A little help earning the I-Pod...

Before I begin this post I wanted to plug my I-Pod one more time. I know it has been up there for some time and I want to thank all the people who have signed up through my referral link. However I am still 2 people shy of earning the I-Pod even though I have had 10 people sign up, only 3 have completed their offers. I know, the links are ubiquitous and everyone wants you to sign up for theirs.

So let me tell you why I would like to have you sign up for mine. I am basically homebound due to my disabilities and I spend a good portion of the day with my toddler and pre-teen sons watching or listening to their shows/music. I do not own a walkman or any other compact music device as my medical bills leave very little money for me to be able to afford the extras like that so that leaves the radio in the living room. However once we have finally gotten the boys down for the evening listening to music is pretty much out of the question lest I wake the boys up from the sound. Having something like an I-Pod would be wonderful. I could put all my CD's onto it and listen with headphones while reading a book or just vegging in the chair and not worry about having to wake the rest of the house while I am relaxing for an hour.

So, if there are 2 kind souls out there who would be willing to sign up for something, say like the Blockbuster online video rental, it would make me a very happy person.

I have had a slight headache for most of the day but it never really got as bad as they normally do. I am hoping that it is because the Inderal is working. If this is as bad as they will get then I am going to be one happy camper. Obviously no headache at all is what I would prefer but this is not so bad. I did take the midrin this evening as I was afraid that trying to get some sleep this evening would be difficult even with just a slight one.

I am feeling fairly good this evening and my wife has 2 days off in a row which is a rare thing indeed. Of course that means when the rain lets up and the satellite dish is working again (they suck in the rain) we can watch the shield. Until that happens the boys are up stair destroying the place, my wife is reading a magazine on the couch next to me and I am obviously wasting time online.

I was trying to play a game called Hapland 2 on Addictinggames.com but it can be somewhat frustrating as you have to figure out the sequence of movements of all the objects to get open the portal and I guess move to another level or win the game. So far I still suck at it.

So after all that crap with my ex-wife and my sons summer visit she finally sent me an email the other day saying they would be here on the 4th.

Well this evening she calls and tries to pull some shit out of her ass. She said that her husband was willing to meet me halfway, tomorrow. Like usual she likes to pull crap like this at the last minute and has no regard for anyone else's plans as long as she gets her way. Like usual she is trying to get everything her way and it does not matter who gets screwed over in the process.

The funny thing is that the other day I told her I refused to discuss this by email and if she wished to talk about it then she would have to call me. So she calls me at 6pm on the night before decides is the one she wants to pick him up. Then she wonders why people have a problem with the way she does things.

Long story short, before the conversation was over my son walked in to the room and told her that he did not want to leave before the 4th. Ironically in an email the other day my former wife told me that the day my son would start making his own decisions was coming and she could not wait. I wonder if she still feels that way tonight?

Memorial Day

I can never quite find the words to express how I feel on Memorial Day but I read something today that I thought summed up some of those feelings and I need to share it with those of you who stop by here.

Subject: WWII Heroes

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WW II MOVIE STARS
Hope you find this as informative as I did, be sure to scroll to the bottom.

In contrast to the ideals, opinions and feelings of today's "Hollywonk" the real actors of yester-year loved the United States.

They had both class and integrity. With the advent of World War II many of our actors went to fight rather than stand and rant against this country we all love.

They gave up their wealth, position and fame to become service men & women, many as simple "enlisted men".

This page lists but a few, but from this group of only 18 men came over 70 medals in honor of their valor, spanning from Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Distinguish Service Cross', Purple Hearts and one Congressional Medal of Honor.

So remember; while the "Entertainers of 2004" have been in all of the news media lately I would like to remind the people of what the entertainers of 1943 were doing, (61 years ago).

Most of these brave men have since passed on.


Real Hollywood Heros

Alec Guinness (Star Wars) operated a British Royal Navy landing craft on
D-Day.

James Doohan ("Scotty" on Star Trek) landed in Normandy with the U. S.
Army on D-Day.

Donald Pleasance (The Great Escape) really was an R. A. F. pilot who was shot down, held prisoner and tortured by the Germans.

David Niven was a Sandhurst graduate and Lt. Colonel of the British Commandos in Normandy.

James Stewart Entered the Army Air Force as a private and worked his way to the rank of Colonel.

During World War II, Stewart served as a bomber pilot, his service record crediting him with leading more than 20 missions over Germany, and taking part in hundreds of air strikes during his tour of duty.

Stewart earned the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, France's Croix de Guerre, and 7 Battle Stars during World War II.

In peace time, Stewart continued to be an active member of the Air Force as a reservist, reaching the rank of Brigadier General before retiring in the late 1950s.

Clark Gable (Mega-Movie Star when war broke out) Although he was beyond the draft age at the time the U.S. entered WW II, Clark Gable enlisted as a private in the AAF on Aug. 12, 1942 at Los Angeles.

He attended the Officers' CandidateSchool at Miami Beach, Fla. and graduated as a second lieutenant on Oct. 28, 1942.

He then attended aerial gunnery school and in Feb. 1943 he was assigned to the 351st Bomb Group at Polebrook where flew operational missions over Europe in B-17s.

Capt. Gable returned to the U.S. in Oct. 1943 and was relieved from active duty as a major on Jun. 12, 1944 at his own request, since he was over-age for combat.

Charlton Heston was an Army Air Corps Sergeant in Kodiak.

Earnest Borgnine was a U. S. Navy Gunners Mate 1935-1945.

Charles Durning was a U. S. Army Ranger at Normandy earning a Silver Star and awarded the Purple Heart.

Charles Bronson was a tail gunner in the Army Air Corps, more specifically on B-29s in the 20th Air Force out of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.

George C. Scott was a decorated U. S. Marine.

Eddie Albert (Green Acres TV) was awarded a Bronze Star for his heroic action as a U. S. Naval officer aiding Marines at the horrific battle on the island of Tarawa in the Pacific Nov. 1943.

Brian Keith served as a U.S. Marine rear gunner in several actions against the Japanese on Rabal in the Pacific.

Lee Marvin was a U.S. Marine on Saipan during the Marianas campaign when he was wounded earning the Purple Heart.

John Russell: In 1942, he enlisted in the Marine Corps where he received a battlefield commission and was wounded and highly decorated for valor at Guadalcanal.

Robert Ryan was a U. S. Marine who served with the O. S. S. in Yugoslavia.

Tyrone Power (an established movie star when Pearl Harbor was bombed) joined the U.S. Marines, was a pilot flying supplies into, and wounded Marines out of, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Audie Murphy, little 5'5" tall 110 pound guy from Texas who played cowboy parts?
Most Decorated serviceman of WWII and earned: Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, 2 Silver Star Medals, Legion of Merit, 2 Bronze Star Medals with "V", 2 Purple Hearts, U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, 2 Distinguished Unit Emblems, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Silver Star, Four Bronze Service Stars (representing nine campaigns) and one Bronze Arrowhead (representing assault landing at Sicily and Southern France) World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar, Expert Badge with Bayonet Bar, French Fourragere in Colors of the Croix de Guerre, French Legion of Honor, Grade of Chevalier, French Croix de Guerre With Silver Star, French Croix de Guerre with Palm, Medal of Liberated France, Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 Palm.

So how do you feel the real heroes of the silver screen acted when compared to the hollywonks today who spray out anti-American drivel as they bite the hand that feeds them? Can you imagine these stars of yester-year saying they hate our flag, making anti-war speeches, marching in anti-American parades and saying they hate our president?

