You know it's hot in Texas when you get to hot to think! My brain (what I got left) just won't think right or on time! This is the laziest and sleepiest I've been in 7 years. I almost have to prop my eyelids open with tooth picks! I feel for any workers outside working on highways with heavy equipment. They should be working at night in Texas for sure.
If I was in Minot, ND I would be complaining even more. That little town is about to be washed off the map by tomorrow! It's predicted to be 7 feet over the flood plane, man that's on the roof tops. It seems like between the fires, floods, and soldiers still dying in the war nothing else is news. I'm watching too much TV! :big_grin: We have had many motorcycle accidents here and the cyclist dies in all cases. A city bus driver in Houston wrecks an extended city bus (the real long one) and he's the only one on the bus.
Maybe it is the heat, no rain here, and you know the 4th of July is just around the corner. Another chance for more fires being started with unattended gas and wood BBQ grills. I think I will settle for using the oven with the a/c running that day! Maybe it will be another day to sleep and rest! Glad I'm not close to wooded areas with lots of trees.
Well I wish all of you members a safe fourth of July outing even if it's in the back yard...Be careful and don't drink and drive! :Tantrum:
There were three more bodies returned through Dover, DE last night. One of them en route to Texas. If you don't keep up with the current events on TV or newspapers you may not be aware of the soldiers still losing their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. At some point this war has to end. Already it's the longest war in our American history.
We lost over 58,000 soldiers in Vietnam and over 6,000 in the current wars of Iraq and Afghan. Most of the soldiers who deploy to war leaves from here at Fort Hood, Texas on large aircraft carrying them their gear and their arms. Most of you know we have many young men and women fighting there and are the ones losing their young lives.
Now the President is being criticized for wanting to bring the troops home sooner than he had planned and he was criticized for wanting to end this war at that time. My guess is we can never please all the people some of the time. The lives already lost are not in vain by any means but to continue losing young lives to a cause that started with lies is in my opinion senseless.
If we could see the gain in the war perhaps we could see the justification. These countries has been killing their own people and in war for years and years. Even the Russians were there and they got out warning the USA it was useless, of course we didn't listen!
Being here at Fort Hood, Texas and attending many of the funerals looking at the young wives and husbands in grief brings much pain to my heart. Just to think I was almost one to return in a flag draped box from Vietnam. I can see the need to end this war and bring the troops home to their families, parents and kids.
It's easy to forget the daily loss of lives in a war this long and "Out of sight, out of mind for many people" in the NATO countries, not just America! This is not a blog subject I wanted to talk about but the different minds of people just got me to thinking about the loss of precious young live and the older soldiers fight and guiding the younger troops in their commands and units.
So, I hope I don't or didn't bore anyone reading this blog. Anytime you got kids you just want them to grow up and have families of their own and a chance at living the American dream like so many of us have done! That make us grand parents too you know. We all love those grand kids and the great grands to keep us young!
I'm turning the big 70 in 30 days (22 July) and to me, there is no better joy than spoiling grand kids. By the way, our president will unveil his plan on withdrawing our troops tonight on TV 7pm central, 6 eastern time! Try and watch if you can!
Did members reading this blog see the televised speech by the president tonight??? Wednesday 22 June 2011! CNN or your local news may carry the presentation again?
We made it back and in good shape with a little resting up. Everything went as planned...Almost...I lost on the quarter machine, about 60 bucks in all, then I played the dollar machine and won a fist full of dollars. I kept playing it for about two hours and it paid off several times. The biggest one was 750 dollars then I hit several 80's, 120's so I quit with a cash out ticket for 900 bucks. I couldn't reach a thousand dollars.
Every time I got closer the next few times I would lose, so I made up my mind I would not get below 900 showing on the screen so I quit at that point. A man two machines from me kept putting in 20 dollar bills and when I moved my scooter he said he was down 300 dollars! I don't know if he ever got some of the money back!
My wife plays the penny machines with all those bars and emblems on the screen in about 9 lines. That would drive me batty trying to figure out what I won! She got in plenty playing time for comps to be awarded for her next trip to pay for food and hotel rooms on the next stay there! :Clap-Hands:
I can't say when our next trip will be but probably back to New Orleans before the end of the year visiting her family members and we stay and play at Harrah's casino downtown! I'm pretty luck there most of the times and I play the quarter machines longer too! It's good to get away and out of town when you can. Makes coping with being a stroke survivor a bit better for me. I have to be doing something all the time or I get bored easily!
I need a big brake so I will get out of the house and out of town too. I talked my sweet wife, funny how we call them sweet, when they agree with us, into going to Shreveport to a casino so she can play the penny machine for awhile. I get to put a few quarters in the machine, ride around, and eat some ribs they have prepared for fathers day celebration.
All fathers can eat half price with family members which ain't bad, full price is 19.95 plus tax. :big_grin: There isn't much going on here so this will be a great time to gas up at 3.42 a gallon and hit the road! Family time is good time and we get to stay at the Barksdale AFB guess quarters for a small fee by being a military retiree!
My wife will want to shop at the Exchange on the base I'm sure but I mentioned to her I'm not getting a u-haul hooked to my car for the trip back. We don't go to New Orleans much anymore since her mom passed in October last year and her baby sister is working 6 days a week. The big casino is there and she has comps earned from playing the machines that we use for free rooms and free food.
It's not summer time yet, by 3 days still, but it sure does feel like it with 100 degree heat and today is day number 6 in a row. It's such a draught here the fireworks for the 4th of July celebrations across the state has been cancelled. Feed for the livestock is processing around the clock so the ranchers and farmers can feed their animals. All the crops are parched from the sun and no rain lately.
