Life Goes on and We have New Blog Software...

We switched to the new Blogger software, so if there is any problems, let us know via email or call...

Well, lots of stuff has been happening over the past few days.

Sunday, I went to a 'Game Feed' with some of the local guys, to support the local police. It was held at The Rock Creek, a very nice local restaurant. They had all sorts of great 'local' food, as well as some more exotic stuff. The local dishes included Chuckar, Pheasant, Quail, Deer, Elk, Moose, Bear, and of course Sturgeon. I liked most of them, but the Sturgeon was awesome. I ate a lot of it. The most exotic option, at least from my perspective, was Marlin. I haven't had Marlin for many years and it is almost impossible to find in the US. It was a little 'tangy' for me, but still is one of the best fish/meat combos there is next to Sturgeon. I came home stuffed and happy.

Speaking of Sturgeon, I have been out fishing for them three times lately and haven't had one bite... But, the good news is that I am getting very proficient with the new casting reel and can cast much further with it now that any of my tried and true spinning reels. This new reel is quite a piece of technology and I cannot wait to get it into some large Sturgeon action. The new rod I modified is working great also - and ditto it... Along with it, I got a large 1,500 yard supply of heavy PowerPro 80# test super braid line. It has been breaking very easily and I am writing back to the maker to get this resolved. Bad line and big fish don't mix...

I have been doing well on the pool front. Last week I won 7 out of my 8 league games. Our newly reconfigured Wednesday night team won 12 out of 16 games. The Thursday night team sucked, but I did good, winning all my games. That was the last match for the Thursday night league with the playoffs starting tomorrow.

Last night, we had the normal Wednesday night league game as the other team couldn't make it tonight. I again won all 4 of my games and the team got 12 out of 16 again. Since it was Tuesday night, when they have their weekly nine ball tournaments, Storm and I played in it. I ended up in 4th place, being beat by Storm, who was playing better than he has in months. I missed a couple of shots, and he got a couple of nine ball breaks and, well, that was it... But, I am playing very good - the crowd was impressed.

Yesterday was a very 'drilling' day. Since our dental insurance kicked again for the year, the day started off with me getting 3 bottom teeth prepped for crowns - always a big fun experience. I now have temps on and my jaw feels like someone took a hammer to it. Then, when I got home, I called the contractor as our water pressure had dropped to almost nothing. We have our own well and I checked the control unit and all looked good to me. Anyway, he said to call the local pump company and they showed up and checked it all out. We are a 'little sensitive' to water issues after the Great Garage Flood of '06. The end result was they had to replace our pump, which was 190 feet down the well shaft. I had never seen this operation happen before and was quite amazed at how much of a hassle it was. The pump is attached to 10 sections of 20 foot long plastic pipe. They had this crane sorta thing attached to their truck and would bring it up a section at a time and lock it and remove the pipe and do it again - over and over... The pump itself was about 3" in diameter and about 4' long. They said it had gotten hot and burned up the impellers that pump up the water. These little buggers cost about $ 1,000, but since ours was only 2 1/2 years old it was still under warranty - whatever that means... They installed a new one and all is working well again. I have no idea what the cost of all that is going to be, but it took them about 4 hours to do it all.

This is the third serious problem we had had with DaHouse now and is getting a little concerning. First, the furnace blew up last year, then the Great Garage Flood of '06, and now this pump thing. Maybe we should look at some home maintenance insurance or something...

O, speaking of the Great Flood... They came and cleaned all the carpeting and it all looks great. They only have a few minor trim things to do in the garage, and smooth out all the land they messed up moving the trailer and getting stuck a couple of times and it will all be done. Well, except for dealing with the insurance company - which is always big fun, even here in DaHo...

Flora Oncologist Visit and Report...

Pam and Roberta took Flora to her first Oncologist appointment yesterday and were expecting very bad news from what Pam was told from the PET scan results last Friday. But, it turned out to not be as bad as they feared...

