Monday, February 3, 2014

Who Would Have Thought? (02/03/14)

Hello Folks,

Well, yesterday was Groundhog Day and the prognosticator's prediction was "an early arrival of Spring". That's right the ole' whistle pig did not see his shadow and thus, according to German Folk-lore, we are in for an early arrival of the beautiful Spring.
What great news since the weather forecast for today is... get this... 4 to 8 inches of wet and heavy SNOW!
Julie has an 8:00 a.m. dentist appointment to begin the process of adding a crown to her new root canal tooth. Hopefully, the snow will hold off long enough for her to get the impression done of that tooth. The current weather is a slight cold rain falling before it turns over to snow through midday.
I also need to get two blood test done... AGAIN... to determine if I still have inflammation and an infection lurking in my body, especially around my loose left hip joint (as shown by my December 2, 2013 bone scan).
My orthopedic doc's appointment (Dr. Renz) is scheduled for February 12. I guess he'll make a decision as to how we will proceed once these blood test results come back.
Hmmm, let's make a guess. I have three replaced joints and a fused spine due to degenerative arthritis. My left replaced knee and left ankle are and have been swollen and killing me for months due to this terrible condition and cold/wet weather we've been having. I'm going to guess that my next blood test results come out positive again. If they don't... The tests are rigged... LOL!

I would never had guessed years back when I started this journey called "blogging" that I would be writing to you about all these surgical procedures. Instead, I wanted to share my fishing experiences with you through the eyes of a dad. The direction has surely changed.

But life throws us curve balls and in order to stay alert and active in this ever-changing world in which we live in, we must learn to "eye up" those curve balls and hit them out of the park.

But on the road to learning how to hit those off speed dipping curve balls, one takes a lot of missed swings. The need for family and friend support drastically increases. This increase in need for help has shown me who loves me and who really wasn't a friend after all.

As I began this journey of arthritis, pain, and bionic part replacements, I was actually told by a friend that "You're not the only one that hurts!"

Granted, I am not and agreed with him 100%. But, one cannot mind read and needs loved ones to tell him that they, too, are suffering from a pain... physical, emotional, and spiritual. I have yet to figure out this mind reading game although some do claim (i.e. Uri Geller) that they have the ability of ESP. I am not fortunate to be one of the chosen few.

My "insensitivity" to read the pain that others may be experiencing through ESP has caused me to lose a few of my "so-called friends". Some who still take public swipes at me whenever the opportunity arises. I have a hard time hearing of these "public attacks" from my true friends, especially if they are made on other's forums or FB sites.

Personally, I would not allow a public attack of another on my social media... Not because I am a wuz, but because I think it's cowardly and wrong to do.

Please consider removing any and all personal attacks on your social media pages if you agree with me. By doing so, you will be sending a strong message to your friends that you love them, but won't tolerate them using you and what identifies you in public as a negative source to attack others.

I took my first refreshing bath today since November, 2013! What a pleasure that was. A good soak for my ailing back, hips, knees, and ankle. I did this about an hour before the Super Bowl game aired. The relief lasted about an hour before I began to tighten back up... but I enjoyed that hour!

As I was soaking in my hot bathtub, Julie and Zach were out shopping for something I have been itching to try for awhile. They were at the Guitar Center picking out two ukuleles for Zach and me... Cool Beans!

"My Dog Has Fleas" or tuned to G, C, E, A. This looks like a lot of fun and joy. We both play electric and acoustic guitars and will need to get used to this strange tuning of the ukulele, especially having the higher G on the 4th string. This tuning is unique to the uke.

Julie did some wheeling-and-dealing to get the best deal on the two ukuleles, carry bags, extra set of strings, and a great learning book.

So you can imagine what father and son were doing that precious hour before Super Bowl XLVIII... Nope, not taste testing Julie's great chili or laying down bets on who the Super Bowl winners would be. Nope... We were tuning and re-tuning  our brand new musical instruments. The ones that will bring laughter and joy into our home as we strum and pick through some classic ukulele favorites.

Well, here it is 5:37 a.m. in the morning and I'm wide awake blogging to some of my favorite folks in the whole-wide world. People who, like me, enjoy fishing for bass, seeking love and joy in life, and just trying to get from one day to the next.

Before ending this blog entry, I would like to send a shout out to a past co-worker, Traci Frantz. Traci was a secretary in one of our two middle school where I was a school counselor. It is assumed that Traci's daughter, Tiffany, developed breast cancer by carrying her cell phone in her left bra pocket. Why would the specialist assume this? Well, the tumor developed directly beneath the cell phone and is basically the same shape and size as the phone itself! Coincidental, the doctors and family think not.

So Traci and Tiffany have been on Dr. Oz and traveling to speak to others regarding this medical concern

Thoughts and prayers go out to Traci and Tiffany on their noble quest to inform all women and especially younger women of the dangers of carrying their cell phones in a bra or breast pocket. Keep up the good fight you two!

Take Care and Be Careful,
Dad

p.s. Over 61 bald eagles have been viewed below the Safe Harbor Dam on the Susquehanna River over the padt week. For those who visit the "Fishing With Dad"  blog, you know that this Dad's home waters and we have had numerous reports and pictures of sightenings on this blog. Many of our beautiful pics have come from our good friends Jeff B. and Penny, The Queen if the Susquehanna River.