BRONCHI - WHO?

When I was in the hospital a couple of weeks ago, the pulmonologist had dropped into tell me that after all these years (about 24), I no longer have ABPA (allergic bronchopulmonory aspergillosis), but she didn't say what I did have.  Today I was back to see her, and specifically asked what the diagnosis is.  I should have known.  I never get anything spelled with less than 7 to 10 letters.  Now what I have is ...  ta da! bronchectasis!  Seems I have four different "bugs", as she put it.  We're treating them to antibiotics.  Hope this does something for the blankety blank *&^$% cough!

***

There are times when I think I've left my brains in my other pants.  I'd decided earlier today that I would have a slice of pizza for lunch.  So when Cliff asked me what I wanted, I thought that's what I said.  I blinked when he brought me a half a bagel.  "No, no!" I protested.  "I want half a ... ba  g  e..l?"  And I realized I had -- twice -- said the wrong thing.  Cliff is standing there, waiting for me to make up what's left of my mind, and I started to say, "What is it we get at the pizza place ..."  Oh!  Slight pause while that registers.  "I'll have a slice of pizza, please."

Computer Repair Humor --

Caller :  Hi, our printer is not working.
Customer Service:   What is wrong with it?
Caller :  Mouse is jammed.
Customer Service:  Mouse? ... Printers don't have a mouse!!!
Caller:  Mmmmm??.. Oh really? ... I will send a picture.

TWO TOPICS

I have now read 5 of the 10 (so far) Russell-Holmes stories, and I am enjoying them immensely.  But I hesitate to read one after the other for a couple of reasons.  First, I don’t want them to end too quickly, and second, I really need a change of pace between these stories.

So, with this in mind,  I hopped on my scooter (figuratively) (hopped, that is), and went over to the Mountain View Public Library.  Now in my mind this seemed to be somewhat farther than when I scooter over to the local pharmacy, so I was quite surprised when it took me several minutes less than the pharmacy run.  Just goes to show.

I imagine that many of you have followed the fate of the 33 trapped Chilean miners.  As you likely know, the original estimate to recover these men was Christmas.  Well, as I learned last night, the last of the men was brought up last evening -- WAY ahead of schedule.  And as I continued to read the account, the entire operation went far better than anticipated, with the actual rescue happening quicker than estimated, and the shaft capsule worked to perfection!   A 69-day ordeal!  No one has ever been trapped so long and survived.  The last one to be brought to the surface was the mine foreman.  It was he who held his men together all that time, and in my mind he is one of the rescue heroes. It is so good to get GOOD news once in a while.

 

Fun -

Doing nothing is very hard to do.  You never know when you’re finished.

***
The difference between fiction and reality?  Fiction has to make sense.

REMARKABLE HOW IT WORKED OUT

It’s strange how some things work out.  Some weeks ago my cardiologist prescribed another medication.  I mentioned it to my VA doctor, who decided I didn’t need it.  I do believe I talked about this previously.  Purchased locally, it is quite expensive, and surprisingly, even more so online.

I wanted the cardiologist and VA doctor to get together on this, as I felt caught in the middle.  But to date the cardiologist’s nurse has been unable to connect with my VA doctor.  Yesterday I had an appointment with the cardiologist, and I was all prepared to argue with him about my needing this particular drug.  I had my arguments all loaded and ready to fire.

For many years I have had a persistent cough that I had pretty much ignored.  But it has gotten worse over the past several months.  Actually, it has developed into two distinct, separate coughs.  One is productive, that when I get the stuff up, seems all right.  The other is a dry, repetitive cough that is most difficult to deal with.

Back to the cardiologist -- he did his usual checking, and then asked if I’d had any more chest pain.  No.  Shortness of breath?  No.  Was anything else bothering me?  And I mentioned the expensive medication he’d prescribed.  Before I could pick up my gun and start firing, he said there was an inexpensive, over-the-counter substitute I could use.  Well that took the gun out of my hands.  Anything else?  No, except for the cough, and I told him all about it.  After consulting my list of medications (it’s only about 4 feet long), he suggested I stop one blood pressure pill because it tends to cause a dry cough, and double another to compensate.

WOW!  Two problems addressed in one visit.  Remarkable!


I don't know if I'd call this funny, or just remarkable.  As I watched it, I wondered if it was a human being in costume.  What do you think?

CARICATURES -- THE END

Okay, here's the last of the caricatures.

Sean Connery -- Sophia Loren

Sylvester Stallone -- Tom Cruise

Tom Hanks -- Uma Thurman

Whoopi Goldberg

Bjork -- Eric Clapton

Chet Baker

Dolly Parton -- Duke Ellington

Elvis Presley -- David Bowie

James Brown -- John Lennon

Keith Richards -- Kylie Minogue

Paul McCartney  -  Neil Young

Tina Turner -- Katarina Witt

Humor -
An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline. He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment.  Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?"  "Why, no Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?" The little old lady said,
"Did we land, or were we shot down?"

