Pull Tight

At age 21, a couple of weeks before beginning Medical Technology school, a recriprocating blade, similar to this, went through my left thumb almost to the first joint. It was split through. Was helping install a new blade with another farm hand. Didn't know how many pieces of thmb I would see when I removed my now ruined gloves. Learned to perform phlebotomy without the use of this thumb. Healed pretty well, only a slight numbness on one side. I don't recommend this way of cutting your fingers.

"I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world" - George Washington Old farm tractors are fascinating to me, but this guy is obsessed.  Somewhere near Paris Texas is this collection of farm tractors mostly from the 40s and 50s.  I could have spent as much time walking around this collection in Paris, TX as an art lover might spend at the Louvre in Paris, France. Tractors from a time of mostly small family farms.  Just imagine the stories they could tell.  Look at just one of the tractors and think about it coming off a factory assembly line in Minnesota or Wisconsin.  Then shipped to a small town farm equipment dealer by truck or train. Purchased by a farmer on a small farm and maybe driven home from town down a dusty gravel road.   Think what one day might have been.  The farmer trying to get his land plowed and prepared for spring planting while the soil moisture is just right.  The farm wife bring...

Most mornings Nancy and I start our day with steel cut oatmeal.  If you haven't tried it, it is much tastier than the regular rolled oats usually eaten.  Takes about 30 minutes to cook, so its got to be started as you brew your morning coffee.  Last week I was at my favorite heath food store buying in bulk.  As I approached the bin, another man about my age was filling a large bag with the oats and mumbling to himself.  Only caught this part "...probably get hit by truck anyway..."   Definitely a  bacon and eggs guy.

"You use that thing for everything except wiping you butt"  my wife's remark to me about my use of a Palm PDA a few years ago. The combination of my recent medical treatment and getting older has resulted in quite a few more trips to the can.  With my travel this means using a great number of public restrooms.  The number of guys using cellphones in restrooms is amazing. Talking all the time, texting standing at urinals and who knows what behind the doors of the stalls.  Most of us at least wash our hands before leaving, but what about all of those smart phones.  Next time your battery is dead and someone offers you their phone, think about where that phone has been.

The most unique movie you will see all year.  After lapsing into coma for days and waking up with brain damage, Mark Hogancamp creates an amazing fantasy world.  See this documentary if you can.  Think it will be on PBS soon if you can't see at the theater.  And, check out the link by clicking above. http://www.marwencol.com/about/

Radiation treatment seems to have worked for my bout with Prostate Cancer. PSA continues to fall.  Level is down to 1.4 almost a year past the original diagnosis.  The only lingering symptoms are pretty much the symptoms the typical man of my age experiences.  Want to remind all my middle aged and older male friends to get screened.  And a reminder for my female friends to remind (nag if necessary) the men in their lives to get screened.  If caught early, this is very treatable.

On most weekend days and occassionally through the week, Nancy and I take our dogs for a walk in the Park. 4 Westies from the age of just under 2 to 15 years. The walks are over 2 miles long and because the older dog can't walk so far, we bring a stroller for him. It is one of the 3 wheelers you see joggers pushing. The old dog looks like he thinks he is the king of all dogdom sitting up while being pushed.  So many people stop to take pictures or comment on the dogs, especially the old guy in the stroller, you may have have seen us on You Tube or somebody's FB page. A good time to solve the problems or mysteries of the world is while you are walking you dogs. My thoughts this morning... Did Pavlov have other pets? And what did they do when he rang that bell?