Basically, there is one large tumor in her left lung and a number of other places in the lung that are involved. It appears that the cancer is contained in the lung, which is good news. By, where it is located it is not operable, so that is not an option. Also, with the extent of the involvement in her left lung and her current health, the doctor felt that radiation was not a current option.

But, with all the new advances in Chemotherapy, he felt that they could use that to control and reduce the cancer involvement in her lung and in general - and with some good results and 'luck', could get her lung functioning well enough again to be able to broaden the medical options, and do some radiation later on to further reduce the cancer. She met with her Oncologist today who will be administering the chemo. As we all might know -- the chemo will cause her to loose her hair, so she got to pick out two wigs from a room full of brand new wigs that are lovingly donated to the cancer center to wear once her hair starts to fall out. She is having her first Chemotherapy treatment on Friday, Feb. 2, and will have them every 3 weeks for the time being. She will attend a chemotherapy class Tuesday.

It seems like the current situation is much better now than was first reported by the PET scan results last week. There have been a lot of folks and extended family praying for her health and maybe they have helped invoke some very positive changes - something is working on the right way, which is not the usual path of cancer...

So, keep up the prayers and positive thoughts. Flora is a fighter and is planning on being here for her 80th birthday - which is 3 years away, and if all goes well -- she may even see 90.

Worse News...

The results of the PET scan were passed on to Pam, who has the Power of Attorney for her mother. The results were not good. The entire left lung is affected. I am not sure what all that means, but she is having her first visit with the Oncologist (cancer doctor) on Tuesday. I guess we will learn a lot more about the details of what is going on and what will happen at that time.

Pam's sister, Roberta, and her husband came down yesterday and we all went over to Flora's house to tell her the news. She was completely stunned by the results. Pam has been there since then and will be there at least through tomorrow, but things have seemed to smooth out quite a bit.

Anyway, if any of the family want to contact Pam, or Flora, they can be reached at Flora's house.

Good News and Bad News...

The good news is that they are finally done with the garage. Well, there are a couple of little things left to do, but all in all, we now again have a working/functional garage - Finally... Pam's car is back inside and she doesn't have to scrape ice off of the windshield every morning to leave for work.

Also, I ended up getting seven of the 6' high shelving units, that can be configured in a variety of ways, and with all the new shelves, some now extending to 9 feet tall, I have reorganized all the garage stuff. So, now the only stuff that is on the floor is what lives there and every thing else is stored and organized.

The article I wrote about "The Thought Police", posted below, was well received and is going to be published in the world wide newsletter, so my 'work' is being published for the first time...

Pam's youngest daughter got married in England this week. Pam watched part of it on a Web Cast, or whatever they call them. We wish them both good luck and a great future together...

That is about all of the good news - Now for the bad news...

In my Wednesday night pool league, I haven't been on the top players list and I was checking on it. I found out that the reason was that the score sheets and weekly playing money hasn't been being turned in by our team captain and therefore not scored. This is really a bummer. I don't know him very well, but really like him and I guess this has happened before and word is that they are going to kick him out of the league this weekend. His boss also plays on the team and fired him last week for not showing up to work. I don't know what his problems are, but its a real bummer all the way around...

Now, for the really bad news. I mentioned last week that Pam's mother was having some tests done to check for lung cancer. Well, they came back positive. Yesterday, she had a PET scan, which will help determine how bad it is. They have already said it was inoperable, but if it is not too bad, they can do radiation therapy on it. So, all the details are still up in the air, but this is bad news - we just don't know how bad yet...

The Power of Negative Thoughts...

I belong to a group of Throat Cancer survivors and they have this daily blog or list of comments from member that I read. These people have been thorugh a lot and you always get new people that are just going through it all. Lately, there have been a few newer folks that have been having a hard time with reality - both current and future. I wrote to them and wanted to post it here as it summarizes some good stuff worth considering, IMHO...

“The Thought Police”

When I ‘see’ people that have been through so much physically, ruining their lives, or whatever is left of them, by programming themselves to live in fear and be consumed by worry and concern, it just drives me crazy. Watching what you think can totally change your life and how much you enjoy it.