I thought not, neither did I!

I feel quite bad this evening. Today we were supposed to head to my parents house for an afternoon of relaxing but last night I was having some problems with spasms and decided I should not drive that far. Normally this would not be a big deal but this is one of those times my medical condition really pisses me off. I called my dad this morning and let him know that I was not comfortable making the drive and he was understanding. I have never had to cancel family plans because of my back but then again I usually have someone to drive me.

Well this evening, right after dinner time my dad called me to check up on how I was doing. Generally when he knows I am not feeling well he will make sure to call me a time or two during the day to make sure I am ok, and I figured this was no different. As soon as I answered the phone though my entire family was on the speaker phone singing Happy Birthday. Ok, yesterday was my little brothers birthday so I joined in thinking this was for him, except it was for both of us.

While my birthday is still a week and change away they had apparently planned this evening as a birthday party for both of us since we are hardly all together at one time any more. While no one told me that was what tonight was for I guess I should have had some clue. They had cake and all the trimmings for us and I blew it.

I am seriously hating this crap and the fact that it is starting to interfere more and more with my life. I understand that I am stuck with it and my wife and I have done our best to make sure it does not affect everyone else, but that apparently is going to pot and that bothers me.

I did go looking at canes this week. I stopped at several Home Health Stores thinking they would have a great selection and they do, if you want to spend $100 or more. Even with my insurance company picking up some of the cost of a cane it can still be expensive and I was left wondering how can I justify spending that kind of money on myself when my sons need shorts and sneakers for the summer. I can still get away with grabbing a cart and using that in the stores for now and then we were in CVS yesterday. Back by the pharmacy counter they had a row of canes and while some of them were expensive, they were not as bad as the specialty stores. My wife and I dug through the rack and found one that is just my size and fits my price range of super cheap, $13.99 US dollars.

The futures so bright I gotta wear shades...

Since I have started taking the Inderal I am having some trouble with bright lights. It is almost as if I am reading everything on pure white paper and my eyes will not focus. I have been having to wear my sunglasses when I normally would not have to and that sucks, have you ever tried to watch TV with sunglasses on?

It does not seem to be listed as one of the side effects on the inderal but I have found it as one on several generic "Beta Blocker" sites and Inderal is a beta blocker. Right now it is not something I am going to worry about provided it does not get worse.

I look forward to the day they figure something out for those of us with arachnoiditis and other similar CNS inuries. Not having to take a pill for this, that and the other thing is something I look forward too, as I am sure my family does.

I just found out that a very good friend was seriously wounded while he was in Iraq. Apparently he was driving down a road in the Baghdad area and his vehicle was hit by an IED which blew his vehicle in to the air. Had he not been in an armored HMMWV and had his driver not reacted the way he did it is possible that my friend would have been killed rather then wounded.

He has been home from Iraq for a few months now and tonight was the first chance I had to stop and talk for more then 5 minutes. It was nice to sit on his porch and just talk for awhile, something we had not done in 3 years or so. When I was running the brewery he used to come in all the time since he worked next door and we would sit and have a pint or two and shoot the breeze.

I am glad that he did make it home but at the same time I am very saddened by the fact that many of my brothers and sisters will not be coming home.

Just another day...

Not much going on today. Since the oldest is done with school for the year there was no running to and from school or trying to schedule appointments between those times. I am looking forward to a summer of relaxing and not having to be on a schedule.

Today was one of those rare days where the back has been ok. So far only one episode of breakthrough pain but then again today is the day we upped the primary pain meds from 60mg a day to 80mg so I am sure that had something to do with it. Of course that also means I need to get used to the new dose as it made me very tired. Right after taking it I was ready to go back to bed and sleep the day away, so I did.

Doctors visit...

My visit to the doctor today went VERY WELL!!!

We talked about how I have been feeling and then discussed what might be causing some of the problems. When you are working with pain management you really need to go for the whole person concept meaning that other forces can affect your pain level, things like personal, financial, mental health and so on. Obviously outside stresses can have an effect on the pain level so helping to keep them all in check can really be a big help. Some problems such as financial ones cause stress and that can be treated with anti-depressants and when you feel more comfortable and relaxed you are better able to control your pain. You also might find that with the drugs your ability to think and reason are a bit clearer in regards to the outside problem causing the stress, allowing you to find a solution.

Anyway, we talked about my sleeping problem and I told him that I thought the pain was the biggest factor in not sleeping well. I have the lidocaine patches but was told to wear them for only 12 hours at a time but finding the right 12 hours has been difficult. He told me to go ahead and wear it for 18 hours and put it on an hour or so prior to racking out. The issue before was that if I wore it at night I would sleep better but without the patch during the day there is no way I would be able to keep up with the boys. Since I can now wear it for another 6 hours we kill 2 birds with 1 stone. If I put it on right before bed time (10ish) I can wear it until 4pm the next day. That gets me through both of the tough times when I really need it so I am happy about that.

We also upped the dose of my primary pain killer. While the dose is doubled he did reduce the number of times a day I will take it. I was on 60mg a day before with 3 pills but now it will be 80mg a day with 2 pills, so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

We also talked about my headaches and the fact that Relpax is $5 per pill, way more then I can really afford right now (that's about $150-275 per month depending on the headaches). He was not sure about what else he might have for me but then decided to put me on Inderal which is a beta blocker but also has great migraine fighting ability and he also filled a prescription for Midrin, which I have had before, for the headaches. I was even happier when I filled them both for $20, rather then $40 per 8 pills like before.

As I was leaving the office I saw a flyer for a pain management study they are conducting on Fentanyl. The drug is already approved for use in humans but they are working on a new delivery method and that means they need FDA approval. The study will provide me with the medication for the pain as well as $50 per visit (16 total visits over 1 year) and a chance to really be part of something that is very worthwhile. I am also glad that since they will be providing the meds for the pain (this study is for breakthrough pain) I will be able to save about $60 a month on the meds I am currently using for breakthrough. Edit: The drug I will be testing is an oral form of Fentanyl which as I understand it is widely used in Duragesic patches.

I hate arachnoiditis...

I did not feel like doing that much today and that is exactly what I did. This is one of those days where I truly hate having arachnoiditis. Nothing especially went wrong and the day was not so bad but every now and then I just get tired of being in pain. The look in peoples faces as they wonder why this otherwise perfectly healthy looking 30 something is hobbling through the parking lot and aisles of the stores. Somedays it just sucks, thankfully those days are not often. Maybe I should fly to Canada and go fishing with Leo for an afternoon.

My back and foot have been burning for some time and I really did not feel like doing much. I did however traipse through the grocery store since we needed to go shopping, all the cupboards were bare and I had been out of Smore's Pop-Tarts for 3 days. Thankfully the store was not full and I did not have to watch out for all the silver haired daredevils. You know the ones who believe that since they are older then dirt they automatically have the right of way. We made our trip as quick as possible and were home in time for lunch and the youngest's nap.

I spent some time in the chair just vegging since my back was screaming "I hate you" since early this morning. I figure it is due in part to the horrible sleep I have been getting. Between my own problem sleeping and my youngest one snapping awake at 3am I did not get much sleep so on top of the back I was a walking zombie for most of the day.

