Category Archives: Health

January 29, 2026 · 23:21

…We’d All Swim In Riches

So what if the standard fantasy came true for you and YOU “won the lottery”? What if suddenly you had more money than you could possibly spend in a lifetime?

I know there’s a trope about calling in “sick FOREVER” to work on Monday, calling from a private jet over the Atlantic on your way to the French Riviera. Nice, but probably not my style. The end result of that whole stinking Catholic upbinging and years of Catholic school nuns living in my head. I would want it to be orderly, measured, controlled, calm.

No, the first rule for me would be that NOBODY would know except for my accounting and legal team and immediate family. I do not want a target painted on my back for the nefarious amongst us, or for every political fund raiser or charity hand out. Not that I wouldn’t be generous in my support of causes that I am fond uf, but it would be at my initiative and my choice.

So a bit of time to get some financial and legal structures in place, take care of family, make some modest improvements to our lifestyles, and then…

…sleep. LOTS of sleep. I want to cast off the chains of that whole stinkin’ Protestant Work Ethic and embrace being lazy and slovenly.

There will be international trips and cruises and adventures and shennanigans galore when I’m ready, but first, I want to reset. I want to sleep in every day, take long naps, and collapse into a warm bed early every night.

Once I’m “tan, rested, and ready,” then we’ll start to travel and knocking things off of that imfamous “life list.” (I hate the term “bucket list.”) Trips to every continent. Chasing solar eclipses no matter where they occur. Safaris. Never missing a Chiefs game again, home or on the road. Following the Angels around the MLB circuit for a year, then the same for the Kings through the NHL the next year. Of course, getting current in the left seat again and getting my own plane. Not a business jet or a P-51 or anything extravagent, I’ll never have the time to get that sort of rating, but at least a nice six or eight passenger private plane like a Caravan or a Cirrus. An RV trip around the country to every National Park.

It’s a great fantasy. But I don’t need to daydream fondly of private LearJets. A nap in a warm, soft place will do just fine. I’ve busted my ass and pushed and pushed and pushed for 50+ years.

Enough!

 

 

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January 28, 2026 · 22:58

If Wishes Were Fishes

It’s probably a good thing that genie’s don’t come out of bottles and grant the traditional three wishes. I’m not an idiot, I realize that the main point of most of those stories (looking at you, “Monkey Paw”) are that bad things happen.

Still…

The reason we fantasize about getting those wishes is because we’re all feeling so frustrated and powerless on a daily basis, trying our best, working our asses off, and it’s all the Red Queen’s Race, getting nowhere fast but making good time.

Running marathons a few years ago taught me that we can all do so much more than we give ourselves credit for if we just keep putting one foot in front of the other and simply refuse to stop until we get to the finish line.

2025 and 2026 (so far) have me questioning the existence of a finish line, other than the one that pops up (SURPRISE!) when we simply keel over at our desks and start approaching room temperature.

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Filed under Health, Paul, Photography

January 26, 2026 · 23:51

Proof Of Life – January 26th

FML.

Proof that Hissy has a really nice sound system when you turn her loose.

I was driving down to Pasadena for the work event on Saturday. The song was A-Ha’s “Take On Me.” Yes. It was a loud environment.

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Filed under ALS Network, Health, Paul

January 20, 2026 · 23:58

Why Was I In A Gym & Pissed Off

And not just any old gym, but the one at the local LDS church/school. That’s where our local blood drive is every three months, it appears. No more of this having a Red Cross donation center open seven days a week just two miles away!

And I was pissed because I got deferred again, not able to donate. That’s the last four times in a row. Getting old sucks.

Once ws because of low iron, which made no sense until I realized that a certain food that I had had the night before can drastically lower your iron levels.

Once was because of a high hear rate, which made no sense until I remembered that I had pigged out earlier in the day on some good chocolate, with a ton of caffeine in it.

Today was the old nemesis – blood pressure. Two lousy points high.

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December 16, 2025 · 23:28

Wispy Redeux

It was quiet. It was warm.

I was taking a break for a couple of minutes, stretching my legs.

It was good to get away from my desk, to not be staring at a computer screen that was twelve inches in front of my face. To be reminded that the Universe is bigger than that.

A tiny bit of white atmospheric condensation gives the blue sky some texture, some character, some depth.

Keep your eyes open! Stretch your legs! Stay hydrated!

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December 9, 2025 · 23:05

Eating Healthy Is Going To Kill Me

I need to lower my A1C numbers and shave off a few pounds, despite the oncoming holidays and associated feasting, so I’m trying to eat healthier. Tonight it was just a small piece of broiled chicken breast and a small portion of steamed green beans. No carbs at all.

Hypoglycemia, here I come!

Crashing and burning, trying to stay awake, it’s a good excuse for some ice cream and OJ and grapes, but my head is still floating.

This “healthy” shit is going to kill me!

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November 26, 2025 · 22:41

Paying For The Sin Of My Stubborness

ME???!!! Stubborn???

Perhaps. I prefer to think of it as being focused on the most straightforward solution and keeping things simple.

