Best Day Ever!

Today was exceptional. Yes, truly glorious. 

We started with Physical Therapy. For those who do not follow our every move, I had surgery on my hip at the end of August and am crutch bound. Now I have been crutch bound before, twenty one years ago to be precise, but being older, heavier and out of shape changes the way one can move on crutches. When I was last on crutches it was due to me being strong enough to blow an Achilles tendon. I was riding a hundred miles per week on my bicycle. I don't think I could ride to the local cemetery and back now. PT and the crutching in and out of the building in the rain wore me out.

We followed this with a trip to Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC) for Andrew's cardiology appointment. Since I am not allowed to put weight on my leg Naomi insist I drive the 2001 Mazda 626. This car is named 'Maher-shalal-hash-baz', which means 'Destruction is imminent'. Upon arriving at PCMC I found the car would move forward when I put it in park. Which was odd. When shifting into neutral it would also move forward, and in reverse it would move forward. Oddly, it had waited until we were in the valet parking to have this interesting failure of gearbox. I turned it off to see if it would reset. It did not and since cars will not start when in Drive, we were stuck.

Naomi and Andrew went in to queue up and I called the insurance company and arranged a tow. The hobbled in  to the waiting area. I decided to wait for my wife and son as they took care of xrays and blood draws. To amuse myself I talked with a twelve year old boy with Downs syndrome. Cirrus Rain was his name. He was great fun. We talked of where he lived and he gave me detailed instruction on how to drive there. He asked my weight, 270 pounds I replied, then he asked his mother's weight, she demurred. He stroked my arm and noticed how hairy I am. I pointed out I shaved my face that day and he stroked it and  pronounced it "Soft as a baby's butt". Soon we saw the doctor and then I crutched my baby-butt-soft face out to the drive to find a way home. 

Here is where a good day becomes great! Just across the street from PCMC is a light rail station. Yes, the pinnacle of mass transit was withing my grasp. Of course 100 yards on crutches looked like a distant spec on the horizon. It took me about as long too. We transferred down town to another train, finding the right station and Trax route with the help of a nice couple. There a polite veteran named Gordon helped keep me from falling as I tried to get on the next train. 

At last we reached the central station. Not bad, except for the distance from the Trax to the Frontrunner train that would take us to Woodscross station. Another eternity go me to a bench to wait for the next train. Only a forty four minute wait. I passed the time by calling my boss, coworker, transmission shop and my sister Mary who lives in Phoenix and we feared was washed away in the heavy rains. All was well in work, shop and dell and we settled in for an uneventful ride to Woodscross. 

Salvation was waiting at the station. Dave Thornell's mini van was waiting at the curb, only two hundred yards away. I stopped to rest only once. Upon reflection, skipping breakfast was not a good idea. I got home at about 3:00pm, ate a sandwich, rested for half an hour and then logged in for work, about three hours later than I planned. 

I have muscles in my back I did not know about, and they all want attention tonight. The arms are sore, but the back is speaking louder. Of course I overdid and the hip hurts too.

What made the day so glorious?  

We made our appointment, a mechanical failure any sooner and we would have missed that. Andrew's cardio appointments are worth a little discomfort. 

I got to meet Cirrus, a memorial delight all by itself. Seeing his mother's discomfort and humor about his questions made it even better.

Andrew loves trains, taking three to get home made his whole day. He was very good during the entire long adventure. So was his mother, a real trooper.

I saw the kindness of strangers, and though a little embarrassed to need the help am very grateful for it.

The Thornells are my new personal heroes for the day, no, week, year, decade. He and Linda do not get the praise the deserve. 

To top the day off Claudia mowed my lawn for me. Good neighbors and friends make my day. I'll top my day off with a Lortab nightcap and call it a day well spent. 

In the Garden of the Beast

Rachel gave up on this book, but I really liked it.

We see two parallel studies, a little known ambassador named Dodd in Berlin and Adolf Hitler. By telling the stories of Ambassador Dodd and his family as he unfolds the history of Germany from 1933 to 1938 you see not only how bad the Nazis were but how people could close their eyes to it. The Dodds clearly had their eyes closed at first. The ambassador was often taken advantage of, as was Von Pappen, Hindenburg, Chamberland and virtually everyone who dealt with Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Himmler and a cast of thousands of petty sadist who flocked to their banner or were corrupted by it.

Dodd's daughter Martha  is an especially interesting character. Naive and worldly at the same time. She is in many ways a loathsome person of few morals, but she personally intercedes to save people from certain death by using her position as the ambassador's daughter.