We also got rid of the dog tonight. We adopted him several months ago and would love to keep him but he also has a problem with being alone. If we left him alone for even just 20 minutes he would tear the house apart and when we are home he would take food off the counters, tear the upstairs apart and generally just act like a pain in the butt. We had adopted the dog as part of a rescue, since all our animals are rescues, we were able to get him back to the rescue where they will work on getting him a new home. They at least now know he is not a single pet, he needs to have a companion with him or they will have some issues.

Sorry to see him go but I cannot afford for him to keep tearing stuff apart. Today was the final straw as while we were shopping he not only tore into the trash and dragged it all over the house he also destroyed my youngest sons wooden stacking blocks that we had to special order. The dog actually had to go in to the closet and take them out to chew on them so it was not like we left one out and he got to it.

My back is killing me right now, throbbing and there is no position that really seems comfortable. Maybe it is my being so tired that is affecting it so I am going to turn out the lights, open a window since it is so cool outside and then just veg out for the evening.

I do have a doctors appointment tomorrow so I will have to make sure I get my list together to discuss with him. Hopefully he will be able to give me something for those odd nights when I cannot sleep.

That's a load off...

I just got back from picking up the car from the repair shop and have to say that I am happy to have one less thing to worry about right now.

The car looks good and seemed to drive well but it will take me a few days to get the feel for it again. They had to replace all the tires which saved me about $750 as they would have had to been replaced in the next year anyway, and they also had to replace the rear window. Apparently the seal was damaged and it is not something that can be replaced without doing the whole window. So for a $50 gasket they had to put in a $665 window.

Anyway, it is back and it is nice to know that my insurance company supplies a lifetime warranty on all the repairs made since we used their preferred auto body shop. The shop that did the work as well as the company that did the paint job supply a limited warranty (3 years) on the work they have done.

After 3 weeks of dealing with the insurance company it is nice to finally have the bulk of the problem taken care of. Now all I have to do is get them to replce the car seat that was damaged and we are good to go.

Found another one...

Well I have stumbled on to Blogger living with arachnoiditis. I have not had a chance to go through all the postings on the blog though so I will have to post a part II later on this evening once I have had a chance.

Back is a bit stiff...

The numbness in my toes and leg has returned this week and my lower back has been having spasms all week. I know this is just the normal cycle of having arachnoiditis, some days are good and some days are not but I have been learning to adjust with the pain.

I see the doctor later this week and I really do need to find out about having my meds adjusted to meet the pain. It has been that way for some time but the last time I got to the doctors office I saw the nurse practitioner instead and I was not comfortable asking for an increase in the dose with her. My thoughts were that since this was the first time seeing her I did not want her to think I was trying to "score" some meds. I know, I have a legitimate need and prescription for the meds but that is always on your mind when you are talking with medical professionals about the meds I am on.

Getting up in the morning is a bit tougher then I was hoping it would be as the summer rolls in on us. I am not sure if it is the osteoarthritis or the arachnoiditis. The only way to describe it is being very stiff, almost as if your muscles have atrophied while you were sleeping and you cannot straighten your body out when you stand up. Eventually you can but it does take some time, which for me can be 2-3 hours normally and on bad days it can mean dinner time. I have been looking into using a heating pad but a few of the books I am reading contradict. I just added that to the list of things I need to speak with the doctor about. Who knows, maybe he will say a soak in the hot tub will be good. Then I can get my insurance company to help me get one!!!

Extreme Home Makeover does it right, again.

I love this show. In a time when most shows are about people who already have, wanting more. It is all about how much you can get for the least amount of your efforts.

Well with Extreme Home Makeover they don't do that. They only build homes for those who truly need it, those who have been hit hardest by life and can really use the help. It is truly amazing what they have done for the families they have helped over the few years and tonight is no different.

At the very start of the war in Iraq we lost a convoy of soldiers from a maintenance company. Included in that convoy were among others, Lori Piestewa, Jessica Lynch and Patrick Miller. We all heard the story of Jessica Lynch and her daring rescue by the men of the US Special Operations Command but we hear very little of Lori Piestewa.

Tonight's episode is about the family of Lori Piestewa. The 2 children she left behind and her mom and dad struggling to take care of them. The folks at Extreme Home Makeover are building the family a house to make sure they have a place to raise the kids and that is always a great thing.

If you have not watched this show I highly suggest it. I would also say that for those who did not know, Sears is a great company and they donate a ton of stuff for this show. Tonight they are donating all kinds of clothes, furniture, appliances and so on to the families of the reservation where Lori Piestewa was from in addition to all the items they will donate each week to the families of the makeover. Sears is also one of the VERY FEW companies that offers full salary and benefits to it's citizen soldiers.

We all know that right now many of the people called to active duty to fight the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are reservist or national guardsman. That means they are not full time soldiers, they are trained in their jobs but they only work for the military 2 days a month and 2 weeks in the summer (at a minimum) unless they are called to active duty. Many of them take a big pay cut when that happens and very few of their employers help them make the difference in their salaries and benefits up. Sears is not one of those companies and they make sure that any of their employees who are called to active duty have the difference in their salaries taken care of by Sears. That is simply outstanding and if you believe in supporting the troops that means Sears is a great place to start.

So why do former spouses have to be such a pain in the ass? I have told the stories about my former wife and her failure to pay her child support, for the better part of 2 years, so I finally had to contact the state and have them go after her. She has filed her taxes using our son as a dependent when that was clearly not allowed by the divorce decree and then there is all the other crap she does.

Her latest antic, and it happens every time a visit is about to happen, is to try and get our son to come out to see her before his scheduled visit. Since we live a good distance from each other there is no weekend visit and instead we go for alternating Christmas/Thanksgiving and she has him from Jun 1- Aug 1 each summer. When she had custody it was just the reverse, with my having the summer and she would try to delay my visits and then cut them short.

This year she is trying to pick up our son on the last day of school which is a good week before the Jun 1 pickup day. Now in the past I have been flexible on the dates due to travel plans, family issues or any other legitimate reason. For some reason this year she is trying to claim that we told her this would be ok when in fact we told her there was no way it would work. Of course, she tries to be the bully and this time went so far as to call my wife a liar.

She tries crap like this all the time and then of course tries to place the blame on anyone but herself, the same way it has been for the 13 years I have known her. Of course that explains why she is on her fourth (we can count 3 for sure and believe the boyfriend between #2 & 4 was actually her husband) husband in 10 years. Why can't she just stop the bullshit and be a decent person?

The good news is that the day my wife and I have been waiting for came today. My son is getting to the point in his life where he is developing good friends and he want to go hang out with them in his free time. You know, do what pre-teens do like go to the movies or go bowling. He is at that age where a lot of "school" activities are occurring in the summer and he is missing out on them. He is also missing out on the sports that he wants to play since they run in to the summer months and past the day he is supposed to leave.

When he found out that his mother wanted to pick him up before the 1st he called her and told her no way (and I have the legal ability to stop her from doing so but my hope is to not have to do that) because he has some plans for the next week after school. Apparently he has been invited to several "school's out parties" as well as his best friends birthday party next week and he very much wants to go. I am very proud of him for making this decision and then standing up for himself and his decisions. Now I have not talked to his mother yet and I am sure she will accuse me of being the "mastermind" for this but hey, that's just too bad for her.

Of course through all her smugness and acting like a complete bitch to me I have kept one thing a secret from my son, and it is something I do not plan on telling him. It is something that is always on my mind when she calls me and tries her standard crap about visitation and that is the fact that I have custody of our son because she did not want him anymore.

