Bored

One could look at this as good news or bad news. Jack and I have been hanging around the house, bored to tears, except for our walks. That's better than dire illness, but it gives one time to wonder how much time is left on this side of life. How much time is left with limitations that keep me from doing what I want to do.


As far as I know, I have no life threatening illness but I've got problems that could keep me from my dream trip in March. And, I'm mad. One is the old back that you've heard me complaining about before. The pain reared its ugly head, again,  yesterday.


Fortunately, Susan is on call, so she came over to walk him, today--he was so happy to see her, he was butt tucking around the house--he loves her. 


I have the wanderlust, and I want to take Jack west, again. I live it, I dream it, and without that dream I don't have much to dream about, or for that matter--not much to live for. I can't stand the thought of spending another hot, humid, insect infested summer in Georgia. I want to see the mountains of Idaho and Colorado, more of Montana and Washington, the coast of California and Oregon, and new lakes and glaciers. I hate knowing where I'll be every night and all day.


I got the trailer leak fixed--water coming in through the tail light and a new, better inverter. I can't allow myself the luxury of a new hot water heater or tank (whichever it is), but the guy who came out to fix the leak (that I fixed) said he doesn't think it's that--more like a connection leaking. The question is, "Do I trust him?" I'll see in the next couple of weeks if I want to spend the money to let him check it out. Otherwise, I'll just leave it bypassed and I'll have to try to find places to take showers (see, subconsciously, I still think I'm leaving!). I Still have a new 2000eu Honda in the box, but can't lift it up onto the bed of the truck which needs to be detailed and the bed organized. I just can't do it. Heck vacuuming a room does me in, so I take one room at a time. Frustrating.


Jack is doing just great--lively and ready to run/go any time of the day or night. He's such a happy pup. Thank goodness he is healthy. Considering what happened last year, I'm very grateful.


If I go without attending to my back, there will be little walking--especially no hills. Jack's well behaved enough so that I can get him out and find places to let him run, especially when we're out in the boonies, but getting out on foot to explore was half the fun last time we went. On the positive side, driving doesn't bother me and neither does lying (or is it laying) down. Well, maybe I can just find a lake or a stream, sit on a log and throw sticks and balls for him to fetch--let him swim until he's tired.


I'm writing because I'm bored. I'm writing because I miss my old pal too much to describe, and my pup, Lizzie. I'd love to post some pictures, but I don't have any to post.


*They* say you are as old as you feel. Today, that's not a good thing--I find myself wondering how I got here so quickly.


Well, this was a boring post, as promised in the title, but it was good to write it. My hope is that those of you who can still travel, realize how lucky you are and to remind you to enjoy your days to the fullest. For those of you who still have your soul mate-- enjoy every moment, together. Take not a moment for granted for it can all end in an instant and life is never the same.


So, to try to satisfy my yearning, today, I looked back through pictures and remember where I was when I took every one of them. I wish there had been or that I knew of blogs when Rich and I traveled and digital cameras. I have thousands of 35mm pictures.


Random Memories of my last trip with Jack...

Near Bruce Meadows ID

View From My Campsite-Stanley ID

The Sawtooths

Along a River...somewhere in ID

Sawtooths

For Sale in McCall ID

Octopus Tree

On the Way to Ghost Town, Warren ID

Payette Lake ID

On the Way to Salmon ID

On the Way to Stites ID

Ribbon Road to Lewiston ID

A Part of Some Lucky Soul's Homestead

That's Mt. Ranier above the clouds!

Add caption

Oh, My Oregon Coast

Following the Trask River

Wandering around the water near Tillamook OR

The Mighty Columbia River

Oregon Coast on a Windy Day

Astoria OR

Where Rich was Stationed

Home Sweet Home

View From Mendencino

One of Few Pictures Along the Coast Road From San Francisco to Oregon

The Headlands

Sausalito

Sausalito CA

San Quentin

North of Chama NM

Lemon Lake

I Take Back What I Said About the iPhone

I've owned the phone for a while, now. It takes good pictures and it's always with me so that makes the camera handy.

My Review will, hopefully, save some people some money.

- Poor reception

- Terrible Battery Life

- Great Aps

I think it was rushed to market--maybe it had something to do with Jobs' death. I would NOT buy it if I had it to do it over, again. This is the first Apple product I have ever been disappointed in and I've had Apple computers, etc., since the 1980s. Apple is completely unreasonable when it comes to its contract agreement with Verizon and visa versa; a company that will say anything to get business and has terrible customer service. AppleCare, once a great benefit to anyone owning an Apple product, has gone down hill fast regarding tech support on computers so I have no doubt that they are poor in regards to the iPhone. as well.