The grass in my yard is the same way, golden brown but my tree in the front yard is green. The birds had a nest in the tree but the high wind blew the baby birds out onto the ground. I assume their momma and poppa bird got them back in the tree, if not they may have been tender food for some animal!
I think I need a get-a-way and my wife has been working overtime to cover for some of her coworkers out for family reasons. So, off I go in about an hour, it's a five hour drive there. Guess who's driving? She went to work at 7am while I Slept to be ready. Normally we go for two or more days but this will be a turn-a-round trip this time! As I said, just a quick get a way! :big_grin: :happydance:
With the economy like it is and has been for a few years now, our fighting veterans are returning to the US and not finding any jobs once out the military. They are drawing unemployment, not for long then what's next. Not all of them are eligible to retire from the service, only the older ones with 20 years of service. Those who lost limbs and desire are medically discharged with some benefits but not like regular retirements work!
The President seem to think they volunteered for service therefore he can not pay them their due! His plan with congress is to cut all our pay to make up the short fall in the spending budget. That is so wrong in my mind and many other peoples minds too! I mentioned this once before, but for our congress giving themselves a huge raise is non sense. These pet projects they have for their state should be cut to save the budget money.
The next few years will have all military personnel losing homes, families and a way of life after giving their lives and years of fighting for this country all because the last President rushed into war looking for weapons Of Mass destruction, he said! They haven't ever been found but he got the man his father should have gotten when he was president and didn't. You have to be here in a military town to feel the pain of these families and their kids. It's only going to get much worse real soon.
The jobs these soldiers had before joining the military services are no longer available to them and the military jobs they were doing are not needed in the civilian world. I wish you could see the number of wheel chairs being used in this city alone. Then the scooters, walkers and those using prosthetic legs and arms/hands!
They are still losing limbs and being killed almost daily in Afghanistan by roadside explosives. Again I ask that you say a prayer each night for our troops and an end to this 10 year war! When we look at ourselves as stroke survivors not walking good or just have one side of our bodies working, we are still ahead of them that lost body parts never to use them again. If you could spend just one day at the veteran hospital looking at the really crippled guys and gals you would not feel sorry for yourself being a stroke survivor any more!
The therapy clinics on the military base and all over the city are packed full of soldiers trying to relearn to see, walk and get by in life as a Veteran!
I think we all know the next few years look bleak in terms of money period. We hear daily our debt is through the roof in America. Where will the cuts start? I get emails daily from my friends all around the US whom I served with in the Army for many years. They are telling me our pay checks will be cut in the coming years, even our retirement checks for the years we served our country.
All of this while our congress gives themselves a three thousand a month raise! To me, that's taking my income and they split it while I'm the one who served my country. You already know that no raises from the CPI has not been given in years now. So our checks for medicare and all others have not been raised one penny. Now they plan to take away what we are getting paid while they get the increase. WOW, where we be in 2 more years?
Taking money from the active duty soldiers and the retired soldiers just don't seem to me the place to cut back. If you have gotten an email lately, let me know! We got more and more people turning 65 and ready for medicare and social security but it may not be there for any of us pretty soon!
Continue to pray, all you prayer warriors, for our own Ray and Sue. He is experiencing a hard time this week but reportedly getting a bit better his wife tells us! His balance isn't the best, mine either, but falling can and usually break your bones at our age! I figure now, I may not be able to walk without a cane. Therapy is good, great but it only last so long before you need another session. In the meantime your brain that controls that part of the body is still dead, so the weakness we feel is still there!
Oh, I get my stairwell lift installed next week I'm told and I already got my in house scooter to get around in the home. It's a little bitty scooter, I look like an elephant sitting on a monkey's back sitting on it. They took all that time measuring me up then send out the smallest scooter they could find. Well that's medicare for you! I guess I have to carry it to the second floor to ride it there?
The housing market is bad for selling right now, so I can't sell when I just got 5 more years to have it paid off. Buying a home is great now but I can't afford to give mine up to get in debt buying a new home on one level because of my handicap! Then as I said above military pay checks will get cut sooner or later. I will have to just make do as I have since 2004!
My little grand daughter just came home trying to read my blog and she can to be 6 years old going into the third grade when school starts back in August here. She'll be 7 on the 17th of August but acts like she's going on 12 years old! She's my little helper though and will see to it I got something to eat. She has her own computer set up in the hallway just out side our bedroom but always want to type on mine and watch TV too.
More in a day or two! I'm new at writing blogs you know! Maybe a joke tomorrow!
Well, I suppose this is my life story on the line for the Stroke Board. Net, a site I love dearly and have learned so much in the past 6 years or more since becoming a regular donating full time member in good standings! Now I'll have to learn to write blogs every other day or so to keep myself occupied and keep a smile on my own face to keep from thinking of the pains, bumps in the road or the long recovery I still have ahead of me!
You see, I'm told the "Inspirational and Humor Forum" will officially be closed to anymore postings! As you may know, that was the one Forum I was most active in just about daily trying to make members smile to forget about troubles, pains or the many other problems we all face daily. Sometimes a laugh, a poem, thoughts, true expressions of hard times and human feelings overtakes us when we are down in the dumps.
We are not totally in the spirit yet and it's hard to think of the unseen and the unknown even when we believe it is possible! So that being said, let me quote a little of what the inspirational and humor forum has offered to me by the many posting thereof:
"Welcome to the forum where you can come for inspiration, clean humor, encouraging words, life affirmation, and creative thoughts about meeting life's challenges. Post inspiring material here like poetry, quotations by famous people, short parables, etc. The number one guideline when posting, however, is to credit the source of any material you did not write yourself---author, magazine and/or website, etc.! If you don't know the source, write 'author unknown'. Also, if you read something here that is labeled author unknown and you think you know the author, post it in a reply. Imported material that is not credited is subject to get deleted.
