Observations

[larryJ]

Having looked at various birthday greetings on the Forum, I noticed that birthday wishes are posted mostly to those who are fairly active on the Forum.  Understandable that nobody is going to send a birthday wish to someone who has not logged on in some time.

Many times when one of us posts something, there may or may not be a response or answer (or slap in the face ), to the post.  Understandable that not everyone has an opinion or wishes to express an opinion.

In that regard, I noticed that when birthday wishes are posted, there might be a few comments/wishes.  But did you ever notice that there might be 30 or 40 people who viewed the birthday wish and didn't comment or add their good wishes?

Weird.  (Well, maybe not so weird. )

Larryj

[Judy Harder]

Right on, Larry. I spend more of my time on facebook and the rest of my time is spent on life.
Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating. Not keeping up with the forum like I use to. Such is life!

[larryJ]

As there are four birthdays to be celebrated during one week of August, our family has been having just one big party during that week when it is convenient for all.  Yesterday was that day.  The party was held at my daughter's house (her birthday is tomorrow) and in attendance were my son-in-law's parents, a friend of my son with his wife and three children and, of course, my daughter and son and my four grandchildren.  My Chinese daughter-in-law is very creative and made a small cake just for the six-year-old, a larger Oreo cookie cake for the rest of the people and special gluten free chocolate pastry for me.  My son-in-law barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs.  There were the usual chips and dips and my daughter-in-law's mother came with a potato salad topped with shrimp, cucumbers and sliced hard boiled eggs.  Well, you had to see it to believe it.  It was pretty and turned out to be delicious.  The kids also had a macaroni and cheese dish. 

A slip and slide was set up in the front yard and all the kids played on that for a while, then changed and went to the back yard where my son had set up the bouncy house.  A few of us attempted to stay out on the shaded patio, but the temperature was in the high 90s and we left the kids to themselves supervised by my daughter-in-law and retreated back into the house.  Then we ate and at the most crucial time when we were to open presents, my grandson fell asleep (his birthday was last Thursday).  So it was mostly for the six-year old (her birthday is the same as mine) to open presents.  It was somewhat funny to watch the other kids drooling at the presents she got.  But not one seemed to show too much envy.  At the end of the evening, when some were leaving, my grandson woke up and we gave him his presents.  As it is his first birthday, he is not aware of the concept just yet and didn't seem impressed with his gifts, or maybe he was still waking up. 

All in all a good time and I got two books, one on the history of John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson and their plans for the establishment of a West Coast base for fur trading and one on the life of William Tecumseh Sherman who was the Union general during the Civil War.  I can hardly wait to start reading today.

My birthday card from my two children said........"Two guys go out at 10:00 PM to a local bar.  One has six beers and the other has 3 beers and two shots of whiskey.  Which one gets hammered first?"

Inside:  "Trick question......Nobody your age goes out at 10:00 PM!"

But I know they love me.........

Larryj

[larryJ]

More on our health insurance with Kaiser (ad nauseam), my wife, who is scheduled for hip replacement surgery Wednesday, had been running a fever for the last few days.  She had a bout with fever earlier last week, but it went away.  Then it came back last Friday.  Because it was Friday and she didn't feel the need to go to the ER or urgent care, we did not notify our doctor of this.  Out of the blue yesterday, Sunday, our doctor called to see how she was doing and after hearing about the fever, asked her to go to urgent care to be evaluated as to the cause of the fever.  The doctor was concerned that the surgery might have to be postponed if there was a fever present.  She also ordered more blood tests at the lab.  We went to the hospital and stopped by the lab where they took several vials of blood and two blood cultures.  Then we went into the urgent care department where she was seen by the doctor who ordered more blood tests.  We went back into the lab where they took several more vials of blood.  (They might postpone the surgery because she is anemic from all that blood work  )  As I have mentioned, everything is in one area, the lab, the urgent care, the ER, Radiology, our doctors and three pharmacies.  You don't have to traipse all over town to get all these things done.  I can't say enough (and probably won't) about our health care insurance.

