Say What?

It's been 5 days since Tammy's hip replacement surgery. Her doctor told me the surgery went very well. He also commented that she had very little loss of blood during the procedure. He'll often see a loss of 1000cc in patients but Tammy only lost a tenth of that. I'm not sure what that speaks to if anything. He also noted a bone spur in her hip that was causing her a lot of pain. She stayed overnight in the care facility there at Twin City Orthopedics and I picked her up at 6:00 the next morning, which was a solid 2 days too soon (but apparently, that's how it's done). The narcotics prescribed for pain have left her confused, tired, and confined to a bed we have set up in our den. Rachel came by over the weekend and spent the better part of 2 days with us, giving me some pointers on my duties as a CNA (certified nursing assistant). She was so helpful. A nurse has stopped by our home a couple of times as well as a physical therapist. The nurse became concerne...

A friend mentioned that she hadn't seen Reid on Facebook and wondered if he'd deleted his account. I hadn't noticed so I took a look and sure enough, he was gone. I'd sent him a text the day before to show him my new wheels, so when he responded I asked him what's up. He said he was on a 21 day Facebook fast and that he was thinking of making it permanent because he didn't miss it. I had just deleted the app from my phone the previous day and had been toying with the idea of taking an extended break from it as well. In the 10 years I've been on the site, I've never broken from it for more than a few days. There was a time when I loved the site and the connections I made there but whatever benefits remained were being overshadowed by my frustration with many of my friends/connections who disappoint me with their pro-Trump* nonsense and conservative media talking-points that crumble under the slightest scrutiny. I always believed we were collectively sma...

I have a new certification: Homebrewer. I've spent the last few weeks nurturing a glass jug of homebrew in the closet of our den, making sure the temp was just right so as not to shock the contents of the fermenting cider within. Friday was bottling (and tasting) day. My yield was 8 bottles of sweetened hard apple cider, one of which has Rachel's name on it. I honestly didn't have very high hopes that it would be very palatable but it's actually not bad at all. I would like to give it a go again in a few weeks but first I think I want to take a class in homebrewing because I think there's more I need to know than what I was able to glean from the directions in my starter-kit to more fully enjoy the experience and get the most from it. I've added a new bike to my stable of bikes. I've been wanting a gravel bike since last spring when I noticed how much harder I was having to work on my fat-tire bike to keep up with others on their gravel bikes during the M...

I've been having some wild dreams lately. I had a recurring dream last night, a dream I haven't had in several years, and each time I experience it, I'm left wondering if there's something in my life that I'm neglecting. It started out with me standing by the side of our home, looking up at an airplane that had lost its wings. It was using an engine on its tail to thrust it forward in an erratic way. I watched as it flew out of control, certain it would crash at any moment. A helicopter appeared next to the doomed aircraft and hovered overhead. My neighbor, Tom, a pilot for Delta was watching with me. But then something else caught my attention. I noticed a trap door in our front flower garden that led to a lighted room beneath the garage. I realized then that my dog Sparky was down there and that I had forgotten about him. I last said goodbye to Sparky (in real life) in 1983 when I moved to Huron, SD and I couldn't take him with me. In my dream, it had been m...