Well, that was weird. I received a phone call asking if I would participate in a brief political survey. Having nothing pressing at the moment, I said yes. They read a list of names and asked me which ones I was familiar with. My response was none. The caller seemed surprised and said, 'Are you sure you don't recognize anyone on the list I named? I thought it was strange as well, as I keep up on California politics. Next, they asked if I would vote for the next governor of Colorado, would I vote for a Republican or a Democrat? I said that, since I lived in California, I would not be voting in Colorado at all. Oh, came the reply, I am so sorry to have bothered you.
I am very excited that a week from now I will be hosting overnight two young women who are part of a group of twenty students who are biking from Texas to Alaska to raise money for cancer research. I have not met them, but I am already impressed.
I've added my GoFundMe to my profile here; I don't have enough definite classes for summer (I would have, with the money saved from spring, but now I'm paying student loans plus deductions for taxes this time around...).
News item from the Massachusetts branch of the family is that there was a sign at the Boston gay pride parade saying, No Kings - Yes Queens. I like that!
Yesterday I gave my old boat away to a new forever home. It had not been in the water for a very long time. Mrs. Gramps had all but given up hope on being able to use the carport for anything but the boat. It was a 1948 River Fox 14ft wooden boat. I had took it up to a antique boat dealer last summer to see what it would cost to restore it. He said around $20,000 which I do not have. But I found three people have formed a partnership to restore the boat. They took possession of it yesterday. It had been in my family for 65 years. Sad to see it go. Hope it can live on.
Yesterday I gave my old boat away to a new forever home. It had not been in the water for a very long time. Mrs. Gramps had all but given up hope on being able to use the carport for anything but the boat. It was a 1948 River Fox 14ft wooden boat. I had took it up to a antique boat dealer last summer to see what it would cost to restore it. He said around $20,000 which I do not have. But I found three people have formed a partnership to restore the boat. They took possession of it yesterday. It had been in my family for 65 years. Sad to see it go. Hope it can live on.
It's a preliminary election that determines that finalists for the general election. For NYC mayor, the primary elections are partisan; the Democrats, Republicans, etc are each voting on who they'll put forward for the general election. Since there are far more Democrats than anyone else in NYC, the Democratic primary determines who will be mayor.
Not necessarily. We have had Republican mayors. Rudy Giuliani for instance. Right now Andrew Cuomo says if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination he'll run as an independent, and the current mayor, Eric Andrew's, who was a Democrat, has switched to independent and is running as such.
Right now Andrew Cuomo says if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination he'll run as an independent, . . . .
That’s not permitted where I live. If you run in a party primary and don’t win, you can’t then run in the general election as unaffiliated (which is what we call “independent”).
Not necessarily. We have had Republican mayors. Rudy Giuliani for instance. Right now Andrew Cuomo says if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination he'll run as an independent, and the current mayor, Eric Andrew's, who was a Democrat, has switched to independent and is running as such.
Thanks, I stand corrected. I wonder where I got the idea the Democratic primary was going to be definitive.
And it looks as though Zohran Mamdani is the winner in the primary, so we'll see if Cumo makes good his threat to run as an independent, with Adams also running as an independent, and whoever the Republican candidate (Curtis Sliwa, maybe?) is. Should be an interesting race.
The Republican candidate is Curtis Sliwa. He was running unopposed. And btw I made a silly error in my post above. The current mayor is Eric Adam's, not Andrew's.
Well, that was odd! Just got home from what I thought was going to be another non-eventful doctor's visit, done mainly to soothe Mr Lamb, who was Not Happy to see me hobbling around with a knee that wouldn't fully extend this morning. Sent home with steroids and an application for a permanent handicapped license plate! And shocked exclamations about the knee x-ray in my records, from lo these six years ago.
All of that must be worth a coffee and not having to cook dinner, right?
Sorry about the knee. I was shocked to discover what had been in my own medical records for several years, which no previous doctor had mentioned. I am sure, like me, you will only use that handicapped space on days when the pain justifies it in your mind, and learn to frown at those without the handicapped plate who park there anyway. (Yes, you young man in the pick-up with radio left on and door half open so you could run in for a six-pack of beer while I hobbled across the parking lot.)
Oh yes. I want it mainly for those days when something dislocates (alas, too often!) and I really need it while I'm waiting for the knee, ankle, whatsit to heal. At a time like that, I simply can't wait to go through the whole Dept. of Motor Vehicles process, just imagine waiting in line with no chair!
About three years ago, I went to a pain clinic which I had been using for the previous five, but had a terrible experience. They were to do an injection in my spine in the L4 and L5 joints. An intern was to do the injection, with the supervision of the doctor in charge. Usually it would take just an injection then rest for 15 minutes, and I would go home. Often I would have driven there, had the shot and drive home after. But this time, they said there was a lot of scaring to deal with. The intern tried three times to place the injection at the target to no avail. Finally, the supervising doctor took over and did the injection from the side, not the back. I was hurting so bad, I could hardly walk. Fortunately, that day my wife drove up there with me. We were to have lunch with another couple after my appointment. She was able to drive me home after the luncheon engagement. A month later I went up for a follow up. I told the attending physician I would not do that again and wanted to discuss alternative treatments. He did not offer any. I did not go back.
But over the three years I went on a GLP-1 treatment to lose an excessive amount of weight. About 45 pounds. As I lost the weight, the back pain eased up quite a bit so did not even think of pain management other than a daily Naproxen dose, 400 mg. Things were going very well.
Then, about six months ago, my sciatica nerve in the right leg became aggravated. My right leg felt numb all the time. When I woke up, I could hardly walk.
About a month ago I went to another pain clinic that did offer alternative procedures. The specialist said the first plan of attack would be to deal with the sciatica. I had the injection yesterday. He had a little problem reaching the target area, but it was not as bad as the previous experience. Had a sore butt but that was because of the injection. Slept very deeply overnight. Today, the numbness is almost all gone, and I have been quite active all day. The resolution from the injection should last three to six months. A month from now, we will have a follow up, and then we will talk about the problem in the L4 and L5 areas. We are looking at doing an ablation which will target the nerve ends causing the pain. The result should work to kill the pain for as much as five years. Considering my age, that might be the only time I will need it.
I cannot believe I waited as long as I did to deal with the chronic pain. I am quite hopeful I can return to some of the activities I like doing.
As always on this day for over fifty years, my wife nailed her copy of the Declaration of Independence to the front door. But it has never felt like this before - the sense of loss is overwhelming.
On a lighter note, I ordered a grocery delivery for tomorrow from my local store. I requested low-sodium chili beans; if they were out, they suggested I substitute with jelly beans. Well, jelly beans are low in sodium.
I'm listening to a podcast by a Greek American and when she refers to the Myrrhbearing Women (those at the tomb) myrrh is pronounced "mere" not to rhyme with "cur" as I hear it down here. Is "mere" the or a pronunciation over there?
I'm listening to a podcast by a Greek American and when she refers to the Myrrhbearing Women (those at the tomb) myrrh is pronounced "mere" not to rhyme with "cur" as I hear it down here. Is "mere" the or a pronunciation over there?
In the States, I’ve never heard anything other than a pronunciation that rhymes with cur.
I'm listening to a podcast by a Greek American and when she refers to the Myrrhbearing Women (those at the tomb) myrrh is pronounced "mere" not to rhyme with "cur" as I hear it down here. Is "mere" the or a pronunciation over there?
That pronunciation sounds close to Greek pronunciation to me.
I was comparably happy and surprised when the sinkhole at the end of the alley behind our building was fixed a couple of days ago. It's been bad since before we moved into the neighborhood almost five years ago.
In the small town where I lived, a sinkhole had been in front of the post office for 15 years. Occasionally, they would fill it in for a brief period, but it would soon wash out again. Filled or not, everyone still drove around it by habit.
Ours developed when they filled in a sewer right in front of our home, and apparently a pipe that was to take over water management had a serious break in it underground--which went uncaught until quite a bit of the road substrate had washed down into my neighbor's yard. Since the city has had a running war with the home association about whose responsibility it is, actually, to repair the road, you can see why it took years and years to fix.
Comments
Or at least get their telephone codes sorted out ... 🙃
🕯❤
Thanks, I stand corrected. I wonder where I got the idea the Democratic primary was going to be definitive.
All of that must be worth a coffee and not having to cook dinner, right?
But over the three years I went on a GLP-1 treatment to lose an excessive amount of weight. About 45 pounds. As I lost the weight, the back pain eased up quite a bit so did not even think of pain management other than a daily Naproxen dose, 400 mg. Things were going very well.
Then, about six months ago, my sciatica nerve in the right leg became aggravated. My right leg felt numb all the time. When I woke up, I could hardly walk.
About a month ago I went to another pain clinic that did offer alternative procedures. The specialist said the first plan of attack would be to deal with the sciatica. I had the injection yesterday. He had a little problem reaching the target area, but it was not as bad as the previous experience. Had a sore butt but that was because of the injection. Slept very deeply overnight. Today, the numbness is almost all gone, and I have been quite active all day. The resolution from the injection should last three to six months. A month from now, we will have a follow up, and then we will talk about the problem in the L4 and L5 areas. We are looking at doing an ablation which will target the nerve ends causing the pain. The result should work to kill the pain for as much as five years. Considering my age, that might be the only time I will need it.
I cannot believe I waited as long as I did to deal with the chronic pain. I am quite hopeful I can return to some of the activities I like doing.
Thank you all for your love and understanding.
I am sorry to hear how you are feeling, American shipmates. From across the Pacific you have my thoughts and best wishes.
That could make your next chilli con carne rather interesting ...
I'm listening to a podcast by a Greek American and when she refers to the Myrrhbearing Women (those at the tomb) myrrh is pronounced "mere" not to rhyme with "cur" as I hear it down here. Is "mere" the or a pronunciation over there?