Cloudy Pictures

Today I decided to put in some cloud pictures that were inspired by Olivia. Her latest batch of cloud pictures was posted on the 18th and you should stop by and look. I took my pictures more to see what I could see in the clouds. You know how it was when you were a kid and picked out different shapes in the clouds. If you see any let me know.

Cloudy Pic. # 1

Click to enlarge.

Cloudy Pic. # 2

Click to enlarge

Cloudy Pic. # 3

Click to enlarge

If you can find any shapes, animals, etc., go right ahead. At the moment I can't see any, but then again, I'm up tonight way past what I usually am.

Hope everyone has a good day.

The Faded Picture

I don’t know much about my paternal Grandparents courting days. They always seemed old to me and I just couldn’t imagine they ever dated. I got some of their earlier life, as any kid would, by listening to them reminisce. Of course as a kid I was too busy or just bored hearing them talk about the old days. Remembering of them talking got me to thinking about all the very far past relatives and wondering what their stories would be.

I have a b-I-l that really got into genealogy and he did the whole thing on tracing our family pretty far back. I can look and see where and when my ancestors first came to this country and this state. It makes me feel connected, but when I look at the dates of the births and deaths, they are no more than just dates to me. I’ve wondered many times what kind of life these people had. Were they good people or bad people? What struggles they had, what joys and sadness and what funny stories they could have told. I just wish sometimes that I knew more about their everyday lives.

Fmom was telling me something about my Grandfather last night. While he and my Grandmother were engaged, and two weeks before they were to be married he had an accident. As a young man he worked in a cotton gin. One day something happened and his right arm got caught in some machinery. It was mangled beyond repair and it had to be amputated. They were to far from a hospital so he had to be taken to a neighbor’s house. Fmom said they put him on Mrs. So and So’s dinning room table and the local doctor preformed the amputation. I hadn’t known this happened just before they got married and I have no idea of what their life was like in those early days. Fmom was saying she would have to ask someone to find out more about it, but while she was saying this a little surprised look come over her face. She told me now that she thought about it, there was no one left she could ask about it. They were all gone.

I know a little bit about my Grandparents, but even less about my Great Grandparents and hardly anything at all about the ones farther back. I can look at the genealogy and place people, but I don’t know what kind of lives they lead or had. I’m luckier than most in that our family cemetery has from my first ancestors that settled here all the way up to the present. I’m also lucky that I got together every old family picture from all the relatives and scanned them in the computer. So I can place some faces with date and event.

As I said at the beginning I don’t know much about their courting days, but I do have this picture. It’s old, blurred and faded, but it shows me a young couple that was very much in love and would spend the rest of their lives together. I was lucky to have known them for the short time they were here.

Stuck in the Pond

It’s another relative filled week this week. They got in about 1:00 am and I just saw the first one up. Luckily they’ll go back to bed and in a little while I’ll start cleaning up the kitchen from last night. I just don’t know why they can’t arrive at a normal hour. In all these years, I can expect them to arrive anywhere between 12:00 am and 5:00 am. I mean I know why they drive at night – less traffic and so on. But it’s still a hassle going to sleep and then waking up from George pinging off the walls barking. I have to admit though with these relatives I sort of do get a guilty pleasure from George barking at them all the time. They were the ones that gave him to me as a puppy. So I tell them that they can’t say a word about George because he came from them.

We’re finally getting some rain down here. The pond really needs it because you can see how low the water level has gotten. I saw something really funny in the pond yesterday. I think I’ve said before how one of my neighbors has started mowing down in the pond where grass is growing. Well she got just a little to close to the muddy section on her riding lawnmower and just sunk. So they bring out one of the little 4 wheel All Terrain Vehicles to pull the lawnmower out. It got stuck too. They ended up getting a truck to pull it all out. I guess I should have gone out and seen if I could have helped, but decided not to because my last time pulling on a lawnmower threw my back out. Anyway it was a lot more fun watching to see what they would do next.

Pond and grass levels.
Click on picture to enlarge.

Soon though the pond should be filled again if we get enough rain and with winter just around the corner it looks like my snake problem will be taken care of for a while. Yep I do love winter.

Hope everybody has a good day and week ahead of them.

Disjointed Thoughts

I’ve been trying to think of something to write, but nothing seems to be coming to me. I’ve been searching through old pictures and new pictures for the Fotofair and I think it will be a great one this year. I do know that Olivia has put a lot of time and effort into this and I wanted to thank her.

