This is Thomas R. Welch reporting to you again direct from the homestead on the south side of Atlanta, Ga.
Our friend Mike passed away and
the funeral was yesterday. Yun and I met him and his wife Chun Ja all the
way back in 1972, when they came knocking on our apartment door seeking Korean
companionship. Yun and I had just come from Korea, and so had they.
Anyway, we all hit it off and remained in touch ever since. Mike was a
decent man and we loved him. His wife, Chun Ja, is alone, but she has a
good support structure around her and she will be find.
I've
been playing with the Wii. My favorite game is bowling and I'm not too
bad on it. My high game is 248, and I'm bowling consistently above the
PRO level, but just barely. The main thing is that I am burning
some calories. It's a little strenuous bowing frame after frame non-stop
for an hour. On the other hand it's a lot of fun. I work at it for
an hour a day, trying to move as though I really am bowling, and I get Yun has
played a couple of times but I guess its not her thing as she mainly is my
cheerleader. She is trying very hard to encourage me so I don't lose
interest.
Yun is having an allergic reaction to something. I believe that
it is due to her insisting on eating two different types of fish. She
loves it loves every time she eats it she has the same type of reaction.
I've urged her not to eat it but sooner or later she does anyway. I
bought her some benadryl today. It helps her some, but also makes
her sleepy. If nothing else she got some good sleep today.
Sassy and Lady are both well.
More later (There is always more, later not so much)
This is Thomas R.
Welch reporting to you again direct from the homestead on the south side of
Atlanta, Ga.
I mentioned yesterday that we bought Wii, set it up and enjoyed it. But
only one person could play at a time which is not good if we wanted to compete
against each other, which we do. So, we went out and bought a second set
of controls. I guess I figured out the Wii installation because basically
you just pushed the appropriate button on the remote when the Wii program told
you to. I tried to get the second control set up but it doesn't
work. Set up the Wii to accommodate two players. Put the batteries
in the new control. Pushed the button inside the battery box, like the
instructions say. I don't understand what it is supposed to do, bit I did
what it said. A series of lights on the bottom of the control started
blinking, just like the instructions say. When the lights stopped
blinking, just like the instructions said they would, I pushed the power
button. Nothing! So, I am on hold with just one control until
Steven comes tomorrow to bail me out, like he always does when it comes to
computerized stuff. If he can't get it working I'll figure it was
defective when it was sold and take it back for either refund, or exchange.
Two players on just the one controller is not cool, but it gets the job done. I have already noticed a distinctive difference Yun and my playing styles. I stand and go through the movement just like I would in a bowling alley. Yun sits in a chair and sort of thrusts the control forward while releasing "B" button. Works for her, she has a pretty good score.
We make sure we know where Sassy is all the time. This isn’t hard to do because she’s staying closer to us than normal.
Oh, I decided to number my reports sequentially. It gets a little difficult coming up with titles.
More later (There is always more, later not so much).
This is Thomas R. Welch reporting to you direct from the homestead on the south side of Atlanta, Ga.
I reported earlier that our girlfriend Sassy has blood in her urine which turns her urine brownish, caused by a cancerous growth. She is having trouble walking, more so each day. She has four cancer growths, one in the chest, one on the bladder, and one on each side down by where her hips are. The Vet says that treatment will not help with cancer that wide spread and that she will likely live weeks to months. Sassy is still taking her antibiotics, and at some time we will have to put her own a pain killer.
I carry her outside and back inside as she is having trouble negotiating the steps, and she likes to lay in the driveway in the late afternoon her kingdom. She's already eaten dinner but ate a little less than normal, although her appetite is still pretty good. She has started to regurgitate food. Not every meal, but it's something she didn't use to do.
But you guys know she is getting all the love and attention she can handle. What Mom and I doing is to let Sassy do anything she wants to do, basically what she does now. And we intend to spoil her more than she is now, if that's possible. She is a special girl friend and we all love her. And she knows she is loved. That's the most important thing.