Every thought you think and every word you say, or even just hear, goes into your memory and is used as data for making all your future decisions. Each time you ask yourself a question, or think about doing something, all of that stored data is analyzed and weighed by your ‘internal computer’, resulting in an answer to your question or thought. And, to further complicate things, that answer is also stored as additional data for future use…

Now, if you constantly say or think negative things, or worry about potential bad things that could/might happen, or even allow yourself to listen to someone/something else constantly spouting negative/bad things, all of that information will affect you and your future, and will be the basis for all your future decisions.

I have always viewed the ‘Human Decision Computer’ as a balance scale - that starts with a big empty bucket on each side. When it is asked a question or given a thought to ponder, it goes through every piece of your past stored memory, described above, and put all related data into the ‘yes/good’ or ‘no/bad’ buckets on that balance scale. When it is done going through all your memory, the scale tilts one way or the other and you have your answer…

Back in the very early days of human life, the inputs and decisions were much more simple. The inputs were much more basic like sounds, sights, smells, instincts and the such, and the decisions were more like run, kill, hide, etc… Since then, we have continued to develop more and more complicated conditions and situations, but the ‘computer’ still works the same way as it always did - and always will. The problem is as it gets loaded up with more and more stuff, it becomes less and less efficient and effective and we tend to not trust and re-analyze the answers. If the cavemen had as much stuff to think about as we do, they would have been eaten long before they figured out it was time to hide or run…

The real problem comes when the ‘computer operator’, which is your consciousness, your ‘I or me’, if you will, is not watchful and controlling of what information/data is being accepted and stored in your memory. If it allows all sorts of negative and bad data to be entered and stored, then all the future answers will be influenced by all that bad and negative data. That will result in your computer producing bad answers for all the future questions. Allowing this process to continue, will end up with every answer being ‘no/bad’, and you ending up being like Howard Hughes, only a lot poorer…

So, to get to the point of all this… If you constantly allow yourself to think about bad or negative things or concepts, you will continue to ‘load’ your computer memory with data that will end up giving you bad answers based upon all that negative and bad data. For an example of this, If you ask yourself the question ‘Is it safe to, or should I, go outside?’ and you have been ‘worrying’ about all the bad stuff that could happen out there for weeks and months, you will probably get back an answer that you shouldn’t go outside – no matter how great the event or situation might be for you. Another example might be where you have worried a lot about how you talk, or if other people might stare at your ‘Laryness’, and ponder doing something or going somewhere. With all the stored worry and concern, you computer will probably tell you to not do it, as your ‘no/bad’ bucket will be full of stuff from all those past bad thoughts and worry.

The good news about all of this is that the more recent data has more ‘weight’ than the older data, so if one starts watching what they think, say and hear, and not allow in as much negative and bad data, over time their thought processes and decision processing will get better and more accurate, and more appropriate or true for them. Also, each time you do things that you are concerned about from all the worry, and have a good time, that good experience will help counterbalance all the previous negative worry in all future decisions.

Years ago, the “Power of Positive Thinking” was a big deal, and is a great concept I highly recommend, but I have found that the “Power of Negative Thinking” is what affects most people. Try to relish all the good stuff and minimize the bad stuff. The bottom line is that the more positive data, and less negative data, you have stored in your memory, the better your computer will work, the happier you will be and the more you will enjoy your life.

Go to your doctors, research all your concerns as needed, and do whatever you need to do to get all the REAL facts that make up your unique reality. Then, turn all that information over to your ‘computer operator’ and let it filter all the incoming information, thoughts and data, to be sure it fits, and is accurate for you. If you catch yourself thinking something negative, or hear something negative, mentally just say ‘NO, that is not for me’. If you do that, in a very short period of time, you will find yourself much happier, more free of inappropriate limitations and controls, and having much more fun in life…

Worth every penny you paid for it – and more…

DaCabin Fever...