Posting creative works you wrote yourself: Poetry you write yourself that relates in some small way to strokes may be posted here or placed in your blog (but NOT in both places).
Poetry you write yourself that does NOT relate to strokes must go in your blog. If you plan to post more than two original poems, they must all go in the same thread. Essays that you write yourself, regardless of the topic, must go in your blog. See the tutorial in the 'Blog Community' forum for more information about setting up and using your blog.
All humor is not acceptable; please use extreme discretion when posting it. Humor of a sexual nature or that puts down certain classes of people will be removed. Humor, like other posts in this forum, should be inspirational, meant to up lift the spirits." end of quote.
MBA: Jean Riva
After reading these guidelines in place by management and me trying my darndest to stay within those guidelines, I really hate to see the Forum be discontinued. But, we all know things come and things go that we have no control over. I support Steve, our FOUNDER AND CEO in any way he desires to run and regulate the site.
So now you know why I may become a steady blogger in the coming days and weeks or I my go crazy with nothing to laugh or smile about because that made my day telling clean jokes and I hope the days of others too! :big_grin: :happydance:
I look forward to saying things in sequence to put smiles on your faces but not daily! So, be inspired and stand ready to spend more time recovering from this thing called STROKE!
Sue, here I come, no not to Australia, to Blog World! :oohlala:
First, I start off by saying I'm so thankful God has allowed me to see 7 years of recovery since my almost fatal stroke 15 January 2004! No one knows what a stroke can do to the mind, the family, the people you must face for many things including trying to return to work or get employment after a stroke. Let's face facts; we still need income to care for our families, house, car and things we worked to have to live a comfortable life.
No one knows better than any person who has to make provisions to just live life after a stroke. The care giver often has to take over working, paying the bills, providing loving care and in many cases raise the kids, get them back and forth to school and school activities they are involved with! It takes money to survive our life styles already established and in many cases now has to be modified to make ends meet. Hence, my saying, "If you can't make both ends meat, make one fish!"
Fishing around for answers, solutions and ways to keep our families together is still another concern we can't pass up. Normally when we are released from the hospital after the stroke, our share of the hospital bills are overwhelming so much that already we are in a deep hole and trust me it gets worse from that point and we are just beginning in this new life of having to do without many things we considered necessary!
I only wish I had all or some of the answers for families with a survivor in the house. In my case I was so glad to have my church family to help us pass the real tough times of paying the mortgage several months, lending helping hands and comfort at such a horrible time in your life. Most survivors lose their employments and it's downhill from there. First we try to get checks started from various places but that doesn't work out in many cases.
Either we are over the income limits or didn't pay into the system or not old enough to get the benefits. At that point it seems no one is willing to listen nor help. I was very glad to have God in my plans, it seem when He's in the plan things come together slowly but surely. I'm an older member here by age and time on the message board, so I say getting closer with God is the way to go. We are not promised to be on this earth forever nor even pass 70 years.
I was raised up in church by a caring mother but like most kids we feel we were made to go to church and had no say so in not going. But at some point in your adult life it feels good to turn to God. It seem like things began to fall into place and your help for any matter is at hand. Life goes on and on whether we do or not so enjoy life as a survivor and care giver, it could be worse than we feel it really is right now.
Well gang, we are losing our inspirational and Humor Forum, I'm told, so if you don't see me on the message board, don't figure I'm gone, I'm around maybe doing blogs more often to get some of the stuff to laugh at in my heart to keep from crying in my soup! Laughter is a way of life for me to keep from crying or letting myself get depressed needing medications. Laughter is medication in my mind. Hopefully I can blog about it without stepping on any toes! We shall see! :big_grin:
My prayers are for all of you daily in hopes we all can live a better life as care givers, survivors and family members. Let us not forget our members who has lost survivors since joining our support group. We still love you and very glad you are still a big part of the support body. If you are a new member or old member and young or older in age, we welcome you to join the group for support any way we can. We offer suggestions to you all from our own experiences, not medically, many of us are not doctors. There are many nurses here, some are still working in hospitals and doctor offices.
So, until my next blog, I remain the guy with a smile and love for each of you in support in the journey to recovery after stroke. Log in often especially after you've made a post to see the answers and comments you may have asked us to offer, it doesn't take us long to type with one finger! :happydance:
I was out at the end of my driveway trying to get the trash can wheels against the curb just right of the driveway instead of on the left where my wife put it before leaving early for work to be on time. I got my quad cane taking baby steps to avoid falling on the driveway slope toward the street.
Now, here I am trying my best to tilt the can over on it's two wheels so I could push it to the other side. It's really full where the lid won't close and I envision me spilling the bags of trash all over the street. Low and behold a kid, I thought, on a bicycle, stops dismount lays the bike down grab the can and moves it to where I wanted it without a word being said.
At this point I'm flabbergasted and inspired by his willingness to help an old man on a cane. My real inspiration came when I noticed him limping and not using his right hand as he was walking away from me, his back to me at that point. My conversation started with did he have MS at an early age? He said, "No, he had a stroke when he was 5 and another one at 6 years old. He is now 19 years old and will graduate high school next year! That's amazing in my mind and I thought of our own member, CagedBird (Katrina) who just graduated college.