In the end I agree that Dodd was a remarkably good man, and gave remarkably good service at a very difficult time. He certainly was better than his successor, or even the most celebrated ambassador of his age, Joseph Kennedy. He was a man of morals an honor who used his position in many remarkable ways. Unfortunately he was able to save individuals from death at the hands of the Nazis, not a nation. Nor was he able to awake the US upon his return to the horrors that were growing in Europe. Americans did not wan tot know.

Reading this gave me pause to think of our own time. Germany did not fall at once into the horrors of the Nazis. It came in steps. The slippery slope is alive and well in the USA. Freedom of religion is being turned to freedom from religion. People, including Senators, Representatives and Presidents of both parties quietly ignore the 4th amendment and allow the NSA to grossly overstep personal privacy while judges run wild overturning states' constitutions and voters' mandates on a daily basis. The 10th amendment seems to be forgotten or out of fashion.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars for history

3 out of 5 for a biography or personal interest piece. Dodd and his family are simply not that interesting.  It is Hitler and his group that grab your attention. The Dodds just remind you that it was Germany, not the world that was falling into madness. The world just fell into denial.

20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

Isaiah 5: 20-21

Good Morning Dad ...

Ever have one of those days that just starts out wrong?

Picture a normal day, get up, shower, shave, brush your teeth. Normal. What is that odd taste? Its not minty or fresh. My gums are going numb. This is not 'Sensodyne', the tube is the same size, it is the right place, it has the same flip top, it is 10% Cortisone cream. That wasn't in my medicine cabinet, really it wasn't, and the toothpaste is nowhere to be seen.

Yuck!

You can't tell me he didn't know exactly what he was doing, Down Syndrome, Autism, OCD my ass, he's been faking it for the last 21 years just to get me with this gag. And I do mean gag.  

Turning Money into Noise

I just spent two beautiful days in lovely Parump Nevada. For those of you who do not know Parump it is North West of Las Vegas. Imagine Vegas without any glamour or water and very few people. That is Parump. The main draw in Parump FrontSight shooting range. My brother Bob, his son Avery and I shot a two day course there this week. 

 Now before you put me in the box with all of the Preppers and Right Wing Nuts, let me just say that making things go boom is fun. Firecrackers, toy cannons, paper bags are nothing compared with a good .45 handgun. And if you think a .45 is fun, try a full auto machine gun! Yes, I did. I paid forty dollars to shoot one, count it one magazine of 9mm in an MP5. I still have that silly grin on my face. Really, the laws must be wrong when something that fun is illegal to buy. I would register my fingerprints, DNA and retinal scan to buy one of those. In fact I'd register my rectal scan to buy one. I know I would never need it, it would be like a Ferrari, but safer and one twentieth the cost. *sigh* Oh, well.

We finished the course in a shoot house. It is a scenario simulating a threat in your home. You take your position and pictures pop out (paper posters on frames). You have to decide to shoot or not shoot. In this case a wall fell open revealing a bad looking man with a big gun pointed at me while my instructor yelled insults to increase the stress, realism or fun, depending on your take. Something like, "YOU STUPID DOGFUNKED OYSTER SODDED MOTHERLESS STENCH WEASEL!" I may have forgotten the exact phrase, as I was busy drawing a gun and putting a single bullet right between his eyes. I actually hit the bridge of his nose. I was suppose to put a controlled pair of bullets into the center of the chest, but I was looking down the barrel of a really big gun. The nose seemed like a good idea at the time. 

The rest of the scenario went well, except when I ran out of bullets at the end facing a hostage situation. I pulled the trigger and no boom. A very loud silence indeed. A quick, or rather an emergency reload and another head shot and all was good in the world.

I have a stressful job, at times a stressful home with a special needs child. We all face money and health issues now and then. Odd that going somewhere and playing with the most stressful situations I can imaging could be so relaxing. I guess it like Halloween, a chance to face or even make fun of your fears in a safe way. I think the sudden rush of adrenalin, the quick excitement and the chance to learn and review is very different from the daily grind where as soon as I finish one challenge another takes its place. It was also fun to do something completely different. Basically, this is like golf with noise. Besides, I can hit the target with a gun, have you ever seen me golf, now that is scary and dangerous!

Bad Mother

You’re A Bad Mother!

We live in a very judgmental society and internet has made us more so. Sending a flaming condemnation about someone you don’t know is easily done with just a touch of a button. My niece Amy writes a blog about living in the country with a brood of children. Being a conscientious mother, and concerned with nutrition she whips up daily smoothies, and being human sometimes things go amiss, which makes one of the best stories ever! Go here to read it for yourself.  After posting her blog she got some very strong comments, on the order of “You are the worst mother ever.” Before we start throwing stones, consider, we are all bad parents.