It has been cold for weeks and then Tuesday it was nice so I went fishing. I didn't catch anything, or even get any bites, but it was great being out again and playing with my new fishing toys - which, all worked great. With all the new technologies and those rare earth magnets, I can cast with the best of them without massive 'line birdsnest' disasters of the past. I have also completed my rebuilding of my new Sturgeon casting rod handle and am ready for the really large fish, whenever it thaws out again...

Then, last night, it snowed again about 4". It was snowing hard when I was coming home from playing pool and I was in Pam's Lincoln, which has studded tires and traction control, but is still pretty exciting on real slick roads. I was on the freeway, going about 40MPH and these trucks kept passing me going about 70MPH. And, after each of them would pass, I was totally blinded by the swirling snow to see anything for about 10-15 seconds. So, I just had to lock onto something off in the distance that I could see as the truck was passing and hold the wheel straight until I could see again - Big Fun... Luckily, these trucks know the act and keep their distance from each other so there are not large pileups and the such.

Flora, Pam's mother stayed here Tues and Wed nights. On Wednesday, she had a biopsy on some lung spots they saw during a routine CAT scan and Pam took off of work to be with her during the day at the hospital. I guess the results won't be known for a few days, but I will post them when available for the family.

We are still messing with the cleanup of the Great Garage Flood of '06... The old shelving units got destroyed, so I had to go to Costco yesterday to get some new ones. So, I have 4 boxes, that will each end up building 6' X 4' X 18" shelving units, in the back seat of the Jeep. Each box weighs 130# so I am hoping the restoration company folks come by soon to remove them and set them up.

If all goes well, we could have the garage back together in a couple of days. That will be great for many, many reasons... Life goes on here in DaHo...

DaHo Football...

I have watched about 10 hours total of any kind of football this year. Pam and I use to watch it with enjoyment - she was a big Washington Redskin's fan and I was a great big SF 49ers fan. She has grown away from it and I guess I am so depressed with what has happened to the 49ers that I pretty much lost interest in watching it alone...

In the old days, with Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Dick Clark, no wait, he does the ball drop thing not the ball catch thing... Anyway, it was a great time to be a 49ers fan. Almost without exception, Joe would pull the most devastating situations out of the fire and win at literally the last moment to the delight to all, well at least me. My son, Steve, would always be for the nasty Traiders, er Raiders, and we would sit and have big football fan times...

Then, with all the salary cap stuff and all, the 49ers and most of the great dynasties went to hell along with my keen interest, which has kept dwindling to almost zero.

All the folks around here are rabid BSU (Boise State University) Bronco football fans. They play on the only blue football field in existence and have a real personality. I had picked up on a couple of moments here and there while playing pool or whatever. The other 'local' team is the Idaho State Vandals, which are sorta like the current 49ers, lots of hope but always seem to somehow pull defeat out of the jaws of victory with very depressing regularity.

OK, enough build up... Since there was such a build up and fervor about the Broncos playing in a "real" big time national TV Bowl game yesterday, I started watching it. They were playing against the Oklahoma Sooners, one of the biggest, long term college football powers and were expected to get beat like the proverbial Rented Mules... It was billed as a David v. Goliath match with everybody rooting for the little HO underdogs.

Well, they started out with a couple of good plays and some luck and basically was kicking Okie butt for the first 3 quarters of the game. Then, the tide changed and they were getting tore up and doing some pretty dumb stuff and were loosing as everybody thought they would.

Between both teams, there was 22 points scored in the final 86 seconds of regular play time with the Broncos pulling off some of the most stupid and amazing plays I have ever seen - resulting in a tied game at the end of regulation play. I was standing up clapping, all alone, right here in DaLivingroom... Then, they went into overtime and in college football, each team gets a chance to score - not like the pros.

The Sooners went first and scored with a kicked extra point for 7 points - so yet again, things looked bleak for DaHome team. Then, the Broncos went at it and after a number of almost disasters, scored on their last 4th down and 18 play. Then, pulled off this trick, behind the back handoff, for a 2 point extra point play and won 43 to 42. It was the most amazing and intense football game I have ever seen - ever...