For example, fixing the tooth that I broke back in May or June. At that time we had no idea that we would be moving soon and playing 52-pickup with our routines and lives. Broken tooth = visit to my usual dentist = start treatment with a couple of necessary but undesirable surgeries.

Then came the move.

Do we have a new dentist up here? No. Do we have a recommendation? No. Do we know of anyone in our dental plan so we don’t have to pay 100% out of pocket? No.

So my solution for the last three necessary dental visits was to just go back to my usual dentist who had started the procedures. The only real downside was the 100-mile round trip to get to her.

It seemed to be the easier of the two paths. The more simple one.

The third and final post-move appointment was for last Wednesday. But the dentist woke up feeling ill. The good news was that her office called nice and early to cancel & reschedule, since they knew I was driving in from up in the mountains in the next county over. (Or maybe it’s two counties over…) The bad news is that her office called nice and early to cancel & reschedule, while I was still asleep. They gave me a new time and date and I grunted like a semi-conscious chimpanzee.

Today was that rescheduled date. The day before Thanksgiving. One of the busiest travel days of the year on the LA freeway system. And I’m voluntarily doing a 100+ mile round trip.

Surprisingly, and I’m grateful, the trip “down the hill” was a piece of cake, one of the fastest and most traffic congestion free of the dozen-plus that I’ve done in this whole “moving to the High Desert” process of the past six months. About 1:50 total, and there were good tunes on SiriusXM.

Coming back home at about 14:00 when EVERYONE IN THE FREAKING CITY WAS HITTING THE ROAD TO GET A JUMP ON TRAFFIC AND GET TO GRAMMIE’S AND THE TURKEY? That might have been more of a trial and a tribulation. Closer to 5:00 with multiple stretches where I didn’t go eight or ten miles in an hour, and the only saving grace in going the “back route” up over the mountains instead of the “straight route” on the freeways was that my map and GPS apps kept reassuring me that the long way around was actually an hour or more faster than the freeway route.

Okay, but that’s a lot of time sitting still with a sore tooth, hungry, thirsty, needing a nap, and having time to think about life, the Universe, and everything. And as Crash Davis so correctly taught us, “Don’t think! It can only hurt the team!”

So, I’m finally home, I finally got to the bathroom, and the adventure of this tooth is finally over!

Except…

Looking at the final X-rays, as the dentist finished up, she showed me where there are signs of new cavities growing on nearby teeth. When I *DO* find a new dentist up here (and don’t put that off), just have them contact her for copies of the old records and X-rays.

Great!

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Filed under Forever Home, Health

October 30, 2025 · 22:54

Adrenaline Will Get You To The Finish Line

…and then you’re gonna crash.

More dental work today. Appointment two of three on the current round, which started with the cracked and missing tooth & extraction back in June, just before the move to Hesperia. Relatively little pain today, but plenty of stress, plus the drive 2 hours down and almost 4 hours back up.

One last huge loose end in the move to finish up, getting everything out of storage and up to the new house. Since we were down anyway, it was a good opportunity to meet with the pro movers we used to get out of the house in July and have them finish up what I started last weekend. Starting out exhausted from that, plus still plenty sore from my accident yesterday trying to start unloading at the new house.

‘Tis done. And there’s a big chunk of the expense budget eliminated. Excellent progress.

Tomorrow for the spooky holiday we’ll try to get the telescopes out as we hand out candy in the new neighborhood. If it weren’t for needing to do that, I swear I would sleep for the next 72 hours straight.

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Filed under Forever Home, Health, Photography

October 29, 2025 · 17:18

Yeah! But You Should See The OTHER Guy!

Oh, let’s get real! I was unloading crap from the Uhaul truck and lost in a fight with gravity.

It was heavier than I expected, I was on the ramp, I went down, hit my head, and it came down on top of my head to add insult to injury.

Good thing I have a really thick, hard skull. Only minor damage to the gravel next to the driveway.

Tomorrow the young, strong, professionals come in to finish the job. I might be stupid enough to do this at age 69 – I’m not stupid enough to try to finish the job after getting my ass kicked.

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October 17, 2025 · 23:52

What A Long Day

I had more dental surgery scheduled to move to Stage Two on this tooth that cracked in half in June and had to be removed just before we moved in July. I wanted to stick with the dental team that started the surgery program, so we were hitting the road early for 2+ hours on the road.

I got dropped off for surgery, the Long-Suffering-Wife went off to visit her favorite salong team. I got done, she was still being beautified, so I got an Uber to meet her there.

When I got there I went to sit in the car, tried to turn it on to open the windows, and:

A two-hour wait for AAA, expecting to get Hissy towed to our old Honda dealership, which happened to be only two blocks away. Instead the AAA driver jump started the car and we drove it over to the Honda dealer, not trusting it for a 4-hour (rush hour traffic) drive home.

Another hour at the dealer, then just under four hours in traffic to get back home.

Today was Friday? I’m so confused, exhausted, and I had my jaw numbed, stabbed, sliced, and sewn, then had to deal with the car shit.

I might sleep in late tomorrow. I think it’s Saturday and that will be okay.

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