Wait for the 5 and see if it is any better before buying. Hopefully, if consumers have come to the same conclusions as I have, and they voice their opinions, Apple will move to improve their product with very necessary upgrades.

Woes

Family Woes
Health Woes
Trailer Woes

No Woes:

Love My iPhone For So Many Reasons

Phone Calls, Calendar, Camera, Games, Aps, Clarity, etc., etc., etc.

A Tribute to Reileigh!

Reileigh

Reileigh was my friend, a chocolate Lab, adopted by one of Nancy's friends at 4 years of age. She was a lovely dog--gentle and kind like most labs. She was very shy and stuck to Diane's side like glue when we first camped together at Skidaway Island. Her Mom, Diane, was kind enough to offer to take care of me when Lizzie got sick and had to go to the vet when we were camping with a group of ladies and my friends in Virginia.

The shenanigans of my friends and me probably overwhelmed Reileigh, at first, but eventually she came out of her shell and friends tell me she got happier and happier as she camped more and more with the group. Unfortunately, I was sick all last year so I wasn't able to see her. She was lucky, like me, because she got to take a trip out west with her Mom and saw all the wondrous things that I got to see. Reileigh got sick, suddenly, and her Mom didn't want her to suffer, so as hard as it was to do, she knew she had an obligation not to let her suffer. I want Nancy to do the same for me if I get sick before she does. Everyone is devastated, but we all know that she lived a very happy life once she picked Diane to be her Mom. I wonder if she's at the Rainbow Bridge with Rich and Lizzie--waiting for Diane to come. Diane said Reileigh was snoring, as she always did, when she went off to sleep this final time. I'll be anxious to see her, again, when it's my turn to go to Rainbow Bridge.

Lizzie left me two years ago New Year's Eve. I hate it when Nancy crys--but she feels so badly for her friend. Someone quoted Anatole: "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." I sure am glad I got to see her in December at Desoto Campground, even if it was just for the day. She seemed so happy and content.

• Nancy's monitor is broken so she can only tell that the first picture is of Reileigh. We don't know if she's enjoying the water like the  rest of us--she may have been walking and watching with Diane. I think this must be what the other side of Rainbow Bridge is like, don't you? At  least it shows everone what fun Reileigh was to learn to have; especially on her trip west. Diane's blog is on our blog roll.

Skidaway Island

Lizzie-she loved water more than any other pup I've known.

Friends Having a Good Time

Another picture of my beautiful Lizzie

I got the stick!

Here Comes Lizzie!

Tucker, Molly, Jazz, Teddy, Nick, and Me

Got My Eye on the Stick!

Celebrating the Little Things in Life

Well, I said I wasn't going to write,again, but this was worth celebration. Jack and I went on the longest walk we've been on for months. Not exactly in the "wild", but a sunny pleasant day. I was a bit stiff, but had very little discomfort. As we get older, we really do appreciate the little things in life...just being able to walk was a reason for celebration.


We couldn't go to the nature center, Jack's favorite place around home, but we went up to the school and out the back on a path (can't really call it a trail), and it FELT so good. I have an iPhone--couple of my kids rave about its picture taking capability. I guess I would, too, if I didn't press the button by mistake and take pictures of the ground and the sky


I checked the trailer--water is still coming in. I think it must be from either my tail light or a pipe that has a drip. I dried up what I could and spread towels on the floor. I'm not letting it dampen my spirits (no pun intended). I'll think about it tomorrow says Scarlett


Jack was a happy boy. I'm so thankful that Susan was able to walk him while I was laid up, but surely missed our walks, together.

Did Absolutely Nothing, Today

Something strange happened to the formatting in the first post.

A friend of mine, Dixie, stayed over last night. She's on her way from Florida to North Carolina. She was sitting on the couch next to me when Jack came over and looked at her, then looked at me very forlornly. Then the whining began. I knew what he wanted. He wanted Dixie to get up so he could take his spot next to me. Naturally, Dixie was good natured about it--she's known Jack, the character, for a long time, and she accepts the fact that I'm a nut because I told her he wanted to sit where she was. 

I checked this morning. Things are dried out in the trailer. I'm leaving the heat on for another night. I'll tackle trying to find the origin of the water and try to get the electric on when I know I'm not going to undo the good they've done for my back. Just wanted to write a quick note--maybe the last one for the year. Happy Holidays one and all, and peace and happiness in the New Year.