It was the summer he turned 4 and I had just driven him back to her house in Texas. We were not back home but a few days when she called and told me that I needed to come back and get him. I do not recall her giving me any reason that I would consider honest but my wife and I were in the car that night and driving the 14 hours to get him. She claimed it was because she was divorcing husband #2 (the guy she was screwing around on me with) yet she did not give him custody of their little girl. That's right, she divorced husband #2 (she was already dating and moving in with the guy she was cheating on #2 with and it was the guy we believe was #3), kept the daughter and took off. Ironically I recall a conversation we had when we first were married regarding kids and how all she wanted was a little girl. Funny how that worked out. She kept the little girl but not the son.

My son is a great kid. He is your typical pre-teen going through puberty who finds school boring (too smart for his on good), girls are starting to be noticed, sports are something he wants to do, showering has become a daily thing and without having to be reminded. Of course my mother and father had to remind me it is very similar to the same crap I pulled at that point in my life. Now if we could just get him to pay better attention and turn in assignments we would be ecstatic.

I have always prayed for my ex-wife. I pray that someday she realizes she is hurting not only herself but all those people who love and care for her. That her constant bullying of her family, the lying, cheating and all the other antics are not setting a good example for her children. Maybe someday...

Summer time, children and safety precautions...

With the summer time quickly approaching that means it is time for the kids to spend their summer in the swimming pool, skateboarding, rollerblading and riding bicycles. All of them are fairly innocuous events and should not be cause for alarm for the parents. Provided you prepare your children for the activities and ensure that they are wearing the proper size and rated safety gear.

Times have changed since we were all kids, diving in to the shallow end of the pool, riding a bike on the dirt track with no gear, rollerskating with no helmets and do on. It is not that our parents did not care, it was that we did not really know better and if we did there certainly was not the gear available like it is today. I could not fathom letting my sons ride their bikes or go blading without at a minimum a helmet on.

It only takes a few minutes to strap on the gear and go and unlike problems in the past of being "thought a geek" by those not wearing safety gear, the bulk of the kids are wearing it. It is not expensive in comparison to the potential medical bills or sadly in some cases, a funeral and the life time of pain over the preventable loss of a child.

Any reputable sporting good store should have a staff willing to help you find the proper size for your children. Do not buy from places like Wal-Mart, K-Mart or similar discount stores. They tend to sell inferior products and they will not assist you in sizing your child properly, which is important. Having your kid wearing too small or big of a helmet can be as bad if not worse then no helmet at all.

The quality of the gear at discount stores also leaves something to be desired. For a few dollars more you can go to places like Dick's Sporting Goods or Big 5 where they will have a selection of the best gear and even their lower end products will be far superior to those of discount chains. You should also remember they make their names on the quality of what they sell and their services. Selling inferior gear that results in injuries due to shoddy craftsmanship is not something they want, they cannot afford it. While discount stores make their name on the quantity and low prices of what they sell. Since they sell so many different items a few faulty helmets is not going to set them back like it would a sporting good store.

Allowing your children to run and play is fine but for a few extra dollars and a bit more attention from Mom & Dad you can make sure that both the kids and your summer is the best one possible. Being able to minimize the risk of injuries is always a good thing.

Have a safe and happy summer.

Statistics Here

Injuries are a major source of childhood emergency department and hospital admissions. Accident statistics from the National Safety Council, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and other sources tell us that:

* Injury is the leading cause of death in children and young adults. In 2001, 5,526 children died from unintentional injuries.

* Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injury for children. Children ages 14 and under account for one-third of all fall-related visits to hospital emergency rooms.

* In 2002, nearly 300,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in the US for bicycle-related injuries. Nearly half (47 percent) of children ages 14 and under hospitalized for bicycle-related injuries are diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

* Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages one to 14. The majority of drownings and near-drownings occur in residential swimming pools and in open water sites. However, children can drown in as little as one inch of water.

* Airway obstruction injury is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among infants under age one.

* Approximately 45 percent of unintentional injury deaths occurred in and around the home. Unintentional home injury deaths to children are caused primarily by fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, firearms, falls, choking and poisoning.

The only way I would like to see Jar-Jar Binks...

Thankfully his presence in the series has not totally ruined it but Jar-Jar is without a doubt one of the worst characters ever introduced. My wife and are anxiously waiting for the crowds to die down before we head to see the new Star Wars but it seems like just yesterday my parents let me go see the first one. It has been long enough ago that my son is older then I was when I went to see it.

Anyway, here is how I want to see Jar-Jar

Another sleepless night...

I slept horribly last night. The first time in a while now where the back, legs and everything else that hurts were working in concert to just make it a tough night.

We moved upstairs to lay in bed and watch the idiot box at which time I was fine. After The Shield was over I decided to see how the search and rescue was going on this weeks The Deadliest Catch. About 20 minutes into watching my left foot started to throb and it moved up the leg and in to the back and once that started I was done for. Within an hour it was also affecting my arms and shoulders causing my fingers to go numb and vibrate. I tried several things to help alleviate the pain but after an hour of trying I gave up and headed downstairs for the recliner. After all, nothing better then surfing the web at 3am to pass the time.



I did find something rather humorous a friend posted on a board I belong to so I thought I would share the laughs. I warn you though the one about the dolphins still has me chuckling this morning. Of course, I could just be "punch drunk" from the lack of sleep.

Kids say the funniest things

A number of elementary schools were doing a project on the ocean. The children were asked to draw pictures or write about their experiences. Teachers got together to compare the results and put together some of the comments.

This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly age 6)

Oysters' balls are called pearls. (James age 6)

If you are surrounded by sea you are an Island. If you don't have sea all around you, you are incontinent. (Wayne age 7)

I think sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She's not my friend no more. (Kylie age 6)

A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of it's head. (Billy age 6)

My uncle goes out in his boat with pots, and comes back with crabs. (Millie age 6)

When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes, when the wind didn't blow, the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would be better off eating beans. (William age 7)

I like mermaids. They are beautiful, and I like their shiny tails. How do mermaids get pregnant? (Helen age 7)

I'm not going to write about the sea. My baby brother is always screaming and being sick, my Dad keeps shouting at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write. (Amy age 8)

Some fish are dangerous. Jelly fish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves into chargers. (Christopher age 7)

When you go swimming in the sea, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin age 6)

When me and Sarah went to the sea side in the summer holidays, we hid in the sand dunes and watched my big sister doing it with her boy friend. It was fun. (Lauren age 7)

When I grow up, I want to be captain of a big ship, and have lots of sailors. (Valerie age 6)

Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Two divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on each other. (Becky age 8)

On holiday my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it again because water shot up her fanny. (Julie age 7)

Mango Chutney, Spicy Chicken and The Shield...

Not much going on today. Seems like the day went flying by and now it is time to sit down and relax. I did get in some research and some reading and hopefully in the next day or so I should have some interesting stuff to post on pain management.

My evening is all planned, The Shield is on after a 2 week break, which drove me nuts! I do not watch a lot of TV, or at least I do not have a ton of shows I like to watch, but The Shield is one of those I do and I have not missed an episode since the first season. Hopefully they keep up the good work and put out a great show.

I did cook dinner this evening. I made a mango chutney and some roasted carrots to go along with my wild mushroom and saffron risotto. I also made some chicken on the grill that I had marinated with a touch of red wine vinegar (about 1tsp), some olive oil (first cold pressing), a bit of salt, cracked black pepper and then 2 chopped japalenos. I used the boneless skinless tenders so they would quick quickly and still be juicy. Use to big a piece of meat and it can dry out and add to much vinegar, or another acid, and you can end up with something like ceviche, although that is done with fish.

