What's that strange buzzing?

My left foot and leg are buzzing again today. They started doing it mid-afternoon yesterday but it was so slight that it was not really bothering me. This morning it is more like a heavy vibrating almost like an electrical current running up and down my leg. While it is not painful it is annoying and nothing I do seems to alleviate the symptoms once they start making it diffilcult to walk (why I walk with the cane).

Hopefully someone reading this knows what it is called and might share it with us. I did find some information on something called tibial nerve dysfunction which after reading about does sound possible. I know that I have done some damage to the sciatic nerve and damage to this nerve could explain the drop foot but this is something I would have to really ask the docs about I am sure. Just something else to add to my ever growing list of annoying questions for the doctors.

I have been tagged again...

Well Saija has tagged me to name 5 things I miss from childhood.


1- I miss all the extra curricular activities I was involved in like Boy Scouts, soccer and being an altar boy. My father was involved with the boy scout troop so I got to spend a ton of time with him as a kid. Probably more then I wanted to at the time but looking back on it maybe not enough as I should have. Hitting boy scout camp at Yawgoo Scout Camp in Rhode Island with Jimmy Marshall (Rest In Peace Brother!) and blowing the entire time in the lake rather then earning merit badges (Ooops!). When we were not in scout camp we spent the summer playing in soccer tournaments all over Long Island.

2- I miss hanging out at Phelps Lane pool. Growing up on Long Island in the 70's & 80's meant no air conditioning. If you wanted to stay cool during the day it meant you played in the sprinkler, hit the beach or went to the community pool. The beach was ok now and then but generally they were too busy and you had to deal with all the freaking sand. We would get all the kids together (my brother and sister) and then my buddy T.C. and bike on over to the pool.

3- I miss serving all the weddings at church. This one is kind of greedy though as generally the best man would tip the altar boys $10-20. If you were in Fathers good graces and did not skip your weekly assignments (Altar boys served every mass, every day so you might end up at church more then a few times a week) then you might get 2-3 weddings on the weekend. That meant money to hit Whelans drug store for a bunch of junk and then go to the movies for the day or perhaps over to Massapequa mall to hit the arcade.

4- Chasing down the ice cream man for a sno-cone and some baseball cards and then flipping for cards with my buddies.

5- The innocence of childhood. Where you biggest worry was what games you might be playing the next day and your biggest fear was being grounded for a week. Spending all that time grounded (which was a ton for me) reading everything the library had by the time I was 15 or so. Nothing better then a great book to keep you company!

Just some off the top of my head. I actually think about these kinds of things often as I have 2 kids, both boys. I try to make sure that my kids will have similar memories when the grow up. I want my kids to be just that, kids.

I guess I am now supposed to tag 5 people for this so lets start with Bridget at Seeking Sanity as I owe her from the last time. Then we have to get Raya Sunshine just because we can. Perhaps Gimpy Rick would like to join in one the fun too. Kelly over at ::blogging: mccord style:: and Mare over at Fiberlicious.

Correcting the internet...

I slept most of the day away. I feel bad though as it is my wife's only day off this week and that meant she ended up having to take care of our youngest all day. I hate for her to have limited time off and then have to spend it watching him and taking care of me, who is still sick with strep. While I have not gone to the doctor for anti-biotics it has been tolerable thanks to the pain meds for the back.

I decided to stop by Wikipedia today to see what they had on arachnoiditis. I was glad to see that they had some information on it but I was shocked to see that they had it listed as NOT being progressive. I guess that is what you get though when Joe Q Public is allowed to edit any document on the site. It no longer has the error on there and I added a link to the COFWA website. I understand errors are a way of life but to say that this disease is not progressive is mind boggling.

A little retro this morning...

I was listening to some songs over the internet while my son was coloring and when the song went off he came over demanding that I turn the music back on. He then of course started telling me to dance with him.

Surprising is that I am listening to some old Metal this morning, just one of those moods, and that is what he wants me playing. I switched it to something more "appropriate" for him but he wanted nothing to do with that. I even tried to switch it to something a little lighter but that was a no-go too. Nope, he wanted to listen to some old Motley Crüe and Cinderella. I was as shocked as most people to find that my 2 year old wants to listen to that. I figured he would be wanting me to throw on the ABC song, again and again and again...

A lazy day since my throat is killing me. I did get the kiddie pool inflated but I need to wait until mom gets home to take it out and fill it up. Someone disconnected the hose and dragged it into the back yard. That means I would need to leave him alone for a few minutes while I went to the front side of the house to hook the hose up and that's not going to happen. I also grabbed an old fitted sheet to spread across the top of the pool for the evening when he is not using in hopes of keeping all the leaves and as much other junk out as I can. If I can find the old grommet gun I will put a few around the edges so we can stake it down. I just don't want to have to empty it every other day to get all the crap out and no one likes a kiddie pool with all the dirt in the bottom.

I hate being sick...

Well this is most certainly strep and it now feels like someone has spent the evening jabbing knitting needles into my throat. Thankfully the pain meds for the back are making this tolerable because I do not want to sit in the doctors office during urgent care hours.

I always thought it was kind of funny that when you are sick you cannot get a doctors appointment for at least 4 or 5 days, unless you are lucky. Waiting in the lobby where there are never enough chairs to sit down and the same magazines as the last time you were there, six months ago. What I really don't get is that a visit with the doctor lasts usually no more then what, 10 minutes and while only 3 people went in before you it still takes 2 hours before they call your name?

I am just going to sit home and tough this one out.

My wife's company is having one of their outings tonight and they are doing it at the local minor league baseball game. I don't think this team is in Triple (AAA) or even Double (AA) ball but rather one of the independent leagues. No matter, the field is brand new and tonight they are letting the kids onto the field after the game to run the bases. Not sure if we will stay that long though as my wife has to open the store tomorrow.

We have not been to a game at this field yet but this is only their second season being here. The entire area has just been built up although I must say I disapprove with the methods used to acquire the land, eminent domain. Basically they seized a ton of peoples property claiming it "was for the better of the community." They built a ton of restaurants and some large stores but best of all (I am being very facetious here) they put in a NASCAR track. Yippie! Now they are talking about putting in a casino, like the 8 we have within 1 hour of here weren't enough already.

I have some down with a case of strep throat this morning. No, I have not been to the doctor to verify it but I have had it so many times (I am a magnet) that I know what it feels and looks like. Usually it does not get too bad but this morning it sucks to even just drink water for my meds. I am hoping that the pain meds for the back will help with the throat too making it a bit easier to eat and drink.

Right now my son is insisting that I replay the Go Baby that I recorded on the TiVO. Have I mentioned that TiVO is the best thing since sliced bread, or at least it is in my opinion. I love being able to record my shows and then watch them when I want too. No more of this trying to get everyone in the house to settle down so you can watch a show, or having to deal with kids running and screaming through the room right at a critical point in the show. It is so nice to watch an entire show in peace!

Hit the old swimming hole...

We spent some time at my parents house last night and hit the pool for some swimming. I tried to use a second dressing over the lidoderm patch to keep it from becoming wet in the water but that worked for about 5 minutes. Looks like I will have to figure something else out for that or just leave the patches off while in the pool.

We did have a small problem with my son in the kiddie pool though. The bottom of the pool has a tile design on it which he slipped on and was not able to recover himself. Watching that made it very clear to me why you hear about children drowning in shallow water. He was not able to recover his footing but they are too light to hit the bottom where they might be able to do so, almost like they are "weightless" in the water. Of course the whole time they are frightened so they are sucking down water and that is a problem. Of course in our case it was only a second before we grabbed him and stood him up (this is why you watch your kids people!) and he started laughing. It did not phase him one bit.

Karma can be a pain in the ass...

I am feeling pretty good today. While I did not sleep well at all last night I was able to catch some sleep before my wife had to head in for work so I am all right. I ended up wide awake at 1am this morning and decided to move down to the recliner to get comfortable. I figured a 30 minute session online reading the early news and I would be back asleep. Somewhere around 6am I was still wide awake. I figure I jinxed myself at the doctors office. I told him about how well I have been sleeping as well I had also been "bragging" about it to my wife earlier in the day. Karma is a pain in the ass sometimes.

The back and leg have been acting up a bit today though. Nothing to worry about just a bit more pain then normal and the numbness in my foot is certainly more pronounced. I would put money on the lack of sleep though as a primary culprit there. I know when I am tired I tend to notice the pain more. It is one of the reasons people with chronic pain should make sure they are not only sleeping well but doing their best to reduce the other stresses in life. It is difficult, I know all too well, but it must be done. Keeping those outside influences in check will help keep the pain levels down as well as reduce the need for breakthrough pain meds.

Quick doctors visit this afternoon. The usual visit for a follow up and refills on the meds that need them but this time I remembered to ask about something for the constipation. One of the side effects of pain meds is constipation and while normally you can combat it by staying hydrated and taking something like senekot but then there are days where even that does not work.

My doc told me to grab some over the counter magnesium citrate for those days. I found it at Wal-Mart for about $1 a bottle where 1 bottle is a days dose and according to the label it has a "refreshing lemony flavor!" I had to chuckle though when I asked my doctor about how effective this might be and he told me they call it a 2 step dose. Basically after you take it you have about 2 steps to go before it might start working. Eek! Of course this is NOT something you should be taking every day. You should also know that abuse of laxatives can lead to serious health problems, including heart issues.

