Grandsons and TV

My newest grandson is getting closer and closer. He is due in December, and his mom has decided his first name must begin with a C. I favor Cole, Collin, Chase, Chance, or Chad. His middle name will be Riley. His mom is thinking a lot of Christian. At least when he gets in trouble, he'll be called by his name, "Christ, what have you done this time!!" I don't know. I love the names Micheal and David. There are so many wonderful names that don't begin with a C. But who knows what the child will be called. As long as he is healthy, that is all that really matters. I have been thinking about some of the names celebrities give their children and what on earth possessed them to do so. Take Blanket, for instance: (Michael Jackson's son). What was he thinking?? Or Rumor (Demi Moore's daughter). I mean its cute for about 3 minutes and then you start thinking about it. Oh, such is life.

There has been a great deal of most likely purposeful controversy, meaning it was started on purpose to get people talking about the show, about Stars and Stripes. Evidently, celebrities try to complete military type operations and the winner gets to donate his winnings to military specific causes. This is a great idea and a great way to raise money for these charities, so I really can't see any controversy about it at all.

It used to be when you wanted to watch TV, there were actual programs that were comedies, variety shows, mysteries, dramas, crime stories that featured real-live actors acting. Now it has become the age of reality TV. I hate it myself. Well, I like Top Chef, but that is very educational as well as exciting. The drama seems to lesson each season and focus more on food choice, preparation, and skill. And then we have Call of the Wildman, or some such mess where a man, who seems very nice and cordial, (but who desperately needs to get some much needed dental care),  chases skunks, raccoons, possums, and other little critters around in people's attacks with his bare hands. Can anyone out there say rabies?? These little critters all come with assorted claws and teeth and temperaments that are not conductive to safe handling by humans. I guess what bothers me the most is that some people will try this method themselves, and suffer injuries.

What is it with our society that we only seem to watch the antics of people who lack social skills or shows about the supernatural, such as vampires, zombies, and other assorted creatures? I guess with the economy and the hardships people face today with securing and keeping a job, the scramble to stay 1 step away from the street, we are looking for an escape. Anything to take our minds off of ourselves and our own miseries. It must be so farfetched and outlandish that it contains no elements of reality. That way we can feel safe for a while. We know it isn't real, it will never be real, and that is what attracts us. I, myself, love TrueBlood and Walking with the Dead. I also watch period dramas that supposedly reflect history and that way I can pick them apart.

Then there is Graham Norton, who I absolutely adore. If I want to laugh, that is where I go. He has such a marvelous way of defusing any kind of stress or drama, and everyone seem so comfortable on his show, except perhaps for Kristen Stewart. A local PBS station here is airing I, Claudius this Saturday, and guess where I will be?

August

Thank God August has proved so far to be not as hot as this otherwise blistering summer. I see higher food prices for us all as the drought barrels on. I live maybe a city block from the Potomac, and one would think there would be a breeze coming off of the river, but no, I have felt none, until yesterday.

I have 3 more weeks of school left, then I have my associates degree in Medical Transcription. As I live out here in Bum Puck Eygypt now, my daily commute to whatever position I can garner with this degree will be significant. You see that word a lot in MT: significant. The findings were significant for edema of the extremities x2. The findings were not significant for pneumonia.

I recently had a sacroiliac joint injection. Seems the lower part of my back and hips are aging faster than you can say "wheelchair", and so I have been getting facet joint injections and hip joint injections, and they have really helped. Where I could not do anything, I now can resume most of my daily activities relatively pain free. I will never be pain free. I will always have residual pain. I have opted not to go the root of Oxycontin or other narcotic pain relievers. I am mostly furious with the companies who manufacture these drugs and allow them to be prescribed willy-nilly to anyone and everyone, regardless of condition being treated or the age of the patient.

My diabetes is requiring adjuvant therapy with oral medications now, most likely due to the steroid injections I have been receiving. My last A1c was 7.1 which is officially in the diabetes zone, and not in the prediabetes zone. I anticipate it will be higher this time as my blood sugars have been topping out in the 200+ area.

My physician inquired when I had had my last pap smear, and I told her it was probably in 2003. I have had the complete hysterectomy thing, so the medical community has decided I don't need them anymore. Which is fine by me. I told her, if she wanted to do one, she had better bring a broom for the cob webs and a drill or something, because its been a while since anything has been up my skirt. She laughed and said that her office would not be the place to have one, anyway, so I suggested perhaps a construction site. One wants the necessary tools on hand. We opted to forgo this very necessary diagnostic procedure for most women who have all of their body parts.

I have been depressed lately, as well. I have that feeling that the wheels of unknown design are turning somewhere in the background, not in my favor, and I cannot pin point where they are and for what purpose. Can we say "Paranoid"? I do not know if it is paranoia or just a gut feeling. We still do have those you know, a plain ole gut feeling, that says, "Hey, something is not right here." Always trust that feeling, ok?

I feel at a cross-roads, again!, and, quite frankly, I am too damn old to be at a cross-roads. I want my life to be boringly uneventful.

Best wishes.

Who Shot the Sheriff? Snoop Drops Rap, Changes Name, Sings Reggae (Listen) - Technorati Music

Who Shot the Sheriff? Snoop Drops Rap, Changes Name, Sings Reggae (Listen) - Technorati Music

OK, I like Snoop Lion. It is quite majestic sounding. And I like reggae, as well. I wish him great success in his new creative venture.

I am thinking of changing my name to Wind Willowtree, as it satisfies some strange creative yearning in me. I do not know at this time what I will be creating, but I will keep you posted.

As always, most sincerely,

The blogger previously known as Just me.

My friend and helper

I believe this week is the hardest to get through of any in the year. In 2005, Travis was wounded in Hit, Iraq, by and IED device, and died of those wounds on the 21st. During this week, every year, I mourn the fact that no one from his family was there with him. I mourn the fact he died on foreign soil without his family around him. I am saddened that he never saw his youngest daughter, Emma, who, from what I gather by pictures I find here and there on the internet, is growing up to be a beautiful young woman. Of course, Hunter is a handsome young man. Tristan, his young son in the Phillipines, looks so much like him it is unbelievable. I am so very sad that he did not get to know this beautiful young man.

This week brings into focus all that Travis wanted to be, all that he was, and all he will never get the chance to be on this earth. I comfort myself thinking he was surrounded by those who cared for him during his final time here, and I believe they were caring and compassionate.

I never even knew he was wounded. I had moved, so casualty officers did not know where I was. Those who did know did not share the information with me. Would there have been anything I could have done to save my son? The answer is most likely no, but the "what ifs" can be very cruel and persistent.

There are still young men and women being killed everyday in these places, and I do not understand why. Was not the reason we went to Afghanistan in the first place  to find Osama Bin Laden? And is he not dead? Did we ever find weapons of mass destruction? Did we not kill Saddam Hussein? Do our military personnel still need to be in these places? Perhaps we are there to instill the wish for freedom. However, ultimately, it is up to the people who live there to find there own way to freedom, if that is their wish. The Afghanistan people fought the Soviets and did all right for themselves. 


Let us bring our young people home. They are needed here, by their families, by the ones who love and miss them.