My Favorite Links
In the case of a shared link
the name of the person who shared is included

Soon To Be Gone shared by Joe Plefke     

Orland Memorial Post 111 American Legion

St. Julie Billiart Church

 New   Strong National Museum of Play  New

      When Veterans Retire shared by Gail Blummer 

  Here we go again.  Another Saturday and this time two new Hurricanes.  Hanna has already made landfall in the Carolinas and residents of South Florida are filling sandbags in anticipation of the possible arrival of Ike, a hurricane which is being compared to the destructive force of the legendary Andrew.  With family in the Tampa area we are of course again on pins and needles.  I got myself upset this morning reading the blogs.  Unfortunately many are populated by those who are annoyed at the government for not "taking care" of them.  Of course those of us who disagree are cast as uncaring fools because we espouse a philosophy that you should do the best job you can to make the right choices.  Is it the right choice to purchase a house so far above your means that it requires both spouses to work to support the payment just because some greedy banker needed the commission.  I know, I just don't get, it in addition to struggling to meet my mortgage I would be expected to pay higher taxes to help pay yours.  What is fair about that?  Even John Kennedy realized that you can not tax your way to prosperity.  The first thing he proposed after  taking office was a tax cut.  Somehow since then we have developed a habit of looking to Washington to take care of us lest we be required to accept responsibility for our choices. In recent days, polls have shown that maybe more and more people "get it" that a high tax take care of everyone socialist government does not work and that veiled in all the "hope" and "change" is nothing of substance except higher taxes.  Today was the CLRC picnic.  My leg was uncomfortable so I opted not to go.

 

    Sunday we were able to hear another of Father Artur's simple but wonderful homilies, before returning for breakfast at home.  It was the opening Sunday of the NFL season so you can guess what we did. The big shock of the Sunday was the Bear's win in Indianapolis Sunday night.  Even in an unscientific poll on WGN found that more than 50% of the respondents (yours truly included) thought that the team is not as good as they appeared.
    Now is the time.  It was Monday September 8th and the day of my long dreaded medical procedure. Waiting is hard enough but the appointment was for 1PM allowing plenty of time to think.  Mary drove me to the doctor's office.  We left a bit after noon, stopped at an ATM and arrived at 12:45.  I was welcomed, Mary and I signed some papers and then sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes. The only excuse, not an apology was that they needed to set up.  What a joke, you have a procedure scheduled for !PM and that is when you start to set up.  I taught at Moraine Valley for 21 years and in the Air Force for about 10 years. Not once did I start a class about 30-45 minutes late because I needed to prepare.  We actually started the procedure at about 1:40PM and I was out just about three with as my friend calls it the infernal device better known as a catheter.  Wednesday I will have the catheter removed at 8:30 AM.

    Tuesday I awoke late having gotten up only once during the night to service the device. I am currently watching the CUBS and Cardinals in a 3-3 tie. Among other things to keep occupied I checked on my 5 fantasy football teams (I got carried away) and found I had won three of my five games.  Not much else happening. Some people probably handle it better but the catheter is annoying. One more day and it will be removed. My friend Don said that one of the annoyances was figuring out how to lay in bed.  aif you get tired enough sleep is easy although with a bit of trepidation.
    It is Wednesday or liberation day (removal of the infernal device) at 8:30.  As I arrived home from the doctor's office I immediately grabbed the coffee and made the first cup since Sunday.  The post-op instructions  called for a 4 to twelve week recovery.  They also called for abstinence from caffeine in any form.  Imagine my relief when the nurse laughed at my comment that without my coffee someone could die.  She said I could go ahead and have my coffee.  With a bit of difficulty I was able to tell her later that the plumbing appeared to be working.