After the doctor visit we ran to the mall to get some pizza. This is the ONLY place in 125 sq miles that makes a real pie in my opinion. Being from Long Island I am very picky about pizza and Pizza Hut, Dominos and Papa Johns are not what I would call a real pie. The crust is crisp, chewy and thin, the way a pie should be and the cheese and sauce are perfectly blended to make you miss home. It is also well worth the money as a 16" pie with 4 drinks is $13 and enough to feed all of us.

We also made a quick trip to my folks house as we have not seen them in a few weeks. My son loves playing in their yard as he has room to run free and they have a ton of bushes and shrubs to play hide and seek with. They also have a huge patio and sidewalk chalk for the kids to play with and of course that is always a huge hit. Mom invited us down for Friday to come and go swimming and to spend the night if we wanted too but my wife has to work early on Saturday, so we will have to pass on the over nighter. To bad though because my dad always makes a kick ass breakfast.

Wanna watch Spongebob?

"What is something my wife asks my son at 4am" Alex?

That's right. Just in from closing the store, she goes through her evening routine of relaxing with a cup of tea and vegging on Yahoo! games for a bit before heading upstairs for bed.

Well this evening, or morning, she came upstairs and by the time she did our son (2 1/2) had climbed into bed with me. Of course the second his spidey senses noticed "mommy" in the room he was crawling across the bed to her to cuddle and sleep. What possessed her to do so I have no idea but she asked the above question to what she thought was a sleeping son. He popped right awake of course and now at 4:30 in the morning wants to watch Spongebob Squarepants. Of course her bright idea was to simply come downstairs and throw on the episode I recorded on TiVO but what she did not know was that daddy had already erased it last night prior to bed. He figured that somewhere between 9pm and 7am we would not be needing it so it was perfectly safe to go ahead and delete. By the time we would be back up and downstairs it would have recorded the next episode.

Anyone wanna guess whose fault it is that my son is up at 4:30 in the morning?

If you said hers you would be wrong...

Security breach at CVS?

This is not exactly what I would call a major breach of security but it is a nice reminder that not all your information is safe. Sure this was not information containing social security numbers it is nonetheless what I would consider sensitive information. Medical information is something that should be regarded as "close hold" and prescription services fall in to that category for me.

While somewhat out there how hard would it be for the local bad guys to patiently sift through accounts looking for the person on Oxycontin? Even if they only find a person a day or so that is enough info for them to make some money. They know your meds and can get your address, that's all they need.

Oxycontin sells on the street for between $1-2 per mg. which means a 30 day supply of 40mg pills has a street value of about $2400-4800 depending on location in the country. Not a bad haul for a few minutes work, and the people who would be looking for this stuff know exactly where most people might keep it. Hit a house or two a week and it can tally up to $250-500K a year, from swiping a bottle of pills.

Far fetched scheme? Sure, but not an unrealistic one. Most people who steal that information do not use it for themselves, they sell it to someone who can use it. Be careful of who and where you give your information too, it might seem innocuous but you just never know.

CVS Corp., the drugstore chain based in Woonsocket, R.I., shut down one of its Internet services after a privacy advocate discovered a security flaw that could leak embarrassing information about its customers.

''We kind of took advantage of a little security loophole they had on their website," said Katherine Albrecht, founder of Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering.

The CVS site included a feature for people whose employers offer ''flexible spending accounts." This benefit lets workers set aside some untaxed income to pay for special needs, including nonprescription pharmacy supplies. Workers must provide purchase data to their employers to be reimbursed.

To make the process easier, CVS let customers sign up for a service that would track all their purchases that were eligible for reimbursement. For each purchase, the customer would swipe a CVS ExtraCare card, which allowed CVS to track everything the customer bought. This information was stored in a database, and the customer could have a copy of the data sent to him via e-mail.

But Albrecht found she could access anybody's records by obtaining a CVS card number, the person's ZIP code, and the first three letters of his or her last name. Albrecht could then have the data sent to her own e-mail address. Since ExtraCare cards are often attached to key chains, Albrecht said, it would be easy for someone to steal a number.

Albrecht worked with others to test the system, and found she was able to identify when and where people bought such sensitive items as condoms and pregnancy test kits. ''CVS has got some very intimate information about their customers," Albrecht said.

CVS shut down the flexible spending system when informed of the security breach.

Eileen Howard Dunn, vice president of corporate communications, said CVS has issued about 50 million ExtraCare cards, but that only a small fraction of cardholders use the flexible spending account service. Dunn said the database did not include information that could be used in an identity theft, such as financial data or Social Security numbers.

She said there have been no reports that any data were stolen.

Dunn said the service will resume once the company upgrades its security procedures.

My first denial...

Well after hoping and praying I got my letter from Social Security today and was denied. Like I said, I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Their reason? I am not disabled enough! Oh, ok. As I have said before, not once during the process did I feel their doctors perform a complete assessment. The psych eval lasted less then 5 minutes as did the physical. Neither went far enough in depth to really assess my complete condition and perhaps that is done on purpose to go ahead an deny the application. I wonder how many people who are denied are told they are not disabled enough?

The good news is that the application was not denied for an application error, even though I did predict if I was denied that would be the primary reason. That means I completed everything properly and that should make the appeal process much easier if I am not fixing those mistakes, I can concentrate on the disability rather then technical errors. I did call and lookup a few lawyers in my area who deal with this and while I loathe having to pay someone 25% of the money I am entitled to I figure I would rather keep 75% then get nothing. We will keep you posted!

Mirror site...

Don't forget that this site is mirrored at http://ihavearachnoiditis.blogspot.com/

Since I have not renewed this domain (as of yet) it might not be here the next time you visit. If that is the case please use the above URL to visit me.

My son did finally get to call last night and we had a good conversation. He sounds like he is having a good time but at the same time he sounds like he is ready to come home. It also seems his mother has disabled long distance on their phone so that he had trouble calling out. However one of the things we had taught him some time ago was how to make a collect call and that is how he finally called last night.

I also plan on speaking with his mother today and asking why all of the sudden they have no long distance plan on the phone. That is unacceptable and also a violation of the custody agreement. Of course this is the kind of shit she pulls all the time so I am really not surprised.

Fathers Day...

Well it is not quite 8pm and no call from my son, which means his mother has made sure he can't use the phone. Like my birthday though my son suspected this might happen and wished me a Happy Fathers Day before he left. He is a great kid and I miss him but only another month and he will be back home.

Since we FINALLY spent my birthday money from my parents yesterday I used the stuff I bought to make us some lunch today. I was looking at some stuff for the computer but after DirecTV gave me the TiVO I decided to get something else but it needed to be something I would use more then a few times (I have a habit of buying games for the PS2 with gift money).

I was looking at a smoker but the one that I really liked was all sold out. I did find something that would work on my gas grill, a little smoker box that you can fill with the chips from your favorite wood. Place it on the lower rack in the grill and voila!

I also looked for a new grill (the actual grill you cook on) for mine as they had a ton of cast iron ones on sale. Of course my luck was in full effect and they were sold out of the size I needed for my grill and would not be re-stocking it this season. I decided though to not let that get me down and I bought a neat little 10" cast iron skillet for using on the gas grill. Since I have a glasstop electric stove I can't use one on it and have been dying for one. While looking at the grills it just hit me, I could use one on the outside grill so we took off on a quest to find one (ok, we went to another store since Home Depot does not have them).

I did grab a few other accessories like some wood chips, both hickory and mesquite, some new rocks for the grill (you should replace them every year!) and then we hit the grocery store to grab some stuff for lunch today.

I made a simple lunch, some steak which I marinated in my favorite Stout (that's a beer) which I prepped with a little cracked pepper, salt, Spike and some Canola oil. I let the steaks marinate for a few hours and then just let them go to Med Rare on the grill. For the veggies I made some yellow squash, zucchini and viadalia onions and coated them lightly with some oil, salt, cracked pepper and lime juice and then grilled them in the cast iron beside the steaks. Of course I had the smoker box going with some hickory in it and man it smelled (and tasted) kick ass.

I also broke out the sander I got for Christmas and finally sanded the 2 shelves for the bathroom. I figure after almost 6 months of just "hanging" there without any sanding or staining it was time to finish the project. Sanding them though really kicked my butt, which I did not expect. It only took me about 30 minutes or so for the 2 of them to be finished but that is more because I am anal when it comes to the finish on them as well as the edges which I wanted to round off a little. I used a fine grit paper to finish them and they came out nice and smooth and then I stained them using an English walnut stain.

Hopefully in the future when the funds are there I would really like to get some beadboard and finish the bathroom walls off and then change the vanity and light fixtures. I would like a stand alone sink, no counters or drawers and then just a simple light fixture like this. Not necessarily in that finish but I do like the brushed nickle look and with the beadboard I think it would look really good.

While we love the space our house offers but it looks like it was decorated by the Brady's (we actually have shag carpet throughout the entire upstairs that is like a burnt orange color, it matches the kitchen counter tops Bleeech....) and one of the things we planned on doing when we bought it was to change that. Of course my injuries prevented starting the work and then the money meant for redecorating went to medical bills. Someday though we will have the money to finish it off.

Oregon continues to issue medical marijuana cards...

I am glad to see Oregon is going to continue with their program. While I am not a "pot head", never used it either illegally or as a medical treatment, I do not believe the Federal Government has a dog in this fight and that it is a states right issue.

Earlier this month the Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling that basically states the Federal Governments right to regulate interstate commerce makes the medical marijuana laws of those states illegal. However I do not foresee federal prosecutors lining up to prosecute the guy who has the states permission to grow a plant or two for his use, even though Oregon has made it clear to their patients that it is possible.

