of '64. Goldwater lost big time, but he paved the way for Regan and, maybe more importantly, turned the party over to the born-agains, the so-called "base". Looks to me like the Palin choice was a giant pander to the "base".

Present thinking is to rent a cottage or something in the Keys during early December. A little more expensive than the trailer, but considering the trailer hasn't moved for almost two years, it'll need some maintenance and that's an expense we wouldn't have. The big factor is a cottage (and motel on the way) have the bathroom a few steps away. Camping in the trailer requires getting dressed and using the common bathrooms, not a big deal when healthy but then we're not really healthy.

sleep

I forced my self to stay awake last evening- no sleep after dinner with the Cubs game. I went to bed at about 10 and slept until 11:30, when I had an incident of gastric distress. I had had a hankering for pasta salad, so we had one for dinner- tortellini, shrimp, veggies from the garden. Yummy! But at 11:30, severe gastric distress. But back to bed and then slept all the way through until 7 this morning. I guess it's back to meat for dinner. I eat GORP every day, like now, after breakfast. My GORP is based on granola, with mixed nuts, not just peanuts, and dry apples and apricots in addition to raisins. Also the obligatory M&Ms, of course. That I can eat, but oatmeal, for example, leads to severe distress. I don't understand it. I guess it's just that gorilla trying to keep me guessing. It's working!

Went to J. C. Penny yesterday to get a pair of jeans for the cool weather. I'm officially back to my high school size- 32x32 jeans. Of course, I was in considerably better condition then- that was when I was running the mile in track. My PR was 4:52, under the 5 minute mile. I broke 5 minutes for the first time the same week as when Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile, the first time that had been done. Last week up in Oneonta NY I tried to run a few steps to avoid traffic and found I forgot how to run! Unbelievable! After all the running over the years, including finishing 4 marathons (started 5, but that's another story) my body doesn't know how to run any more.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to do an organized exercise program- swimming, and paddling and biking as the weather permits. We'll see how that goes. Depends on the gorilla, of course.

We're trying to think of a way to go to the Keys in December. Can we trailer? Better in motels? Can it be done at all? Lots of pros and cons.

cow

So, I'm working on the bow and stern lines for the canoe in the garage when the faithful dog starts barking. I come out from behind the car in the driveway to see a large black cow being chased across the front lawn by our small (comparatively) black dog. And there is a small Amish boy in the driveway, of course dressed all in black. I call the dog- Really Reliable Recall still works- and the Amish kid chases the cow back down the driveway. This was a really little kid too, and he was scared of the dog but was perfectly comfortable chasing a large cow around. Technically, I think it was a steer, which to me is a sub-set of cow, not being a farmer. I must admit I didn't examine it sufficiently to determine exactly what it was. The Marks raise their male calves as steers for beef, so I think that was what it was. They can run fast, too, not just lumber along like the milk cows do. This is certainly the Enchanted Forest!

I had a little discomfort last night, and I'm in the "nap during the day, lay awake at night" cycle again. I've dealt with this before, of course, and will deal again. I took an oxycodone in the middle of the night and opened the window. "Change a variable- it's what you people do!" It worked! Finally got to sleep sometime after 2.

I picked up a pair of steel sawhorses at Lowes yesterday to put the boats on when working on them. I've used wood sawhorses, where you buy a set of brackets and use your own 2x4, but they tend to self-destruct in a few months. These should last longer and are height adjustable. I'm at a point in my life where I can't work standing up with my head lower than my body for more than a few minutes- get dizzy. And I can't kneel for more than a few minutes without pain, so I need to support a boat at approximately waist height to work on it. So I got the bow and stern lines on the canoe, which involved putting it on the car to determine lengths. It was easy to put it on and off- it only weighs 18 lbs! Now I need a piece of pipe insulation to put on the cross bars to protect the gunwales of the canoe. And I need to make some tether lines to attach water bottles etc. inside the boats. I've got the hardware; it's just a matter of doing it. I would have done it yesterday, but I got delayed with the cow incident and then dinner was ready.

The bad taste is from the new antibiotic. I've found I get the taste when I take one with water if I don't swallow fast. When I got the bad taste the other day with the wine, I was washing down the med tab with the wine. So I think it'll be OK if I take the med with water and have the wine separately. Close call there- I was kinda scared that I might loose my taste for red wine, which of course would have been a disaster.

wine

The latest thing is red wine tastes bad now! What's with that? It's not bad enough to have to wrestle with the 800 lbs gorilla in the room, which nobody ever mentions, but now wine tastes bad. Actually, I think it might be from the new antibiotic Dr D prescribed yesterday. I went to see him re the red toe thing, which you may remember I had to go to the ER in Bangor for. Dr D doesn't think it's gout- he thing something is flukky (his word) in the circulation in my feet. I have swollen ankles too. He thinks the flukky is caused by either the gorilla or the drugs, including the chemo. (Query to Dr B the dil: does this make sense?) So he gave me a script for another antibiotic, which I think is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. BTW, the results from the blood work in Bangor never came through. Health care in this country is a disaster. Memo to McCain and Obama: Do something about it!