   This morning Mary went off to a gathering of the former Curves girls.  It was a reunion of the girls who gathered  three, four and sometimes 5 days a week at the Curves on 159th in Orland Hills.  To make it easy, the organizer set up the first meeting at the McDonalds near the old Curves.  I guess it will be a regular thing they have a follow-up on Oct 9th.  Mary said the organizer was thrilled each time one of the friends arrived.  Twelve people respond to the twenty-eight invitations she sent.  Not a bad turnout.
   It is Friday again, time for another Legion Coffee.  There is still a bit of discomfort from the prostate procedure but it seems to be waning a bit each day.  Now it is just a waiting game.  The urologist suggested I wait six weeks until the hip surgery.  That brings me to the week of October 20.  The usual recovery rehab time is 4-6 weeks.  From Oct 20 there is a bit over 5 weeks until Thanksgiving when we hope to be in Florida.  I have a Thursday appointment with the surgeon to see if it is possible.  When I talked to his scheduler last week she said that the scenario is that if the doctor is happy after 4-6 weeks that I should expect a follow-up in about 6 months.  This would enable us to go to Florida for Thanks giving and say the winter.   Since my mobility is somewhat limited I have had a lot of time to listen to the partisan bickering that both candidates have promised to end.  Seems like Obama, running thin on his phony message of hope has decided instead to embark on the politics of personal destruction which they are expert at having learned from Slick Willie and decry that the Republicans are doing to them.  I managed to see a bit of the Charlie Gibson interviews with Sarah Palin.  In Gibson's defense (because I usually respect his journalism) he appeared to be a stooge asking the questions that the spin masters and his bosses wanted answered.  He even did this to the point of misquoting Palin. She had made reference to a quote from Abraham Lincoln about being on God's side and mentioned that Lincoln had said that it was not important that God was on our side but that we were on his.  Can you imagine that in this country that someone''s  relationship with God would be questioned, while another's relationship with a racist preacher and a confessed and unremorseful domestic terrorist would go unchallenged.  It continues on as the democratic political hacks are all over Alaska (someone suggested they were air dropped in) trying to get something that will stick to derail her candidacy.  The dummycrats, as my sister calls them are the ones who don't get it while the Messiah looks down his nose and suggests that McCain is out of touch.  How elitist.  One of the other questions was "are you ready to become President (did anyone ask Obama?).  When she immediately answered yes it was suggested she could have thought a while and her immediate answer showed she had been prepped.  This from the campaign of a guy who refuses open town hall meetings because his handlers know he has got NOTHING.  It is the second job interview and the American people are smarter than the elite Democrats and the media give us credit for being, and like the job interviewer we have realized that the resume before us is B.S.  The last thing I saw today was another shot at ageism, from the people who gave us all our discrimination and inclusion laws.  In a veiled age discrimination comment the Obama camp called attention to the fact that McCain does not get computers and can't send an email. They also pointed out that McCain still does not understand the economy.  Who does, certainly not Obama who keeps trying to convince us that his tax increases will not affect the middle class.  Any Econ 101 student knows the effect on the total economy of tax increases especially on business where any added expense is passed to the consumer.  That is why there is a cabinet of advisors.  The president of the widget factory does not need  to BE ABLE TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT widgets, HE JUST NEEDS TO SURROUND HIMSELF WITH PEOPLE THAT DO. The prime example was Reagan who pulled us out of an economic malaise left by Carter. My friend Don says while he is really worried about this election he doesn't see it as the end of the world as some have suggested.  I hope he is right but the fact is it will change the world as we know it as we apologize to the world for being who we are.  For those who whined that our rights were being abridged by the Bush Administration which is what the newspapers told them, you ain't seen nothing yet.  The left is all about control and laws limiting what you can do.  The fact that we made it through other less than stellar administrations means nothing here.  This man is backed by foreign money, against our election laws but do you think they care.  In addition, he is additionally backed by all the Hollywood rehab dwellers who make obscene salaries people who dwell on what people like Clooney, Damon, Pitt and company think.  Maybe Pogo was right--we have met the enemy and it is us.  Enough ranting for one week.  If I do schedule the surgery for the week of Oct 20 then I must remember to vote early.