He is doing great for having strokes so young, riding a bike? WOW, and he told me he and a couple friends wash cars right in your driveway for five dollar donations each car since school is out for the summer now. He lives a few streets from me he says but I never seen him before. I guess you never know who's in your neighborhood!
We talked a bit and he stated in the early years he was unable to attend school not being able to walk or talk good or at all. His right wrist is bent down, I dread that happening to me, but what got me was him saying he is just glad to be alive! :big_grin: That touched my heart so much because I say that all the time here. It really made my day to see him so cheerful and willing to help me. He did what I couldn't do with the trash can.
I gave him our site here and he said he would look at it today cause he has a computer in his room. I think he's interested in washing cars with his friends to make a few dollars during the summer break from school. My day has been made and thought I would share this into a Blog since I was due to add an entry this week. :happydance:
We need heroes today. We need someone to believe in and look up to. We need someone who has accomplished something to give us the courage to believe in the invisible. We need role models and men whose shadows we may stand in, men who provide a cool refreshing place of safety away from the despair of our oppressive society. It's just that all the "Supermen " in the church seem to have somehow gotten zapped by "Kryptonite." Either they or their reputations have wilted into the abyss of human failure.
What are we going to do as we face this generation? From drug using political officials to prostitute-purchasing preachers, the stars are falling on the hands of this generation! All of their wonder and dreams have turned into a comic book; a comic book that somehow doesn't seem funny anymore. Where did all our heroes go?
We are suffering from an eroding sense of family, not just of family values. The entire concept of the family, period, has been crumbling because of this society's growing acceptance of non traditional families.We have had wars to take away our young men, husbands and fathers whom have never seen the children they fathered. More and more women have chosen to be mothers without fathers. Still others have become single parents by necessity, not by choice.
The husbands in good standings with wives and children has gone astray to choose another man as his mate or another woman out of wedlock in spite of his wife of many years. The gay community has added to the confusion by establishing "homes" that do not reflect God's original plan for child-rearing. So, now we have twisted minds, homes and leaders that are producing twisted children.
The solution to the human puzzle is not in secular humanism or other philosophies that remove God from the picture but, rather, the solution is found in God's Word, the Holy Bible! God is the ultimate Superhero! Who else can tear down a city in seconds any where in the world that takes man years to replace?
Our world graduates of today has to step up to the plate in our societies and continue the principles the world and countries were founded on years ago. We must get back to basics and family values starting today based on the teachings of our parents when their words of wisdom satisfied our concerns and was taken from the same bible we know today! The commandments are written and taught by our parents of days gone by. The words of wisdom is still ours to give the graduates of today! :Clap-Hands:
I'm praying for Ray, Sue's husband. He suffered a bad fall from a chair and broke his shoulder bone on the affected side. That hurts, but join me in sending prayers for his recovery. Then for our own Blog hostess Sue. Kim got the word to us so thought I would put it in my blog because some members and guess will read the blogs but not the message board.
Ray is in need of all the prayers that can be sent at this time, God hears our prayers you know! Sue has been care giver for Ray all these years with no break cause he has had many strokes over the years. Some of us has also experienced balance issues, so you know the problems there. Not only that but I think she and Ray was away from their home.
Sue was also Chat host, so she is a busy care giver, wife and mother. I don't see how she does it and still have time or take the time to care for herself. Just think of her time frame, it has to be gruelling day after day. I COULDN'T DO IT, I know! My heart has always gone out to Sue, Jean, and other care giver who has been giving care to loved ones for so many years!
Sue, I pray daily for Ray's recovery and may you get some down time to keep your physical body healthy. You need rest, I just don't know how you'll get it, may God continue to bless you with good health, mind and strength to do what you do so darn well! You are in my book as a wonderful woman. My mom was like you! We shall be here when you return to welcome you back! Love,
Fred!
You know, believe it or not...We've all been there in our prayer to our God we know and trust! Prayer is not conquering God's reluctance, but taking hold of God's willingness. Just a week ago the F5 tornado hit Joplin, Missouri with over 200 miles per hour twisting winds. In a matter of seconds lives were lost, homes destroyed and part of a whole city was destroyed.
We, like all others, will never know why these kinds of things happens on earth in our world. Let's not forget weeks prior; Alabama suffered lost of lives and property as well. Even destroying hospitals and churches in Missouri.
Have you ever had to pray with fear in your heart and uncertainty in your spirit, not knowing in your own mind whether God could hear you or not? God is not deaf, nor is He hard of hearing. God is not like Grandpa; He's God. He can hear your thoughts afar off. He can hear a snake running through the grass in the middle of a rainstorm. He knows what you are trying to say even before you say it. God is everywhere and in your heart.
God will raise you up if you ask Him. You don't have to do anything special to get God's attention. All He ask is that you humble yourself. God wants you to be delivered out of your desperate situation, but it's up to you not to resist the Holy Spirit. Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you. First you must submit to God and His will for your life. He is the only one that knows the number of your number of days on earth from the time of your birth.
Yet, He does not call you out to come to Him, that's a freedom of choice you have and make to Seek Him or not. He still loves you and we all know it's an individual choice to give of your self to His care and way of life. Some seek Him at early ages some later in life and of course some never will.
Have you been around friends or family members who say, "I don't have to pray or believe in God? Still that person will come upon a situation, let's say a car wreck, and the first thing from their mouth is, "OMG"! yet they tell us they don't follow God, a church, nor the bible!
Well, I'm a prayer warrior for the rest of my life as I've committed my soul to God. I pray for the entire membership here daily and the restoration of their individual lives to reach a level they can live with without frustrations, and a depressed states of mind!