Everything came out very good, although I would have liked it a bit better had the risotto been a bit more done. I undercooked it a bit as trying to get everything done at the same time was somewhat of a juggling act and I pulled the rice early. Other then the risotto being a tad firm everything else was as I planned. The chutney with the carrots was awesome, the sweetness of the mango and the carrots worked really well with the acidity of the red wine vinegar and the marinade on the chicken was for lack of a better word, zesty.

To do all the cooking though I set up my wireless speakers in the kitchen, grabbed my new Time and Newsweek, turned on the evening news and sat back to watch my creations bubble to life. I only wish I could cook like I use to. Spending that much time in the kitchen hurts. All the back and forth and motions of cooking take their toll quickly.

The back has been the same old thing. Nothing super new on that front, it hurts and the meds make it feel a bit better. My youngest though is starting to understand that something is wrong with my back and if I grunt or groan for some reason, like mis-stepping or having to lift something, he rubs my back and says "hurts", like he is asking me if I am ok.

Insurance claims...

Well we got some good news today, their insurance has decided to pay the claim. They called me this morning to tell us they would and to get all the information to continue with the process.

Funny thing is that it took them 15 days to decide this, which is no big deal. However the guy I spoke with asked me where we would like to tow the car to and did we need a rental car and so on. I guess he could hear my chuckling and asked what was funny. It was actually kind of sad that they thought I would allow the car to sit around without being worked on for that long or that we would not have acquired a rental in the meantime.

I did ask why it took so long for the owner to call them and was further shocked to find out that they still have not spoken to the owner or the driver. I can only assume that my persistence in maintaining contact with the company, sending them all the copies of the police reports as soon as they were available as well as having video and pictures of the whole accident scene made them understand that in the end they were going to be paying this claim whether they cared to or not. We also found through a title search that the girl driving the car is indeed on the title of the car. So no matter if she was on the insurance or not she had permission to drive the car, which was their biggest sore spot.

Torture appointment?

I had my appointment with the Social Security doctor this morning. The letter I received informing me of the place and date also said that I should expect 2-3 hours for the visit so I figured they would be doing x-rays, CT scans, MRI's and every thing else under the sun, even though I have already had them done.

I was shocked when that is not what happened. I got there at the proper time, signed in and was relieved to see that there was only 1 person in the waiting room. I got there as early as I could as I feared this would be one of those places where everyone is given the same appointment time and then you are taken in to see the doc in the order you arrived. I signed in and was taken right back for vitals and a history and then led to a room where they gave me a cheap paper gown and asked me to change.

When they gave me the gown I was convinced this was going to be a long morning and it might even include the finger wave, which is just not fun at all. After giving me the "gown" the nurse left the room and it was then that I realized, THERE WAS NOTHING TO READ in the room. I actual think I started to panic a bit because no magazines is a sure sign of a long assed wait.

Like usual, my magazine corollary, which clearly states that the wait time in any doctors office is inverse to the number of good magazines available, was proven true once again. I found out why the letter they sent told me to expect 2-3 hours, it was all in the exam room waiting to see the doctor.

I can only guess they have a camera or something to watch you while you are in there, writhing in pain and reading everything you can get your hands on, including the BMI chart, the prostate cancer handbook and the back of the soap bottle. After 10 minutes in the chair and being uncomfortable I moved to the little "exam bed" where I tried to lay down. However squeezing 6' of me on to 4' of bed was no small task and by now since I had proven my magazine corollary to be accurate once again, I tried to take a nap.

I awoke to the door opening and the doctor coming in and the torture began. I did not realize I was seeing an orthopedic doctor and he certainly seemed to think that I was more flexible then a newborn baby because he tried to move me in ways I did not even think one could move. I guess the look on my face and the blood curdling screams were not an indication of the pain to him, unless he thought he could get more out of me and I was just faking it. When he tired to get me to stand on my toes I told him that I could not the look on his face was priceless. When he realized I was not joking it changed back to one of bewilderment.

All in all it was actually a quick visit. After all the waiting, although the nap was nice, the doctor spent about 5 minutes with me before sending me home. Now it is a waiting game for the social security folks to do their part and see what we get.

Who's on first?

I have been a bit busy this morning and had to run all the way down to my doctors office to pick up a refill for my pain meds. I did not know the DEA had imposed a new rule on re-fills where you can no longer just run in and grab the prescription and go fill it, no matter that I had seen the doctor just 2 weeks ago. The DEA requires that you see the doctor/nurse and they take vitals on you as well the doctors office changed their procedures and they now require that you have an "appointment" to do this.

Well no one told me anything about it the last time I saw the doctors so I just cruised in to the office. Not knowing I had to see the nurse I could not figure out what was going on and so I kept trying to explain to them that I was just there to pick up my prescription. Every time I would say that she would tell me I needed an appointment I would explain that I did see the nurse practitioner but she told me since I was not out of meds I could not have the refill until this week and that all I was there for was to pick it up. I also let her know that the nurse had already filled out the prescription and it was in my medical records. After 3 minutes of Laurel & Hardey routines she finally realized that since this is a brand new regulation, no one had told me of the change. So it took an extra few minutes to see the nurse and I was out of there.

Another near miss...

And yet another interesting day in the plains. About the time we were putting the youngest down for a noon nap my back started acting funny. A sharp shooting pain as well as throbbing in the lower back and down the leg. I have had both symptoms before but not this bad and not at the same time.

About 2 hours later I found out why, that little rain storm they called for turned in to one of the worst storms we have had this year. Baseball sized hail in the towns around us, golf ball sized in my town, about 3-4" of rain came down quickly flooding out the streets and a small tornado developed just about 1 mile north of us and touched down on the other side of the river and moved off to the north.

Something funny about storms like this, relatives you have not heard from in sometime call because they heard about it on The Weather Channel and they were worried. I do however like to call my parents during these storms as they live just about 30 minutes south of me and the difference in weather can be amazing. This time of the year we get hit hard with rain, hail and tornados while they get some rain and a bit of hail but it just does not seem to be as intense as here. The winter is the opposite, we will get a light dusting and they have 4" of snow.

Anyway, living in the plains states certainly makes for interesting afternoons. They always say, "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute" and it is pretty much true. However, the cost of living here and the friendliness of the people cannot be beat with a stick so I think we will stick around for a bit.

Well here is a picture of the custard topped with the homemade caramel for those asking. I know it is not "pretty" but it sure does taste good!!!

Teaching our children the wrong history...

When large networks decide that they want to "teach" our children history and then they do it any old way they please we have an obligation to make sure they know about their errors. Nickelodeon would be one of those networks, and worse is that they are specifically geared towards children.

I saw the segment in question and thankfully was able to educate my son to the truth. The piece alluded to the Texas war for independence was fought over only slavery. That the people who died at the Alamo did so only to keep Texas a slave territory of Mexico. While slavery may have been in issue during the Texas war for independence, it was not at all a primary issue as the spot would have us believe. If you want to teach our children history then teach them all of it. How difficult would it have been to add something to the spot telling the children that while slavery was an issue, it was not the only one?

When are we going to put our feet down and make sure that we do not allow companies to teach revisionist history, in any manner. Our children need to know the truth about our history, not the sugar coated version and not versions that only give half truths.