And, then when it seemed that nothing could have been better, the star running back proposed his girlfriend, the head cheerleader, right there on national TV...

It was the most intense sporting event I have ever seen - ranking up there with the Miracle Game, when the USA beat the mighty Russian hockey team in the 1980 Olympics.

I need to go rest after just writing about it. I will be watching more Bronco football here in DaHo...

Happy New Year and all That Crap...

Really, we wish a Happy New Year to all. We stayed at home for the big event and watched it all on TV - 2 or 3 times...

New Years celebrations should have the same controls as election coverage. Its kinda post climatic when it finally happens for real, after you have watched it 'happen' in New York and other points east, and then after it happened for real, finally in Kalifornia...

But, I guess it could be worse. If you lived in Hawaii, the New York one would be in the afternoon, which would really make it a long day. I guess it just part of the price of living in paradise...

It was great seeing Dick Clark again and even better with the sound muted. He still looks the same as when I was growing up and makes me feel younger again. He is having some real speech issues with his recovery from the stroke, which is pretty scary and sad, and puts a real "Skreech" to the feeling young again thing. But, I must say that Ryan Seacrest did a great job and I predict will become the new Dick Clark for the next few generations, if he can get Dick to cough up the formula...

And, I must say all the young female singers and dancers skirts just keep getting shorter. They should just start putting some flashing Christmas lights on 'them' and get it over with...

I have the same resolutions I always do - catch larger fish, play better pool and survive until the next one... I am not sure what Pam's are, but I guess if she has some she wants published, she knows where to do it at.

Everybody here in DaHo is running around in small circles and screaming over Boise State being in the Taco Bowl or whatever it is they are in. The one in Tempe, Arizona today against Oklahoma. They will probably get creamed, but about 1/2 of the state is down there to watch it all and get out of the cold for a couple of days...

Pam's Mother Flora went in the other day and had an MRI done. I guess they found some spots on her Lungs and are going to do a Biopsy on 1/9 to see what is going on. Everybody is concerned about it. She is coming over today an bring her Christmas Ham that we didn't have since we had 30lbs of Sirloin roast left over from my 60th birthday party for Christmas dinner.

I have been practicing with my new casting reel and have it pretty much down now. I can cast as far with it as I can with the spinning gear I have been using for 50 years, or so, and have pretty much resolved all the line backlash problems that always plagued me in the past. Well, to be fair, most of the 'praise' should go to the new reel technologies and those 'rare earth magnets' that make it work a lot better and easier. But, all that being said, I am all ready to go after the really big Sturgeon now - as soon as it gets a little warmer and dryer. Right now, I really doubt I could even get down to my favorite fishing places. And, if I could, I know I would never get back out of them...

I got a new extra heavy fishing rod for the new reel. I am having to modify it so I can use it. Its 12 feet long and designed for very long distance casting for surf fishing and the handle is way too long to actually use to fight a fish with - but works great to cast with. So, I am going to cut off a foot of the handle and rebuild it for heavy fighting use, with a special belt they use for the really large tuna, shark and bill fish in the ocean. It will give me something to learn and do, if they ever get done with the garage before it gets warm enough to go fishing again...

Since I usually report on my pool playing, and it is one of my resolutions, I only had one league match last week because of the holidays and really sucked. I was having 'issues' with my TEP leaking and that always makes me go weird. Anyway, it was personally humiliating, wining only two of my four games, against really sub-standard opponents. As a team, we barely beat these guys and we should have tore them up bad. Grumble, Grumble...

Well, we now have a new year to look forward to, and, all in all, everything is doing pretty well. We both had successful operations and got stuff fixed that needed done and should make the future better. All of the events and large scale planning crap that has been consuming every moment for the past months is all finally done - well except for de-decorating the DaHouse and we can relax and enjoy for a while. Everything could always be better, but that is always the case here in DaHo...