Month: February 2024

19 February 2024

Happy Presidents’ Day! I think with the background of all my history courses (a minor at Ole Miss) my favorite is FDR. A close second is Teddy. I think Jimmy Carter made a much better ex-President than President and set and example for all to follow. Here’s the current rating of the American Political Science Association. The info below was on the ElectoralVote.com web site.

“The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association surveyed its members about presidential greatness. The 525 members were ask to score each president from 0 (failure) to 100 (great). Here are the results:

Rank	President	2024 Rating
1	Abraham Lincoln	93.87
2	Franklin D. Roosevelt	90.83
3	George Washington	90.32
4	Theodore Roosevelt	78.58
5	Thomas Jefferson	77.53
6	Harry S. Truman	75.34
7	Barack Obama	73.80
8	Dwight D. Eisenhower	73.73
9	Lyndon B. Johnson	72.86
10	John F. Kennedy	68.37
11	James Madison	67.16
12	Bill Clinton	66.42
13	John Adams	62.66
14	Joe Biden	62.66
15	Woodrow Wilson	61.80
16	Ronald Reagan	61.62
17	Ulysses S. Grant	60.93
18	James Monroe	60.15
19	George H.W. Bush	58.54
20	John Quincy Adams	55.41
21	Andrew Jackson	54.70
22	Jimmy Carter	54.26
23	William Howard Taft	51.67
24	William McKinley	51.23
25	James K. Polk	49.83
26	Grover Cleveland	48.31
27	Gerald Ford	46.09
28	Martin Van Buren	45.46
29	Rutherford Hayes	41.15
30	James Garfield	40.98
31	Benjamin Harrison	40.64
32	George W. Bush	40.43
33	Chester Arthur	39.61
34	Calvin Coolidge	39.38
35	Richard Nixon	36.41
36	Herbert Hoover	34.08
37	John Tyler	32.99
38	Zachary Taylor	32.97
39	Millard Fillmore	30.33
40	Warren Harding	27.76
41	William Henry Harrison	26.01
42	Franklin Pierce	24.60
43	Andrew Johnson	21.56
44	James Buchanan	16.71
45	Donald Trump	10.92 “

Of course, the list is mostly subjective and more recent Presidents often fair better than earlier Presidents. It’s always an interesting list and one that elicits plenty of discussion.

Last evening, I had a burst of energy and made Grandma Laura’s tea cakes.

For dinner I decided to do the vegetarian version of beef stroganoff. It uses a lot of mushrooms and onions and is delicious. I put it over egg noodles.

This morning was pretty cool for us (59°F) with 25 mph gusts. The sky was overcast. In short, a perfect day for walking if you bundled up.

I did 0.9 miles this morning and I was pleased that my gait was decent and I noticed a distinct lessening of foot drop as I walked. When I was almost home, I did notice the foot drop increasing but I feel that physical therapy is helping with that.

I now have a consensus. Dr. Wu, pain specialist, agrees that the neuropathy is due to the Taxol treatments. He’s suggested to stick with the Gabapentin and even up the dosage if Dr. Chamely approves which he’s already said he’s willing to go higher on the dosage.

As to the lower back, it’s interesting what one doctor will tell you as opposed to another. Dr. Chamely did not tell me that my L5-S1 disc was completely gone but according to Dr. Wu, it is. To be honest, most of the time the pain in my lower back is around 1 out of 10. If I suddenly twist it or bend forward or backward too quickly, it shoots up to around 5 out of 10. When sciatica hits, it’s a 10 out of 10 but fortunately that doesn’t happen often – maybe once every two weeks.

Dr. Wu says taking Advil for the pain is OK as long as it is not a prolonged dosage. I never take it for long periods of time anyway. So, he wants to see me in 3 months but I made it 4. Funny how there’s nothing to do but go back and see him again. They have to earn a living some how.

As the afternoon progressed, I noticed the foot drop has reappeared. I guess that’s to be expected.

Tomorrow is the Herceptin treatment at 9:15 am. I should be out of there by noon, fingers crossed.

Stay tuned!

18 February 2024

I used the forecast of rain not to do my morning walk. I was a little tired anyway. I discover it’s easy to find excuses these days.

After the Zoom meeting last night with friends, I pretty much conked out around 9:30 pm and didn’t get out of bed until around 8 am. There were some strange dreams intermixed with the night’s sleep and one in particular was about a house I lived in and while it was undergoing renovation, some realtor was trying to sell it out from me. I’m not sure how to interpret that one.

