The Road to Recovery

Today would be day six on the road to recovery for Angela. We had our first meeting with the surgeon to discuss treatment options. She is very direct and thorough. I think we have found a good one.

It seems that the first step to evicting the unwanted squatter in my wife's breast will be an MRI. Our doctor wants to make sure there aren't any siblings, friends or known associates of the little beggar hanging around but masked from the mammogram. Once we have an all clear that this is a loner, we'll proceed with eviction.

Where We are Now

Today is day three on the road to recovery for Angela. Although we haven't begun treatment yet, we are heading in the right direction.

Last night after dinner we did I suppose what many couples do when faced with cancer. We went to the local Barnes and Noble to look for books on treatment, recovery, support, anything that will help us make sense of something that can't be made to fit into a nice neat box. Yes, that's anger from me. Why did this happen? Why to us? Why is this happening now? How does God let this happen? I know that there aren't any answers to those questions. But that doesn't make them disappear.

This is a test. A test of patience. A test of faith. A test of everything that makes a marriage strong. Each day from here on is a blessing. We aren't promised tomorrow, so today will have to do.

The Beast That's Eating My Wife

Well we got the news today that we didn't really want to hear. There is a creature, small in stature who wants to eat my wife. He (or she) is only 2cm but don't let his size fool you. He is truly an unwelcome guest who has taken up residency in my wife's left breast.

We don't know where he came from, nor do we remember inviting him. My wife discovered the vagabond quite by accident slightly over one week ago. We took our first trip to the doctor's office and there had a photo made of the rascal. He is not very photogenic, and is down right ugly.

On Monday the 8th, we again made the trip to the doctor. This time we went to see if they could get do a biopsy to find out his intentions. Was he merely an unwelcome guest who is like the party guest who stays too long, drinks too much of your best booze and pukes on your couch? Or is he more of the nasty, sneaky Al Qaeda-type who can't wait to meet the 72 virgins?

Well, the news came back today, and it wasn't quite the news for which we had hoped. The unwelcome guest is a nasty little bugger. But with a little bit of luck we may have discovered his intrusion before he has a chance to multiply.

The thing that will be the hardest over the course of the next few days will be the next few days. The waiting for what our next step will be is going to truly try our patience.

A new year is coming, and it's just hours away. I look back over 2009, and there is so much for which to be thankful. We had a minor scare last night with Mama Ruth. Her heart beat was racing and I took her to the emergency room. She was checked out and seems to be ok. She has an appointment now with her doctor for more tests and hopefully they'll be able to find the cause.

My own trips to the doctor have been successful as well. My sinuses have almost completely cleared. I have also had a biopsy done on a spot on the side of my nose. I should see the results from that on Monday. If it's as we expect, I'll be back at the dermatologist on Friday to have it removed. I haven't had to go to the doctor in quite some time and now I have two appointments next week. One as a follow up for my sinuses and the other is the dermatologist. *sigh. I hate getting old, but it sure beats the alternative.

It's been far too long since I've updated this blog. Since my last update much has changed. We are now on the verge of President Obama's vision of the future. Congress is preparing to send to his desk the most monumental change in America since the Great Depression. While no one truly knows what affect this will have on our economy, I can't see this as a good thing. Legislators may have good intentions with this bill and think they know what is best for the American people. I beg to differ. There will always be those who can not, or will not help themselves. Those that can not deserve our support. Those that will not deserve nothing from us.

We are entering into a new decade. Will our children be better off? History will tell us, but I don't think it will paint this time in a good light.

I've finished with my morning run and am having a cup of coffee. I've catching up on my emails while the sprinkler runs on the front lawn. Soon I'll have to move it over to the back lawn to let that run for a little while. It's 6:00 a.m. and it's already pretty muggy out there!

As I said in two Twitter posts, I have managed to get some things done tonight! I have finished off my quarterly report for the Grand Lodge. I have to submit a report on my official visits during the proceeding quarter. It was technically due the first day of July, but with the holiday I hope they can forgive. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.

I also managed to finish and put in the mail (US Post) letters to newly initiated Entered Apprentices. One of my goals when I accepted the appointment as District Deputy was to send letters to each candidate after his initiation. I need the cooperation of the lodges and in particular the lodge secretaries to get this accomplished. I hope that the letter is well received!

Supreme Court Decision

I see that SCOTUS found for the firefighters from New Haven, CT in their discrimination suit. Please notice I didn't say REVERSE-discrimination, but what it truly should be called, discrimination.

Discrimination makes no notice of the color of your skin. The Oxford dictionary says discrimination is "• noun 1 the action of discriminating against people." Recent history here in the United States has given it a connotation of discriminating by whites against blacks.

When you read the stories from the various press outlets they all say the same thing. White firefighters brought the suit. White firefighters were protesting the results. Yet no mention is made of the Hispanic firefighters who passed the test. In my opinion the city of New Haven was in a no win situation. No matter which direction they decided to turn they were going to get slapped with a lawsuit. Yet throwing out the results based mostly on a fear of a suit the Supreme Court said was a big no-no.

The thing that bothers me most about the coverage is the slant taken by the MSM. They are trying to make the firefighters out to be racist. By only focusing on the white firefighters, they are intentionally leaving out the fact that Hispanic firefighters and black firefighters passed the test as well.

Cookout

We had a great cookout last night. Angie and I joined up with our next door neighbor Joe and his girlfriend Cary. We had burgers and hot dogs, beer and wine and people that came brought sides and dessert. I'm not sure how many people came but we had a wonderful time. Gary took charge of the grill and did an excellent job on the burgers. My wife and Cary did a tremendous job putting this together!