I would like to see those states with medical marijuana laws continue to allow patients to be in the program as well as admit new patients. From what I have read about it marijuana not only has amazing pain relief properties for those of us in moderate to severe pain, it is MUCH cheaper for the patients then traditional opioid medications.

I am glad to see Oregon, although with the warnings to patients, is going to continue their program. My guess is that the other states are going to watch this closely over the next few weeks/months and judge the federal governments reaction before proceeding with their programs.

Story Here

SALEM, Ore. - Oregon resumed issuing medical-marijuana cards Friday, deciding the program could continue despite a Supreme Court ruling allowing federal prosecution for possessing the drug.

But the state warned that registration in the state program won't protect patients or caregivers from federal prosecution for drug possession if the federal government chooses to take action against them.

The Human Services Department stopped sending out the cards — but continued processing applications — after the Supreme Court held last week that federal authorities can prosecute marijuana possession under federal drug laws, even in states like Oregon, where medical use of the drug is legal.

The department was awaiting a review of the Supreme Court's ruling by Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers. Myers concluded that the ruling did not invalidate the state's program, and the department on Friday began mailing about 550 registration cards that had been held up, said Grant Higginson, a department administrator.

Madeline Martinez, Oregon director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, said the court ruling caused many patients to dismantle their gardens.

She said her group tried to assure patients that medical marijuana users also weren't protected from federal prosecution in 1999 after the program began "and that now we are right back where we were."

More than 10,000 patients have registered for the state's medical marijuana program, one of 11 in the nation. Patients qualify if a state-licensed physician states that they suffer from certain conditions including cancer, glaucoma,
HIV/
AIDS or severe pain, and may benefit from marijuana use.

Rot in hell Edgar Ray Killen

I really wonder sometimes what the hell people are thinking or if they do at all...

Edgar Ray Killen (how come murders always use their full names?) is no doubt evil and was once upon a time a dangerous man who deserves what he has coming to him. I only wish it had come to him those so many years ago when he would have had to time to waste away in a small cell in someplace like Angola Prison.

In the 41 years since the killings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerne this scumbag has been allowed to wander freely around like it never happened. It has been 41 years since their murders and I can only wonder in all that time what took so long to get this man in to the court room to face justice.

I am mindful after my Michael Jackson prediction of guilty to even hazard a guess here but I am hoping that we do see this piece of shit go to prison, even if it is just for one night before he kicks off and burns in hell.

Some fun times with chalk...

We took out the sidewalk chalk for a bit today and played on the front patio. My son got a kick out of having the whole thing to himself as he usually has to share with his brother.

He sat there with his box of chalk doodling away like there was nothing else in the world going on. I decided to sit on the stoop and do my own doodle. I basically ended up "camouflaging" the top step with the different colors while my son was singing his ABC's and stealing all the chalk I had hoarded for myself. I didn't get any pictures of his work but I need to, especially where he decided to walk through my part and then into the house with his bare feet. There are tiny little chalk footprints going up the walk and in to the front foyer.

Now I need to go buy some of that sidewalk paints! The site I linked to is for show purposes only as I have seen them cheaper then that at the local stores like Target. They seem pretty cool and as much as it freaking rains around here we should have a new "canvas" almost daily.

We did not spend a ton of time on the porch though. I would love to do that but sitting on the hard concrete is very much a pain. I can tolerate maybe 1/5 the time I normally can sitting if even that much which means 5-10 minutes and that's all she wrote.

I looked at the blackboard paint but it is not as cheap as you would think. They do sell it is spray cans for about $7 a piece and 2 or 3 would do the trick but I am not keen on spraying that much in the house. I thought about spraying it on some plywood but the best piece they had, BC rated, was more expensive then I was thinking of spending. I also did not like the pieces they had as they were either not smooth enough, were warped or had some other minor issues that would make it difficult to have a good board. I then did a search online to see if anyone has it by the gallon and found this company but for that price I could buy the plywood and all the mounting hardware as well as a few cans of the spray version and still have a few bucks left over.

I thought a chalkboard the size of an entire wall would be cool but it looks like for right now I might have to go with a standard 3'X5' one from a school supply store. Since my wife is off tomorrow I am going to spend some time calling around to see what is out there. I did find a web site on how to make your own chalkboard paint but I am not so sure about that.

When in charge, be in charge...

Missed a few days of posting...whoops!

I am still here and doing fine. My wife has been working the morning shift which leaves me with my son for the entire day. She is gone by 4am and not home until dinner time and by then she is so tired that I am still with my son. I hate it when she works these shifts, more so when her soon to be moving GM schedules her on them and then does not give her 2 days off in a row. Like I said though this is his last month here and then he is GONE!

He is one of those bosses who makes sure he gets his vacation days off as well all his time off is 2 days in a row and so on. I understand being the boss has its perks but this is a store that is short staffed on managers. They should have 5, they have 3. Yet while my wife and the other manager are working their asses off the slug GM is coasting by. Like I said, leadership has its perks but times like this is when it also sucks to be the boss. It means you chip in the extra little bit to get over the hump. It also means you get off your ass and find the help you need.

I did get a good laugh from this though because the GM was busted out by the big wigs at the national HQ. Apparently they stopped by the store during a busy period and found no manager on duty. The GM had left an hourly employee in charge and he was off doing something personal with his kids. Uh-oh!

Anyway, my wife is finally off tomorrow so we have a day together.

This morning was a balmy 65F so as soon as I came downstairs I opened all the windows to air out the house. Who knows when we will see that cool of a temp again until the fall, so I am all over it. I would say that until the sun hit the western side of the house, about 2 pm, it was really nice. I turned on the ceiling fans and just sat in the recliner reading this weeks new magazines.

The DirecTv guy was here by lunch time and squared us away, just as we expected. Even better is he was able to fix some of the things I was never able to get to when the dish was installed. I installed it myself to save the money all those years ago because they charged $200 for the install if they did it. Everything went in fine and all I had to do was add a 4X4X12 to the side of the deck so the dish would clear the roof of the neighbors house. However that was the same week I ended up being hurt and I was never able to finish trimming the line and tacking it down so it has just "hung" since then and while it worked I always thought it would like nicer if it was tacked down. The install tech took care of all that this morning. I am looking forward to being able to record my shows as well this means when the dish goes out due to the weather, which is a lot in the spring, we can just flip to something we have recorded.

I do have to note that my back is going haywire again. It seems that anytime we have a radical change in the barometer I feel it for a few days and after a week of nothing but rain we are now nice and cool outside with the forecast calling for the low 80's all week and no rain. The pain is not so much a burning as it is a rubbing, or more like a grinding, the signs of osteoarthirits.

I stopped taking the NSAID's though since they all seem to make my stomach upset. It got to the point that they seemed to be doing more harm then good so I stopped taking them all together. I would rather deal with the pain a few days a month then the stomach problems everyday. The stomach was so bad that unless I took something for it, like TUMS or Mylanta, it would keep me up all night and it made eating difficult. We also ran in to the problem of finding something to calm the stomach that did not interfere with the other medications. If you take something that coats the stomach lining to prevent problems it will inhibit the ability of the stomach to absorb the medications and pass them through the body.



If the weather stays nice this week, the forecast calls for lower 80's all week and no rain I was thinking of taking my son to the library. It is a short walk from my house so getting the boy there is easy. They also have a great kids section with a story time which my son is finally old enough to sit through.

Speaking of the boy, he is the smartest kid! He is 2 1/2 and we have finally taught him his ABC's. My wife started it all with him brushing his teeth and singing the ABC song. Once he had the song memorized we started reading the ABC book and singing the song while pointing to the different letters. He has also learning to count from 1-10 but we have really just started with that and since he destroyed the book we will have to grab some flash cards to finish it off. Everyday is a new adventure with him and while I have a pre-teen and went through much of this before that was so long ago (10 years) it is like starting all over again. My oldest gets a huge kick out of watching his brother grow up too.

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

A sweet glorious nap this afternoon and I am feeling pretty good! I don't quite no why since I slept fairly well last night but hey, I am not going to complain.

I also have to note the weather situation. We were under a tornado watch but depending on which site you believe, NOAA or the local tv stations it has been canceled or is still in effect. Apparently the type of front that moved in during the night has created a very unstable atmosphere. Where we have been having the storms from the last few days moving in out of the north, with the cool air, this new front is out of the south and is full of warm air. My wife, who studied atmospheric science in college, explained it to me but it was like 8 in the morning when she did that so the details are a bit sketchy to me. Anyway, it is a cool 80F right now and while there is some humidity it is not that stagnant air where you feel as if you just stepped out of the shower. I was thinking of taking my son to the front patio and letting him use his sidewalk chalk for a bit.

Since our financial situation took a nose dive we had to make certain concessions to save money. We have both DirecTv and DSL coming in to the house and when we could afford it I had them with all the trimmings, the DSL was a 6mbs connection and I had all the channels on the dish. When things changed I scaled them back to the cheapest packages they had for a few reasons but a big one was it was more expensive to turn them off and pay the fees for breaking the contract then it was to downgrade the service and keep them. Plus without my satellite I would be restricted to local broadcast TV which means 4 or 5 channels that show squat, ever!

Anyway, one of the things I have wanted for some time was a DVR so I can record the shows my wife misses while she is working, but there was no way I could justify spending $200 to buy one or even the $100 to have DirecTv send me one as a customer. Then I got to thinking, for my birthday this year I was given cash as a present from my parents and was told it was for a present, not bills (which I have been known to do with gift money). I figured I would look for a TV tuner card for the computer so that I could turn my desktop into a DVR itself. Making it even more a possibility is the fact that a few months back a friend gave me a 160GB hard drive that is just sitting there, I mean what was I going to do with a drive that big when the computer already has a 40GB drive in it.