The rain finally did start around 10:30 and feeling guilty, I decided to do my physical therapy exercises. Shannon has shown me a couple of exercises to strengthen my calves and my left one is definitely less responsive than the right. However, today, for the first time, there was a little life in the left calf. Perhaps there’s some progress going on their muscle-wise.

I still have back pain when I first get up. I am more than a little curious what Dr. Wu, the pain specialist at Holy Cross will say about the MRI results and the neuropathy. Monday starts a busy week with Dr. Wu. Tuesday is a Herceptin treatment at 9:15 am, then I have a blood draw on Wednesday morning and an afternoon physical therapy session the same day. The week eases off after Wednesday.

Last week, when I ordered groceries, I ordered some Asian lilies (they are all hybrids). I like them because (1) they have a wonderful aroma and (2) they last a very long time. You are supposed to cut the stamens out so they last longer but I never do. I guess that means I’m a purist when it comes to flowers. There is one drawback to not removing the stamens and that is pollen gets everywhere on every surface.

This is what happens with one little tap on a flower. I put a piece of paper under it to catch the pollen and got rewarded with one or two thousand grains of pollen.

Let’s see. No chores, it’s raining, got my exercises done. I think I’ll get back in bed and read a while and then nap a while. It certainly beats those Sundays that I usually mowed the yard back in the day.

Stay tuned!

17 February 2024

We’re getting an afternoon shower which may keep me from having to add water to the pool. It’s our dry season and it’s certainly been dry.

I made 1.2 miles this morning. I was dragging towards the end – literally, my legs and feet weren’t cooperating – but as I got closer to the house it seems like I got a second wind. I’ve had that experience on hikes before. One rather peculiar observation is that my hands seem to get more numb when I walk. Usually, the numbness is in my fingertips and thumbs but as I get into the walk, it spreads to most of my hands and up my wrists. I have no idea about that except half the time I’m walking, one arm is hanging down while the other is on my walking stick. I trade sides with hands on the walking stick so maybe I have poor circulation when my arm hangs down.

The mornings are really nice with the temp in the 60’s. I’ve started having my second breakfast on the patio. I usually eat my fruit bowl and have my first cup of coffee in front of the computer checking emails and reading the news. After my walk, I have half a grapefruit and a second cup of coffee while I do The Washington Post crossword. At least I try to do the crossword. The Saturday one is the toughest and I generally have to look up the answers.

Today was clean house and wash clothes. There’s nothing like Saturday chores to get you focused. Again, I don’t do as much cleaning as I used to on Saturdays but get the essentials done: bathroom, floors, change linen. There’s usually two loads of laundry with three dryer loads. The reason for three dryer loads is I dry the sheets separately, otherwise, they just get tangled in all the other clothes and nothing gets dry that cycle. At least I don’t do much ironing these days. I still iron my blue jeans and an occasional shirt that is not “no iron.” Otherwise, I pretend everything is linen and just go with it.

Last night I watched the Superman movie with Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Glen Ford, and Jackie Cooper. I forgot how good the movie is and I’m amazed it has held up as well as it has over time. For some reason I remember Margot Kidder looking better than she did in the movie.

Tonight I have a zoom meeting with old, literally, college colleagues.

Stay tuned!

16 February 2024

Shannon at physical therapy warned me I might be dragging a little today. What she didn’t tell me was I would be dragging that very afternoon. I left physical therapy around 2 pm and drove over to Walgreens to pick up my new, higher dosage of Gabapentin. From there, I stopped at Winn-Dixie to pick up some fresh fruit and veggies and to have the checkout lady cough all over everything. At least she wore a mask. When I got home I really started to feel tired.

Today I also feel tired but felt up to a walk. The shortest morning walk I do is around 1.2 miles down one of the streets that sandwiches a canal to the New River. I got about half way down and realize I needed to turn back. Way to go me! I’m wising up! My walk ended up around 0.6 miles and I felt it when I got home.

Today is pool filter day. I decided to not rake the leaves, instead I washed them off the deck. I can manage washing the filter sitting down and the only drama comes when I try to replace the filter in the cartridge. So far, with that little piece I didn’t know I was missing, it’s been a breeze. I then did a little watering of plants and a freshwater wash down of the patio.

Freshwater wash down is a sea going term. When I was aboard ship in the Coast Guard, after a cruise, we’d pull into port and have a freshwater wash down of the entire ship. You’d be surprised at how much sea salt accumulates on every structure on a ship. I never had to participate in the wash down but it took a while – it was a pretty big cutter at 210 feet.