So what has everybody been doing? We’ve got the relatives coming in today for a week. They’re supposed to be here to help, but I know how that goes. It will make Fmom happy they are here, so I’m all for it. I was supposed to get a call from the Orthopedic Doctor for the procedure on Thursday or Friday, but they never called. So on Monday, I’ll give them a call and see what going on. Fmom’s shoulder is much better and she is starting to be able to move it somewhat without pain. I’ll be glad when they start the physical therapy with her so she’ll get even more mobility.

What about this weather! It’s currently 39 F/ 3.8 C here. I don’t know about other people, but with me during the winter I always seem to have more energy. Must be a reaction to getting up and moving around so you won’t be cold. Don’t get me wrong, I could never give up my slackerly ways, but the cold makes me want to move. I keep saying I want to see snow down here and I do. However, Fmom is the one who really wants to see it. The last couple of years if there is even a few flakes falling she will wake me up at 2:00 or 3:00 am to see them. She sort of becomes like a little kid when she sees those few flakes, you can see the joy and glee in her.

Here’s one of the pictures I was thinking of submitting for the Fotofair. Instead of flowers or George and Cat, I was going for a little bit of abstract. At least I guess that’s what it would be called. I do know I need to clean this wicker table and repaint it.

Wicker Table
Click to Enlarge

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

BT Fotofair 2006

On October 28-29 Booman Tribune (BT) will hold FotoFair 2006. Click on the picture at the top left of the sidebar or this link, and it will take you to the newest diary about Fotofair 2006 - fOtofair2006v3.0: Creating Clickable Thumbnails.

I am adding all the other diaries leading up to this years Fotofair. I also thought I would link to last years Fotofair to show you the great photos of last year and examples of the photo diaries. So if you are a regular here or a lurker, drop by BT and check out this years and last years Fotofair.

fOtofair2006v2.0: Submission Criteria & fOtohosts

Updated - fOtofair2006

Photo Fair 2005

A Little Cold Air

Today I had a dental appointment. It was an extraction and it wasn’t supposed to be too much to it. The dentist took about 40 minutes to get it out. She kept saying it was acting like a wisdom tooth, but I had already had all my wisdom teeth out. So she pulled and tugged and pulled and tugged and finally got it out. What a way to start the day.

Things are continuing to improve around here. Fmom is feeling better and getting around much better. The back is feeling better and hopefully that will be taken care of soon. The biggest thing I’ve been looking forward to all summer is finally starting to arrive. Cold weather is finally starting to peek its head into here. On Friday we’re supposed to have a low of 38 F/ 3.3 C. That means no more worrying about the lawn for awhile.

Since I don’t foresee winning the lottery, I guess the next best thing would be to own one of these. Now if they would only make a robotic weed eater, leaf blower and street sweeper I would be in heaven.

Global Warming?

This house is a mess! I’ve got to get off my lazy back end and do some stuff today. Fmom is feeling better and my back is better so I guess things are looking up for a change. We had family over this weekend to see how Fmom and I are doing and that made both of us feel pretty good. However, when they leave the house is in a worse mess than it was.

I thought I would put in a picture in of the pond today. I’ve drawn a white line where the water usually is and this shows how much the pond has gone down this summer. The oddest thing is down in the pond where the grass is growing, one of my neighbors was mowing it down there this weekend. Fmom says this is the lowest she has seen it in 30 years, so I’m wondering of global warming is hitting my little pond.

Click for a larger image.

I hope everyone’s day and week will be a good one!

I'm Not 20 Years Old Anymore

I think some of you already know, but my visit to the doctor’s office finally provided the reason for the back pain I’ve been experiencing. After a MRI for the x-rays, I met the Orthopedic Doctor. He showed me on the x-rays where I had a Vertebral Compression Fracture. In other words I broke a vertebra when I tried to lift the front end of a riding lawnmower. Actually I feel vindicated now that I have a diagnosis for my back pain. I was feeling the family was getting tired of hearing me say ouch whenever I moved. The Doctor gave me all sorts of treatments but was pushing one called Balloon Kyphoplasty.

How the Balloon Works

Balloon Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive treatment in which orthopaedic balloons are used to gently elevate the bone fragments in an attempt to return them to the correct position.

With a hollow instrument, the surgeon creates a small pathway into the fractured bone. A small, orthopaedic balloon is guided through the instrument into the vertebra. The incision site is approximately 1 cm in length.

Balloon placement

Next, the balloon is carefully inflated in an attempt to raise the collapsed vertebra and return it to its normal position.

Full inflation

Once the vertebra is in the correct position, the balloon is deflated and removed. This process creates a void (cavity) within the vertebral body.