Well now I know. I started hunting down the different types of cards and was holding out for something that would work as both a TV tuner and had 'S' video in for recording and if possible be external working on Firewire or USB 2.0 connections. That way I would be able to use it on both the desktop and laptop and when we have to take trips I would be able to have it with me. Further I found a special bay that turns the hard drive into an external drive running on firewire meaning I could record to that drive and not be limited to having to watch the shows on the desktop as I would if I did an internal install.

After talking to a buddy of mine today he mentioned that he got his DVR from DirecTv for free, all he did was call them and ask for one letting them know he had been a customer for some time and that their competitor was offering a free one if he switched. Well I tried that this morning, half expecting it to be a fluke as that is my luck but I was once again surprised with myself. A very quick conversation with the rep on the phone and tomorrow morning, sometime between 8 and noon they will be here to install the new DVR, all free.

Now that leaves me back to square one with the birthday money and while I know I want something for the computer I am not sure what just yet. I guess that means I need someone to drag me to the store so I can see what they have. I did some looking around Newegg and got some ideas but I do not believe in buying something from the internet if I have not used one or seen it in action on mine or similar equipment. If for some reason you get it and it is not the right part or does not work correctly you are SOL.

Social Security is one step closer...

I just got off the phone with my social security case manager and they have received the report from their doctor who I saw on May 14th. She asked me to verify some older information as well as update some information from when I first filled out the application since so much time had passed. Doing it over the phone saved obvious days if not weeks from the decision process no doubt!

The funny thing is that I was just thinking this morning about calling her this week to see if they had the report but I was somewhat fearful of aggravating her by the repeated calls of "did you get it yet?", so I am very happy she called. Barring any problems I can have a decision in a few weeks.

However I did ask her the last time we spoke what some of the obstacles might be with the decision being made. She told me that if they had any more questions in regards to the application or about the doctors reports that could slow things up. They would have to take time to review those and then investigate and that could include sending me to another doctor or what have you. She also said that there could be a random audit of the paperwork once a decision is made and that could add some time. Basically we are probably looking at 2-6 weeks with the low side being little if any problems and the high side including time for them to do any extra work they might have. Here's hoping for 2 weeks!!!

I know that they have a lot of first time disapprovals but as I have said before, many of those are not due to ineligibility but rather faulty paperwork, incomplete documents or even the patient not cooperating with the agency (why I do not know but apparently this happens). Knowing that upfront I did my best to make sure that all my paperwork was in order and spent time with my case manger discussing it to be sure. Since she never sent anything back to me for corrections or clarification I can only assume that it was good to go. That means the decision should be based on my condition and their guidelines.

I will be bouncing off the walls for some time to come, so you will have to excuse me. This is a decision that literally will change mine and my families lives. While we are not going to be rich by any means this does mean that when I go grocery shopping I can spend a bit more or that when my kids need new clothes I can buy them what they need. It also means that at the end of each payday we will not be in the hole, which we are right now. We ran out of savings some time ago so coming up with a few extra hundred dollars a month for the bills has become somewhat of a magic act. It might also mean we have a few dollars to put back in the bank at the end of the month. Not a large sum, but hey even $50-100 a month in savings will add up.

Please pray that we receive a favorable ruling.

This is something that was passed to me by a friend and I felt it had to be shared.