I stopped by the Y yesterday and renewed my membership. Friday (one week from chemo) I'll go to the pool. Exercise has to be good for circulation, right? Even if I can't swim far, a few strokes is more than zero. When we were marathoning, we used to say any run begins with a single step, and that's the most difficult step.

Weather in the EF is kinda blah. Garden is fading away, grass looks tired, etc. The sun hardly ever comes out- partly cloudy is how they describe it. I don't care for fall. Spring is much nicer, summer is warm and friendly, and winter at least raises the hope of XC sking. Fall has nothing I like- football and hunting are not my favorites. Baseball playoffs do happen, but that always seems like the left-overs from summer.

Speaking of baseball, how about them Cubs? Lilly almost got another no-hitter yesterday! Awesome! Now, how about putting some games on TV?

wind

The remnants of hurricane Ike came through last night. Lots of warm humid air, lots of it moving very quickly ( as in wind) but no rain. It was blowing so hard it was difficult to sleep through the noise of the trees blowing. And we have a few leaves down this morning, not a good sign for those of us who don't like fall.

I don't feel real bad today- not back to good yet, but on the way. I felt good before getting up, then kinda bad until I ate my gross eggs, now I feel better. I did make it out to Wal-Mart and Lowes yesterday. I needed new nylon rope for the canoe. My plan is to get the canoe in the water. It only weighs 18 lbs, so I should be able to handle it alone. I'm a little nervous with it in big water, but it'll be fine on the smaller lakes and on the river in Lock Haven. Since I lost about 100 lbs since I used it last, I should have more freeboard. I stole the bow and stern lines from the canoe and put them on the kayak, thus need new lines. The canoe has it's own straps, so that's OK and I have the paddle and PFD so I should be good to go. As usual, the limiting piece is my health.

Cubs won last night; Carlos Zambrano pitched a "no-no"! (That's a no hitter with no runs for those of you who don't follow baseball.) Outstanding! When I turned on the TV in the family room this AM it was set for ESPN and they had the highlights, so I actually got to see some of it. Starting to look like they really can do it; they're lucky as well as good, which is what you need to be to win it all. Most meaningless stat: First pitcher whose name starts with Z to pitch a no hitter in the majors. Baseball is funny with their stats.

bed

I spent most of yesterday in or on the bed. No energy, lots of discomfort. Bleeh! Fortunately there were ball games to watch, even though the Cubs got hurricaned out in Houston. Sounds like they are going to play those two games in Milwaukee tomorrow. We can hope for TV!

This morning I felt pretty good, before I got up. Now I feel rotten again. I may go back to bed again. My head is not working too clearly either, so if I appear to be getting off on tangents, blame it on the drugs. I am determined to get out to Wal-Mart and Lowes this AM to pick up a few things.

Ugh

Side effects are bad this time. Not that they're ever good, but they seem worse this time. The cold sensitivity is really bad- so bad I can't crack and egg without pain. And I feel generally crappy, lethargic, discomfort in the gut, etc. Beats the alternative, I guess. This will pass; it always has done in the past.

forgot

Sorry, you guys, I got confused yesterday and totally forgot to post. We were really tired Wednesday evening, and then the dog slept through 7:00 AM which he never does except when we depend on him to get us up. It's not the dog's fault- nothing is ever the dog's fault! In any case we scrambled around eating breakfasts and showering in time to get out to get to Geisinger by 10 for my once every 3 weeks visit. We made it, but not by much. Anyway, the visit was uneventful, as we hope they all are. Weight is 153, down 4 lbs from 3 weeks ago. I've found my weight goes down when I get a chemo treatment, and then gradually works it's way back up into the 150s. So the only meaningful weight is the one they take every 3 weeks right before the treatment. We saw J the PA again, one of our favs. Everything else was fine- good counts, etc. The blood work for my toe taken in Bangor didn't make it- no surprise there. J was in Maine 3 weeks ago, in Bar Harbor as a matter of fact. I asked her if they did any fun stuff and she said, "yeah, got married!" I guess that qualifies. She says they did it right on the coast of the bay. Then they did a lot of kayaking, some pretty far out on the bay where they needed spray skirts and the like. She said the spray was flying around pretty good. Sounds like fun! Back to my health- she is having the head nurse call Bangor for the blood work. If they can't get it they can take some more. She wasn't sure if they could use the blood they took yesterday; it may all be spoken for. I don't know if they take spares or not. Back in the day, I always took two samples of plant batches and left one in the lab "just in case". In any case, the cancer remains "stable" which is the best we can hope for at this time. Remission, the other 800 lbs gorilla in the room nobody ever mentions, remains a possibility, but with long odds. I do feel better, though. Each cycle I feel better than the last, but the side effects are getting more serious. The cold sensitivity is especially bad today; it really hurt to cut up some onion and stuff for my gross eggs. Just holding the egg in my hand long enough to crack it was painful. J was concerned about my ankles swelling too, so she sent me over to the main hospital for an ultrasound on my legs to see if I have any clots. None. But that slowed things down some more. WE picked up some salads from the large snack bar in the main building, since it was lunch time by now, and took them back with us. One can eat or whatever while the iv is going in, which takes at least 2 hours, plus a flush and some other stuff. So I got the cell phone out and called daughter M in LA. She didn't answer so I left a voice message which she responded to by calling back. My ring tone is ravens calling- loud! Woke up everybody, including me. We had a nice chat about health and trailers and stuff.