Mom went out yesterday and bought a Wii. We played one at Michelle and Steven's place and really enjoyed it. I'm not very good putting things together, and we decided to ask Michelle and Steven to do it when they next come down, but I couldn't rest with that thing sitting in the box calling my name, so this morning I put it together. Played it right away. All the games are fun, but bowling, boxing, tennis, and baseball also give you some exercise if you play the game as you're supposed to.
We watched a good 30 year old movie about WWII tonight. I don't recall the name and am to lazy to look it up. Good suspense, no gratuitous violence, and no cursing. Good movie.
More later (There is always more, later not so much).
I have lived under the leadership of 11 Presidents. Men like Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon (before Watergate), Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton. Their accomplishments aside, and they were many, as were their failures, I believed we could trust these men had our interests at heart. When Bush 43 became President I also thought we could trust him to do what’s right for us. Then came Gulf War II started to rid this country of Saddam Hussein’s use of his (we now know) fictional Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Somebody lied about WMD, thousands of US military and civilians have died because of it and no one has gone to jail because of it. He refuses to allow the heads of Congressional Committees to review documents they deem necessary for their oversight of the Administrative Branch of Government; these guys have the highest of security clearances for God’s sake. He has failed to secure our borders, increasing the chance of terrorist attacks on United States soil, and allowing perhaps up to 20 million undocumented people to live in this country. He created the Department of Homeland Security which increasingly violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which violates the privacy of the U.S. public. Equally importantly, he took a balanced budget Government to one 9.4 trillion in the red ink.
And then we have the House of Representatives and the Senate. Is there anyone in the United States who believes that there are Congressmen or Senators who are not on the take, whether it be from lobbyists or private citizens? I’m not even going to list any of their involvements; you can read as well as I, and are probably already aware of their violations of their office. Is there anyone in the United States who believes there are Congressmen and Senators who will not do anything it takes to get elected and then to stay elected? They listen to their constituents? Yes, probably, especially the ones who can do something for them. They keep their promises? No. They support the constitution and the bill of rights? From what I read they only support those parts that they can bend to support their aims.
I know, I know, I must have been awfully naïve to have ever believed any elected official would ever put our interests over his or hers; I no longer believe that. Now, I think we can't trust any of them, any of the time.
Actually, I don't even know why I bothered to write this because nothing we write, say, or do, makes any difference. And guess what, this rant hasn’t even made me feel better.
More later (there always more, later
not so much)
What in the hell is wrong with Nancy Pelosi and the rest of those twits up on Capitol Hill that they could even consider sending to the floor of the House of Representatives a resolution labeling the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey in 1915 as Genocide. That this is true has been well documented, but damn, it happened in 1915. I'm not a mathematician, as is evidenced by the fact that my wife doesn't allow me to balance the checkbook, but I believe 1915 was 92 years ago. Do they realize that there cannot be more than a handful of the survivors of that Genocide still alive? Of course they do. Do they think the survivors will be grateful to them for condemning Turkey? If they think that, they are truly silly people in that I would imagine that anyone who was born as the Genocide was occurring is now about 92 years old, and while I don’t know, I will hazard a guess that these unfortunates are more concerned with staying alive than they are with a resolution condemning their murderers. I know that our Congressmen and Congresswomen, henceforth referred to as idiots, have a lot on their plate, but taking 92 years after the Genocide to condemn the Turkish people for the actions of their ancestors is meaningless; except as an attempt to end U. S. involvement in Iraq by cutting off the physical flow of supplies needed by our troops.
As you know, and if you didn’t know before you do now, about 70 percent of the supplies needed to sustain out force in Iraq, comes through Turkey. Here’s the kicker. Turkey has already warned the United States that any action to condemn them (Turks) for the Armenian Genocide that happened 92 years ago, may cause the Turkish Government to withdraw its permission to allow the U.S. military to flow supplies to Iraq. If they do, the flow of supplies to our men and women may be compromised to an extent that they must totally, or even partially, withdraw from Iraq. If the flow of supplies to Iraq is disrupted because of the proposed Congressional action, the members of Congress who vote to support such action are traitors.