Rest In Peace Marine

Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn't know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him.
Over a year ago, I volunteered to escort the remains of Marines killed in Iraq should the need arise. The military provides a uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way.
Thankfully, I hadn't been called on to be an escort since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. The first few weeks of April, however, had been a tough month for the Marines. On the Monday after Easter I was reviewing Department of Defense press releases when I saw that a Private First Class Chance Phelps was killed in action outside of Baghdad. The press release listed his hometown-the same town I'm from. I notified our Battalion adjutant and told him that, should the duty to escort PFC Phelps fall to our Battalion, I would take him.
I didn't hear back the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday until 1800. The Battalion duty NCO called my cell phone and said I needed to be ready to leave for Dover Air Force Base at 1900 in order to escort the remains of PFC Phelps.
Before leaving for Dover I called the major who had the task of informing Phelps's parents of his death. The major said the funeral was going to be in Dubois, Wyoming. (It turned out that PFC Phelps only lived in my hometown for his senior year of high school.) I had never been to Wyoming and had never heard of Dubois.
With two other escorts from Quantico, I got to Dover AFB at 2330 on Tuesday night. First thing on Wednesday we reported to the mortuary at the base. In the escort lounge there were about half a dozen Army soldiers and about an equal number of Marines waiting to meet up with "their" remains for departure. PFC Phelps was not ready, however, and I was told to come back on Thursday. Now, at Dover with nothing to do and a solemn mission ahead, I began to get depressed.
I was wondering about Chance Phelps. I didn't know anything about him; not even what he looked like. I wondered about his family and what it would be like to meet them. I did pushups in my room until I couldn't do any more.
On Thursday morning I reported back to the mortuary. This time there was a new group of Army escorts and a couple of the Marines who had been there Wednesday. There was also an Air Force captain there to escort his brother home to San Diego.
We received a brief covering our duties, the proper handling of the remains, the procedures for draping a flag over a casket, and of course, the paperwork attendant to our task. We were shown pictures of the shipping container and told that each one contained, in addition to the casket, a flag. I was given an extra flag since Phelps's parents were divorced. This way they would each get one. I didn't like the idea of stuffing the flag into my luggage but I couldn't see carrying a large flag, folded for presentation to the next of kin, through an airport while in my Alpha uniform. It barely fit into my suitcase.
It turned out that I was the last escort to leave on Thursday. This meant that I repeatedly got to participate in the small ceremonies that mark all departures from the Dover AFB mortuary.
Most of the remains are taken from Dover AFB by hearse to the airport in Philadelphia for air transport to their final destination. When the remains of a service member are loaded onto a hearse and ready to leave the Dover mortuary, there is an announcement made over the building's intercom system. With the announcement, all service members working at the mortuary, regardless of service branch, stop work and form up along the driveway to render a slow ceremonial salute as the hearse departs. Escorts also participated in each formation until it was their time to leave.
On this day there were some civilian workers doing construction on the mortuary grounds. As each hearse passed, they would stop working and place their hard hats over their hearts. This was my first sign that my mission with PFC Phelps was larger than the Marine Corps and that his family and friends were not grieving alone.
Eventually I was the last escort remaining in the lounge. The Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant in charge of the Marine liaison there came to see me. He had Chance Phelps's personal effects. He removed each item; a large watch, a wooden cross with a lanyard, two loose dog tags, two dog tags on a chain, and a Saint Christopher medal on a silver chain. Although we had been briefed that we might be carrying some personal effects of the deceased, this set me aback. Holding his personal effects, I was starting to get to know Chance Phelps.
Finally we were ready. I grabbed my bags and went outside. I was somewhat startled when I saw the shipping container, loaded three-quarters of the way in to the back of a black Chevy Suburban that had been modified to carry such cargo. This was the first time I saw my "cargo" and I was surprised at how large the shipping container was. The Master Gunnery Sergeant and I verified that the name on the container was Phelps's then they pushed him the rest of the way in and we left. Now it was PFC Chance Phelps's turn to receive the military-and construction workers'-honors. He was finally moving towards home.
As I chatted with the driver on the hour-long trip to Philadelphia, it became clear that he considered it an honor to be able to contribute in getting Chance home. He offered his sympathy to the family. I was glad to finally be moving yet apprehensive about what things would be like at the airport. I didn't want this package to be treated like ordinary cargo, but I knew that the simple logistics of moving around a box this large would have to overrule my preferences.
When we got to the Northwest Airlines cargo terminal at the Philadelphia airport, the cargo handler and hearse driver pulled the shipping container onto a loading bay while I stood to the side and executed a slow salute. Once Chance was safely in the cargo area, and I was satisfied that he would be treated with due care and respect, the hearse driver drove me over to the passenger terminal and dropped me off.
As I walked up to the ticketing counter in my uniform, a Northwest employee started to ask me if I knew how to use the automated boarding pass dispenser. Before she could finish another ticketing agent interrupted her. He told me to go straight to the counter then explained to the woman that I was a military escort. She seemed embarrassed. The woman behind the counter already had tears in her eyes as I was pulling out my government travel voucher. She struggled to find words but managed to express her sympathy for the family and thank me for my service. She upgraded my ticket to first class.
After clearing security, I was met by another Northwest Airline employee at the gate. She told me a representative from cargo would be up to take me down to the tarmac to observe the movement and loading of PFC Phelps. I hadn't really told any of them what my mission was but they all knew.
When the man from the cargo crew met me, he, too, struggled for words. On the tarmac, he told me stories of his childhood as a military brat and repeatedly told me that he was sorry for my loss. I was starting to understand that, even here in Philadelphia, far away from Chance's hometown, people were mourning with his family.
On the tarmac, the cargo crew was silent except for occasional instructions to each other. I stood to the side and saluted as the conveyor moved Chance to the aircraft. I was relieved when he was finally settled into place. The rest of the bags were loaded and I watched them shut the cargo bay door before heading back up to board the aircraft.
One of the pilots had taken my carry-on bag himself and had it stored next to the cockpit door so he could watch it while I was on the tarmac. As I boarded the plane, I could tell immediately that the flight attendants had already been informed of my mission. They seemed a little choked up as they led me to my seat.
About 45 minutes into our flight I still hadn't spoken to anyone except to tell the first class flight attendant that I would prefer water. I was surprised when the flight attendant from the back of the plane suddenly appeared and leaned down to grab my hands. She said, "I want you to have this" as she pushed a small gold crucifix, with a relief of Jesus, into my hand. It was her lapel pin and it looked somewhat worn. I suspected it had been hers for quite some time. That was the only thing she said to me the entire flight.
When we landed in Minneapolis, I was the first one off the plane. The pilot himself escorted me straight down the side stairs of the exit tunnel to the tarmac. The cargo crew there already knew what was on this plane. They were unloading some of the luggage when an Army sergeant, a fellow escort who had left Dover earlier that day, appeared next to me. His "cargo" was going to be loaded onto my plane for its continuing leg. We stood side by side in the dark and executed a slow salute as Chance was removed from the plane. The cargo crew at Minneapolis kept Phelps's shipping case separate from all the other luggage as they waited to take us to the cargo area. I waited with the soldier and we saluted together as his fallen comrade was loaded onto the plane.
My trip with Chance was going to be somewhat unusual in that we were going to have an overnight stopover. We had a late start out of Dover and there was just too much traveling ahead of us to continue on that day. (We still had a flight from Minneapolis to Billings, Montana, then a five-hour drive to the funeral home. That was to be followed by a 90-minute drive to Chance's hometown.)
I was concerned about leaving him overnight in the Minneapolis cargo area. My ten-minute ride from the tarmac to the cargo holding area eased my apprehension. Just as in Philadelphia, the cargo guys in Minneapolis were extremely respectful and seemed honored to do their part. While talking with them, I learned that the cargo supervisor for Northwest Airlines at the Minneapolis airport is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves. They called him for me and let me talk to him.
Once I was satisfied that all would be okay for the night, I asked one of the cargo crew if he would take me back to the terminal so that I could catch my hotel's shuttle. Instead, he drove me straight to the hotel himself. At the hotel, the Lieutenant Colonel called me and said he would personally pick me up in the morning and bring me back to the cargo area.
Before leaving the airport, I had told the cargo crew that I wanted to come back to the cargo area in the morning rather than go straight to the passenger terminal. I felt bad for leaving Chance overnight and wanted to see the shipping container where I had left it for the night. It was fine.
The Lieutenant Colonel made a few phone calls then drove me around to the passenger terminal. I was met again by a man from the cargo crew and escorted down to the tarmac. The pilot of the plane joined me as I waited for them to bring Chance from the cargo area. The pilot and I talked of his service in the Air Force and how he missed it.
I saluted as Chance was moved up the conveyor and onto the plane. It was to be a while before the luggage was to be loaded so the pilot took me up to the board the plane where I could watch the tarmac from a window. With no other passengers yet on board, I talked with the flight attendants and one of the cargo guys. He had been in the Navy and one of the attendants had been in the Air Force. Everywhere I went, people were continuing to tell me their relationship to the military. After all the baggage was aboard, I went back down to the tarmac, inspected the cargo bay, and watched them secure the door.
When we arrived at Billings, I was again the first off the plane. This time Chance's shipping container was the first item out of the cargo hold. The funeral director had driven five hours up from Riverton, Wyoming to meet us. He shook my hand as if I had personally lost a brother.
We moved Chance to a secluded cargo area. Now it was time for me to remove the shipping container and drape the flag over the casket. I had predicted that this would choke me up but I found I was more concerned with proper flag etiquette than the solemnity of the moment. Once the flag was in place, I stood by and saluted as Chance was loaded onto the van from the funeral home. I was thankful that we were in a small airport and the event seemed to go mostly unnoticed. I picked up my rental car and followed Chance for five hours until we reached Riverton. During the long trip I imagined how my meeting with Chance's parents would go. I was very nervous about that.
When we finally arrived at the funeral home, I had my first face to face meeting with the Casualty Assistance Call Officer. It had been his duty to inform the family of Chance's death. He was on the Inspector/Instructor staff of an infantry company in Salt Lake City, Utah and I knew he had had a difficult week.
Inside I gave the funeral director some of the paperwork from Dover and discussed the plan for the next day. The service was to be at 1400 in the high school gymnasium up in Dubois, population about 900, some 90 miles away. Eventually, we had covered everything. The CACO had some items that the family wanted to be inserted into the casket and I felt I needed to inspect Chance's uniform to ensure everything was proper. Although it was going to be a closed casket funeral, I still wanted to ensure his uniform was squared away.
Earlier in the day I wasn't sure how I'd handle this moment. Suddenly, the casket was open and I got my first look at Chance Phelps. His uniform was immaculate-a tribute to the professionalism of the Marines at Dover. I noticed that he wore six ribbons over his marksmanship badge; the senior one was his Purple Heart. I had been in the Corps for over 17 years, including a combat tour, and was wearing eight ribbons. This Private First Class, with less than a year in the Corps, had already earned six.
The next morning, I wore my dress blues and followed the hearse for the trip up to Dubois. This was the most difficult leg of our trip for me. I was bracing for the moment when I would meet his parents and hoping I would find the right words as I presented them with Chance's personal effects.
We got to the high school gym about four hours before the service was to begin. The gym floor was covered with folding chairs neatly lined in rows. There were a few townspeople making final preparations when I stood next to the hearse and saluted as Chance was moved out of the hearse. The sight of a flag-draped coffin was overwhelming to some of the ladies.
We moved Chance into the gym to the place of honor. A Marine sergeant, the command representative from Chance's battalion, met me at the gym. His eyes were watery as he relieved me of watching Chance so that I could go eat lunch and find my hotel.
At the restaurant, the table had a flier announcing Chance's service. Dubois High School gym; two o' clock. It also said that the family would be accepting donations so that they could buy flak vests to send to troops in Iraq.
I drove back to the gym at a quarter after one. I could've walked-you could walk to just about anywhere in Dubois in ten minutes. I had planned to find a quiet room where I could take his things out of their pouch and untangle the chain of the Saint Christopher medal from the dog tag chains and arrange everything before his parents came in. I had twice before removed the items from the pouch to ensure they were all there-even though there was no chance anything could've fallen out. Each time, the two chains had been quite tangled. I didn't want to be fumbling around trying to untangle them in front of his parents. Our meeting, however, didn't go as expected.
I practically bumped into Chance's step-mom accidentally and our introductions began in the noisy hallway outside the gym. In short order I had met Chance's step-mom and father followed by his step-dad and, at last, his mom. I didn't know how to express to these people my sympathy for their loss and my gratitude for their sacrifice. Now, however, they were repeatedly thanking me for bringing their son home and for my service. I was humbled beyond words.
I told them that I had some of Chance's things and asked if we could try to find a quiet place. The five of us ended up in what appeared to be a computer lab-not what I had envisioned for this occasion.
After we had arranged five chairs around a small table, I told them about our trip. I told them how, at every step, Chance was treated with respect, dignity, and honor. I told them about the staff at Dover and all the folks at Northwest Airlines. I tried to convey how the entire Nation, from Dover to Philadelphia, to Minneapolis, to Billings, and Riverton expressed grief and sympathy over their loss.
Finally, it was time to open the pouch. The first item I happened to pull out was Chance's large watch. It was still set to Baghdad time. Next were the lanyard and the wooden cross. Then the dog tags and the Saint Christopher medal. This time the chains were not tangled. Once all of his items were laid out on the table, I told his mom that I had one other item to give them. I retrieved the flight attendant's crucifix from my pocket and told its story. I set that on the table and excused myself. When I next saw Chance's mom, she was wearing the crucifix on her lapel.
By 1400 most of the seats on the gym floor were filled and people were finding seats in the fixed bleachers high above the gym floor. There were a surprising number of people in military uniform. Many Marines had come up from Salt Lake City. Men from various VFW posts and the Marine Corps League occupied multiple rows of folding chairs. We all stood as Chance's family took their seats in the front.
It turned out that Chance's sister, a Petty Officer in the Navy, worked for a Rear Admiral-the Chief of Naval Intelligence-at the Pentagon. The Admiral had brought many of the sailors on his staff with him to Dubois pay respects to Chance and support his sister. After a few songs and some words from a Navy Chaplain, the Admiral took the microphone and told us how Chance had died.
Chance was an artillery cannoneer and his unit was acting as provisional military police outside of Baghdad. Chance had volunteered to man a .50 caliber machine gun in the turret of the leading vehicle in a convoy. The convoy came under intense fire but Chance stayed true to his post and returned fire with the big gun, covering the rest of the convoy, until he was fatally wounded.
Then the commander of the local VFW post read some of the letters Chance had written home. In letters to his mom he talked of the mosquitoes and the heat. In letters to his stepfather he told of the dangers of convoy operations and of receiving fire.
The service was a fitting tribute to this hero. When it was over, we stood as the casket was wheeled out with the family following. The casket was placed onto a horse-drawn carriage for the mile-long trip from the gym, down the main street, then up the steep hill to the cemetery. I stood alone and saluted as the carriage departed the high school. I found my car and joined Chance's convoy.
The town seemingly went from the gym to the street. All along the route, the people had lined the street and were waving small American flags. The flags that were otherwise posted were all at half-staff. For the last quarter mile up the hill, local boy scouts, spaced about 20 feet apart, all in uniform, held large flags. At the foot of the hill, I could look up and back and see the enormity of our procession. I wondered how many people would be at this funeral if it were in, say, Detroit or Los Angeles-probably not as many as were here in little Dubois, Wyoming.
The carriage stopped about 15 yards from the grave and the military pall bearers and the family waited until the men of the VFW and Marine Corps league were formed up and school busses had arrived carrying many of the people from the procession route. Once the entire crowd was in place, the pallbearers came to attention and began to remove the casket from the caisson. As I had done all week, I came to attention and executed a slow ceremonial salute as Chance was being transferred from one mode of transport to another.
From Dover to Philadelphia; Philadelphia to Minneapolis; Minneapolis to Billings; Billings to Riverton; and Riverton to Dubois we had been together. Now, as I watched them carry him the final 15 yards, I was choking up. I felt that, as long as he was still moving, he was somehow still alive.
Then they put him down above his grave. He had stopped moving.
Although my mission had been officially complete once I turned him over to the funeral director at the Billings airport, it was his placement at his grave that really concluded it in my mind. Now, he was home to stay and I suddenly felt at once sad, relieved, and useless.
The chaplain said some words that I couldn't hear and two Marines removed the flag from the casket and slowly folded it for presentation to his mother. When the ceremony was over, Chance's father placed a ribbon from his service in Vietnam on Chance's casket. His mother approached the casket and took something from her blouse and put it on the casket. I later saw that it was the flight attendant's crucifix. Eventually friends of Chance's moved closer to the grave. A young man put a can of Copenhagen on the casket and many others left flowers.
Finally, we all went back to the gym for a reception. There was enough food to feed the entire population for a few days. In one corner of the gym there was a table set up with lots of pictures of Chance and some of his sports awards. People were continually approaching me and the other Marines to thank us for our service. Almost all of them had some story to tell about their connection to the military. About an hour into the reception, I had the impression that every man in Wyoming had, at one time or another, been in the service.
. It seemed like every time I saw Chance's mom she was hugging a different well wisher. As time passed, I began to hear people laughing. We were starting to heal.


