"And the tree was happy"

The Giving Tree?

If you have not done so, please watch and listen to the video presented at top-right side-bar of this blog. After finding this, I realized I read this story long ago; maybe in Playboy magazine. There are complicated lessons to be learned from this seemingly simple story. Shel Silverstein was a genius.

The above photo is of an old apple tree on the farm which once belonged to my family. I think it fits The Giving Tree story.
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The discomfort has moved from my fingers to my wrist, and two new bean-sized knots have appeared; one on the outside flank of my hand near the wrist and another atop the wrist over the joint. It could be worse; much worse.
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Carolyn is going through the change of life; she has begun buying ground coffee instead of beans we grind ourselves. She likes Folgers and I like Starbucks, even though I have drank only one cup of that brand and it was from a vending machine at the hospital. I have yet to visit a Starbucks outlet.
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We finally got some decent news; the hospital discounted 90 percent of Carolyn's bill. The bill wasn't as big as I thought it would be—only $23,000—so we now have to arrange payments on $2,300. The discount is through Medicaid funding supplements President Obama quietly put into place just after taking office. Thank you, Mr. President. The doctor bills are different story; together they are more than $10,000.
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Yesterday's title quote is from the the movie The Lion King.

Water, water everywhere

I took a couple of sick days off (literally), but hope things are getting better. The RA caused a huge buildup of fluid, so yesterday at noon I ate a fluid pill and passed (and sweated) nearly three gallons of water by this morning. I will take another pill today, and attempt to remove the remainder. I am drinking quite a bit of water just to keep from becoming dehydrated, and also eating bananas to keep potassium controlled. Aging is such a joyful experience, but I do remain adorable through the trials and tribulations. A slice of Maggie's rhubarb and strawberry pie would be great tonic.
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Carolyn went to Home Depot and bought a new laundry pair. It is a mid-line GE set, and I do hope they last much longer than the Maytags. The store was pushing Maytags, but she told the sales person about our experience with that brand, and she told Carolyn that Maytag had so many problems with their washers and dryers that Whirlpool has now purchased the company and is doing the manufacturing of them.
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Even though I felt bad Thursday, the warm weather called me out and I went to the Headtown cemetery and I made a few pics. I got two I really like, and a few more passable ones. I forgot to take apples for the horses, but one of them posed anyway.
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I've tried to get on Flickr tor the past two days, but I cannot get past my photos; my contact's photos would not load and I could not get my Flickr messages, and I couldn't answer comments on my photos. Yahoo needs to sell Flickr it they cannot maintain it, but I would hate to see Micorsoft end up with it.
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My grandson is in from Atlanta. so I will shutup for awhile ...

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Tired

I think I will stop griping about the "stimulus", "bailout", "giveaway", or anything you want to call the rat. Obama doesn't have a clue about economic matters and none of his cabinet or staff seems to either. If his advisers are telling him this is what needs to be done, they are full of B.S. too. Same for Congress. Maybe I am wrong and I am the one whom doesn't comprehend the crisis, and I for darn sure am not an educated economist, but I trust my own eyes and ears a lot more than those of any politician.
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I am still feeling terrible from the RA, but not quite as badly as I was. Over the years, I have learned to live with much pain, but this soreness all over my delicate, young body is wearing me to a frazzle. Nothing lasts forever, 'though.
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Still springlike weather here, mild, cloudy, and windy; the heavy winds are a sure sign the season is trying to change. Still haven't seen a robin, but Maggie has some at her home, and she also had snowdrops blooming a couple weeks back.
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I do income taxes for family members using TaxAct software, and usually the tax codes change once or twice during the filing season, but they have already changed four times in the first month this year. It is mostly clarifications, but I am wondering about the impact the stimulus package will have. If you have already filed, and if you qualify for any of those big tax breaks, and if they are retro-active, will you have to file again? Of ... by... and for ...! Phooey!
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Cold as ice

Life has been fairly good, especially with some promise of spring on the horizon. RA has been bothering me less than it has in several years, and that in itself is very pleasing; at least the pain is not constant. RA works in a funny way; a place that was excruciating with misery one day may not give me trouble again for months or longer, but another joint immediately begins complaining. The hell of it is, even though it is considered a disease of the joint tissue, it can and does attack similar tissues throughout the body, including eye and heart linings. It can be deadly, but then again—and especially after one turns 60 years of age—straining to fart can put one in a coffin. The RA hurt generally boils down to pain in the joints themselves with extreme soreness in surrounding soft tissues, and actually all over the body.
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Another shot day has eased by. My regular nurse was busy and the other one stuck me, but it didn't hurt. I've had many, many hundreds of shots over my brilliant medical career, and I've had a few that really hurt, but none of them ever pained as much as a sharp tongue, especially the tongue of someone considered as a friend. However, when the source is looked at closely, sometimes one finds that true friends are more deeds than words, and that the pseudo-friend was a complete user with little to give. Fear not, dear readers; rest assured it was not one of you whom stepped on my toes. No more to say about this subject, at least not on this blog and on not this day.
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I stopped by the park for a few moments after leaving the doc's office, hoping a world-class photo would jump out of the bushes and into the camera, but alas, it was not to be. There are a number of good things about living in a college town, and one of them is the huge number of pretty young ladies whom get out and run on a beautiful day such as this. Lovely little butts swinging in stride, and wondrous breasts swaying to and fro. I always smile my brightest grin, and sometimes one of them will smile back as I try to dodge a lamp post from hitting the car.
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I need to find some new reading material; I've read everything in this house there is to read ... many times. How many times can a person read a toothpaste tube while sitting on the throne? I've read my camera manual so much I should know how to take pictures with the machine, but then I pull up my pants and go out into the real world and can't figure what the hell that little green button is for.
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Enough belly aching for one day. On to the good stuff.
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Be sure to check out #15 in this weeks Smoking Gun's Mug Shots of the Week!

PT Test

The Old Fine Family Farm House

Today started early and has lasted a long time. Out of bed and ready to go get my first out-of-hospital pt test. Hell no, I ain't pregnant and that ain't what a pt test is. I'll have to stay on the blood thinning rat poison for a few months, so I will need regular blood tests to keep the clotting factor where the doctor wants it.
Drove to the lab and they knew nothing about it. They tried to find out about it. I sat and waited 'til I figured I had waited long enough, so I went home. The doc's office called and said I went to the wrong place; I was supposed to come back to them. Actually, I went where the doc said I should go. Well, the doc is an intern and was a little confused himself.
Went back this afternoon and got things going.
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Except for RA, I've felt better today than in a very long time. Did some walking and didn't get out of breath... well, a little, but not as bad as the past few days. Even managed to make a couple of photos of abandoned farm houses.
The old rusty-roofed barn I enjoyed making photos of and in last spring has finally fallen to the ground. I didn't have the heart to make a picture of its demise.