Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

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Life expectancy — 5 years.

August 28, 2008

CanyonlandsThat would have been the average life expectancy of a person diagnosed with lupus 40 years ago — 5 years.

Twenty years ago, when my wife was diagnosed with it, the life expectancy was — possibly a normal life expectancy.

Karen was in pain, she was weak, she tired out quickly.  One doctor dismissed her symtoms as being “in her head.”  She made an appointment with a different doctor in the same clinic.  He didn’t know what it was for sure, but he was suspicious of the rash and sent her to a dermatologist.  The dermatologist identified the disorder and lined her up with a specialist in Little Rock.

She was diagnosed with lupus and other related disorders, including fibromyalgia and polymiositis. Fortunately, through the care of this doctor and doing what she is supposed to do, she has been in medicated remission for many years.  When she backs too far off of the meds, symptoms start to reappear, so she must maintain a low level dose of them.  She does have pains related to the disorders and she isn’t able to build strength easily — it has to be slow and gradual.  Other than that, though, she lives a normal and healthy life.

Today, she went to a dermatologist for a small rash that has been rather stubborn.  It turns out is is probably related, so she is going to have to be a little more careful with staying out of the sun and/or using sunscreen.

It was the same dermatologist that diagnosed the lupus on August 23, 1988.  It was the first time she’s been back since he referred her to the specialist.

How cool is that?

Note: the picture above was taken last September about a mile out on a trail in Canyonlands National Park.

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Way Too Close to the Edge! — or, Holy C__p, What a View!

February 28, 2008

Karen on the Edge -- Grandview Point Trail, Canyonlands National Park
Karen on the Edge — Grandview Point Trail, Canyonlands National Park

The Grand View Point Trail begins as the end of Grand View Road on the southern tip of Island in the Sky Mesa. It starts at an approximate elevation of 6,100 feet and heads one mile southwest along a level path.

September 23, 2007 at 11.56pm CMT
Camera: Pentax K10D
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/350)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Flickr page

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I don’t talk about politics much, but…

February 21, 2008

obama

This year is a very different political year.

I’m still not going to talk about my own politics here — that’s personal.

The politics of our grandchildren — that’s interesting.

When Obama made his speech in Madison, Wisconsin, on the evening that he won the Potomac primaries, our grandchildren were in the audience.

Emily Mills, the lady who took this photo, observed, from her vantage point in the press area:

When Obama himself finally made his grand entrance, the handful of young college girls standing in front of me (on the other side of the fence) started screaming and jumping up and down like there was a dreamy movie star in the vicinity. That sort of reaction is fascinating to me, and, I think, somewhat unique to the Obama candidacy. I don’t suppose McCain or Clinton elicit similar reactions from their supporters. My blogger friend leaned over to me at one point and asked, “Since when did politics become cool?”

The following week, our grandson was so interested in the process that he asked his dad to take him to the polls when he went to vote — before school.

My earliest memories of politics are from when I was the same age, seven years old. It was during the campaign of another very charismatic president. All I really remember is kids playacting the Kennedy vs. Nixon contest in the playground.

The campaigns this year have been far more interesting than most in the past. I think turnout has been extraordinary for a large percentage of primaries. My wife and I voted in primaries for the first time ever.

Maybe it’s because of the the writer’s strike and — now that it’s over — politics will go back to norrmal.

naaa. – I don’t think so.

(photo by Emily Mills – There is a Creative Commons license attached to this image. Attribution, No Derivative Works)

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I know a very special Cover Girl!

January 7, 2008

our little catalog girl - Demco 2008 catalog

our little catalog girl - online photo at Land’s EndOkay — so it’s for a catalog.

And she’s only five — and our granddaughter.

We think it’s very cool.

It’s a school and library supply company and she’s on the cover of the 2008 catalog. The website description of the catalog says, “…. thousands of quality products in one place. Library supplies, AV supplies, and equipment, signage & display, furniture, Library Promotions™, learning materials, and more. A huge variety to choose from!”

Coincidentally with this, her mother found a picture of her in a Land’s End ad that she hadn’t seen yet. We’ve seen the picture in catalogs, just not in this location online. I think they’ve had this picture in at least two catalogs, except it had been photo-shopped with a different color for the coat.

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We got FED UP and LEFT Wisconsin EARLY!

December 23, 2007

Actually, the head-line is intentionally misleading. We “fed up” pretty good with an early Christmas dinner, but we found it prudent to leave half a day early.

Our daughter actually was the one that suggested that we leave early.

The weather was a bit disappointing the entire time we were visiting. It was very foggy the entire time we were there, so much so that we were not able to see any of the countryside when we went anywhere except just what was right next to the road. With the amount of snow that was on the ground, it would have been really pretty — if we could have seen it.

We’ve been watching the forecast for this weekend since we got there on Wednesday and making contingency plans just in case. Saturday morning, our plans were to leave the hotel Sunday morning and go over to our daughter’s for a few hours, giving the road crews a chance to do whatever clearing they needed to do. At that time, the forecast was for two to four inches of snow. As the day progressed, the forecast changed to three to eight inches of snow overnight with widespread blowing snow and a chance of additional snow during the day on Sunday.

After our daughter suggested that we leave early, we decided that it would probably be prudent to cut the trip short and avoid potentially snowy roads combined with holiday traffic. We left the hotel at 3:40 P.M. and spent the night in Springfield, Illinois. We’ll be home some time late today (Sunday).

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Six hundred miles without stopping for fuel… and the tank is still full!

December 9, 2007

We’re on the east side of Knoxville, Tennessee. In the morning, we should be heading pretty much the opposite direction of rush hour traffic.

Today… Long day, Long drive, two extended periods of fog and terrible traffic for a Sunday. Since 2001, I don’t care much for flying. Probably should have made this an exception. Too late now.

One bright spot is not having to stop for fuel. While we did stop at gas stations and truck stops, it was to use the facilities and fill up my coffee cup.

We’ve got about 500 more miles to go tomorrow and will be able to make it all of the way without refueling.

There’s no trick. We’re in the truck and it has a 45 gallon auxiliary fuel tank. We’re getting right around 20 miles per gallon of diesel fuel, so we have a range of about 1300 miles when we’re not pulling the trailer.

I used Priceline.com and got us a 3 star hotel in the Norfolk area for $65 a night, so we should have wireless capability.

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