I mean........

What doctor, who has thousands of patients, calls you on a Sunday?

Larryj

[larryJ]

Ah September........the time of the year when our son and his family make their semi-annual migration from their lofty abode high in the mountains to the sands and waves of Newport Beach.  In the past, before they had the condo in the mountains, moving was a hassle because they had to find storage for their stuff.  This year,  the first year they have had the condo, the move was so much simpler as they only had to move things that they would need.  He dropped by this morning to retrieve some things he had left in my garage.  He told me that he had installed a camera on the front entry deck to the condo.  In these days of modern electronics, he showed me that the camera is connected to his phone allowing him to see the front deck at any time.  It is also a motion sensor camera which notifies him via e-mail if someone or something enters that area. It also takes their picture if needed. When he bought the condo, he installed a new front door lock and thermostat with which he can unlock the door and warm up (if needed) the condo, again from his phone.  The purpose of the having the door lock connected to his phone is so that if someone wanted to go to the house, no key would be required as he can "call" the lock and open it for them.  Soon his boat will be pulled from the lake, cleaned and put away for storage for the winter.  There will be a "Back to the beach" party in a few weeks on my granddaughter's fourth birthday.  When he was here today, I mentioned about the storm off of Baja and the astronomical high tides.  He said that yesterday the sand on the bay side beach, which is about 40 feet from the two-foot high retaining wall to the bay, was wet indicating that the water had come a long ways up almost to the retaining wall.  When we go there the kids love playing on that little beach and #1 granddaughter loves to paddle board from the edge of the beach across the maybe 30-foot wide inlet to an island in the bay.

My wife and I are amazed at all these electronic devices he uses to manage his life.

We are still working on which button you push to turn on the TV.  Why can't they put dials on the darn things so its easier to switch channels!

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

How is your wife doing?Did she have the hip surgery?

[larryJ]

Diane, yes, she had the hip replacement surgery on August 20th and spent one night in the hospital before coming home.  The first two days she needed help in sitting up and a steady hand to get her on the portable toilet next to the bed.  She is making good progress, but still uses a walker when she is up.  There is a home health nurse who comes twice a week to exercise her and she will begin physical therapy in two days at the hospital.  Her incision has healed very well and she is requiring less pain medication.  Her doctor wants her off the heavy meds by the end of the month so we are working on that.  She is doing as well as the doctor says she is supposed to be doing.

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks. Glad to know your wife is doing so well. I know the care has changed since Mom had her pin repair for a broken hip,not a replacement. They sent her right to rehab in a nursing home for two weeks back then. She had physical therapy twice a day and did well. I'm sure she would have rather been at home too.

[larryJ]

In my observation this morning........R.A.M.B.O., who is the toughest and meanest (and only) Pomchi within blocks, has a tender side.....er feet.  This neighborhood is a tract area in which houses are neatly set next to each other with retaining walls in the back to separate them.  Lots range about 6,000 square feet.  In the back of ours is the patio and a grassy area.  The grassy area is only about 20' by 25'.  This is where our house trained dogs are supposed to "do thar thang."  Having said all that, I have noticed that when R.A.M.B.O. goes to the grass to do his thing, he seems to want to "tiptoe" indicating he has tender feet.  He jumps around until he finds the spot he wants.....kinda like watching a rabbit hop.  The amazing thing is he jumps all the way over to the farther retaining wall from the house and then hops and skips back all the way back, across to the patio, runs in the house and wipes his feet on the area rug.  I don't know why he does that when he could just step out on the edge of the grass by the patio.  He's weird.

On another note, in reading this morning's paper, I see that Phoenix is under water.  Which begs the question..........."Hey, Warph, can you swim?"

Larryj

[larryJ]

or........how long can you hold your breath?

Larryj