Furthermore, when you feel sorry for yourself, just think of the many soldiers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives who return to us not like they left, but with missing legs, arms, hands, eyes and in some cases barely able to know who we are from their brain injury!
Still, we feel as survivors of a stroke which leaves us paralysed on one side that our lives has come to an end. We still got both legs, arms, hands and eyes we can use. Not like we once did but nevertheless we can still do slowly what needs to be done to continue to live and be active in daily life. It was God that made that possible!
Please people, think about living and enjoying life with what we got left. Smile every day, pray every night and remember those less fortunate and those that gave their all for our country's freedom we all enjoy!
I hope with writing this Blog I have cheered someone up and lifted their spirits to live life daily and pray!
Honestly, one never knows what tomorrow brings. We had no rain in Texas for so long it was a drought. Now I'm in Louisiana, it's raining and the Mississippi river water is coming this way next week. I would think it being 15 feet below sea level and thw river water is coming, some homes will be lost again! We are helping grab what we can and hitail it back to Texas.
I've never drove so much, worked so hard as a disabled man as I am doing now. That tells me love has no limits in doing for family members and in-lawship. I hope to be home in a few days. I got to see my wife's oldest grandaughter graduate from high school as an honor grad in her class of 2011! Now my wife has the little 6 year old who lives with us being promoted to the third grade next month. She'll be 7 in August. Sh reads bed time stories (to me) before I go to sleep every night. Then she falls asleep in her grandma's arms and her mom comes in and take her to her bedroom!
You know only God knows what leevees will hold or break when the unknown force of water hits this area. The last time being 1937 but not this strong as predicted now! We all will be holding our breath and praying for the best possible outcome. I shall see you all in a few days or maybe Sunday night. I'm expected to hit the bed and pass out for a day or two.
One more thing, my wife's ex and his now wife is here and looking to move to higher ground and they are thinking of moving back to Georgia where they went after Katrina in 2005. He was glad to see his two kids. That was his son's daughter that graduated, his grand daughter, my step grand daughter. His daughter lives with me and her mom with her daughter who reads to me, her favorite Pa-Pa. She calls her mom's dad Pops! She really doesn't know him and shy's away when she see him. It's still a wonderful life we have. People go around you know. I'm on my fourth time around the circle!
How to Stay Young
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.
2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.
3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle.
4. Enjoy the simple things.
5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.
6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.
7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.
8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.
9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.
10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
OLD AGE PRIDE
> >>> Russ and Sam, two friends, met in the park every day to feed the
> >>> pigeons, watch the squirrels and discuss world problems.
> >>> One day Russ didn't show up. Sam didn't think much about it and
> >>> figured maybe he had a cold or something.. But after Russ hadn't
> >>> shown up for a week or so, Sam really got worried. However, since the
> >>> only time they ever got together was at the park, Sam didn't know
> >>> where Russ lived, so he was unable to find out what had happened to
> >>> him.
> >>> A month had passed, and Sam figured he had seen the last of Russ,
> >>> but one day, Sam approached the park and-- lo and behold!--there sat
> >>> Russ! Sam was very excited and happy to see him and told him so. Then
> >>> he said, 'For crying out loud Russ, what in the world happened to
> >>> you?'
> >>> Russ replied, 'I have been in jail.'
> >>> 'Jail!' cried Sam. What in the world for?'
> >>> 'Well,' Russ said, 'you know Sue, that cute little blonde waitress
> >>> at the coffee shop where I sometimes go?'
> >>> 'Yeah,' said Sam, 'I remember her. What about her?
> >>> Well, one day she filed rape charges against me; and, at 89 years
> >>> old, I was so proud that when I got into court, I pled 'guilty'.
> >>> 'The damn judge gave me 30 days for perjury.'* :big_grin:
You cougars and old farts like me, I hope I made you smile a little bit!
I still have so many funny jokes I can't post them all, here is one I was sent awhile ago!
CONFUCIUS did NOT say...
Man, who wants pretty nurse, must be patient.
Passionate kiss, like spider web, leads to undoing of fly.
Lady who goes camping must beware of evil intent.
Squirrel who runs up woman's leg will not find nuts.
Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
Man who runs in front of car gets tired; man who runs behind car gets exhausted.
Man who eats many prunes get good run for money.
War does not determine who is right, it determines who is left.
Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
It takes many nails to build a crib, but one screw to fill it.
Man who drives like hell is bound to get there.
Man who stands on toilet is high on pot.
Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.
Finally...
"A lion will not cheat on his wife, but a Tiger Wood!"
Cute little sayings! :big_grin:
Illinois vs. Arizona, This is a money saver story when you read it, you'll understand!... :Clap-Hands:
Illinois:
The Governor of Illinois is jogging with his dog along a nature trail.
A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, then bites the Governor.
1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and
then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is
natural.
2. He calls animal control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the
State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.
3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the
State
$200 testing it for diseases.
4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for
diseases
from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.
5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts
a
$100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.
6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote
awareness
program" for residents of the area.
7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat
rabies
and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.
8 The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack.The
State
spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special
training
re:the nature of coyotes.
9. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5 million suit against
the
State.
Arizona:
The Governor ofArizona is jogging with her dog along a nature trail. A
Coyote
jumps out and attacks the dog.
1. The Governor shoots the coyote with her State-issued pistol and keeps
jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a ..45 ACP hollow point cartridge.
2. The Buzzards eat the dead coyote.
And that, my friends, is why Illinois is broke and Arizona is not.
And there you have it…
He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.
And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.
He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life..
He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today..
When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?
The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.
While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.
It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
That our Bobs and Jim's and Johnny's,
Went to battle, but we know,
It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?
Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.