After a few hours at the gym, I went back to the hotel to change out of my dress blues. The local VFW post had invited everyone over to "celebrate Chance's life." The Post was on the other end of town from my hotel and the drive took less than two minutes. The crowd was somewhat smaller than what had been at the gym but the Post was packed.
Marines were playing pool at the two tables near the entrance and most of the VFW members were at the bar or around the tables in the bar area. The largest room in the Post was a banquet/dinning/dancing area and it was now called "The Chance Phelps Room." Above the entry were two items: a large portrait of Chance in his dress blues and the Eagle, Globe, & Anchor. In one corner of the room there was another memorial to Chance. There were candles burning around another picture of him in his blues. On the table surrounding his photo were his Purple Heart citation and his Purple Heart medal. There was also a framed copy of an excerpt from the Congressional Record. This was an elegant tribute to Chance Phelps delivered on the floor of the United States House of Representatives by Congressman Scott McInnis of Colorado. Above it all was a television that was playing a photo montage of Chance's life from small boy to proud Marine.
I did not buy a drink that night. As had been happening all day, indeed all week, people were thanking me for my service and for bringing Chance home. Now, in addition to words and handshakes, they were thanking me with beer. I fell in with the men who had handled the horses and horse-drawn carriage. I learned that they had worked through the night to groom and prepare the horses for Chance's last ride. They were all very grateful that they were able to contribute.
After a while we all gathered in the Chance Phelps room for the formal dedication. The Post commander told us of how Chance had been so looking forward to becoming a Life Member of the VFW. Now, in the Chance Phelps Room of the Dubois, Wyoming post, he would be an eternal member. We all raised our beers and the Chance Phelps room was christened.
Later, as I was walking toward the pool tables, a Staff Sergeant from the Reserve unit in Salt Lake grabbed me and said, "Sir, you gotta hear this." There were two other Marines with him and he told the younger one, a Lance Corporal, to tell me his story. The Staff Sergeant said the Lance Corporal was normally too shy and modest to tell it but now he'd had enough beer to overcome his usual tendencies.
As the Lance Corporal started to talk, an older man joined our circle. He wore a baseball cap that indicated he had been with the 1st Marine Division in Korea. Earlier in the evening he had told me about one of his former commanding officers; a Colonel Puller.
So, there I was, standing in a circle with three Marines recently returned from fighting with the 1st Marine Division in Iraq and one not so recently returned from fighting with the 1st Marine Division in Korea. I, who had fought with the 1st Marine Division in Kuwait, was about to gain a new insight into our Corps.
The young Lance Corporal began to tell us his story. At that moment, in this circle of current and former Marines, the differences in our ages and ranks dissipated-we were all simply Marines.
His squad had been on a patrol through a city street. They had taken small arms fire and had literally dodged an RPG round that sailed between two Marines. At one point they received fire from behind a wall and had neutralized the sniper with a SMAW round. The back blast of the SMAW, however, kicked up a substantial rock that hammered the Lance Corporal in the thigh; only missing his groin because he had reflexively turned his body sideways at the shot.

Their squad had suffered some wounded and was receiving more sniper fire when suddenly he was hit in the head by an AK-47 round. I was stunned as he told us how he felt like a baseball bat had been slammed into his head. He had spun around and fell unconscious. When he came to, he had a severe scalp wound but his Kevlar helmet had saved his life. He continued with his unit for a few days before realizing he was suffering the effects of a severe concussion.
As I stood there in the circle with the old man and the other Marines, the Staff Sergeant finished the story. He told of how this Lance Corporal had begged and pleaded with the Battalion surgeon to let him stay with his unit. In the end, the doctor said there was just no way-he had suffered a severe and traumatic head wound and would have to be med'evaced.
The Marine Corps is a special fraternity. There are moments when we are reminded of this. Interestingly, those moments don't always happen at awards ceremonies or in dress blues at Birthday Balls. I have found, rather, that they occur at unexpected times and places: next to a loaded moving van at Camp Lejeune's base housing, in a dirty CP tent in northern Saudi Arabia, and in a smoky VFW post in western Wyoming.
After the story was done, the Lance Corporal stepped over to the old man, put his arm over the man's shoulder and told him that he, the Korean War vet, was his hero. The two of them stood there with their arms over each other's shoulders and we were all silent for a moment. When they let go, I told the Lance Corporal that there were recruits down on the yellow footprints tonight that would soon be learning his story.
I was finished drinking beer and telling stories. I found Chance's father and shook his hand one more time. Chance's mom had already left and I deeply regretted not being able to tell her goodbye.
I left Dubois in the morning before sunrise for my long drive back to Billings. It had been my honor to take Chance Phelps to his final post. Now he was on the high ground overlooking his town.
I miss him.

Regards,
LtCol Strobl

A little more rain...

Another day and another severe storm warning. Right now the storms are about 20-25 minutes south-south east of us and moving in quickly. Apparently they are coming in hard and fast with winds in excess of 60mph right now so who knows what we will be getting.

I was expecting a nice day and had not checked the weather until my wife mentioned the clouds but this would certainly explain this pounding headache I have had all day. I took the midrin early on and then took the second dose later and it helped it from turning into a vicious headache. I will take a day long headache like that though over one of those that sends me to the hospital, those flat out suck. Nothing better then forgetting where you are as you throw up on everything.

The back has been good today but the left foot has had that shooting electrical pain. It is really interesting because it feels like you are being electrocuted with low a voltage current and someone is turning it off and on at a few second intervals. It is something that is more of a nuisance then painful but if it does go on long enough, usually a day or so, it does start to become painful. Only problem there is you don't know if it is going to be 30 minutes or 3 days when it starts so you just have to ride it out.

Getting out of bed in the mornings is getting tougher by the day, or so it seems. The stiffness is just amazing, almost like I have been in the same position for weeks and atrophy is set in. I can literally hear my bones creaking as they try to adjust to a different position and I end up using the log roll to get out of the bed most of the time.

The pain, when it is going, sucks but I would have to say that the stiffness is the worst. Trying to do simple tasks hurts, walking is done somewhat hunched over because you cannot stand straight. It can make getting around a bit tough especially with the child proof gates all over the house and is one of the reasons I have gone to using the cane most of the time.

Today started out with the thunderstorms like the last few days but they blew by rather quickly. Thankfully as well because I am not sure I could have handled my son bouncing off the walls from the thunder all day long. Once the storm ended we took a quick jaunt out of the house to buy some stuff for projects during the week. Nothing fancy just your regular old construction paper, crayons, stick glue, glitter and so on. How smart it is to let a 2 year old play with some of this stuff I am not sure but it's all non-toxic and washable so how bad can it be? Besides if it helps me keep him happy and out of the tv room for a bit each day then it is worth it.

Pill splitting to save money...

This is good news coming from the pharmaceutical industry and while it is only a drop in the bucket it is a step in the right direction. It goes hand in hand with some of the commercials I have been seeing lately where the companies are informing people of the fact that they do have programs for those who have limited resources and may be forgoing important medications.

I wonder though what the true motive behind the pill splitting is? Perhaps they are starting to feel the crunch from people who cannot afford their meds and either do not take them at all or are reducing their dose (without a doctors approval) to save money. I know very well how expensive medications are as I spend into the hundreds each month on what I need even when I don't fill all the prescriptions.

I am not going to hold my breath for medications that are economical and I appreciate that the cost of the research of medications plays a large role in the cost passed on to us, the patient but it is time that the companies realized we can no longer afford $10 a pill for medications that we need to live. Forget Cialis and Viagra, I don't even think they should be covered by insurance but drugs like Lipitor, which saves lives, that is a different story.

Perhaps they should offset the price of life saving medications like lipitor by raising the price of vanity medications. We all know they will still have a line around the block for viagra.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The nation's second-largest health insurer, UnitedHealthcare, is giving away away pill-splitters and offering half-price on drugs for those who split double-strength pills, cutting the patient's insurance copayment in half. The company is also providing advice on which drugs can be safely cut in half.