Story here

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The latest shots in the Battle of the Alamo are being aimed at an unlikely target -- the children's cable TV network Nickelodeon.
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Keepers of the Texas independence shrine in downtown San Antonio are outraged by a Nickelodeon short that said the 1836 battle there was fought so "white farmers could keep their slaves."

"I think it's a shame that anybody would take that approach," said David Stewart, director of the Alamo. "I think it's an insult to the Mexicans, the Tejanos, who fought for freedom and liberty in the Alamo as part of the defenders. It kind of slaps them in the face to claim that was the reason the battle took place."

The 50-second-long piece, part of a running series of Nickelodeon shorts called "My Back Yard," says the dispute over slavery between white settlers and the Mexican government "led up" to the battle.

Despite being warned by respected historian R. Bruce Winders that the description was simplistic and inaccurate, the network ran the piece.

"We recognize that there were several key issues in the Battle of the Alamo and one of them was slavery," said Mark Lyons, a senior producer for Nick News at Lucky Duck Productions in New York, which contracts for the Viacom Inc.-owned network.

Texas declared independence in 1836 when Mexico's leader, Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, revoked the existing constitution that allowed white settlement of the nation's northernmost province.

"The slavery issue was a factor but not the main one," Winders wrote Nickelodeon prior to the piece airing. "The revolt in Texas started as an effort to restore the Federal Republic under the (Mexican) constitution of 1824, but quickly evolved into a separatist movement."

About 200 Texan fighters held off thousands of Mexico troops for 13 days until Santa Anna finally crushed them on March 6, 1836. However, the siege gave other Texas units a chance to move east and gather for an ultimately pivotal battle near Houston in April 1836 that secured Texas independence.

Now the Alamo is Texas' top tourist attraction and one of the most recognizable U.S. landmarks.

The piece ran for about two weeks on Nickelodeon and is not expected to be aired again, Lyons said.

Hearing news like this just breaks my heart. What kind of monster does something like this to defenseless kids.

I pray that they are resting peacefully.

Story here

ZION, Ill. - Two second-grade girls who disappeared while riding bikes together were found dead Monday, both stabbed multiple times and left to die off a bicycle path in a park, authorities said.
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A resident walking through a wooded nature area in the park discovered the bodies of best friends Laura Hobbs, 8, and Krystal Tobias, 9, at dawn.

"This is a heinous crime. It was a crime not only against those kids but against all of us," Police Chief Doug Malcolm said.

The parents of one of the girls had reported her missing about 8:50 p.m. Sunday, about two hours after she was expected home, Malcolm said. The parents of the other girl called shortly afterward, and authorities with rescue dogs began searching.

Malcolm said no weapons were found and there was no evidence of sexual assault. A girl's bicycle was found nearby. He said police had not identified any suspects and that there were "no solid leads that we're focusing on."

The killings stunned this town about 45 miles north of Chicago, prompting police and school officials to escort children directly onto buses at the end of the school day. Dozens of anxious parents waited until their children emerged from the front doors of the school, then put their arms around their kids or clutched their hands as they walked to their cars.

Fifteen-year-old Albert Tobias said he didn't know why someone would want to attack his sister. "But I would like to know what happened," he said in a brief telephone interview.

Constance Collins, superintendent of the Zion Elementary School District 6, said the girls were in the same second-grade class at Beulah Park Elementary School.

"They were best friends," said Laura Unrein, who lives near the park. "When one left, the other left. They were always together."

"They were very sweet girls," said Julie Dobnikar, who teaches second grade at the school. Dobnikar added that the girls' teacher is "very distraught right now."

School was in session Monday, and social workers and a crisis intervention team were called in to help the students.

Jeanette Ortiz said she is worried because her 11-year-old son plays and rides his bike in the same park. She came to the school to pick him up.

"I'm going to have to tell him that he needs to be careful no matter where he goes," she said.

Unrein said the area where the girls' bodies were found is well-known in the community as a place to avoid.

"There have been incidents of kids beating up people and taking their wallets and park rangers have had to shoo people out of there for hunting illegally," she said. "My husband and I don't go down there any more because you hear the stories."

The park where the girls were found has a paved bike path, a ravine and trails made by mountain bikes. Police tape cordoned off the area.

Zion, along Lake Michigan, was founded in 1901 by a religious faith healer as a utopian community. It has about 22,000 residents but retains a quiet, at times rural feel despite being on the edge of both the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas.

Homemade caramel for the homemade custard...

The custard is fabulous but very rich compared to ice cream. Without adding any extras it tastes just as a fine custard should, almost reminding me of my YaYa's rice pudding when I was a child.

The first batch is soft, almost silky, and I made the big mistake of giving myself the same 2 big scoops I would if it were ice cream and halfway through the second scoop I had to stop as it was so rich. I re-calculated and this batch should last much longer then I thought.

I also made a few test batched of caramel this evening trying some different brown sugars as well as different amounts of it and cream to get the right consistency. Some more work over the next few weeks and we should have a dead ringer for my favorite places. A nice thick caramel, not so sweet it over powers the custard and it has to be somewhat thick so it "hangs" in the custard when we use the stick blender to mix it.

I will get some pictures tomorrow as I did not even think about it until after we were all done. The good news is that my 11 year old was loving it. Before this we had custard maybe once or twice a month but now we can have a scoop whenever, which he was just tickled about.

Potty training...

Since my son is almost 2 1/2 we have been working on potty training him. Getting him to get to the potty is not difficult, it is getting him to the potty before he goes to the bathroom that is proving to be the task.

He knows what it is for and he will go sit on it and occasionally will even let us know he has to go, so we are close. Sometimes though he is a bit late in the notification and you have to check him before you go through the motions. Well checking is a simple pulling out the waistband from the rear while asking, "did you go poo-poo?" Simple enough and it helps him understand that when he feels that way it is time to use the bathroom.

The last few days though have been funny. He keeps walking up to my oldest son and my wife, pulling back the waistband on their pants and asking them, "did you go poo-poo?" The first time he did it was obviously the funniest, we were all just sitting around in the living room when he walked up to my wife and did that. Now we have a rule, we are not supposed to laugh when he does something like this, it only encourages him to do it even more. This time however I about fell out of the chair. It was not just what he said, but how he said it.

He is a constant source of entertainment with his antics. He constantly mimics everything, so I have had to tone down my language a bit as a 2 year old running around screaming "damnit" is not as funny to some people as you would think.

He loves Go Baby and the second he hears the music will come running to watch it. He has to do EVERYTHING the baby does, regardless of who he might be trampling on when he does it. Like a minute ago when it came on TV. He was sitting on the couch next to Mom and at the beginning of the clip the baby stands up and raises one leg and then switches, raising the other. Of course that means he has to do it as well and anyone who has ever stood on a couch, especially an older one, knows that it is not a stable platform. My poor wife's head and neck were supporting him as he danced about for the minute or so the clip was on. Wobbling back and forth with each dancing move he made. I guess it would not have been so bad had she been awake when it started but oh well, you should no better then to fall asleep with a toddle sitting in your lap!

He is now watching Spongebob, so she should be safe for a bit.

I hate blogger!

Is anyone else having trouble trying to publish through blogger this morning?

Ice cream and frozen custard...