Finally got out of there and went home in time to make dinner and go to bed. So I never posted.

home

We're home. Internet connection was wonky in St. Johnsbury. First I couldn't get any connection at all, so I went to the front desk where the gal called in the computer guru who also seems to be her bf. Whatever- he rebooted my machine and then we got a connection. However, it was raining hard and they said they have problems when it rains. It kept dropping the connection on me. I lost the whole blog once, and half of it the second time. Then I just posted the half I had left which is why it's all spaced funny and seems incomplete. I didn't even try this AM in Oneonta. WE jut wanted to get on the road and get home. So we are. More later.

Vermont

Today we're in St. Johnsbury, VT, and it's cold and rainy. Forecast is for more of the same, all day.



Nice motel, much nicer than the dump in Oneonta where we stayed and will stay again tonight. This one is nicely landscaped, flowers growing everywhere, etc.



State of the wrestling match with the gorilla is the same. Subjectivly, I think I'm winning, but there is no objective evidence for that. WE go on.

Birthday

Here's a photo of baby granddaughter at her first birthday celebration. It's not her first until Tuesday, but we won't be here then so we did it today. She's about to throw a piece of homemade birthday cake. I made the orange frosting- it's really good, if I do say so myself, and I do.

We went for a walk on the Bangor Waterfront yesterday. Nice park, water, all the good stuff. Lots of people too!

Today we're on the road again, off to St. Johnsbury VT. Then Oneonta NY again and then home on Wednesday.

visit

So, we had a nice visit with niece W et al. We had a slight communication issue, which we worked out. We had a nice lunch and visit- we decided we hadn't seen each other for 35 or 40 years!

Today is supposed to be Tropical Storm Hanna here in Bangor. Actually, it rained all night, but now it's cloudy with the sun peeking through. I think it came a little earlier than they thought it would, which means it's travelling faster than expected, the laws of motion being what they are.

The gorilla remains quiet. I had a wrap in a corn tortilla for lunch, and pasta salad, and the remains of the pasta salad and some potato salad for dinner without incident. Nice being in the 3rd week of the chemo cycle. My admittedly subjective opinion is that the 3rd week is better this time than the last, and that one was better than the one before it. So I think I'm getting somewhat better.

Think I'm going to get the canoe out when we get home. It only weighs 18 lbs, so I'll be able to handle it. And part of the issue with it was the low freeboard, but that was when I weighed 100 lbs more than I do now, so that issue should be reduced too.

Tomorrow we head out for home, so the usual waning about not being able to post applies.

wet

Finally got the kayak wet, as you can see. Yeah, that's me in it. It works really well- nice and stable, splashes at the bow in a little chop stay outside. There was no chop in the picture; it's sheltered cove, but out on the open lake there was some. As I say, feels really stable. I never felt like it might tip or anything. Very manoeuvrable too; it'll pivot in place if you do the front paddle on one side and rear paddle on the other.

Another system I designed which works well. The car fits the kayak too. And of course the EF is now to the place where it works well too. In fact, everything works except what I have no control of, namely my health. Stupid gorilla sees to that! Bummer.

The doctor in the ER here yesterday thinks I have gout. He gave me a script for antibiotic for cellulitis, since it knocked it down the last few times. That'll get me back to PA to see the oncologist on Thursday. He also took a lot of blood which he will have analyzed and send the results to Dr W at Geisinger. He said it's either gout or cellulitis; the antibiotic is for the cellulitis and the blood work is to confirm or deny the gout, so we're covered either way. Nice people.

Today our niece W is coming for lunch, which should be fun since we haven't seen her since we lived in Michigan.


Tomorrow tropical storm Hanna is coming. They have a flash flood watch for tonight and tomorrow. Probably not going to be as much fun as seeing W again.

Glenburn

Picture above is from Oneonta when the kayak took one bed and we had the other. Fun, huh?