"It has the potential for meaningful savings," said Tim Heady, CEO of UnitedHealth Pharmaceutical Solutions, a division of UnitedHealthcare, based in Edina, Minn.

"For every patient that chooses to reduce their costs by 50 percent, it would reduce ours and their employer's cost by half of the cost of that prescription as well," he said. "The question is how many consumers would be willing to participate."

Chopping his
Lipitor tablets in half gives Randy Schneider a little thrill. "I kind of chuckle when I do this," said the 41-year-old line worker at a cheese factory. "It's like I'm making good money per minute if you figure it out."

Schneider saves about $31 for a six-month supply, because double-strength pills don't cost much more than single-strength ones. It takes him 10 minutes to cut the 90 pills in two, and he gets the same supply of cholesterol medicine for less money.

Seniors have split pills to cut costs with the help of their doctors and pharmacists for years. But recently insurers have promoted it as studies have shown it can save massive amounts on purchasing drugs — a key driver of increased premiums.

The U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs said in November it managed to save $46.5 million a year by having 1.1 million patients split one cholesterol drug alone — Zocor.

The Regence Group, a health insurer operating in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Utah, saves $5 million a year through pill-splitting, which it began promoting 18 months ago.

The practice helps contain costs as newer, more expensive drugs replace older, cheaper ones, and as people take more and more medicine, said Regence's vice president of pharmacy services, David Clark.

"With all those pressures (that tend) to increase pharmaceutical costs, this is one of the elements that reduces those pressures," Clark said.

UnitedHealthcare began its voluntary program across Wisconsin on June 1, sending out letters to 10,500 patients to promote it. The insurer plans to take it nationwide for 12.5 million drug benefit subscribers before year's end, Heady said.

Among the 15 pills the insurer recommends splitting are expensive cholesterol drugs such as Lipitor, antidepressants such as Zoloft, and blood pressure pills such as Aceon and Diovan.

Those pills can be split easily without any adverse effects, Heady said.

"Say one day you get 30 percent of the tablet and the next day you get 70 percent," he said. "What we've been able to determine is that doesn't really have an impact on efficacy or safety."

But Pfizer Inc., the maker of Lipitor and Zoloft, disputes that finding. Splitting a pill and leaving it in a steamy bathroom, for example, could change the nature of the drug, said the company's Dr. Mark Horn. It amounts to an "unlabeled use of our medicines" that has not been rigorously tested, Horn said.

"An experiment is being conducted on the people who are being encouraged to pill-split."

The federal
Food and Drug Administration does not regulate pill-splitting, but says there are risks such as forgetting to split pills, slicing time-release pills or unevenly breaking ones for which a precise daily dosage is needed.

It is crucial to have the consent of a doctor, said Tom McGinnis,
FDA's director of pharmacy affairs. Doctors can judge whether a patient is capable of splitting pills, or whether they are likely to forego taking their medicine if they feel it's too expensive.

"The important thing is for patients to get a dose of their medication, and if it's the only way they can afford to be on a statin (cholesterol-reducing) drug, I think a doctor would think that was reasonable," McGinnis said.

Studies have shown that the high cost of prescription drugs has put patients at risk.

The nonprofit research group, Center for Studying Health System Change, said last month that more than 18 percent of U.S. adults did not fill at least one of their prescriptions in 2003 because of the cost.

The center's president, Paul Ginsburg, said pill-splitting was unorthodox but effective in increasing access to care.

"It may be the difference between being able to take the drug and not being able to," he said.

For factory worker Schneider, splitting his pills at the suggestion of his pharmacist is not a life-or-death decision, since his cholesterol is back to normal. But for a father of three with a mortgage on a new house, every penny counts.

"Most people, it probably doesn't faze them to just go ahead and pay for it, but I'll take whatever route is necessary to keep costs down," he said.

These patches work anywhere...

The pain in the neck is very similar to the pain in the lower back but the meds do not seem to have much of an effect on it. I ended up popping a few Robaxin, hoping that this is more of muscle problem then a nerve issue but so far nothing. I broke down, cut a lidoderm patch in half and put it on either side where the pain is located. So far it seems to be working quite well.

Is it arachnoiditis? I doubt it but at the same time the pain is located at the same level/area where they gave me the stellate ganglion blocks after damaging the left radial nerve during my surgery. There is not much out there that seems to connect the blocks to any cases of arachnoiditis which really eases mind and like I said above makes me believe that this is more likely a pinched nerve or muscle problem. We will see what the next few days bring.

Too the zoo!

Yesterday we took my youngest to the petting zoo. Now this is not some fly by night petting zoo, the kind the bring in to town for the Lion's Club carnival. No, this one is spread over a good few dozen acres and seems to be growing each year. While they could have more animals and a better variety it is nonetheless a great place for the kids and my son just loves to go there.

The entire way from pen to pen is a concrete sidewalk, so there is no walking in the mud and straw, and they have swingsets and play stations all along the way as well so that when mom and dad need to sit for a minute the kids can play on the slides, monkey bars or whatever else they might have open at the time.

Since me oldest is gone for the summer it is just my wife, myself and the youngest and he decided that yesterday would be a great day to just run, everywhere! From the moment we made it through the little turn style and in to the foot path he was off like a rocket, stopping only to make sure he pet every animal, including the pigs, along the way. I do believe the only other thing he stopped for was to have me hit the gumball machines filled with feed for the animals. Of course the machines are close to the pens and the second those animals hear a quarter hit the slot their Pavlovian conditioning kicks in and they head straight for you.

There are a few pens where the smaller animals are kept, like the baby goats (kids), so they will let you in with them through a sally port to keep the animals from escaping while the kids are going in. Of course the second my son made it through the inner door he was swarmed by about 5 goats looking for food. He got the biggest kick out of them eating from his hands but when they tried to eat his and then moms shirt...Of course I was laughing my butt off the whole time.

While he ran from pen to pen, squealing with delight, mom chased him while I played catch up. You can only go so fast with a cane and to my amazement people really do not care if you are disabled. There were a few times where people with wagons/strollers who even though I was off to the side of the path which is large enough to accommodate a good 8 people abreast decided to run me down. These were the same people who were to busy yelling at the kids to calm down, relax and pay attention... Makes you wonder why they bothered coming to the place at all if they are just going to be in a bad mood the whole time. It is supposed to be a place to relax and let the kids have some fun! We had a great time, even with the few dingleberries we encountered.

After the zoo we grabbed some lunch at one of the local bagel shops and then hit Sam's Club to get some things my wife needed for work. By the time we were done and loaded my son into the car for the drive home he was out and the time we hit the first traffic light leaving town he was snoring away.

This boggles the mind...

I am seriously wondering how you can blow that much money and it begs the question, is Michael Jackson really sane? At the low estimate of over spending and just counting the overage part of the equation it means he was spending at LEAST $55,000 US dollars a day, every day of the year. What can you possibly spend that much money on each and every day?

I believe that this sicko is guilty of what he is accused of and many times over. I also believe that even if he is found guilty the chances of his spending any significant time if any time at all in a cell is slim to none. This will be a case of being a celebrity means you can do what you want. How many times have we heard of other celebrities convicted and sent to prison and then allowed special treatment? Hell, Robert Downey Jr, as well as others, were allowed to leave prison on a daily basis to go to work. What is that all about? If you or I had done the same crime do you think they would have let us go to work during the day? I don't think so.

Hopefully they wrap this one up quickly and we can all turn on the evening news and not have to hear about this, that is until the next high profile case comes along in a week or so.

In the decade since Michael Jackson was first accused of child molestation, his record sales have plummeted, his concert dates have been few and far between – and his income has dwindled as well.

Still, the entertainer has maintained an opulent lifestyle, so lavish that prosecutors maintain he spends like a billionaire on a millionaireÂ’s budget.

Many details about Jackson’s finances remained sketchy during the proceedings. But forensic accountant John Duross O’Bryan testified that the singer had an “ongoing cash crisis” and was spending 20 million dollars (£13.5million) to 30 million dollars (£20.1million) more per year than he earned.

A balance sheet dated June 30, 2002, indicated Jackson had assets of 130 million dollars (£71.3million) and liabilities of 415 million dollars (£227million), O’Bryan said.

The testimony included references to memos by Jackson financial managers warning that to balance the books and clear huge loans held by Bank of America, he might have to sell his share of up to 50% of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which owns and administers copyrights to thousands of songs – including the words and music to 251 Beatles tunes.

Analysts estimate Sony/ATV could be worth as much as 1 billion dollars (£548million).

The catalogue provides Jackson a steady stream of income and has been used as collateral to secure 200 million dollars (£109million) in loans from Bank of America.

The prospect of selling his stake in the catalogue has split JacksonÂ’s advisers. In recent months, some urged him to rid himself of debt by selling part or even all of his music publishing holdings, said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has advised the entertainer on personal matters.

In April, the pop star faced the possibility of losing the catalogue to foreclosure when he was a day late making a 3 million dollars £1.64million) payment to Bank of America, said the Rev. Jackson, who contacted the company’s president on behalf of the singer.

The move “worked out well and Michael no longer has a cash flow problem,” the Rev. Jackson said. “It was really unnecessary for any kind of a foreclosure. But if the foreclosure had taken place, it would have had an impact on Michael’s catalogue. His whole financial empire would come crumbling down.”

Michael Jackson and his representatives insist that assets such as the Sony/ATV catalogue and his Neverland estate ensure his financial house is in order. In a March interview by the Rev. Jackson broadcast over the Internet, the entertainer denied rumours he was near bankruptcy.