DRIVERLESS CARS

 The following was in this morning's paper.  And while I realize that many of you may have seen the same article, I could not resist it.


Google tests cars that can steer without drivers
By DANIEL WAGNER AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON—Google Inc. is road-testing cars that steer, stop and start without a human driver, the company says.

The goal is to "help prevent traffic accidents, free up people's time and reduce carbon emissions" through ride sharing and "the new 'highway trains of tomorrow,'" project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote Saturday on Google's corporate blog.

The cars are never unmanned.  A backup driver is always behind the wheel to monitor the software.  The cars have traveled a total of 140,000 miles on major California roads without much human intervention, according to Google's corporate blog.  The Mountain View, Calif.-based technology giant has sent seven test cars a total of 1,000 miles without a human touching the controls at all, the New York Times reported. The newspaper published a report on the cars earlier Sunday.

The cars know speed limits, traffic patterns and road maps. They use video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to detect other cars.  Driving between Northern California and Southern California, the cars have navigated San Francisco's curvy Lombard Street, Los Angeles' Hollywood Boulevard and the cliff-hugging Pacific Coast Highway, the blog says.  Engineers consider the cars safer because they react more quickly than humans.

Fun -

Most businesses have credit card machines that automatically print “Thank you.  Please come again,” at the bottom of the receipt.  But one fellow asked a place where he did business if that could be taken off.  “Well, I suppose so,” he was told, “but why?”  “It just seems inappropriate,” said the customer.  “We’re a funeral home.”

CARICATURES, PART TWO

I think some (most) are quite good, and others seem a bit too distorted.  One more group after this one.

Bette Davis - Marlene Dietrich

Bill Murray - Bruce Willis

Christopher Walken

Clint Eastwood - George Clooney

Humphrey Bogart - Harrison Ford

Jack Nicholson - Jamie Lee Curtis

John Wayne - Klaus Kinski

Lee Marvin - Marilyn Monroe

Meryl Streep - Nicholas Cage

Paul Newman - Orson Welles

Penelope Cruz - Robert DeNiro

Rowan Atkinson - Sarah Jessica Parker

 

Humor -

Here is one more story about that Chihuahua I told about yesterday.

Apparently my dad had had larger dogs before I was born, so when he saw this little thing, he exclaimed, "That's a dog?'

Now we lived in a two story house, with the bedrooms upstairs.  My sister worked, so she kept the dog in her bedroom, and had for the pup a basket where he could lie down, and food and water.  She kept the door closed.

My dad would come from work, go upstairs to change and wash up, and then come down to dinner.  Then during dinner we would see him with an arm stretched down under the table.  "Pa, what are you doing?"  "Nothing."  Obviously he was feeding the dog!  Seems that as he started to head downstairs, he would open my sister's bedroom door, and of course the dog would run down the stairs.  Ah, well.

Then there was the night most of the family went out, except my dad.  When they came home, no pop.  Not in the living room, not in his bedroom.  Then my sister went to go to bed and discovered my dad stretched out on her bedroom floor, his head in the dog's basket, ... and the dog curled up on pop's head!  One could imagine the two of them snoring!

ENJOYING BOOK CLUB MEETING

Our Book Club met yesterday, as it does on the first Thursday of the month, and as usual, it was most enjoyable.  One reason these meetings are so much fun is that it is most informal.  While two persons have volunteered to review books of their choosing, there is a lot of give and take around the table, with questions and comments from the participants.

In addition there is information exchanged that has little or nothing to do with books.  For instance, one reviewer, Meg, also told about acquiring a “new” dog, as her other one had died.  The “new” is in quotes because her newly acquired Chihuahua is 9 years old.  As she put it, an old dog for an old woman.

Her review was of a book entitled “Birds of Prey” by Judith Jance, and it is a mystery story that takes place on a cruise ship to Alaska.

Sue was our other reviewer, and she spent some time telling us about the author, Isabel Allende, and if the name is vaguely familiar, she is the daughter of the president of Chile who was murdered.  The book she wrote is “Daughter of Fortune”, a work of historical fiction.

Both volumes seem intriguing to me.

In the humor department, I offered this true story at the book club meeting:  (I don’t think I’ve told it before.)

Many years ago, when I was just a kid, my sister came home with a puppy Chihuahua.  It was so small, it could stand in the palm of your hand.  My sister said that before she came home, she had stopped at the local bakery for something.  She was waiting in line to be served, and had put the pup on a large decorative button near her left shoulder.  After a short while, the woman behind my sister exclaimed, “IT MOVED!”  Apparently she’d thought it was just a part of the coat.