Back Feels Better-Water Problems

Just a quick post. My back feels better though I overdid it, yesterday. I'm not supposed to be moving around much until tomorrow, but I had to move, yesterday. My trailer was flooded with water. Doesn't appear to be coming from ceiling/rain. It's been there a while--set the CO2 detector off. Fortunately, anything on floor level in storage was in plastic bins/containers. Since my eye surgery, I don't see very well (I can see distance fine-no worries with me on the road), so I didn't catch it the other day. Yesterday, I went in to investigate, again, and I saw a paper back book lying on the floor under the bed table and when I picked it up it was soaking wet and moldy/mildew so I knew it had to be there quite a while. What a surprise! I wouldn't have seen the water, otherwise. It's in the lower cabinets. I'm winterized, but I'm wondering if when I did it, I opened a valve that let the water out. It wasn't still flowing so I've had a heater going strong all night. I had to run it with an extension cord because there is no power to the trailer even while hooked to a land line. The water is down near all the fuses and breakers, but I didn't want to risk injuring my back trying to get down on the floor. (Why don't they think of us old folks when building these things?). Taking buckets of water out last night was enough--it's all at one end of the trailer, seemingly away from everything else "water". I do have an outside shower that I've never used, but I checked the lines going to it and they are full of pink and the shower itself is completely dry. So, this is written in a hurry, probably not making much sense--didn't get to sleep until 5 a.m. I think if I can get the electric hitch to work I'll hook it up and take it to camping world in the next week or two, but I'd like to see if I can get the electric working before that. The first year I winterized I forgot to bypass the hot water heater so I damaged that. It's gas lit from the outside so I'm going to see if they can install an electric water heater that can be turned on from inside and I want to put new tires on the trailer. I hope I don't have floor damage, and I think my next step will be to wipe everything down with bleach or a mildew retardent. I have no idea if it got to the wood under the tile. No pictures. Too Tired. I'm going to go on one of the help groups to see if anyone has any additional steps I should take before I hook up. Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. I just wish I could get at it, today, but my back comes first and it's going to rain until Saturday, I think.

Epidermal Steroid Shot (Jim)

For anyone facing one, a little uncomfortable but NOT painful. I had two shots without any sedation (a local on each side of the spine). I have to stay put for three days (My "nurse" is on duty 24/7, now). Most of the time the shots do not take affect for between 3 days to 2 weeks.


I was SCARED going in as it was reminiscent of a myelogram that I had in the early 80s when everything that could go wrong went wrong.


This post is mostly for Jim so he knows what to expect. My daughter-in-law was asleep when they did hers. I guess it depends on the doctor. My surgeon told me I could have sedation, but from my perspective after speaking with the doctor who was going to do it, I really didn't need it and didn't want to be groggy afterward. They still insist that someone take you, wait for you, and take you home. CYA, I suspect.


Another thing they told me is that many times they have to do two or three shots. My surgeon said to call him in two weeks to let him know whether this session was successful. Now, I just hope it works. 

MRI Results

Heard from the doc with MRI results, today. He wants to try a shot to relieve the pain for the holidays. Once in a while they get lucky and it lasts for a pretty good period of time. If it does last that long, then he said he would give me another before my trip west. When I get back, we will talk about the surgery.

Unfortunately, it isn't the simple spinal stenosis that he and I thought/talked about when I saw him. I will need spinal fusion as my back is unstable and there are a number of disks that have slipped and will continue to slip. If the shot doesn't last more than a couple or a few weeks, then I might have to consider surgery sooner which might blow my leaving in March. One problem is that when more than two disks are involved, the success rate of the surgery goes down (I read this and this may be the reason to try conservative treatment, first). We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm looking forward to relieving pain even if it's only for a short while.

So, I'll try the shot--maybe I'll get lucky.

My Nurse

We Remember

We Remember...

I Went to See Santa!

...and I want a big bone and...and a ball...and...

My sister,  Susie, surprised me today, and took me to see Santa Claus at PetSmart. She takes me every year. Then, I got to go shopping. Nancy takes me, but not when Santa is there. This was a special treat.


Nancy didn't go. I heard her mumbling about someone being nuts, but I LIKED Santa. It seems that Susie pleaded with Nancy to take Lizzie when she was young, and Lizzie being a young Lab, caused  complete chaos and almost knocked Santa out of his chair when she went charging up to greet him. That was at another place (fancier) where they were serving gourmet treats. Lizzie didn't get any because Nancy couldn't get to the door fast enough. Susie said she still laughs when she thinks about that day. Santa was straight ahead, Nancy had Lizzie on the leash, Susie opened the door, and Lizzie went charging to Santa who had an "OMIGAWD" look on his face! 


I'm also going to Susie's Christmas party, but I'm not sure what day that is. She invites me to her house whenever she has something going on. It's such a busy time of year for me--so many social engagements. Tuesday, Nancy and I are going to see Michael, Keely, and Peyton AND Bella and Bogey.


Nancy gave Susie a seatbelt for me for her car and also a cover for the back seat so I don't get hair all over. She says she could probably make five dogs out of what I've left in my beds in the back seat.