"Trust not the physician." (Timon of Athens)

.....I went to a Chinese Restaurant tonight and had a lobster in black bean sauce. You ought to try it sometime, but I kind of doubt that you will be able to find one that has a whole lobster on the menu for $16.99...that's for a pound and a quarter.  They also have two pound lobsters, but I didn't go for it.  When I finished, I got a fortune cookie that weighed in at 1 1/4 ounces, and my "fortune" read "Change is happening in your life, so go with the flow." Good advice. The change is that instead of my going to the hospital, the medics we called took RH+ for a change instead of me. She was in bad shape all night with cramps in her legs (very painful), and stomach.  She vomited a couple of times. She didn't want me to call 9/11 during the night, but at 9:30 this morning she threw in the towel. Turns out she was dehydrated and an x-ray showed that she probably had a blockage in the small intestine, and the doctor ordered a cat scan for tomorrow morning.  Yes this is quite a change. I hate when RH+ is RH-! I'd rather be ill rather than she.  Who's going to fill the pill boxes?  Who's going to make the beds? Who's going to take out the garbage? Who's going to cook dinner? Who's going to do the laundry? Who's going to take in the newspaper in the morning?  I don't have a clue as to who is going to do all these things.

.....Lately I've been subject to political Republican commercials that play over and over and over again vilifying President Obama.  President Obama has commercials where he goes over some of the things he has accomplished while in office....in spite of constant Republican opposition. I wonder why the Republican commercials do not deal with the issues in the country and tell what they plan to accomplish if Mr. Romney should win the election instead of beating up on the President.  Now we still have six months before November turns up, and I fear that it's a little too early to be electioneering.  Let's take a breather, guys!  Well, I suppose all my Republican friends and adversaries may have a different point of view, but that doesn't make them bad persons.

"Look, he's winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike." (The Tempest)

.....I have been working on my Great American Unknown Novel, written by me, the Famous Unknown Author, and I've managed to get to 62 pages, which I feel is a good start since when I began I had no idea where to go.  Now, I'm stuck at page 62.  I do have a couple of ideas floating around in my cranium, but I have to do a lot of research before I can continue, and researching takes a long, tedious time.  When I do find something I can use I try to write it down, but my right hand tremors so much, I can barely make out what I have written...most of the time I can't.  I don't know when or where this tremoring began (or is it "tremorness?"), but it sure is a handicap difficult to deal with.  In fact when the restaurant or shopping credit card bill comes RH+ does the signing.  After all, her penmanship is great, having been an elementary school teacher. If she is not with me, my signature on the bill is as illegible as some of those on the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence.

.....I figure that finishing this novel will take me about 18 months, just a short distance from my 90th birthday.  Writing a novel has always been one of my goals, and just yesterday I told RH+ that I have had a cornucopia of goals, and that I have never failed to achieve them...except once.  She asked when that was, and I said "My first marriage".She most vociferously disagreed, and explained why that could not be one of my goals, and that even if it were, it was most definitely not a failure.  So, it was a great relief to me to discover that the goals in my life--except for this novel, as yet--have all been achieved. Amen. To mention the nature off all these goals would be too self-serving; it's enough for me to know that I know them.  Therefore a list is not to be forthcoming.

Polonius-- What do you read my lord?" Hamlet-- Words, words, words. (HAMLET)

.....Ok , so I haven't posted on this blog for several days.  I've been busy writing my Great American unfamous novel.  Right now, I have it titled "Out of This World" but I'm not too happy with that.  It is sort of a sci-fi novel--so what do I know about sci-fi?  Practically nothing, so that's why I say "sort of".  The plot involves an alien from another universe who comes to this one in order to study the history and culture of the planet Earth.  He will then report back to his boss in his planet's Academy of Arts and the Sciences.  How he gets here I don't bother to discuss with a lot of techie details.  But he comes with several important "gifts". Enough said.  Someone might steal my idea.  I have written 60 pages already.  I had no idea where this was going to go when I started, but as I kept writing, it just went!  Speaking of "went" I went to the VA yesterday and had a session with Mary Stone who, among other things, takes care of all the medication I get from there.  When I told her the plot lines of my book she said that while i was telling her, she thought it sounded like a good movie.  OK. I don't mind getting rich.

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.....I'm feeling very good these days.  I have the cane to help me walk, but I can walk about the house without it--but not while RH+ is here.  It makes her nervous and I can't blame her.  She's my support in my old age, helping me in many ways and she is a blessing.  The year 2011 was probably the worst year of my life.  I suffered for almost that whole year as a result of fracturing my left hip while the fracture in my right hip had not fully healed, and neither did a painful sore on my heel.  It was because of this sore that I had to suffer in hyperbarics.  Well, thankfully, all that crap is over and I'm back to writing this blog.  I have already published 10 books of the posts coming from this blog, and if I keep going, I probably would be able to publish another one.  I don't think I want another book out of it.  I don't expect many people to buy any of the books, although they are on sale at Amazon.  But I believe anyone who deigns to buy one, any one, will find it very interesting reading--and not only for what I have written, but also for the comments. I'm even reading one of them now, and it's amazing to remember those days and the things I wrote about.  I'm enjoying it, and I have nine more to go.  If I were to put it all into one book, I'd have more than 2000 pages and I'd feel like Tolstoi or that I've written "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

