HAPPY NEW YEAR ... 2016
Thursday December 31, 2015 6:47 pm
I just thought I would try and publish something wishing everyone who reads this a happy new year! I especially wish that for those I love best... you know who you are :)
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????????????????????????????????????????
Wednesday December 30, 2015 8:47 am
I'm not sure yet if I'm going to go with the thought... can you believe it... that I'm off work (beginning today) for a week: or... can you believe it... that with the passing of today and tomorrow we will be into a new year! Or... can you believe it... that I have finally (sort of) decided on a timetable for knee replacement surgery. I think I will lean toward the latter for this blog, but sprinkle in thoughts on the other two competing ideas.
The first thought is really only important to me. Especially considering that I'm not planning to go anywhere special during my week off. Although, just being off work and even without going out of town is still really nice!
WOW! 2016... I swear, when I was a younger man 2016 seemed so far distant into a future I never dreamed I would be alive to see that the year coming up was an incomprehensible number! Yet, it is almost upon us!
Yesterday after conversing with my caregiver (again) at Accolade I was finally able to put a dollar figure to having both knee replacements. Out of pocket my total cost will only be 6,000 per knee.
If you consider the cost for a 10-14 day hospital stay, anesthesiologist, orthopedic surgeon, medicines, rehab, etc. etc. etc. then that amount of money is actually very little in today's economy. The 10-14 day hospital stay is an extremely long one compared to most knee replacements. However, because the operating surgeon will not be the one who also does the rehab (once the patient is home) they initially keep the patient in the hospital to be certain everything is well on its way toward healing before the person is released.
The surgery (as of this time) would take place at John Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. The company I work for offers certain surgeries with zero out of pocket expense for their employees. Any type of heart surgery (Cleveland Clinic) is no cost, knee, and hip replacement... no cost: and spine surgery also has zero cost to the employee.
It really is a good program as they will fly the patient and their spouse to the city the hospital is in and for whatever time the person remains in the hospital all expenses that are incurred by both people are covered by the employer. In addition to air fare and the hotel being taken care of, all food costs for the person traveling with the patient are paid by the company and they give money for cab fares and they even add on a daily allowance for gratuity! (I'm quite certain all cab drivers, waiters, etc. are glad for this extra perk as well.)
And once everyone has returned home all follow up care, meds rehab, etc. are also covered at 100 percent! But, the 12,000 expense (for both knees) would be the money I will lose while not being paid while I rehab.
So, compared to the numbers Blue Cross Blue Shield gives for a complete knee replacement of 31,000 to 71,000 per knee (and that does not include separate costs of travel expense etc.) then my 6,000 per knee is a paltry fee.
So, my time line for surgery... drum roll please: I don't know yet :)
Seriously all I know for certain is that I am planning to have my right knee replaced in the upcoming year. with the following year for my left knee.
The only negative... if a person can call it a negative is that with my present employer they will only replace one knee at a time during surgery. Whereas the local surgeon (Bell) who gave me the five shot series of hyaluronic acid injections would do both knees in the same operation. So, I could be done with rehab in about the same amount of time for both knees as will be required for one knee. Albeit, my out of pocket expense increases about 12 fold!
So, I guess it's going to be one knee at a time :)
I hope any who reads this has a nice day today!
One more thing... I'm torn between going to the Yum Center in Louisville tomorrow night and helping Kid Rock ring in the new year, or simply staying home and doing nothing special to celebrate the passing of the old year into the new one.
Before I sat down this morning to type I was leaning toward and evening out tomorrow... now as I see that last paragraph in print I'm thinking that maybe Ritchie will have to ring in the new year tomorrow night without my presence.
MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015
Friday December 25, 2015 7:55 am
Good morning to anyone who reads this...I hope you have a very merry Christmas day today! My first picture this morning that came in from a beginning of a Christmas celebration I received at 3:37 am. It was a couple of kiddos staring at a mound of wrapped gifts and wanting to get started opening them!
After that, and all morning long I have been getting more pics from everyone and short stories of how the morning is unfolding, it has been enjoyable reading them!
I really have nothing particular to say, other than to wish those I truly love a merry Christmas... and to remind that neither time nor distance can really separate anyone who loves. As sappy as it sounds I suppose it is because if you really love... then those people are always in your heart and thoughts!
Merry Christmas everyone!
NS=B... (NO SLEEP = BLOG) ... SOMETIMES
December 24, 2015 2:30 am
It's early... again :(
I'm certain I could probably sleep whenever I cannot: at least it seems like there are many times that if I could just close my eyes I could sleep? Yet, when I am at a place and (or) time when I really could sleep... I cannot. I wonder why?
So, mostly I lay in the dark and just think about everything! However, through the years I have found that's not good because being all alone in my head, and with my thoughts... well, it can be a pretty scary place :)
So, I try to read, or watch tv, or listen to a certain radio station, or there are times that I just scroll through news stories. Then, there are mornings like this one and I go back and read through many of my favorite poems. After that I usually search for any new ones I might like?
The latter is usually futile for me as it seems like all of the good bards who penned anything worth reading more than once are all long time deceased, and that from mere decades to many centuries gone.
Perhaps it is the aforementioned tv, Web, radio, etc. etc. etc. that so captures our minds and attention that there really aren't many good writers left who write anything worth reading. Apparently we are all creatures of our environment and no one really has many deep thoughts, at least poignant enough and worth putting on paper: I suppose that is why our classic writings are from the past, and contrary to what I sometimes see in print. I know of no, 'instant classics' either. I, for one, certainly cannot envision a future date where the modern drivel I read will ever be considered something worthy of preserving.