I figure since I am in a "food mood" today I would go out and find an inexpensive ice cream machine so I could make some frozen custard. We have a few local places that make good custard, one that makes great custard but a trip for the family can easily be $20 so we have to limit it to once a month, if that. There has to be a way to make it and save money and a good start was finding a 1 US Gallon machine that was under $25. After that the ingredients will be the only expense and that will vary from batch to batch. I made a batch tonight and it was about $8 to make 1.5 US Gallons.

Making the custard is the easy part and something I have been doing for other deserts along the way, so it is not something new to learn. A few small changes to the ingredients to get a creamier flavor from it but that's about all. I also found a few different recipes to try so we can find the best one and so far it looks to be less then $10 or less per 1 gallon batch with the exception of 1 recipe which is close to $25 and requires 3 quarts of heavy whipping cream. I might try to make that one once and unless it knocks my socks off and is light years ahead of the others it will most likely not be done again.

I also though that we would make a tray of brownies and some caramel so we could make concretes out of the custard when it is done. If I can get a good caramel recipe down, a handful of pretzels is all I need and I won't ever need to go back to my favorite custard shop. I was also thinking of using different extracts, other then vanilla, like Rum to flavor each batch a bit different. Since a batch is so big, at least 1 US gallon, that is more then enough to last all of us a week if we eat it each night so maybe 2 batches a month and I can do that on a Sunday easily.

Right now the first batch is cooling in the fridge for about 4 hours before I put it in the ice cream machine and from there it is about 25-40 minutes until we have what is hopefully a good batch of frozen custard. I will get some pictures when it is all done as well as some tasting notes. Wish us luck!

A passion for cooking...

I have long been a fan of Iron Chef and before that other cooking shows like Ming Tsai's East Meets West, The Galloping Gourmet and so on. Something about cooking that I really love and for many years I actually dreamed of going to Culinary Institute of America. In fact when I was working for Harrah's Casino as a craps and poker dealer I became good friends with the executive chef who was a CIA grad. We talked about my becoming an apprentice to him, spending a couple of years in the kitchen training and then going to the CIA, perhaps on the companies dime. Unfortunately the position was one that did not pay well enough and I had a family that I could not support on that small pay. The hours involved would have precluded me finding a second job so I had to reluctantly pass on the chance.

My family later owned a Bed & Breakfast. My father, an outstanding cook, installed a complete industrial kitchen and you could always find me at their house drooling over the stove and giving them a hand with the day to day operations of the Bed & Breakfast as well as the restaurant side of the house where we served an open lunch and a by reservation only dinner. It was a ton of fun but when my parents retired, they sold the house. I loved that kitchen but it was working in that kitchen that showed me it is not the equipment, it is the cook.

I still love to cook and wish I could do it more often. I like to think of myself as someone who cooks in the tradition of "Iron Chef" although without the competition. I pick a main ingredient and build around that. While I do not include it in all the dishes I do try to make sure that each dish has something tying it to the rest of them. I believe that you should be able to move from one dish to the next without thinking you're eating the same thing all over again.

Most of all I find comfort not only in cooking but in the food itself. Making something that can please you, relax you, is awesome. There is not much better in the world then eating food that is not good, but spectacular. The subtle%

Still working on some issues with the car and the insurance but it is coming along. I stopped by the repair shop today and signed the power of attorney and the work order for them to start. The power of attorney is for them to cash the checks from he insurance company since they will come to them in both mine and their name. Rather then having to run down there each time they get a check this makes it easier.

I was raised to try and find the good in each situation. Admittedly this has been a tough one to try and apply the rule to but I have done so nonetheless. A few weeks before this happened my wife and I were discussing having some work done on the car. We have had it for 3 years so the brakes needed some work, the tires were probably within 15K miles of having to be replaced, a lube job and some other small things we were discussing. Nothing major but they would have to be addressed by Christmas time.

Well by applying the good to the bad we find that we are getting 3 out of 4 tired replaced. I will pay for the 4th just to have 4 new ones at the same time. Instead of spending $600 on tires it will be $98, which means more good news. I am only paying the dealer rate for the tire, not the resale rate. We are also getting new brakes in the rear as well as a ton of new suspension parts. I will call them on Monday and ask if they can just go ahead and do the front brakes while they are at it. They should just need to turn the rotors on the lathe and change the pads so it should not be to expensive.

I also found out that when all the parts are replaced, which are way more then I can list in this post, they are going to re-paint the car as well as apply a new clear coat to it. The list of replacement parts is amazing as they have pieces on there that I did not even realize had been damaged. However, since I am not a certified mechanic or mechanically inclined for that matter I defer to those who are. If they say it has to go, then it goes.

While talking with the owner of the body shop he said they were shooting for the 20th to have the car done but a more realistic timeline will be the last week of the month. I told him that since we have the rental car and are getting things taken care of I am in no rush and that they should take their time to make sure the job is done properly.

And all was right with the world...

I did not sleep so well last night but my wife, the greatest wife there is, did not wake me up when it was time to take my son to school. Usually her waking up means the baby is up as well and instead of having to get him ready to go out one of us stays with him while the other (usually her) takes the oldest to school.

A nice relaxing day, the way all days should be! Since the Tea store is only open Wednesday through Saturday I have had to sit tight until 10am this morning. Yes, one of the problems of living in a small town, very few specialty shops and I am not driving the 45 miles to the other tea shop. Anyway, I bought my Oolong and my wife bought a few green teas for herself, including one called something like "Long Island Blend" or along those lines. It has a very nice strawberry smell to it and while I do not drink fruity teas, smelling this one gave me a craving for strawberries.

Since I was now in the mood for strawberries we had to hit the grocery store where we bought a ton of fruit and veggies. Seems like they were all on sale so I left with 2 huge flats of strawberries, or 8lbs, for $10. I also picked up some very nice cucumbers, plum tomatoes, which were also on sale for 2lbs for $4, vidalia onions which are very sweet onions, some honeydew melon which were .99¢ a piece and some very nice mangos which were .50¢ a piece. There were some other fruits and veggies in there but these were all on sale well below their normal prices. Mangos are generally $2 a piece and honeydews are $1.49 regular with a good melon being 3-4lbs. I also grabbed some angle food cake because the moron dog ate the one I got yesterday and a Bavarian Sponge cake so I can make desert this week.

I can hardly wait until the farmers market opens for the season, which should be by the end of this month. There is a lady who has some of the best herbs and spices, organically grown, and for a good price. There is also a local honey producer who has a few varieties but his wildflower honey is some of the sweetest I have ever tasted and at $1.25 a pound it is dirt cheap.

After doing some shopping we came home and just flaked out to The Incredibles, since my son has lost interest in Monsters Inc. and made some roast beef sandwiches for lunch. The next thing I knew is it was 15:30 and my youngest was giving me kisses and asking me to get up and play. I love it when he wakes me up like that.

I know, we did not do much today but I got out of the house and walk around like the doc told me too. I was a bit sore from cruising up and down the aisles at the store and by the time we were done I felt like sitting in the cart, but I figured I would probably crush the eggs.

Early morning pain and police reports...

Waking up has been very difficult in the morning. Even wearing the Lidoderm to sleep and taking the meds I am still quite sore and stiff in the morning. Last night I forgot to put the heat on and it got down to 65 in the house and while I enjoy a cool night where I can pull out the down comforter it was torture getting out of bed.

I stopped by the Police Dept. this morning and got a certified copy of the accident report. I then called their insurance company and for the first time in 3 days I figured out their disconnect. They thought that the guy who owns the car was driving. They had no clue someone else was, even though I kept mentioning it. So I faxed them a copy of the report and got them moving along.