Despite the scandal of his recent arrest, Sen. Larry Craig is being inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame. Should his legal troubles have any impact on the award?
Unless you're a resident of Idaho it's none of your concern. I don't live in Idaho. I live in Georgia where:
It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.Signs are required to be written in English.
No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
It is illegal to say "Oh, Boy" in Jonesboro.
It is illegal for a chicken to cross the road in Quitman
All Indians must return to their shore of the Chattohoochee River by nightfall.
No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
4 Oct 07
This is Thomas R. Welch reporting to you direct from the homestead on the south side of Atlanta, Ga.
Yesterday this reporter advised that Sassy was quite ill. We took her to the Veterinarian and got some medicine, gave it to her, and today, the 4th of Oct 2007, she is feeling much better.
Lady is doing well. She sulks sometimes because she says we pay more attention to Sassy than her. We explain that Sassy is old and needs the attention and that the time will come when Lady has all the attention. She doesn't accept this of course. She told me "Ha! That old lady is going to live forever." We hope!
This morning we had a good downpour of rain on the homestead. Thus far this part of Georgia is at level 2 water conservation measures. Across the state however, many locales are at level 3, with some areas near or at level 4.
One of the homestead residents, Yun, left the homestead this morning on a mercy mission to procure dough nuts. While at Ingles she also picked up some cabbage to make Kimchi, and has already accomplished that mission.
Mike (Chun Ja's husband) got an infection where his feeding tube is connected to his stomach. It occurred because the nurse who has been attending him once daily at his home was not qualified to remove, clean, and reinsert the tube but did so anyway, and as you know it doesn't take many germ buggers to cause a serious infection. He was hospitalized again for almost a week before they whipped the infection. Anyway, he is home once again, and has been told to come to the hospital on a regular schedule to get the feeding tube and his wound disinfected.
From the homestead, we wish you good night, and good dreams.
More later (There's always more, later not so much)
3 October 2007
Last year we lost our friend Woodie. Then Saturday before last we lost Michelle and Steven’s friend Buzzle. Monday, noticed that Sassy had bloody urine. I know she started bleeding on Monday, because after she goes outside I pick her up when she comes in the back steps because she is older now and climbing steps is difficult for her. After picking her up I cradle her on my forearm so I know if she urinated because it gets on my arm. Before anyone goes off half cocked let me say I do the same thing when she poops. And yes, if she pooped it gets on my forearm also. It doesn’t bother me as I have soap and water. Since there are a whole bunch of reasons that causes bloody urine, we didn’t think much of it as it has happened before, and corrected itself. Plus what I read about it indicated if it was only a few drops it is fairly normal. Yesterday, she was still had bloody urine, the same amount, so we decided to take her to the Veterinarian if she still had bloody urine today. She till had bloody urine, and this time also had a bloody stool. And we thought it was more than a few drops even though a little blood looks like a lot of blood when it spreads. We went to the Veterinarian. The Veterinarian is doing all kinds of blood tests on Sassy, took x-rays, and scared the poop out of us by mentioning the potential of cancer. We are praying that what is wrong is anything except number 1 and 2, as they can be cured with medications. Number 1 and 2 can also be fixed, sometimes.
- Cancer;
- Eaten something really sharp which is cutting him/her internally;
- Internal parasites;
- Viral infection;
- Small intestine problem; or
- Anal sac infection.
Because x-rays were taken we also now know that Sassy's cough is caused by her enlarged heart pressing against her windpipe. Small breeds, like Yorkshire Terriers, are prone to enlarged hearts.
The veterinarian placed sassy on Vetmedin is used to treat canine congestive heart failure. She is on Orbax to treat many types of bacterial infections. We have an appointment next week to see the lab results. We will be praying she does not have cancer.
More later (There’s always more, later not so much.)