"If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me; I had it from my father." (HenryVIII)

.....Well, now I see that this blog is packing a serious punch.  No doubt President Obama read my blog yesterday and immediately pronounced his approval of gay marriages.  I had no clue that my denouncing the law passed in North Carolina which added to the state's constitution an amendment declaring that a legal marriage was between "one man and one woman" would reach so high up the political ladder.  Now maybe some Republicans will venture to read my blog.  Nah; won't matter, they still will not want everyone in America to get health care, nor will they want any such thing as a "Dream Act" to pass in Congress whereby the children of illegal immigrants can become citizens if they go to college or serve in the military.  And Mitt who has millions and little else is the man so many people want to see in the White House instead of President Obama who has brains?  They really would like to see a Plutotheocracy government?  Somebody call me a cab.

.....For those who may still be concerned about my health, I just got a clean bill from my cardiologist.  My blood pressure is always good and my cholesterol is about 116.  So, I'm healthy.  My problem is primarily physical; I need a cane to get around, but I can't get around too far, and when I do get around, I feel like a turtle.  And I'm a guy who has run a 4 1/2 hour marathon (or was it 5 hours?) Anyway, I do have a picture of me crossing the finish line.  I kept looking for Rhoda, but she went to the emergency tent to find out what happened to me.

.....It's official now, my pregnant granddaughter is in the Navy, my grandniece is in the Marine Corps, and my grandnephew has been accepted by the Air Force when he graduates high school.  So, the family has all the bases covered, and will have taken over the job that Robin, Rich, Jon, my dad, and I were privy to--awhile back.  And this will be one thing to remember on Memorial Day besides the honoring of the boys who didn't make it back from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and all the other wars Americans have fought.  And I think it about time that our politicians would get their heads on straight, and the tea partyers switch to chocolate milk and also do something for their country other than the nasty bickering with exchanges of TV ads.

.....And for those few who may not like what I've written--it doesn't make them bad persons.

"What fools these mortals be." (Puck)

.....Today I read an article in the newspaper which disturbed me no end, but no doubt made some people very happy. Voters in North Carolina yesterday approved Amendment One, a fiercely debated and highly restrictive amendment to that state's constitution that defines marriage as the legal union of a man and a woman.  The amendment not only outlaws same-sex marriages, it also bans civil unions and domestic partnerships for gay or straight couples.

.....Now, I don't see how the marriage of gay partners affects me. I don't give a tinker's damn as to who marries whom, and I don't understand why some members of our society are so fanatically frantic to ban two men or two women who love each other, from marrying, and who want to make a life for each other. Human beings, who are gay are not aliens, but Americans, some of whom have given their lives in the service of our country.  What is the answer as to why they are not permitted to marry?

.....When Mitt Romney selected a gay man, Richard Grenell as his foreign policy and national security spokesman furious voices on the right quickly condemned Romney for selecting Grenell and they made certain that there was no way in the world that Mitt Romney would ever again put a homosexual in any position of importance in his campaign.

.....Another problem that perturbs me involves Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana. After 35 years in the U.S. Senate, he was defeated yesterday by a tea party challenger in a Republican primary that demonstrated the perils of compromise and intransigence in Congress.  After 35 years of service, voters ought to have given Lugar the opportunity to serve and retire with dignity.  Richard Mourdock, his challenger, pummeled Lugar for breaching conservative orthodoxy.  Among them, Lugar's support of citizenship for some illegal immigrants' children in the military or college, and his votes to confirm President Obama's nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Tsk. Tsk. What a nerve to support these things! It's tea time.

"When the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger." (Henry V)."

.....We are now back from our three day vacation, not counting the four days of driving.  The strange thing I found in the northern part of Florida was the fact that at each restaurant parking lot there were usually about five handicap parking spaces close to the entrance, and  Teenagers and Baby Boomers were carrying their babies in their car/seat strollers, while no cars were in the handicap spots.  But down here in the southern part of Florida where all the retired handicapped seniors are living, just try to find a handicap parking space. Maybe there are two spaces for handicap cars, and not always near the entrances to stores or restaurants.  I think about this, but cannot come up with an answer.  Nevertheless, we had a good time on our mini-vacation; the weather was super, but down here I heard they had rain by the buckets.

.....I guess we got home in time to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I never knew what all the fuss and celebrations were all about, but I found out from Google who knows everything. The holiday of Cinco De Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in U.S. cities with a significant Mexican population. It is not, as many people think, Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually September 16. But for the rest of the world, May 8th is perhaps more worthy than celebrating one battle. It is VE Day.  I doubt very much that kids in school today even know what VE Day means.  Well, if a kid in school just happens to read this, it means Victory in Europe-the end of WWII there.  Next comes VJ Day on Aug.14, the day Japan surrendered in1945, and then on Sept. 2, 1945 when the surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri.  WWII officially ended then and there. I know that I will be celebrating; for sure!