Void within vertebral body

The cavity is filled with a special cement to support the surrounding bone and prevent further collapse.

Filling the cavity with cement

The cement forms an internal cast that holds the vertebra in place. Generally, the procedure is done on both sides of the vertebral body.

The internal cast

To say the least, I’m a little concerned about this procedure. Cabin Girl looked up a link last night and it said the procedure will last for about 2 years. That’s a big draw back for me. The doctor also told me that it would probably be an outpatient procedure. He said Blue Cross says outpatient, medicare says hospital and he's waiting to find out what my insurance says. I then went on to asking him what the prognosis for this procedure is. He told me that it is a 95% success rate, that he has done over 500 of these procedures and then he told me about infection rates and so on. He covered the whole gambit which made me happy. I hate to have to draw out every single piece of information from a doctor. This doctor did good and covered every question I had even before I asked them. He already had one point in his favor before I ever saw him. He's the same surgeon that removed a small tumor from FMom's spine a couple of years ago. I can remember being impressed with him then, so I'm hoping this time that impression is justified.

So it looks like I'm going to go ahead and have the procedure done. I'm getting really sick of hurting every time I move and this look like it fills the ticket. I'm still waiting to see when it will be done and the end of next week looks good. I'll let everyone know how it went.

Old Age

Things have been hopping around here since yesterday. I bought up having someone come over and sit with Fmom while I’m gone to a doctor’s appointment today. She adamantly refused, so enter my sister. My sister went ahead and got a sitter to come over today. Fmom was pinging off the walls about that. My brothers and sister called and told Fmom she needed someone here while I was gone, but she basically told them what she thinks about that. She told me last night she just won’t be here when the sitter gets here. She decided she’s going with me to the doctor’s appointment.

So now I have a pissed off old lady who will be mad most of the day. I’ll have a sitter coming who’ll be mad to have to go back home, and I’ll have brothers and a sister who’ll be on me for carrying Fmom with me.

The moral of this story is, if you have kids, look forward to growing old. You get to pay them back for every worry they ever put you through.

Another Blip

Well it happened again last night. Fmom got up and fell again. This time she wasn’t hurt and she was more embarrassed than anything else. She would probably still be sitting on the floor if I hadn’t gotten up in the middle of the night and heard her. It took me about 30 minutes to get her up to bed. I keep telling her not to get up unless she calls me, but like anyone, she wants some freedom. So I’m going to have to figure something out so I can keep an eye on her during the night. First thought is to tie a string to her toe, but I don’t think she’ll go for that.

I go to see a specialist about my back tomorrow. I’ll be gone most of the day, so I’ve got to get someone over here for Fmom. She’ll be against that, but I can’t leave her alone right now. Last night when I got her settled down, I came back to check on her and she was crying. I asked her if she was hurting and she said no that she was mad. She said she was mad because of getting older and not being able to do the simplest things by herself right now. I told her not to worry because that is one of the reasons I am here.

I’m really looking forward to November now. I figure by that time everyone should be all right and things will be back to normal. We’ll see though.

Don't Change Those Settings

My brother bought over his new laptop yesterday and wanted me to show him how to transfer his camcorder home movies to DVD. He has a really sweet machine and I was thinking this wouldn’t be hard at all. Well I underestimated. Once I start unpacking everything I see he didn’t bring all the stuff necessary to make a DVD. First no blank DVD disks, then he forgot most of the stuff for the camcorder and the batteries were almost dead. Finally no cords to run from the camcorder to the computer. So I go digging through all my stuff. To cut it short, the batteries on the camcorder went completely dead before I could figure out how to transfer his movies.

The thing that got me though was not his fault but mine. While he was here I decided to set up his computer so it could use my wireless router to get to the Internet. I got into my computer to change some stuff and I was in such a hurry I changed something wrong. Now I can’t even use my router. Don’t know what I did, but whatever it was has me baffled. I called the help line of the router manufacturer and got someone one who I could hardly understand. The guy was really trying to help, but I could tell he was getting a little frustrated when I kept having to tell him to repeat what he said. Now I’ve always thought that the help line people were just poor slobs like me, trying to make a living, and trying to get by. So I’m never rude or short tempered with them. Luckily I’ve never had a rude help person on the other end either. To cut it short again, I was on the phone for about 45 minutes with him and we never got it fixed. I had to leave and he told me he couldn’t give me a ticket number because their computers were down at the moment. So today I’ll try calling again and see if we can get the router back to working again. I found out something I’ve known for awhile. I know just enough about computers to be dangerous.

I don't know where my mind was this morning because I forgot to add.

Happy Birthday Boran2