SHAKE ‘EM UP

This was supposed to have been posted about 4 days ago. Better late than never?

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Neither Alison nor I felt the earthquake on Thursday. And there have been several more little ones lately that I have not felt. (It’s not my fault; it’s San Andreas’ Fault.)

But the one I certainly do remember was the big one in October, 1989. I had gone to my bathroom for something, and when the shaking started - because I couldn’t move very well - I just sat down on the floor. We had no damage. A couple of things fell out of the medicine cabinet - didn’t hit me - but that was it. Then when it was all over, I discovered I was sitting in front of the glass shower door!

Humor -

Punctuation counts: Huge sign outside a local family restaurant -- Kids under 12 eat free live clown every Wednesday

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Pilot announcement: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to flight 1492, to - believe it or not -- Columbus.

I DID IT!!

As I've mentioned before, I have had trouble standing up from a sitting position. With help from physical therapy and exercising daily, I am now able to stand from most all the places where I sit. The key, it appears, is that from where I am seated, my knees must be at least parallel to the floor, like this:

But I've been unable to sit on my living room couch because it sinks so low that my knees are tilted up, like this:

Then last evening I was feeling daring. I said to Cliff, "I want to try something, but if it doesn't work, you'll have to pick me up."

I went over and sat on the couch. And without too much effort, stood up. Frankly, I was quite surprised!

But wait-- that's not the end of the story.

My biggest problem has been getting up off the toilet, and Cliff has been picking me up. Every now then I have said that I would like to try to get up by myself, and perhaps I could get a quarter inch up off the seat.

This morning, after last night's success getting up from the couch, I said I wanted to try standing from the toilet. AND DID! Must be that my legs are getting stronger!

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I had an email correction this morning. Greg Mortenson will be on the Bill Moyers program Friday, January 15, on PBS. Check your local programming.

Funny -

Reports have it that Federal Express and United Parcel Service will combine their operations. The combined company will be called FEDUP.

THREE CUPS OF TEA

This a book review I wrote for our park magazine. This story was number one on the New York Times paperback non-fiction list for more than two years, and is still on the list. It is a remarkable story!

Greg stumbled down the mountain, lost, sick, nearly frozen, and most unhappy because he had failed to reach the summit of K2, the second highest mountain in the Himalaya’s. He missed a turn on the trail, and failed to cross the bridge that spans the river below, and staggered into a little Balti village named Korphe, the residents of which were reputed to be not very friendly. But the villagers took him in and nursed him back to health. Greg was so grateful that when he saw the village children going to “school” outside and scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks, he vowed to return and build a school. This was going to take some doing since Greg had no money, and hadn’t the faintest idea how to build anything!

This has to be the most unusual and exciting adventure saga I have ever read. Consider this: The story takes place in such well known locales as Berkeley, California; Seattle, Washington; and Bozeman, Montana. It also takes place in locations called Korphe, Skardu, and Waziristan. Characters include a cranky, brilliant millionaire scientist named Jean Hoerni, an illiterate wise man called Haji Ali, and a sleazy businessman by the name of Changazi, among many others.

The hero of the story is sometimes called “Dr. Greg”, even though he is not a doctor. He was born in Minnesota, raised in Tanzania in the shadow of Mt. Kiliminjaro, where he learned mountain climbing. He grew to be six foot four, he studied nursing, and has a facility for languages.

The most unusual thing about this tale is that the whole story is true! Greg Mortenson went through many hazards and obstacles to accomplish his goal. That cranky, brilliant millionaire suggested that Greg establish The Central Asia Institute (CAI) devoted to building schools for both boys and girls in the more remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Greg not only got the school built in Korphe, but to date the CAI has educated some 25 thousand youngsters. (That is not a misprint.) And as of the last I'd heard, CAI has built more than 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Obviously, I highly recommend this book, and you will, too!

When my wife asked if Greg Mortenson were still alive, I looked him up on Google. I then told my wife, “He better be. He has speaking engagements into 2009!”

Incidentally, Greg will be on the Bill Moyers program Friday, January 8, on PBS. Check it out.


Humor --

A builder in this town apparently had never been told that turning back time was impossible. A sign at his building zone read: COMING SOON -- HISTORIC SITE.

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Apparently a mud-covered car parked at the side of the road had insulted someone’s sensibilities, for written in the mud was: ALSO AVAILABLE IN WHITE.

TILT!

You may know that I'm handicapped, and use a variety of equipment to get around, as well as up and down. Today's posting has to do with my hemi-walker. Hemi, of course, means half, so we're talking about half a walker. Well, that's what it's called. I like this for several reasons: it's light, it can be used like a cane, and it is very stable.

Now my cockatiel Pepper has her wings clipped, so that she won't fly away. Nonetheless, she is quite mobile, and if I get up to go somewhere, she is right there, running around, through, and by me (in both directions). So the other day, as I started down the hall, she was up on a kitchen stool - she climbs very well - so I picked her up and put her on a rung of the hemi. Have a look!


I was trying to stand straight while Cliff snapped the shot, but obviously I was tilted to the left.




Humor -

A woman walks up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. “I couldn’t help notice how happy you look,” she says. “What’s your secret for a long and happy life?” His response: “I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day, drink a case of whiskey a week, eat fatty foods, and never exercise.” Astonished, the woman says, “That’s amazing! How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”

Fancy living in a Church?

This old church in Kyloe, North Cumberland , England was purchased by a couple. They invested lots of money to keep the outside the same. They restored instead of renovated (3 times less money). The couple did their best to recreate the inside like a regular home.





































Humor -

AND YET ANOTHER COFFEE STORY

Amalie and I made a decent cup of coffee. But somewhere along the line Am was having some kind of difficulty, and the doctor told her to switch to decaf. So we started buying and drinking decaf. Shortly therafter I started getting headaches on the weekends. It finally hit me -- because I was drinking decaf at home and regular work, on the weekends I was getting withdrawal symptoms! We solved that by switching exclusively to tea. She liked hers English style, with milk or cream in it. When we would go out to a restaurant, I would make it a point to tell the waiter that she liked her tea with milk. Sometimes they remembered, and sometimes they did not. But they always remembered to bring hers with a slice of lemon. Milk with lemon? Ugh! And I’ve stuck with tea ever since.


Fun -

ROSE PARADE

I was disappointed in the ABC network coverage of the Rose Parade. They only showed some of the entries. Later I found a web site that showed everything, or certainly a lot more than I saw on TV. You can find what appears to be everything by going to Google, and typing in Rose Parade Videos. Then choose the top one. There are a total of six videos that cover the whole parade.

Cliff said something this morning about needing his coffee to wake up in the morning, and that reminded me of a coffee story from my army days. The tag line will tell you how old this is:

When I was stationed at Fort Lawton, Washington, many (most?) of the buildings were heated with pot belly coal stoves. Some offices kept their coffee hot by leaving the pot on top of the pot belly, and at one such office there was a sign nearby that read DON’T THROW OUT YOUR COFFEE -- FILL YOUR FOUNTAIN PEN.

First cartoon of 1010: