Point Made

We have the opportunity to have our Grandchildren visit us about twice a month. They visit so they can spend time with Tom, their dad. Tom doesn't currently have an apartment large enough to accommodate them, so they all come to our house. Reagan (RayRay) is a lovely lively four-year-old girl, who has a normal amount of curiosity and the dexterity to look for and find what she is curious about. Her brother, Felix (Fee) is the same but a two years of age he doesn't talk and hasn't got the mobility to get everywhere he would like. They can be like insects on the floor. Inevitably, you try not to step on them. We have a pile of toys which are stored in a large bin. Almost the first thing they do when they arrive is to tip the bin over and spill out all of the contents. Things are easier to find that way. Then, using their imagination they convert objects into other objects and makeup games, stories, and characters to entertain themselves. Ray Ray does interrupt her ...

 If somebody tells you that the Mueller Report reads like a novel, they are an attorney or I, Ernest Hemingway. Not that it's not worth reading. (Full Disclosure: I've read the Introductions and summaries to both volume 1 & 2. I sampled bits and pieces in the body of the report.) One thing I learned is I watch entirely too much cable news. Why do I know that from reading the Mueller Report? Did you ever start reading a  book and then realize you had read it before?  The names were all familiar. I knew who were the good guys and the bad guys. The narrative was familiar. The plot was transparent. I knew when the story was going to take a twist. And the scenes... Yes, I may have forgotten some of them, but it all came back to me with time. I don't know how you come down on which side in this debate, but It doesn't look good for Trump in the long run. Caution! Schedule Change This weekly missive is going to be out early this week because of my scheduled surger...

As we celebrated for almost two weeks the successful implanting of my new knee, we were unaware of the snake lurking in the weeds. It showed its face during my post operation exam,  when my Doctor asked me, "How is it going". I replied, "Fine but when flex my knee sometimes it pops. You know like a knuckle cracking". After an extensive exam and x rays, he determined that I had torn my patella tendon. That's the one extends from knee to the lower leg. Imagine your sitting in a chair and you kick your foot out straight in front of yourself. You need a patella tendon to make that happen.  So next Wednesday I will make my fourth trip to the operating room at Thedacare and my left knee will be operated on.  The result will be that I rehab for at least six weeks in a leg brace. Did I ever write about how much I hated the brace I was wearing? It isn't so much the restriction it places on normal movement. It's more the lousy design, the unintentional disco...

Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee I have been drinking coffee since I was a teenager. Early morning I would witness my father getting up and brewing coffee in a percolator. This was a stovetop pot with a stem that perched on a concave dish. This allowed the water to bubble up through the stem and disperse across a basket of ground coffee. The time it took to pour a perfect cup from this device? The time it took to shave. He would then pour two cups. One he drank with his breakfast. The other cup would then be cool enough to gulp down as he left the house. No go-cups for him. Later, I attended St Edwards High School in Cleveland Ohio. We took the city bus to school. We usually had plenty of time to go to the cafeteria and drink a cup or two of Joe. It was dispensed out of a huge pot with the cream already mixed in. I think the idea was to provide nutrition while they woke us up before class time. It was Folgers and Economy grind from the...

Be Careful What You Wish For . I know that most of you have heard enough about my current health condition. Let's face it there is no more juice in that orange. No, today I'm switching the emphasis to something else that's I'm kind of tired of. Why are there so many streaming services?  Complete disclosure. A few years ago I was one of those people that lauded Netflix and Amazon for the quality and width of their offerings. What I didn't see coming is all of their competitors following their lead. I hear someone talking about a new series they are streaming. The premise for the series sounds great. I know of some of the actors. The problem is that it's streamed on Acorn or Britbox or some other services that I don't have access.  All of these platforms have a monthly subscription charge. Here's the thing, most of them have an introductory 7-day free offer. If you plan properly and the series you're interested in isn't Game of Thrones o...

Yes, It's cold (Now get over it) If I hear one more bellyaching remark, pathetic tweet or groaning plea about Wisconsin's cold winter, I'm going to apply for a concealed carry permit. It's is abundantly clear that it is cold. Oh, gee the planets rotating. Look it's light out almost every morning and afternoon now. I wonder if everyone feels the cold and other mindblowing certainties. Jonny Carson said three variations of the same joke are enough. How cold is it Johnny? It was so cold you could freeze an egg on your sidewalk. It's so cold the penguins are building fires to stay warm. It's so cold an Eskimo rubbed noses with his wife and their noses shattered. Yeah, I know. I don't think those one-liners are particularly funny either. This weather cycle we are in of extreme cold than voluminous snowfall then back to cold is probably due to a butterfly flapping its wings in some far off location at an inappropriate time. Who knows? I f...

I Can See Clearly Now Jeff Jordan No, I have not fallen into a coma which has rendered me to a semipermanent vegetative state. My malady is a far more serious assault on my cognitive health. I completed the second six-week long treatment of an infection that requires six intravenous applications of antibiotics a day. Because these injections require a nurse to administer them, I’m regulated to be a patient in a skilled nursing home. I could not get a bed at  The Recovery Inn where I received the first six weeks of treatment. I’m currently a patient at Rennes which is both a skilled nursing facility and long term care facility. My problem is not being caused by the infection. I have what might be defined as an environmental issue. The television signal is supplied by cable, (Spectrum). While it does present all of the local stations and the usual suspects like The History Channel, ESPN, and Golf, It does not permit me to DVD any programs, and it doesn’t show the TV schedul...