Occasionally, OK, more often than not, our fresh water system went down while at sea. It was a reverse osmosis type of device and generally didn’t cooperate. That meant to save what little freshwater we had stored on board in our tanks, we had to take salt water showers. Pretty soon everyone was walking around with a thin crust of salt on them. It’s uncomfortable to say the least. The first thing crew did upon reaching port was to do a freshwater wash down of themselves. Folks with ocean front property understand when their windows salt over and spoil their view.

After completing the wash down of the patio, I wanted to stay ahead of the weeds so I did another spraying in the front and back yards. It had gotten out of control there for a while.

For lunch, I made a mix of avocado, cucumber, red onion, zucchini, and chick peas drizzled with EVOO, salt, pepper, and lime juice. I figured I needed to start eating a little healthier and with a little more protein, hence the avocado and chick peas. After the clean up, I hit the bed to read a little and then took an hour nap.

Last night, I did something I’ve never done before. I watched the entirety of Citizen Kane. I’ve never seen the complete movie until last night – only bits and pieces over the years. It’s considered the best movie ever made for years. It was Orson Welles’ first movie (1941) and he produced, directed, and starred in it. No ego there.

I know it’s supposed to be great but I suspect there’s a reason I never sat down to see it from start to finish because what snippets I saw did not attract me. I’m sure there were cinematographic firsts and other firsts for this film but I only found it mildly engaging. Maybe it’s something about powerful egos. Let’s just say that in academia, I’ve run into my share of them. The only person I recognized in the cast (for many it was their first movie) was Joseph Cotten. Well, now I can say I saw Citizen Cane. It is sufficient. Let’s just leave it at Rose bud.

My friend show above is a hand exerciser. You grab the base and put your fingers through the loop and squeeze. I’m tired of having no strength in my hands and hope this will stimulate muscle growth.

Stay tuned!

15 February 2024

I have no idea what’s going on but I feel really, really good today. It’s no secret that bipolar disorder runs in our family history and it’s almost like I’m in a manic phase – both mentally and physically. Whatever it is, I’ll take it. I haven’t felt this well in a long time.

I managed a 0.4 mile walk this morning by walking around two blocks in the neighborhood. I didn’t think I was going to make it for the first part because my feet felt like the bones were trying to protrude through the soles of my feet but that went away and I was able to complete the walk.

On top of that, it’s a beautiful day in the hood.

The temperature is perfect and the humidity is low and it’s a real pleasure to be outside.

Even though I feel great at the moment, I’ve decided not do any projects around the house today. I’ve burned myself out too many times before. I may be slow but I eventually learn my lesson. I also have physical therapy this afternoon and I know that will work me.

I think the biggest thing mentally is the hope that I may either eliminate or mitigate the neuropathy. That hope was given yesterday with my EMG results with the neurologist. Even if it takes two years, I at least have some reasonable hope it might go away or at least abate enough for me to get back on hiking trails.

Last night was movie night with Chris and Tucker. We watched Last Holiday with Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, and Gérard Depardieu. I kept telling Chris it was Ice T, not LL Cool J. It’s a great feel good movie even though it starts with Queen Latifah thinking she had three weeks to live. The scenery is gorgeous and the actors are great. It’s worth a viewing if you’ve not seen it. On the plus side, it also has some great scenes filmed in New Orleans.

I got hungry for caramel popcorn again yesterday. It’s a real mess in making. I’ve never found an easy way to make sure the popped kernels get coated with caramel. The recipe calls for one cup of un-popped corn and 1/4 cup of coconut oil. That filled my largest pot with popped corn. I used to pour the caramel into that pot and stir but everything keeps coming out of the pot and all over the counter.

One recipe suggested putting the popped corn on baking sheets and then pouring the caramel over the top of those. I tried that yesterday but discovered that there were too many pieces of popcorn on each baking sheet. More popcorn on the counter and floor.

In any case, I finally got it all done.

It turned out to be pretty good. Here’s the recipe I used.

Set oven to 250°F
Put 1/4 cup of coconut oil (or any oil, really) into your largest pot and put on medium heat.

When the oil is hot, add 1 cup of un-popped popcorn kernels. As the corn begins to pop, shake the pot so un-popped kernels fall to the bottom and continue to pop. After the popping slows down, remove from the heat.

I spread the popped corn between two cookie sheets (I recommend you do three) and placed them in the oven while I made the caramel sauce.