He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
Pass On The Patriotism!
YOU can make a difference
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable 'To My Country' for an amount "up to and including my life."
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.
We just had eight soldiers bodies returned today that was ambushed by a single man of the group of Afghan's they were training.
Still no information on the NFL playing this season. It's still in the courts. They are letting the players in the training facilities of their teams. The Draft is being conducted as I post this blog.
Cam Newton was picked first by the Carolina Panthers. They should be a contending team this year for sure.
The first round of play is about over in basketball. The Miami Heat beat the 76Er's and I think moves into the next bracket to play the Celtics, but I'm not sure. The Spurs got another win last night so that series is still going.
Baseball is going strong with home runs being hit almost in every game I saw on TV. I hope they aren't using steroids?
Golf is still going and they are playing in New Orleans this week. Tiger is not playing. I think it will be a year or two more before he makes a comeback!
I’m told we have, as humans, five senses we were born with. Now, when we survive a stroke, we are subject to lose one, two or even three of them! You agree? No! well, I wonder what happened to my sense of smell, my hearing, my eye sight, my feelings on my weak side or my taste abilities? Please correct me if I’m wrong in saying the senses I speak about are sight, smell, hear, taste and feel!
So, in having a stroke and survive doesn't mean we lose everything, but it sure does come close in my opinion. I may not have lost the senses entirely but partially in my opinion. I wonder if we think about that very much? Probably not! But you sure do feel differently not having those abilities we are so accustom to having them for many of our years before the stroke.
The other things we do are from learning how to crawl, walk, run and what our moms taught us early in childhood. Now we need a cane, a walker or even a wheel chair to continue our mobility from one point to another. I wonder if it gets old? I don’t know about you, but in my 7 years, I’m tired of having to use a cane or my scooter. I wonder if others feel that same way at least some of the time?
There are plenty other things we no longer can do as we once did before the stroke. They just don’t bother us as much as losing our senses or part of them. So then, are we considered to still have the five senses or just part of them? From a math standpoint, if we lose part of two of them, that would add up to one lost, I wonder if that’s true?
The next time you think about what you can’t do now like you once did, it’s probably half gone. If You got two of those, guess what? That’s like losing one of your senses I think? I wonder if that makes sense? Now, one day we may get all our loses back, we just don’t know when or how much we get back. It does make us wonder how long will we be waiting? Especially if we are over 60 years of age, cause by that time we are going downhill in life.
That is to say, we got more years behind us than we do in front of us at that age. I wonder why the generations now doesn't live as long as the generations did many, many years ago? I wonder if any of them suffered a stroke and if so, I wonder how many survived? It’s very hard for me to put my senses to work figuring out how many had strokes back then compared to 750,000 in the US today that are having strokes. Considering the populations today that figure has to increase soon. I wonder if the medical field will kept track with the proper medical attention and therapies to get people back on their feet much sooner in years to come?
Perhaps it does come down to what we are eating, what we do or don’t do daily that we should be doing. I wonder if today’s generations are any more healthier than people were years and years ago? There has to be an equation some place that explains all of this to me. The big question is: I wonder if I will live long enough to find out? In the meantime, I will continue to wonder, you wonder too, we all shall wonder for the hell of it! We could stumble upon a solution, who knows, but I do wonder! Does that make sense or senses! :big_grin:
Easter Sunday is the day of rejoicing that follows the sorrow of Good Friday. For most Christians, Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. It bears witness to God's enduring promise of eternal life.
As the climax of Holy Week, Easter is a time of hope and assurance. It is humanity's turning point from destruction to glory and salvation. For the first three centuries, the church celebrated the real meaning of Easter in connection with the Jewish month of Nisan, which coincided with the Spring Equinox.
As the crucifixion occurred on the first day of the feast, early Christians found a scriptural correlation between Jesus and the sacrificial lamb. The Apostle Paul refers to this in his first letter to the Corinthian Church where he states: "For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Corinthians 5: 7-8)
The purest meaning of Easter is the celebration of the resurrection or rising of Christ to heaven, which is the foundation of Christianity. Easter Sunday reminds all Christians of their heavenly calling and of the open door for a relationship with God through Jesus, His Son.
Some of you remember your pastor saying after the preaching of God's word, that the doors to Christianity is now open, if you will, may you come! That's the Sunday invitation to God through Jesus Christ! We had several people join our church today and two were baptised also that had already joined a couple weeks ago. My thoughts of life seems to go more smoothly when you believe in Christ as the head of your life.
I'm asked daily how do I cope with the stroke and stress of daily living? My answer is God is watching over me so I'm at peace with my conditions and my burden he carries for me. In July I make 70 years and if I live to see that day, I know Christ has allowed me to get there it wasn't on my own sake! I look around and see more elderly people turn their lives over to Christ and many younger girls and boys are coming to Christ.
Don't you hate to see the news daily where young adults are robbing, killing and going to prison? I could have gone that route, my mom turned me around, I joined the Army, retired, served with the postal service 10 years, retired and stayed with God every since! I'm a happy man at my age and I plan on being that way for the rest of my life! I REALLY FEEL HAPPINESS INSIDE! I can smile everyday knowing God is watching over me and I pray he is also watching over all of you. :big_grin: When all else fails, turn to God, serve Him gladly!
You know, it's hard to accept that we will be like we are, in most cases, for the remainder of our lives. We first hear from the ER doctors at the hospital, then therapist, other doctors and still other doctors in certain fields of studies. If you remember none of them ever said or stated we would recover in our walking, talking or what if any, that we may get back from the stroke.
