New haircut, old arthritis

I finally cut my hair after nearly a year. I look different. I will have to post photos soon. Then you can all see what a handsome, young lad I really am. :D

However, arthritis is really giving me heck. My left hand now refuses to close all the way and I have no grip on that side. Two knuclkes of my middle finger have stiffened ti the point that I can't bend them. The pain is devilish at times, too. It has slown my typing speed but I am not giving in to it. I'm fighting for flexibility and movement.

Nothing new to add about my wife's health. She is doing as well as can be expected with me giving her a boost from behind all the time. She's a fighter, just like I am. At the rate we are going, we will still be going strong together long after we should be totally incapacitated. Go us.

On the soap box: Still not buying McCain as a valid choice for president. Let's inaugurate Obama tomorrow and end the tragedy of the Bush years. Off the soap box. Good night.

Friday the 13th diagnosis

It has been too long since my last update. I've been having ISP issues. Problems solved! I fired the losers and got a new ISP. Qwest is worlds better than Comcast. Yes.

Now for the latest. On Friday, June 13, 2008 my wife was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. We knew something was not right for years but only now have we been able to get in to see a neurologist.

We are coping as best we can. We have terrific neighbors who all want to help. We have the best medical care available in New Mexico. We also have friends and acquaintances all over the world who care deeply.

Prayers would be welcome from anybody who knows how to pray.

The Trigo Fire - Manzano Mts. NM

Hi, everybody. Just an update to let all my friends know that we are safe from the fires for now. The biggie, the Trigo fire, is being held by the fire crews. Severl states sent in hotshot crews to help ours fight the fire when the winds blasted the fire out of containment earlier this wek.

Two villages, Tajique and Torreon were saved by the emergency efforts. The fire was barricaded of by chemicals and new firebreaks and traveled a path between the villages. A masterful job of fire management under extreme conditions. Hats off to the hotshots.

Since then, the winds have calmed down into the 10 to 15 miles per hour. The planes and copters are flying again and once more the fire is under containment. If the crews can make sufficient progress before the winds before the winds kick up again around midweek coming up.

At least I can put the battery back into my smoke detector now.

Big Brother won by Adam - Right or Wrong?

Hi, friends! Big Brother 9 is history. Adam is the $500,000 winner. I originally wanted Natalie to win but when she got voted out I switched to Ryan. I thought he played the game better than any house guest I have ever watched.

I might have had a different opinion if I had been able to see last season to the end. Dick was a great player too. Unfortunately, I slipped into a coma before BB8 was half over and didn't wake up until it was done.

So, vote in my poll. Over there -----> to the right. See it? (just kidding)

Then, go back to http://slimtainment.com and vote in Slim's poll. Tell him Doc sent you.

Dumb Weather Channel!

Sitting here eating a chicken salad sandwich and watching the dumb weather channel. Why are they dumb? Because all they do is talk about the weather. They never do a doggone thing about it.

Okay, so Winter's over here in Albuquerque. The temperatures are up in the upper seventies and pushing into the low eighties. The snowfalls are done for this year and the deep dry has set in. All the storm systems shoot past us to the North and we stay bone dry. Parched, even. Daily humidity readings in the single digits. Yesterday, for example, the humidity dropped all the way to 3%. Yes, it is that dry here.

My skin is a mass of flakes. I don't even want to go outside where people can see my dryness. My wife is complaining of the same problem. If the wind would let up for a few days it might be a little nicer but I doubt it. The mountains are only about ten miles away from home and I can't see them for the shroud of dust hanging in the way.

I think I'll go stand in the shower until I look like a white prune. Maybe my skin will stay damp for a few minutes.

Other than that, life in Albuquerque is still pretty nice. I have some nice neighbors. I can watch the middle schoolers play tennis across the street. I can feed the little birds and watch their antics.

I also have this thing called a computer. It's my connection to the world. Howdy, friends!

Time for an update on my condition

Such as it is, my condition is in pretty good condition. My heart is improving. (YAY!) My kidneys are 100%. (YAY!) My diabetes and cholesterol numbers are the best they have ever been. (YAY! YAY! and YAY!)

Now if I can get back into the exercise/walking routine I will be doing just great. Huff-puff-huff-puff! Life can be good at times. Catch you all later!

Saturdays have become strange around here. I keep having low blood glucose episodes. Last Saturday's almost landed me in the hospital. Puh-LEEZE! Not again! I'm tired of that place! Tonight, I caught it in time and managed to eat enough to stay level and safe.

We got a little rain last Saturday. Today the humidity is totally missing. We got as low as 6% this afternoon. Like my old pal Bob Dale in San Diego would say on his weathercast, "It was so dry you could hear the window putty breaking up." At 10:20 pm it's back up to 15%. I like that much better.

But to cap off the strangeness, one of our new neighbors has young girls. They love to disturb the neighbors. They will gallop up and down the metal stairs making all the noise they can. They will rap on windows and doors while running Hell-bent-for-leather up and down the walkways. They will go into the breezeways and turn off the circuit breakers to other people's apartments. They hit again tonight. I had to hook up my portable oxygen and go out with my flashlight to turn the refrigerator, bathroom lights and bedroon wall sockets and lights back on. Fortunately for us this time, they missed the breakers that run our TV and computers. Lucky us. I just got through talking to the security guys about it. My next-door neighbor saw them and saw which apartment they ran into. I hope they at least get a talking to out of it.

Post me a comment if anything strange has happened at your home lately, please.

Prez poll closed.

Well, my presidential poll is closed. McCain won. David Archuleta came in last with one vote. What's this country coming to? :D

I knew I was right! :)

I have long been a proponent of storing my open peanut butter in the cabinet or pantry instead of the fridge. It turns out that Live Science . Com has scientific evidence to back me up!

http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080408-spoiled-pb.html

So, if you don't like the PB in the fridge because it tears holy heck out of your bread and just won't spread, put it in the pantry instead. Go ahead, it lasts for a year without refrigeration. Down with frozen peanut butter! Go smooshy PB&J sammiches!

Listen to this!

Tonight while having the usual good time on Idolbloglive, I met a delightful young lady who sings like an old pro. Follow this link to hear her amazing voice:

http://www.myspace.com/breezemusic2006

There are two songs you can listen to. She intends to try out for Idol next year when she finally meets the minimum age requirement. I hope she does well.

First post for my new blog. Woo.

I know a lot of reality TV junkies and hang out over at Slim's place, http://www.idolbloglive.com/ with my friends and worldwide neighbors.

However, there is one work of fiction that I, along with other like-minded people don't want to see cancelled forever. The show is CBS's Jericho. I have posted this bit of text prominently and now include it here:

I know some of my fellow reality junkies also like to watch Jericho on CBS. Well, CBS has cancelled the show. We fans, the Jericho Rangers, think we can convince SciFi Channel to pick up the show in the Fall if we get enough letters to them.
If you wish to help, write an impassioned plea to them and address it to:
SCI FI Channel
21st Floor
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112

Please add your voice to the tumult.