You Will Get Better If You Don't Die

When the USA invaded Iraq, I remarked to a friend that we would tell the people of Iraq that we were there to liberate them, and soon they would have freedom, IF, we didn't accidentally kill them in the process.
OK, don't worry, this is not a political blog.This is about modern pharmacology wonders.

As most of you know, I am in later stages of COPD with a huge Asthma component  When I was in the hospital in April and May, my lung was so plugged that the Doctor ordered a powerful medication that was kind of a last resort. The problem was that unknown to me, I was deadly allergic to the new medication. The first night that they they gave it to me, I went into a reaction which was quickly dosed with a IV full of benadryl and steroids. The next morning, they tried the same medication, and low and behold, I coded this time. According to everyone, I am very lucky to be alive. I am thrilled to still be alive, believe me, I am thrilled.

Earlier this month my pulmonologist ordered a special blood test because my condition was starting to worsen again. To make a long story short,the test did not come out good. They now want me to do a once a month shot treatment for this condition. A shot, hm does not sound bad on the surface, but here is the kicker. I have to be hospitalized each time to just have the shot because the shot is very dangerous and anaphylactic shock is a very common thing with this shot.I  was told this right up front. Hm , some choice, they did say I might get better , notice the word "might". Yep, I might get better if I don't die from it. Sorry, Doc, but flat lining once a year is my limit. I guess I will just pass on this one.

Truth On Steroids and Mens -Rea

As Ronald Reagan once said, "well, there you go again"The steroid scandal is like a venereal disease. It is the gift that just keeps on giving. I want to state first of all, the basically, I am what they call a purist when it comes to sports.The records are almost sacred, and must be kept that way.

In my opinion, Roger Maris is still the single season home run king, and Hank Aaron is still the all time home run King. Why? Because Bods, at least it appears so, cheated,  Big Mac cheated, A-Roid cheated, and on and on. Now, we have Roger Clemens facing federal perjury charges for lying about taking PEDS, or HGH.
Bonds is due to stand trial in the Spring for lying to a grand jury about taking peds. Now, I am not saying Bonds did steroids or hgh, but when a 38 year old man grows two full hat sizes, something is a little fishy.

Bonds said that if he did take something it was not intentional, and he thought that it was something else. A-Roid said that he didn't know what his cousin was injecting him with. Now, I don't know about you, but I like to know what is being injected when someday is shooting something up my old behind. The conversation between A-Roid and his cousin must have gone something like this. " hey, Alex,want to play doctor?"
"Sure, cous, let's play."OK, Alex, let me give you a vitamin shot. Bend over."
The sixteen injections that Clemens allegedly received must have been an act of innocence, too.

The law says " the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind be also guilty"  The public is smarter, are least I hope that is is, to believe that if these guys make that their argument. " We did it but we didn't think that we were doing something wrong."

If they do not think that it was wrong, why did they all lie when they were asked if they took any peds?

I sure hope that the Hall of Fame never allows their sacred portals to be darkened by these frauds, and I hope these guys have to live witht their guilty minds.

Philosophical Gem

I must thank my sister for posting this on her Face book page. I think I will adopt it for my new philosophy.


"I don't need anger management classes, I just need for people to quit pissing me off."

Twin Cities and Missing Casinos

Yesterday was just one of those days when I had to go somewhere, anywhere, anyplace. I asked my wife if she would like to get out for the day since we have taken very few excursions sine my last hospital jaunt.
She, of course, wanted to, so we gassed up, and then we put some fuel in the car, too, and off we went. My wife kept asking me where were going, and I kept answering that it was a surprise. Of course, that was code for "I don't have the foggiest idea".

I drove down Sherman Avenue, and then to the #95 junction where you can take a right and go to Canada, or you can take a left and go to Las Vegas if you want to.My wife loves to go to Sandpoint, and we have not been in two years, so I took a right and headed north. When I got up to Sunset, I whirled around and headed south. I knew that my wife had never been to Moscow, or anywhere below the Casino. As you  know, she is from Baltimore, and has not been around much in Idaho.

On we went, and I told her that she would be seeing country that she had not seen before. What a surprise it was when we got to where the Casino used to be, we found that the the whole casino had been moved, or the highway had been moved. Confusing to my brain to say the least, but on we went, driving through the Indian towns of Worley and Plummer, but we could not eat there because we didn't have a reservation,  and then finally arriving in Vandal Land. She was dutifully awed by the beauty of the  University of Idaho campus, and then she said, that since we were already that far, could we go on to Lewiston?