We finally got to bed last night around 1:30 or so. Of course I woke up and was out getting things cleaned up by 7:00. I finished while my wife slept. She put so much time and effort into getting things organized and ready I thought the least I could do is let her enjoy her sleep.

Happy Anniversary

Today is Angela and my one year wedding anniversary. In just under 40 minutes from when I type this blog we will have been married exactly one year. While the year has had it's rocky moments I can't believe how fast it has gone.

Angela you are the most special person in the world to me and you hold the key to my heart. I love you very much!

Update

Since it's been some time since I've posted anything on my Linux experiment, I'll do that this morning.

I have started using Evolution to handle the work that Outlook does in MS. It's a basic email, contacts, and task program with very few bells and whistles. I first tried to set it up over a month ago. I found I could get it to receive mail (I used a Gmail account for the experiment) but I couldn't get it to send mail. I attempted numerous things but to no avail. Finally I just set it aside as I was out of time to fool with it.

This weekend, I took up the task again to make it work. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked just fine. I had made no change to it, yet it received and sent mail perfectly.

Here are some photos from today's snow. It is still coming down and getting to work tomorrow might be a bit tricky!

This is a photo taken today at the Massing of the Colors at the Scottish Rite center in Greenville. These two distinguished gentlemen are Roy Mcjunkin and Colonel Victor Feinup. They were both WW-II veterans and POW's in Germany. It was my honor to have a photo taken with these two fine gentlemen.

Massing of the Colors

I have just returned from the Massing of the Colors at the Scottish Rite center here in Greenville. This is an annual event where different organizations present the flag of the United States. Afterwards, there is a speaker. This years speaker was Colonel Quincy Collins, USAF ret.

Colonel Collins was a POW for 7 years during Vietnam. During 3 of those years, he shared a cell with John Mccain. He gave a very good speech on patriotism and it's meaning.

After his speech, there was an introduction of two veterans of WWII. Both had been POW's in Germany. They were both given a standing ovation. After the event, I asked to have my photo taken with them. They both were somewhat reluctant at first. Both told me that they hadn't done anything special, that they had just been there. I couldn't disagree more. They were part of the greatest generation, and served our country with distinction. I have the photos and I'm going to upload them tonight.

Slumdog Millionaire

I am usually not one for Oscar hype. It seems that more often than not, the movie that wins the Oscars is not one I would enjoy. So it was with no little trepidation that I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" last night with my wife. We had wanted to see it on the weekend but with so many things going on that just wasn't in the cards.

We both really liked this movie. I liked it enough that it will be one I will own when it comes out on DVD. The acting was wonderful, the score was great and the scenery spectacular. Now the scenery wasn't spectacular in a National Geographic fashion. It depicted the slums of India and the daily lives of its inhabitants. It is not a pretty way to live. I have seen slums, but they take on a whole new meaning when your population is north of a billion souls.

The one thing that kept nagging at me after the movie was I felt I had seen the movie before. The themes during the movie reminded me of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (to a lesser degree). I just wish I could put my finger on it.

But no matter what, this is a very good movie and one I highly recommend.

Roses

These are the roses I got for my wife for Valentine's Day 2009. I know that they aren't the traditional red, but my wife loved them. I was shooting for a Clemson Orange, but didn't quite get there, but the fact that she loved them is all that really matters.

Valentine's Day

I took my wife out for Valentine's Day to Stellar. We had a wonderful dinner and a very enjoyable evening. The only thing that put a damper on the night was her knee. She is having trouble again with the same knee she had operated on in December of 07. She goes to visit the doctor today and we'll wait to see what he says about the whole thing.

Friday the 13th

Well don't let any black cats walk in front of you, stroll under any ladders and for heaven's sake be careful with that mirror!

Today is the day many fear, Friday the 13th! Now I am not one prone to triskaidekaphobia, or an irrational fear of the number 13. However it is good to remember one significant event which happened on this day.

On Friday the 13th, 1307 King Phillip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V betrayed the Knights Templar. King Phillip had issued orders to arrest every Knight of the order on October 13th. Between the two conspirators they rounded up every knight they could find, put them in prisons and tortured confessions from them. The Grand Master of the order was also arrested, Jaques de Molay, and executed. Most believe the true reason behind the conspiracy between King and Pope was to lay their hands on the money in the Templar's coffers.

A dog named Beau

Thanks to Momma Ruth for sending me the link to the youtube video posted above. It features Jimmy Stuart reading a poem about his dog named Beau on the Johnny Carson show.

If you are a dog lover, it's great. If not, enjoy it anyway. There will never be another man like Jimmy Stuart.

Justice?

Is this justice or is this nothing more than another abuse of the American legal system? I can not believe that a man no longer has the right to defend his property against criminal activity.

Now make no mistake about it, the poor souls crossing the border are searching for a better life. There are many who come here in a similar fashion and become productive citizens. However that doesn't excuse the fact that they got here by violating the law. Here is a man who is protecting his property and livestock from harm. According to the article he never drew his weapon. He called his wife and the Border Patrol came to take them into custody.

Had Mr. Barnett committed an actionable offense the local prosecutor would have rightly brought charges. And this should be a local matter not a national forum for a public wailing and gnashing of teeth over illegal immigration. But since no such thing happened, a group hoping to make a name for itself has brought a suit against him accusing him of violating their civil rights. I wasn't aware that detaining someone during the course of an illegal activity amounted to a violation of their civil rights. Regardless of their immigration status, they were trespassing on his property. He had every right to detain them until the proper authorities were summoned and the situation turned over to them. Who would truly and rightly remember exactly what was said during a tense situation five years ago? I would suspect that both sides said things they would otherwise never have said. Does that make it a civil rights case? I hardly think that it does. I think this is nothing more than an attempt to fleece his pockets of cash for their cause, and garner attention.