All the answers to our questions were very vague and would always end with, "I can't say what you will get back in due time if any." Meanwhile we may know of others who had strokes and are now walking as if they never had a stroke. In many of those cases that person may not have had the same stroke we survived. With some strokes when you get to a hospital in time, you get a shot, and that reverses what could have been a pretty bad stroke.
When you suffer a brain bleed stroke the blood flow is interrupted in the brain causing a lack of blood and oxygen to vital parts of the brain almost immediately. When that continues for some time, the cells die. Once dead that's it. Unless you are young enough for other cells to take over the job the dead cells were doing and new pathways started, that part of the brain is dead. Without the brain that controls our body parts we are just a survivor, still alive but with parts we have no control over.
That part of the brain that was attacked dies, no blood flow or oxygen to keep the cells alive! It's a good thing God made us with the brain in both sides of the head, each controlling a side of the body. The heart is our engine we die without it working. The brain is our transmission as it controls our every movements. When we lose part of it on one side, we lose movements on the opposite side of our body.
I now know when we lose a part of the brain, chances are it's gone forever, except as I stated above. For that reason alone, no person will tell us it's gone, it's always said it may come back. Well, it's slim and none, especially in older people. Otherwise, why do we have well over 9,000 members and the majority still has none working or parts that move like they once did before the brain was attacked and many of them are young and very young people?
My analysis is we have eye and organ donors but no brain donors ever that I know about. Unless the brain is repaired we can never operate that side of the body it controls! It's forever paralysed no matter how much or how little, it's there for the rest of our lives. I must say this info was given me by a medical doctor at our biggest hospital in my area. I believe it to be true as I'm a living witness.
We have right here at Fort Hood, Texas many soldiers returning weekly, some daily injured, limbs missing, men and women! They will learn to use prosthetic limbs that are greatly improved over years ago in how they operate. So, we are in the time of our lives and we must learn to live with what we got left and enjoy life being a stroke survivor. They already are being a survivor of the war with vital limbs missing and left overseas!
We still got ours but the brain was damaged and no longer can control our moving parts in so many cases! The truth is the light and in so many cases we were never shown or told about the light! I'm very thankful I can do what I do slowly! God knows our conditions and has allowed us life, let's live that life as a second chance!
Have you ever searched far and wide for anything? Well this is a never ending search for the right animal to become a pet for a six year old girl. If you think shopping for a wife is a job, try shopping for a child who wants the right dog! When we think the search is over we discover the dog is not a male which is what she wants.
Right now I'm taking a break to help my wife get ready to set up for a church sale. Getting the right table and racks for shoes is important as space will be limited since it takes place in one of the halls if it rains and it's expected to rain. Of course it it doesn't rain then the east parking lot will be used with more room for tables.
Other churches were invited to sale too with a part of their proceeds given to our church. We are in the process of building a new church in a different location and these proceeds go toward that project. A drawing of the church was shown to the congregation Sunday and many applauds were given. We need the room as our membership has really grown just since 1998 when my wife and I became members!
This week I take a break on the pet hunt but will no doubt resume next Monday or Tuesday. The hard part is getting her after school to see the dogs before the facilities close. By the time we leave one the other ones are closed. That means another day of looking and each day I look, I have to wait for school out so she can go take a look.
That made me start thinking...She's in school all day 5 days a week, who cares for the dog all day? The answer was me!! I have appointments and in home care three days a week and the dog will have to be house trained and car trained too! Wow, maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew? So for now everything is on hold even her mom says hold up on getting the dog. I'm the only one home all day.
My wife says I can't handle training a dog, taking him to a vet, making sure he gets the correct training and we are in a two story house. I think she knows I don't go down stairs to often during the day. :big_grin: Now, at this point I'm not sure if I can find the right dog (Mr. right) or if the search will continue. Her mom tend to think it will get in the way of her home work and chores after school at this time.
God knows I don't want to slow her schooling down, she is very active in her class work and already a grade ahead of her age group. The shortest and smallest girl in her class as she's with 7, 8, and nine year olds, and she's only six.
Some of you that may read this blog and have/had kids this young, did you get them a house pet at 6 years of age???? She had a hamster, fish and a bird but now she wants a pet she can hold, ride him in her little car, and play with after school. She tells me she gets so bored not having a sister or brother to play with.
When she finishes her school work, I'm her outlet for playing with her while her mom gets her own school work done as a teacher. So, as I said, I'm having to rethink the whole idea of her with a small pet dog at 6 years old.
Well, this time of year is time to get outdoors, do things, go places, clean out, clean up and throw away all the stuff you somehow accumulated over the past year and really didn't use it or in many cases didn't need it. You managed to bring it home anyway and most of it got no farther than the garage or perhaps the basement storage area.
It's funny how we stumbled over and around it all year and still couldn't decided to use it, sell it, give it away to the neighbor next door! Bicycles seem to jump out the store right in our vehicles, we get them home, admire all the new changes made since we last rode one years ago.
So many customers were pushing them out the store we had to investigate the reason and end up doing the same thing because our grand child's birthday is coming up in a few months and we think she/he will want a shinny new bike. Well the birthday came and went, they rode it once and back in the garage it goes. Now it's spring time, there it sits with two flat tires and been rode once! What the heck, it was on sale cheap!
It will take several weeks not days to get all the things we plan to get rid of in one place. Garage sale, no. Yard sale no indeed! Most of the little stuff hits the curb side awaiting the trash man to pick up. What about the old broken chairs we vowed to fix last winter? The old car tires we kept but never had any rotated so out they go too!
By now we are really tired of moving stuff, so we stop until tomorrow, very little space has been seen from all that work and mind over matter! Now we are really tired! So much for spring cleaning. Maybe next spring we will finish? How much more will we have by that time?