“That’s not true at all. It’s just one of their many schemes to embarrass me,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the pop star, Raymone Bain, denied reports Jackson might sell his music holdings.

“Michael is not selling his catalogue,” Bain said, adding that Sony had not made any overtures to buy him out.

Jackson built his fortune in the 1980s as one of the world’s most popular entertainers. His 1982 album Thriller sold 26 million copies and included huge hits such as Billie Jean and Beat It. Five years later, Bad sold 22 million copies. In 1991 he signed a 65 million dollars £35.6million recording deal with Sony.

But one of Jackson’s shrewdest deals was his 1985 acquisition of ATV Music for 47.5 million dollars (£26million). When he ran into financial problems a decade later, he agreed to a deal with Sony to merge ATV with Sony’s library of songs and sold Sony music publishing rights. Sony paid Jackson a total of 150 million dollars (£82.2million) as part of the ATV merger agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person close to the 1995 deal.

As his financial problems continued, Jackson began to borrow large sums of money, according to a 2002 lawsuit by Union Finance & Investment that sought unpaid fees and expenses.

Jackson had hired Union Finance in 1998 to help straighten out his finances. The firm soon discovered Jackson was “a ticking financial time bomb waiting to explode at any moment,” according to the suit, which was later settled.

By 2001, Jackson had borrowed from Bank of America, according to court testimony. Last month, New York-based Fortress Investment Group, which specialises in troubled debt, acquired JacksonÂ’s Bank of America loan.

Bain said the move will give the pop star “greater financial strength and flexibility.” Details of the deal were not disclosed.

Jackson owns homes in Las Vegas and the Encino area of Los Angeles along with his 2,600-acre Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara County. With an amusement park and zoo, the estate has an estimated value of as much as 100 million dollars (£54.8million).

If the pop icon is acquitted, itÂ’s hard to estimate how much he might expect to earn from new albums or tours. His box set, The Ultimate Collection, sold just 57,000 copies last year. The Number Ones compilation album released in 2003 sold 903,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

At this point, the terms of his recording deal with Sony are unclear. A spokesman for Sony BMG Music Entertainment said the company does not comment on its artistsÂ’ contract terms.

Gary Bongiovanni, editor in chief of Pollstar, a publication that tracks the concert business, said the trial may hurt JacksonÂ’s image, but not permanently.

“There’ll be promoters who will be lined up to work with him if he’s acquitted,” Bongiovanni said.

Morning stiffness...

The arthritis this morning is making me feel every bit that year older. What was supposed to be a dry week has turned out to be the exact opposite and in the last 3 days or so we have more the tripled the average monthly rainfall in this area.

I am not in a ton of pain but the joints are burning and so stiff that lying in bed hurt, getting up was worse and coming down the stairs was an absolute nightmare. I need to remember to bring my meds up stairs with me at night so that I can take them in the morning before coming down. I don't have the recliner I would like in the bedroom but we do have a glider that is fairly comfortable and I can just as easily watch the idiot box in the room for a bit until the meds kick in. Once they are working I am good to go for the stairs.

I have always wondered though if the arthritis created from having surgery is the same type as say from natural wear and tear on the joints. It just does not seem that drugs like Celebrex and Vioxx (as well as others) would have much if any effect on my arthritis. I can not imagine how people with rheumatoid arthritis get any relief from those medications. Thankfully I have an anti-inflammatory for this but I also have the pain meds for the days where it is really bad.

Tooting my own horn...

It's my Birthday!!!

I would sing but I don't want to pay royalties to the owner of te copyrights.

Tornadoes, again...

Well the sirens have been going off non-stop and this time they have spotted at least one tornado on the ground to the west of us and now there are several being reported 3 miles south of me and moving off this way so we may get hit tonight.

The cells that are bringing all this rotation are amazing. Instead of blowing through the area at top speed which is the usual method there are several storms coming together and moving VERY slowly which means that if they do come together it is going to be bad and will last several hours. The lightening that is accompanying the storm is phenomenal, if that is possible, almost like it is not stopping. As soon as one bolt is fading 2 or 3 more flash across the sky.

Like I have said before, this is what you get for living in the great plains of the U.S.

I did it!!!

I had to go renew my drivers license this morning as it expires tomorrow. Hard to believe that it has been 6 years since the last renewal but I had made myself a promise a few months ago that I would be back to the same weight I was when I last renewed it, which means 6' and 190lbs. Since I had put on some weight from being down and not being able to be as active as I would like it was an uphill fight but this morning I checked myself out and voila, 191lbs. That means since I was at the heaviest, which was close to 230 and just about lst Christmas, I have lost close to 40lbs. Funny thing is that I never really "looked" fat since I have very broad shoulders but I noticed over the years that every time I had to buy pants I was going up a size, and that started to bug me. So now I think I want to go a bit more and get back to where I was when I was on active duty and that means 175lbs, we will see what happens.

Renewing the license was a bit more expensive at $22 then I remember it being and of course the lady who is running the local DMV seemed to be your "stereotypical" state employee. Grossly overweight and oh so happy to see me coming in the door. I was handed a list of questions to answer yes or no to before we began, just simple ones asking if you have ever had your license suspended or if it is right now in any other state, if you are on illegal drugs, organ donor blah blah blah... from there she handed me a test of 20 questions and then a book with all the answers and told me to have a seat. Not sure why they give you a written test if they are going to give you the answers but I went along with the game. After finishing that I was given a quick eye exam, forked over the $22 and had my picture taken and was handed a slip of paper that serves as my license for the next 2-3 weeks while I wait for the real one in the mail. All told it was maybe 15 minutes from the time I was in the door until I was out.

I did get my youngest to the barber this morning or should I say "to the place where they cut hair" since a real barbershop does not seem to exist in my town and no respected barber would charge $12 to cut a 2 year olds hair. The last barber we had closed shop a few years ago after 50+ years in business and he was charging $6 at the time he closed up and he knew how to cut men's/boys hair. He could also get you in and out of the chair in about 5 minutes. The best thing though was the hot lather and a straight razor across the neck and by the ears when he was done with the cut. He would also do shaves on Saturday and Sunday, although they were $10, where he would do the hot towel soak that would put you to sleep. I miss going there to get my hair cut.

I have been tagged...

I was wondering when this would happen. I have been "tagged" by Bridget over at Seeking Sanity so here is goes...

Number of books owned: Somewhere around 500. They run the gamut from technical manuals to programming languages and on over to military history and biographies. We have a kick ass book store called Foozles where they sell remanded books. That is they sell books from stores that have gone out of business or books from publishers that over printed them etc... They are dirt cheap and quite often the books are only about 10-25% of the suggested price. I have been known to buy $125 worth of books for $7 there when they have the $1 bins out.


Last Book Purchased: Bloodsport The President And His Adversaries by James B. Stewart. The War On Pain by Dr. Scott Fishman and Amazon.com Get Big Fast by Robert Spector. I bought them all the same day, from Foozles, and paid $1 a piece for them.

Last Book I read: The War On Pain. I have read it a few times but it seems like every time I pick it up I find something I missed the last time.

Five books that mean a lot to me: Hmm...this is going to be a bit tougher then you would think. So many great books through the years but I am also not one of those who is going to put down The Catcher In The Rye or any of the other "classics" that I see on these lists. Sure they are good books but to tell you the truth they are crammed down your throat from such an early age that I truly do not care for them and have always wondered if all those who rave about them truly liked them or just rave because everyone else does. I hate the bandwagon so...

My first book would have to be To Hell And Back which is the story about and by the most decorated American soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy. It is truly an amazing tale of about the human spirit and what one person is capable of doing with a little determination and drive.

Nineteen Stars by Edgar Puryear is a look at 4 of America's greatest Generals of the Twentieth Century. MacArthur, Eisenhower, Marshall and Patton. The title obviously taken from adding their ranks together (MacArthur, Marshall & Eisenhower all having achieved the rank of General of the Army and wearing "5 Stars" while Patton was a General and wore "4 Stars"). Rather then being just another Bio on these 4 men it is a look at how they came to be the great men they are through their leadership abilities.

Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels. This has nothing to do with the fact that Ray is an associate of mine or that we share a birthday but more because this is without a doubt one of the best books for someone who is learning how to brew beer. When I first started brewing I bought this book, before I even knew Ray, and it is the book that really got me pumped about brewing. Unlike a ton of the other brewing books out there that make a simple hobby into something far more technical then need be, Ray breaks it all down in the simplest of terms so that everyone can understand. There is no need to have a degree in Chemistry or Biology for this one nor do you need to have $20K worth of brewing equipment to make great beer. When you are done with this book you will continue to go back to it years later to cross reference or to just re-read. My copy is so old and tattered that I had to buy a second copy. If you ever thought about becoming a homebrewer or a professional brewer as I was, then this is a book that must be on your shelf.


Blackhawk Down by Mark Bowden. Yes, this is the tale of the Battle of the Black Sea in October of 1993. I was on Active Duty in the Army at the time and remember this very well. This is a story that has a closer meaning to me perhaps because I was in the Army as a grunt at the time but more perhaps because since the time of the fight I have met and become friends with several of the men who were there that day and their stories are amazing. This is a modern day version of Band Of Brothers in my humble opinion.

Beyond Nam Dong by Roger Donlon. This is a harrowing look into the man and the firefight that resulted in the awarding of the first Medal Of Honor during Vietnam. Roger Donlon is also a very good family friend and one hell of a model American so I may be a bit biased on this one.

I am now supposed to tag 5 others but I will have to come back and edit that list since I need to see who has or has not done this yet.