If you work hard long hours to provide for your children then you are a bad mother because they really need your time, not the physical things.

If you spend all of your waking hours cooking and cleaning and caring for your children then you are a bad mother. How will they ever learn to do for themselves? Will they be momma’s boys and girls who expect everyone and everything to be focused on them? Will they still be living in your basement at age forty-two?

If you are a peacemaker and help your child resolve conflict or make sure everything is always fair in their dealings with friends and siblings then you are a bad mother as all of your hovering will never prepare them for a world that is unfair, has bullies, and cares as much about their feelings as a lion does about a zebra’s.

If you buy your children fun toys then you are spoiling them.

If you don’t buy your children fun toys then you are neglecting them.

You cannot win. We are all bad mothers and fathers. Just ask the kids, they will tell you.

My father was one of nine children raised by a stepmother. She was married to my grandfather for six months or so when he died, leaving her three months pregnant and with eight children. They lived in a two bedroom home with a converted “Sleeping Porch”. It was heated by a wood/coal burning stove in the kitchen. Oh, and it was in the Depression. He recalled at age twelve everything he owned he had bought himself with money he earned hoeing sugar beets. Was she a bad mother? Neglectful? Aunts and uncles probably thought so. They were willing to farm out the kids and provide for them. Eunice prayerfully considered the options and followed the spirit.  

We all make mistakes. Out of those mistakes our children learn. God is perfect. He has perfect genes, he lives in a perfect world, and 1/3 of his children rebelled. Eunice looks pretty good compared to that statistic. (Yes, did I just presume to judge God? I must be a bad mother, er father.) 

My mother had six children and, really, two lives. In one life she was fun, active, involved. And the other she was sick, tired, depressed and drug addicted. Oh, the addiction was for pain pills, they give you those when you have cancer. It killed her after a decade or so, the cancer, not the pills. I suppose there could have been better outcomes, but all of my siblings learned to wash dishes and clothes, clean bathrooms, mow lawns, make decisions, etc. She gave them the best she had and then some. 

Was she a bad mother? I hope so; it is easier to learn from other’s mistakes than from your own. I learned a healthy fear of pain meds. Last surgery I had, I used eight pills out of 30. Well done, Mom. Your example saved me. I learned there are times not to drive but just hand over the keys. I learned to do the damn dishes, even when it is not my turn. I learned hundreds of other little things from my mother's failures. I also learned from her successes, but the failures make better stories.

Mom would not have thought she was a good mother. She died when I was twenty-four. I’m sure she felt her work was half done. She was wrong. She did a great job and left the rest for us to do. If you are not a success at twenty-one perhaps it is your parents’ fault. If you are not a success at forty-two you have only yourself to blame. I try not to judge, but I still do. I try to remember the Savior telling us “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” I tell myself I can’t judge others: it took us six years to potty train my son, I've watched a waffle iron fall on my daughter's head and I once tossed a folded up tent at her head. I've seen  my son put his hand into the lawnmower I was running. I have been lucky enough to have only funny stories to tell instead of tragedies to mourn. I’ll take the failures and the successes with thanks to God for the chance to play the game. 

Books for Binge-ers: Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

If you have ever wondered what the Lord meant when he said:

In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—

Read this book. 350 pages of business history mixed with nutritional science makes a great read. If you wonder why processed foods are so bad and getting worse, if you want to know why many Americans drink more soda than water, if you want to know why turned from the kitchen to the drive through, this book has the answers. 

I must admit an admiration to the men and women who have worked so hard to sell so much crap to so many. They are brilliant, and many refuse to eat the very foods they pioneered. My favorite story was the man who perfected Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. When he last tried his old favorite, years after retirement, he called the hot line to complain, "What the hell did you do to it!" Seems they took the cheese out. True story, read the ingredients, no cheese. They are allowed to label it Cheese because they put in all of the ingredients  of cheese, powdered whey, milk solids, etc.  Hmmmmmm, that sounds great!

I give it 5 stars if you are interested in nutrition, business or on a diet.

Oh, I'm down from 296 lbs to 275. Looking forward to that day when I will only be 233, at which point I will be Overweight instead of Obese! My long term goal is 195. They high end of Normal.

Next book will be "The Power of Habbit".

Ray Cope and Family: Head Gaskets and Hernias

Ray Cope and Family: Head Gaskets and Hernias