Now we're in Glenburn, Maine, which is actually part of the Bangor area, and home to the baby granddaughter, who is almost one. Wow! Seems like she was just born yesterday. Now she's crawling around the house. Very nice house, by the way. Everything is clean and neat without being nasty neat. Very comfortable.

Today I need to see a local doctor about the cellulitis in my toe which has come back. The resident MD suggests that would be in order. I called the Tele-Nurse at Geisinger and she told me to see an urgent care place or an ER. So the system is fed and I won't have to pay for it.

Then we'll put the 'yak in the water. Weather here is kinda cloudy, forecast high to be in the 70's so that should be OK.

That old gorilla is being kinda quiet. Not that I'm complaining, of course. This is the third week of the three week chemo cycle and when I'm at my best, which is why we're here now.

Windham

Here we are in Windham NH. Had a nice dinner last evening to celebrate the grandson's 23rd birthday. I had a margarita and fajitas, probably predictably. Travel yesterday was pretty uneventful. Most was on the Mass pike, then 495, both of which are very low on my list of favs to drive. Too much fast traffic, cutting in and out, etc. It's a pain to cope with.

We're off to Maine today to celebrate the granddaughter's first on Sunday. Kinda handy the birthdays came so close together.

The gorilla remains more of less quiet, I'm staying on the 20 mg oxy, and life goes on. Catch ya later!

Oneonta

We're in Oneonta, NY, about halfway between Binghampton and Albany. Motel is a dump, for $100. Only saving grace is they will accept the dog. There is a nice Italian restaurant across the street, with outside seating on the sidewalk. Dog was welcome there too, so all three of us went out to dinner. I had a killer lasagna which was just full of really good cheese. And there was red wine, too. They have to serve it in paper cups outside, so it came in Coke cups. Tastes fine anyway.

Trip yesterday was uneventful. This four hour travelling time is kinda nice and relaxed. WE stopped at the Starbucks near Scranton and had lunch- we brought lunch with, and just bought coffee and tea. Even the gorilla is being quiet, so far. I'm back on the 20 mg oxy with no discomfort. Hey, dummy, when it ain't broke, don't fix it!

north!

North it is today. I've been promised internet access all the way, so I should be able to post every day, but if I run into some sort of glitch and can't post y'all are not to panic.

Had some discomfort again at bedtime, so I've switched back to the 20 mg oxycontin. I did sleep better last night, so I'm wake for the trip today. Being awake while driving is a good thing.

Later, gotta go load the car!

insomnia

Insomnia is not fun. I notice that my daughter M had a case yesterday; last night was my turn. First I fell asleep again while watching Sunday night baseball on ESPN, They (Jon & Joe) really do a good job. Some week I'll have to stay awake and watch the whole show. Anyway, I fell asleep sort of in bed, propped up on a bunch of pillows. I woke up about 10:30, turned the TV off, brushed teeth etc, and went to bed. Pain. Severe discomfort in the gut. I tossed and turned for about 20 minutes, trying to find a comfortable position to no avail. Dr W told me I should take a oxycodone (5 mg) if I got a pain breakthrough, so I declared a breakthrough and took one. Went back to bed waited for things to ease. While waiting, I got to thinking about the kinetics of what was going on. I take a 10 mg time-release oxy every 12 hours. Rounding for clarity, that comes out to 1 mg per hour. So at the end of hour 1, I have 1 mg, 2 at the end of hour 2, etc until hour 5. Now I infer that the body metabolizes oxy in 5 hours. The directions for oxycodone say take every 4-6 hours. When I was taking it, before taking the time-release, the pain would wake me at night every 5 hours, more or less, to take more. So at the end of hour 6, 1 mg is gone and I have 5 in my system. As long as I take a 10 mg time-release every 12 hours, the concentration should stay at 5. When I take a 5 mg non time release, it doubles the concentration to 10, which is what I did.

So I'm thinking through this while waiting for the pain to subside. It does, no pain, I'm comfortable- but wide awake! All that thinking left the old brain spinning! (I also thought through the possible effect if the decrease follows first-order kinetics, as one would predict- no effect since first order implies the rate is inversely proportional to the concentration. Since the time release is keeping the concentration constant, the rate is constant too and does not effect the rest of the analysis.)

So I'm wide awake- and remain wide awake until 4 AM. Then I get up and watch CNN and compute some stuff for an hour or so, then go back to bed. I do finally get some sleep; the dog lets me sleep until 8. But I'm a little rocky right now. I foresee a nap later.

OK- query for the group- is it possible that the lack of sleep was caused by the extra oxy? Was I high on the oxy? Can it act as a stimulant under those conditions? There is nothing in the data sheets about that, and it never happened to me before when I took one at bedtime. I know this drug is the drug of choice for abuse, but I don't know what they get out of it.