Actually, we have been throwing around the idea of moving to Lewiston because of the mild winters.They would be a lot easier on my lungs, but of course the summers are brutal. Anyway, I had already decided that we would go on to Lewiston. After all, if we were going to move there someday, she should probably see it . Sharing such little thing like this help cut down on the divorce rate, or so I found out from my first marriage.

We made it to Lewiston, looked around, and I pointed out the twin metropolis of Clarkston, Washington.
It was then that my mind began to wonder. I know that Lewiston and Clarkston are named after the two guys named Lewis and Clark.They used to do commercials in Seattle for Alaska Airlines.So, I guess they are sort of famous, but instead of naming twin cities with those dull names, how about renaming our twin cites with one of these choices?

Abbott and Costello-or Abottville, Idaho and Costelloville, Washington
Martin and Lewis-this one works great-Lewiston, Idaho and Maternally, Washington

Just think of how much fun we could have if we had Tri-Cities?
How about the Tri-Cities of -Crosby Stills and Nash?
Or, the three stooges, or----

The road to Lewiston is long and trying, and obviously does strange things to one's brain. By the way, does anyone kow what they did with the Casino, or the road that used to go by it.?

Make My Turf Chartuese, and Make It a Double,Please

Boise State University has a been out done when it comes to ugly turfs for the football field. I thought that BSU's blue turf was the ugliest thing to ever disgrace a football field. But no, not to be out done, Eastern Washington University is in the process of installing a RED, yes, you see it right, a red turf! Holy Cow, what is the world coming to? What is next?

Well, Kellogg and Mullan could put down purple turf, and Wallace could put down some black turf, or maybe even red and black turf. Post Falls could install orange turf, and St Maries could put down, well, green.

The most practical color of all would be Chartreuse, a color halfway between green and yellow, Now, the beauty of this color is that it serves a double duty, Chartreuse is also a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks in the 1740's

I Took A Picture of a #Twitter With My Smart Phone

I held the thought for years that a# twitter was what a bird did. In the days after the snow starts to go away after the long winter, you know it is getting close to Spring because you can hear the birds #twittering in the trees.It turns out that I was wrong.Evidently a #twitter is a modern means of communication with abbreviated phrases describing the# twitterer's life, thoughts,news, activities, and on and on. What I don't understand is why they put that blasted # sign in front of some words. Weird!

Now, what's up with this thing called a "smart phone"?  Is this phone smart as compared to a "dumb phone?
After all, everything in life has an opposite. Light and dark, cold and hot, up and down, rich and poor, smart phone and dumb phone. See how it works? I just got my first camera phone in December. I know, I know, I am way behind the times, but after all I am from Wallace originally.

Can you imagine what we would have thought when we were growing up is someone had said that someday everyone would be taking pictures with their phones? We would have called the loony-bin  folks. Now, before all you think that I am way behind the times, I do know that a camera phone is not a smart phone. It is more like an average intelligent phone. My old cell phone which we still keep around for emergencies, only makes and receives calls,with uninteresting ring tones and songs. Maybe I can send it to some type of school to educate it and make it a smart phone.

This morning I was taking a small stroll when I head a bird #twittering, so I whipped out my average intelligent phone, and took a picture of it. Now, let's discuss this thing called an I-Pod. When I was living in Seattle, an I-Pod was a group of Orcas in Puget Sound. Now, they tell me you can listen to music on it. I don't think that I will ever #get#with#it.

August-Blah- It Has No Purpose.

It is my least favorite month of the year. What is the purpose of August, anyway? When we were young, it only served as the month that separated summer vacation from the start of the school year. By August, I was tired of the Wallace swimming pool, Little League was over, and there was nothing but long, hot, burning, days. Wallace had precious few air-conditioners, and my family had exactly none. My upstairs bedroom on Cedar Street was unbearable. I actually longed for the start of the school year and the Fall foliage, the colors of gold, and the cool night air.

My younger sister ws born in August, the 7th to be exact, and I was nine the summer she was born. I remember it was 103 degrees that day. My poor mother must have been miserable at the old Wallace Hospital on Cedar.

As an adult, it didn't get much better. People in the hotel world hate August. Well, the owners don't because they make a pile of money, but managers and front line employees hate it because the tourists are getting nastier and nastier. August is the month that  sweet family vacation turns into the Manson family vacation.
I often wondered why some people even bothered to take vacations. They never seemed to have fun, and they were always angry, fighting with each other and being rude and obnoxious to the front desk people,
I could not wait for August to end, and all of the monsters were gone home.

I welcome the end of August with open ams. It has no purpose.