Does this sound familiar to any members here? :big_grin:
I decided to get out of town and drive down to San Antonio for a senior bowling tournament today through Sunday. My wife says "GO" so I'm going later today, it's a chance to see many of my old bowlers I competed with and against until 2004 when the stroke sit me down. When I visited the web site, there is a list of deceased members, man a lot of them are gone on so I feel blessed to still be around to watch them bowl since I can't do it anymore myself.
How are we to know how long we will be doing something we like or love to do. I rolled 300 games several times and won a few championships in my day so it will be good for me to remember back in the day when I was able to compete with the guys. I will feel good just being able to ride in the bowling center on my scooter and greet those I haven't seen for many years now!
Many of the young guys are now seniors, my how time flies by so it should be a good trip for me to make and see them all competing again. And to think back, I drilled many of their bowling balls in my Pro Shop and they rolled some good games with them! I hated to sell the business but really had no other choice. Hopefully I can snap a few pictures to post in the gallery here.
It should be a good trip and it's not that close to the border so it should be a safe trip for me. I think San Antonio is one of the basketball tournament sites like it is here in Waco, home of the women Baylor Bears team. I imagine the traffic will be heavy on the interstate highway going and returning back to Killeen. I'll take my time, the highway patrolmen loves to write tickets and I hate getting one.
I plan on taking my laptop to keep in touch with the gang but no access to my emails unless I remember how to retrieve them from my desktop!
Well members, it's spring break week here in Texas and probably where you are too, if you live somewhere in the US 50 states. This week there is so much national news with the big earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The national Football league now in court to see if there will be football played this season. The two sides are miles apart in what each one wants and neither side is giving an inch. The judge is now the one to try and settle the issue.
I just hope we have football this season but if not then we know from years past with the Major League Baseball sides how it can never be settled in time for the season opener game.
I can't say too much either way, I haven't purchased a ticket to see a game of football nor baseball in many, many years.
Your kids are on spring break and I hope the parents and the kids take notice and not travel south into Mexico for spring break. It's just not deemed to be a safe place this year with the drug cartel controlling much of the country.
Then the gas prices are going through the roof right now makes driving long distances very expensive while hotel prices are not what I call cheap! The economy is not good, people are still out of work and everybody is trying their best just to keep the family home,the kids clothed and food on the table. It could be years before things are on the rebound!
You know this week is St. Patrick's day on Thursday so don't forget to wear your green or you may get pinched! Don't ask me where that started, I have no idea. I do know as a youth, Patrick was captured by pirates and sold as a slave. After 6 years of servitude, he escaped and returned to his home, where he began the ministry that would ultimately lead to the Christianization of Ireland, which in turn became a center of Christian influence throughout Europe.
Many of God's greatest soldiers have undergone excruciating trials before God has used them According to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5, Jesus "learned obedience from what he suffered" and we all know he ended up on the cross paying for all our sins!
We have encountered a few trials of our own and in my case has taught be to be humble and look to God for my help! I'm very thank He gave me a second chance at life and living for him at my age! I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." :big_grin:
Well this blog tonight is a reminder to myself about living one day and gone the next. I've been trying to sleep, nap, rest or whatever, but with all the earthquake news reporting on the web, TV and radio, I can't sleep!
We, as people on this earth has no doubt seen much devastation around the world and as I recall it's been one thing after another the last few years. The floods in Australia, earthquake in Haiti, New Zealand and other places. It just seems to me God is telling us He is still in charge of the whole world. He created it, us and everything on/in the world and the seventh day he rested from his work!
If we go back for a minute to the floods recorded in biblical times where He had it rain for forty days and forty nights. He had Noah build an Ark and I read where two of every kind got on board by God's directions to Noah!
From that time until now, I will always believe He is in charge of this earth and everything there of. We know not our final day nor does anyone see the ending to the beginning. I say that to say this:
"THE WILL OF GOD WILL NEVER TAKE YOU WHERE THE GRACE OF GOD WILL NOT PROTECT YOU." For that we should celebrate our progress, love our own families and loved ones then show the same love for one another in our day to day joys of living, breathing and just being alive to smell the roses everyday!
For we know not our final day and hour on this earth. We tend to magnify all the negatives instead of searching for all the joys while we celebrate life. The Tongue can be our worst enemy, our words, our dreams, and our thoughts have power to create conditions in our lives. What we speak about, we can bring about. Then and only then we start to worry, wonder and say, "Why me Lord." He answers, "Why not?"
Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Then watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! Just think about that for a moment and you see the power of the tongue! The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settle for in life.
Everyday we should pray for a better tomorrow, loving our family, friends, neighbors and our enemies as only God can make them our footstool! Our peace should be in asking God in prayer our forgiveness, and His will be done, not our will! We gain so much knowledge until we feel we are in charge, but it's always God's will that awakes us every morning, see us through the day and another night ahead.
I pray for the world of people in harms way as you do your work Lord!
We know not our last day or breath we take, He does as we pray for everything he allows us to have and enjoy. It's all about him in our lives. A typical day would begin with him saying to us, Good Morning, this is God! I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help, so have yourself a good day as my will to you!
So, I pray at night to God our father, walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses, please watch over and heal my family and others too. In Jesus' mighty name, AMEN!
Now to the wait and see days ahead: I have a grandson, my daughter's only child, there in Okinawa with his Japanese wife of two years. Her family lives a ways off and I pray are OK! The Army is saying no military personnel lives are lost and no bases have been harmed, so that's good news! :big_grin:
