AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Cutting-edge science: Bureaucrats in North Korea's Communist Party, summarizing their understanding of the way the brain works, announced in January that, henceforth, all men would be expected to wear their hair short (2 inches, maximum) in that longer hair impairs function by taking oxygen away from the nerves in the head. (Balding men would be allowed another inch for comb-overs, and hair length of women was not addressed.)

1/25/05 Strong Like Bull but Sad

Today is a very sad day for me. Due to my transplant I was told to remove all of the plants in my home or put them all in one place. I decided to place them all in my sun room that does not have any heat but I keep a heater in the room to keep the plants alive during the cold months. I also usually only keep a limited number of plants there due to the weather extremes. In one of my posts a couple of days ago I mentioned a blackout in my neighborhood which only lasted a couple of hours but unfortunately when the power goes down this heater does not turn back on. This morning when I looked at all these plants it reminded me of the landscape in Iraq, everything looks like death & destruction. I then realized that the heater must of turned off and I turned it back on. My Mom the Plant Lady will be up this weekend to see what she can salvage but what ever survives will be bald for a long time, just like a chemo therapy patient. If it takes another ten years than I will just have to wait. I plan on sticking around a good long time. I am feeling strong like bull.

1/24/05 I See It as It Is

Some of you blog readers, not mentioning anybody or any group of individuals, seem to think my thinking might be a little left. I just think it is jealousy on your part that you can not see things the left way like me. Besides I am not that left, I am a registered Independent and when something stinks I can smell it; meaning this administration. On the other hand it is a good sign that I am doing well, still ready and willing to fight and ornery as ever. It is true that this is a good sign of my health. Healthy mind, healthy body or one getting healthier every day. I will be back in Boston on this Thursday and hopefully the storm on Wednesday will actually be on Wednesday. If not Thursday then we go on Friday. Alex & Emily have still been behaving pretty well but I can see that starting to wear off. I may have to leave for a few days to get them back on track. Only kidding, I am not going anywhere.

1/23/05 The excitement is killing me

Well today was an interesting day, first of all it did not snow as much as they predicted, at least not here in town. It is cold as can be and windy but besides that. The next thing to happen today was at 4 PM this afternoon we had a power outage. Jane had just gone out to pick up Emily from a friends so she could not get back in the garage easily; I just put some cookies in the oven to bake and the electricity went out. The cookies were ruined and I through them out. A chocolate chip cookie has to be baked just right. Also Johnny Carson died today, I remember watching him as a young lad, you know when we used to walk 10 miles to school every day - HA HA HA. I am doing fine today, paying more bills, getting tax info together and just plain old hanging around. Alex went outside with Jane for a short time (3 minutes) but it was too cold for them. If you read my comments I am getting them from all over the place from people I do not even know. This blogging stuff is neato, coolo, groovy man.

1/22/05 Let it Snow, Let it Snow

It sounds like a lot of snow till to come. Today I feel good, look good and am good. I am being very lazy and not doing much of anything. Did you catch a glance of me at George W. Bush's inaugural acceptance speech. I was the one yelling at him in the front, yeah they did not show much of me on TV but you could hear his supporters beating me with their Bibles. I have to take my anger out on somebody. You all know it was not me; but it does sound like something I would do; could it have been me? Did I tell you that I can not drink spring water or well water since it may contain bacteria and must drink water like Desani which is bottled by Coke and from a municipal source, not some beautiful mountain stream, but probably some dirty bathroom in their factory somewhere in some no name country overseas.

Since I have returned home everybody has been a little bit more at ease. Emily and Alex only kabonged each other a couple of times today. Emily sold Girl Scout cookies today at a local Borders and then they went to the Library to rent some videos to keep them busy indoors. I will try tomorrow to take them outside if Jane will let me. Keep warm.

1/21/05 It's a Beautiful Day

We took Emily and Alex to school and headed to Dana Farber. We got there about 11 AM and I want to phlebotamy to get my blood counts taken. When I met with my Doc 45 minutes later and he pulled up my counts, they were beautiful. This is true confirmation to me that I am on the mend. The biggest concern at this point will be Host vs. Graft Disease (HVGD) which is essentially a form of rejection. This will probably not be a concern till about the 2 1/2 to 3 month post transplant time frame when they start weaning me off the rejection drugs I am currently taking although it still can happen anytime. I then went next door to Brigham & Woman's to have my Hickman Port removed. When I got there and was lying on the bed the nurse came over and asked me if I was getting a pace maker and I told her no I was getting my port out and showed her my port; she then asked me about how my bypass went and I told her I have no heart problems I just want my port out. For some reason my into was on the same page as somebody else's and the Nurse put me on my own page. The Doc came over tugged on the port and out it came. He put a little pressure on the entry point and it stopped bleeding and that was that. All of about 15 minutes. Now I will no longer have to cover my port with a big sticky plastic sheet in order to take a shower. Now that is living. We were back by 5 PM to pick the kids up from after school. I do not need to go back till next Thursday.

Anyhow I was wondering why Rumsfeld a few hours before the big inaugural party said in an interview that Iran was next. Then our President gives his great acceptance speech about freedom and our soldiers but forgets to mention that this country is at war and losing badly. He never mentions Iraq once in his speech?

The moral of today's story is to know or bring somebody with you who knows exactly what procedure you are having done. Nobody wants or needs mistakes.

1/20/05 Tomorrow I lose my Port

I am scheduled to see my Doc tomorrow and also to have my port removed from my chest. Supposedly only a 15 minute procedure that I can come down anytime to have done. That scares me; I will end up spending all day there probably but it will allow me more freedom and I am all for that. The Patriot Act has nothing to do with these freedoms but it might be in the small print somewhere. I have had another good day, a fun filled day paying all my bills and trying to get my all-in-one printer to fax. I can tell you a few kicks did not help. Anyhow I will leave you with a short one after last nights and will keep you advised about my visit to Boston tomorrow. At least there is no snow in the forecast.