We also got to trade in the little Cavalier for a Nissan Altima. Boy this car is roomy, plenty of space for the family and the car seat my sister gave me, a Britax, and it fits quite nicely in the back leaving plenty of room for our oldest soon too.

Then I got a call from the company working on the estimate for the Taurus and it looks like they will be able to fix it. I was happy to hear that as we like the car. It has a lot going for it, including it is a comfortable car for all of us, it has the space we need, we have less the 24 payments left on it and in 3 years we have put a bit less then 36K miles on the car. It is well taken care of and should last us a good 4 or 5 years after we pay it off before hitting 100K miles. By then our oldest will want something to drive.

Headaches & nothing to do...

A monster headache this afternoon. I am sure it is from all the stress of the last few days and I seriously considered going to the ER but instead we called to see if I had a refill left on the Relpax, which I did. Since I have not been able to see the doc about the Toradol this is going to have to do.

The pharmacy had some in stock and since this is not something they have to count manually, they come pre-packaged so they just need to slap the prescription label on it and go. I was not looking forward to hanging out in the ER getting stuck with IV's, especially since Law & Order and then The Shield are on this evening.

The meds are working quickly and I am feeling much better right now. The wanting to throw up had passed and I am able to sit here without the room spinning, which is always a good thing. It has been awhile since I have had one as bad as this but like I said, I am sure the stress from the last few days helped it along.

Well things are getting worked out, we have a rental car to drive and my father brought up the baby seat from my sister. Right now it is a Chevy Cavalier but they are going to upgrade the car tonight to a Stratus and the good news is that they were running a special. Since we had to use our insurance company we had a $20 a day limit and the rental comes in at $19 a day.

We also had the car towed to our insurance companies auto repair contractor. Without even having the car on a lift to see the suspension damage and without removing any of the outer parts to really see what is going on, the damage is sitting at $4000 US. My guess is they will have to total it because if the body alone is that much I cannot even guess how much a bent axle and all the suspension parts will add to it.

The guy who owns the car is not returning the phone call from his own insurance company and he has not filed a claim for the damage to his car. They are also having trouble getting the girl who was driving to return their call as well when they were able to get in touch with the mother of the girl she claims that she has no idea what they are talking about. Guess I am going to have to send a copy of the police report to her mom!

The guys insurance company is being a royal pain in the ass, that's ok. We have the video and police reports so in the end they will be paying whether they like it or not. They are saying without talking to the driver of the car and the owner they cannot pay out. Ok, I can buy that. So I asked them what happens when they get a copy of the police report showing her fault? The lady told me that since the girl is not listed as a driver on the insurance, and without knowing she had permission they cannot pay out. Hahahaha...

I figured that if they do not contact the insurance by the end of the week and seeing how the girl is not listed on the insurance but was the driver I will go over to small claims court and file a suit against her and her parents, since she is a minor in this state they are legally responsible for her actions. My guess is that should get the ball rolling faster.

Turns out the girl was driving someone else's car and is not on their insurance. While my agent is on the ball and trying to get their insurance to pony up I decided I was not even going to wait for them to play their stupid game and spoke with an attorney. Since she was driving someone else's car it can get messy when the insurance companies come in to play. I called theirs this morning to get some information on where to get a rental and I was told that they are basically not going to be paying for anything, right now. Screw that, some moron driving someone else's car hits me and I hold the short end of the stick? Not happening. I did that last year when the neighbors tree did all that damage.

No, this time they have until 9am tomorrow morning to get me squared away and then I sue her as well as the guy who owns the car and let them worry for a bit.

While these pictures do not really show the real damage, they should give you an idea of how hard she hit us. The car was moved 7.5 feet from where it was parked, it looks as if the frame and both axles have been bent as well as all the other cosmetic damage.

Our claims adjuster has already called us and started what he can on a Sunday. Since it is going to take some for the police report to be filed and ready for them there was not much he could do. Since the officer did not give me any of her information I could not really be of much help right now, but then I remembered that I filmed the scene and purposely got her tag numbers. The adjuster said he could use that to get some things started and I sent him the 17 pictures so he could see what he was dealing with.

We have full coverage as well as rental coverage so he is working on getting us a rental while they figure out what is going to happen to ours.

I hate stupid teenagers!

So I am upstairs with my son watching a movie while the other one is taking a nap when there is a loud crashing noise, like someone dropped an A/C unit off the roof. I head down to check it out and as I get to the bottom of the stairs my doorbell is ringing. I open it to find my neighbor and as I look out over her shoulder there sits my family's car. Totaled.

Some peeheaded teenage bimbo driving too fast and not paying attention rear ended our car which was parked in the same spot it has been for over 3 years without a problem. She hit it hard enough to destroy the whole rear end, bend the axle and break the front windshield. She tried to play it off by telling the police officer that she sneezed and jerked the steering wheel, but I find that hard to freaking believe. It's probably more like she reached down for the cell phone or was too busy yacking on the stupid thing.

While I am standing there and talking to my wife about this, our only family car, the girl butts in and starts swearing at us and telling us "I said I was sorry" well, sorry just is not going to cut it sweetheart. Especially after telling us she is 18 and this is NOT her first accident she caused. She had an insurance card that had valid dates, but that remains to be seen. My wife worked in the rental business for 6 years and saw a lot of valid cards for cancelled policies.

Top it off the car seat for our son needs to be replaced. Industry standards call for the seats to be replaced after being involved in an accident, even if they were not occupied. Of course the kicker is the cop telling me that since no one witnessed the accident he cannot write her any tickets. No one saw the accident? How the hell would he know, he did not even question anyone. He was here long enough to get our info, write a brief report and sketch and then he took off. I would say less then 20 minutes for him on the scene and 18 of them in the car writing. I understand he is just doing his job but when there are 30 people standing around you would think he would ask someone if they saw it.

Then there is the lady from down the street who walks up on to my porch and as I am standing there talking to myself and trying to figure out what I want to do with this, like call my insurance company or lawyer first, she babbles on about something. I asked her to get the hell off my porch. I have no idea who she is and I certainly did not need her telling me how I should be handling this.

I am so damned frustrated right now. This dumb girl does not even understand that the damage she caused is going to put a very big strain on my family right now. After paying all the money we have for my medical bills, even with 100% insurance we are screwed right now. There is no way the car can be fixed and there is no way we can afford a new or even a used one right now.

This stupid girl was driving mommy & daddy's car. She is going to go home and cry, maybe be grounded from the car for a month and then go on fucking living like nothing ever happened. I have no way to get my son to and from school on the days my wife works, I have no way to get to my doctors appointments, no way to go grocery shopping or anything like that until this gets sorted out. She probably could care less as she worries about not being able to drive herself to the mall or where ever it is bimbo's hang out now.

My wife has called out insurance company, thankfully we have 100% coverage for something like this but of course no matter what we know get to pay more for our premiums. We have rental car coverage on the policy but I have no idea what kind or when or how we might get that since you have to have a credit card to do so and all ours went to medical bills and other things like house payments when we were both out of work.

Disclaimer- I know all teens are not like this girl. Her utter arrogance and verbal attack only shows that she is one of those teens who believes everything is someone elses fault and that the world owes them something.

Edit: I went out to look at it again and I realized that she moved the car more then I thought. From where the skid marks begin until where the wheels rest is 7.5 feet. Yea, she was doing 35.