Caramel sauce

3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup Karo syrup (light or dark works)
3/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar, Karo syrup, and salt and mix well. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to boil. Then stop. Don’t stir anymore for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, add the vanilla extract and the baking soda and quickly stir. Be quick because the baking soda will cause it to foam up.

Quickly pour the caramel sauce over the cookie sheets with the corn. Then try to stir the popped corn into the sauce.

Place the cookie sheets in the oven and stir every 15 minutes for 45 minutes. Pull out of the oven and let cool before you bag up the caramel corn.

Some suggest to spray the cookie sheets before hand with nonstick spray. I didn’t and it was a little effort to get the hardened caramel sauce off the cookie sheet but hot water does the job.

You’ll probably get popcorn everywhere in the kitchen. However, it’s worth it for the fresh caramel corn.

Stay tuned!

13 February 2024

A day with no appointments and my feet are killing me. They started really hurting last night around 8 pm and even though I got plenty of sleep (thanks Temazepam), when I got up this morning they started again. Even stranger, it’s the little toe on my left foot that is the worst of the pain. That little piggy is hurtin’.

I managed to do the physical therapy exercises this morning. Getting down on the floor is interesting. I get about half way down and then just fall the rest of the way. After doing the physical therapy routine, getting back up is easy but vertigo hits me pretty hard and I have to pause a while before taking any steps.

It’s overcast, windy and it rained early this morning. We needed the rain, don’t need the wind and we can take a break from the sun for a while. It seems a cold front is coming through and the lows tonight are predicted to be in the high 50’s.

My cousin Jimmie and I were talking about Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi. In came up in conversation about a possible visit to Mississippi to see relatives. I’m toying with the idea of staying in one of their cabins. It’s been years since I’ve been to the park and would like to relive old memories of the place. My earliest recollection is a Cub Scout meet and being in a 3-legged race (and falling down). Later, I camped many nights there with our local Boy Scout Troop 28.

One thing we both remembered were the WWII artillery pieces on display in the park. There was a Sherman tank we played on and a howitzer and a rather large gun that I think was an 8“.

They had stripped the tank of most dangerous stuff but you could still get hurt. The lids that closed the crew into the tank were still there and heavy and you could mash a finger with those things. I remember crawling out on the end of the barrel of the 8″ gun. She and I discussed whether they are still there but photos of the park on the web don’t show them. They were great play areas for kids back then but I’m sure parents today would cringe at the thought of kids playing on those weapons. Come to think of it, it’s pretty lucky Jimmie and I even survived childhood with daredevil bike stunts, dangerous gymnastics on monkey bars, building tree houses, exposure to DDT, and playing in the highway (I didn’t say we were smart).

Tomorrow at 2 early in the morning is my EMG (electromyography) where I pay someone to stick needles into me and determine if my muscles twitch when they are supposed to. I’ve never had one of these before and when I read up on the procedure, it still doesn’t tell me much. Of course, there’ll be a follow up appointment to explain everything.

Stay tuned!

12 February 2024

I usually never watch a Super Bowl all the way through but I did last night. It was a pretty good football contest in between everything else that went on. Either I am getting old or my hearing is going because I didn’t understand a word of the half time show. I like Usher and I like the music. Maybe because it was performed in a stadium and the sound engineer didn’t do a good job? In my opinion, the commercials, usually standouts, were just mediocre this time. For a lot of them, I couldn’t figure out what they were advertising. Maybe there are some advantages to getting old after all.

An eight minute trip to physical therapy this morning took me 40 minutes. I was actually five minutes late. It wasn’t the drawbridge this time (although it was up an unusually long time on my return trip). The delay was due to a freight train just before Andrews Avenue. It was moving along at a pretty fast clip at first but then begin to slow and then begin to creep by. Everyone was turning around and looking for alternate routes (by the length of the freight, there would be none because all of the crossings would be closed). I called the physical therapy center and told them I would be late. Then the train cleared the crossing and I zoomed into the parking lot. I was literally yards from the physical therapy center when I got stopped.

Shannon understood my canceling Friday’s session due to exhaustion. She put me through my paces and I was out of there 30 minutes later. That seems to be the length of time they work with you. Since Trinity bought out Holy Cross, they’ve been asked to work one more patient in a day (to the exclusion of their lunch hour).

I’m usually a little tired after each session but I seem to bounce back pretty quickly. I also try to repeat at home several of the exercises which don’t require equipment. The whole purpose is to build up my strength and stamina – both of which I need.

Tomorrow I have the day off from appointments. I think I’ll celebrate and go have a donut.

Stay tuned!