Typically the new poems I read tonight were all bad, the news stories were also mostly discouraging... except for one clip I watched about a nervous and shy dog being rescued from a shelter and his great excitement! That was worth watching I think... other than that though, nothing worth reading or seeing.
So, just in case there are more people out there who (like me) waste their time and their nights reading things not worth reading... I give you this night's blog to add to the drivel and general dearth of what passes for "writing."
I think I'm going to go now and shower and then probably go for a car ride and see some of the other zombies who are usually out in the early hours of the morning. Then, perhaps, watch the Sun rise on this Christmas eve 2015!
This morning here is my sincere hope for those I love most and think about always: that even now all are peacefully sleeping, and as a bonus... I pray each are having sweet dreams!
And for the rest of you out there who are like me... I really don't care to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm much afraid there is little hope for any of you. Nonetheless, and in spite of that truth, I do want to wish each and everyone who reads this blog a very merry Christmas!
And in the words of the inimitable Tiny Tim, (the only 'Tim" I have ever known who was worth knowing) "God bless us, everyone!"
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December 20, 2016 1015 am
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I guess that just about puts a pretty bow on everything and sums it up rather nicely :)
VIRGIL AND STELLA... TOGETHER AGAIN
Sunday December 13, 2015 9:13 am
Deb and Missy will be taking Stella to see Dr. Moore, our vet, at 11:00 this morning... it will be her last trip to the vets. I woke him early this morning at his home and he agreed to meet at his office to do this for us. He is a dying breed himself, a man who actually cares for the welfare of the many animals he treats, and is not just in it for the money he earns.
I hate it that I can not go with Stella for her last car ride... but it is the Christmas pageant at church today and four of our grandchildren are in it and I cannot disappoint them either.
So, I will kiss her goodbye as I'm leaving and tell her that I have loved her all these years and I will miss her even as I do Virgil. And I will also tell her that I hope to see both her and Virgil one day again.
I don't know if it's good Theology or not... but I would always want to know why such a large, and important, and beautiful part of His creation not continue beyond this life: especially the ONLY innocent part of all He created!
Then, for any naysayers I would like to ask the following two questions. Do you believe All of His creation was made in six days? If so, and if animals do not continue beyond this life then where do the horses come from that follow Christ BACK to Earth in Revelation 19:14?
I think part of the wonders of Heaven will be to once again have the same fellowship that Adam and Eve had with all the animals (both great and small) in the Garden of Eden.
I love you Stella... and miss you already :( Please tell Virgil I love him too, he will definitely be happy to see you again :)
DOESN'T SEEM MUCH LIKE CHRISTMAS :(
Friday December 11, 2015 9:33 pm
And... I'm not even sure why???
I was wondering if it could be (at least in part) because the weather is not at all cooperating? As I sit and type this blog it is 64 degrees out (and raining) and that is as cold as it will get until morning, when it starts warming again on its way to above 70 degrees for Saturday!
When I was much younger I did spend two Christmas seasons in California... and neither of those seemed much like Christmas either. I mean, there's something incongruous about having a palm tree in the front yard and a Christmas tree in the living room. So, I admit the weather is probably playing a part, but there is more to it than that, I'm sure.
It's even more than just the fact that I don't feel good tonight... off and on I've had a headache for several days. I suppose that this is some sort of virus causing it as there are several people I know who has voiced similar complaints. But there is more to it than that, I'm sure.
It's even more than the fact that one of our dogs is dying. Stella is a very sick little 'girl' and if the Lord will not heal her or take her on His own that will fall to me to raise my hand against her... something I also HATE!!! But there is more to it than that, I'm sure.
It's even more than the fact that if I live the "threescore and ten" the Bible speaks of then beginning with the new year I will be in single digit numbers for the trips left to me to circle the Sun. But there is more to it than that, I'm sure.
There is also a lot of daily sadness in the world. Loved ones die, families live on the street, heathen, cowardly, animals both here and abroad attack and kill innocent men, women, and children. But there is even more to it than that, I'm sure.
Tonight as I sit here it seems less like Christmas to me this year then it has in the last 25 years! Nonetheless, I still say to shoppers several times a day... "I hope you have a merry Christmas!" I wonder if inside they feel like I do right now, "Yeah right!"
If it wasn't for grandchildren stopping by I could not even imagine going to the trouble of decorating. However, dutifully, a couple of weeks ago Deb put the tree up and two days ago I got the tall ladder out and hung our lighted star and angel.
Most probably it isn't one single thing... but a thousand small things that in and of themselves each would be nothing more than a nuisance: however, cumulatively they take on the form of a real weight.
Tonight in ending this and keeping with tradition I would like to wish everyone who reads this a very merry Christmas!
(But, inside just so you know... psst, can you keep a secret between friends... what I really mean is Bah humbug!!!)
NOTHING TO SAY
Tuesday December 8, 2015 1:16 pm
My small office has now become a little desk tucked into one corner of a smaller room. However, it isn't as bleak as I'm trying to make it sound because the honest truth is I really haven't had any particular need for a home office anyway. It is just that in the past there was always an extra room so I just used it. Now though, the room I had been using can be put to better use.
I had so wanted to write some things during the Thanksgiving holiday but I was without the use of my computer, because some of the little ones had been playing games on mine while I was working and evidently some settings must have gotten changed? Regardless what happened... the end effect was the same, I couldn't log on to write.
Today though AT&T came out and completed the install as we have gone from Time Warner to DISH network and AT&T Internet. I just returned from returning the boxes to the cable company and thought I would try and see if I could get back on? (Obviously it worked as I'm now writing.) Although, my title today is appropriate because the things I so wanted to write about because of that particular holiday is now past and has become moot... So, I have nothing to say.
Of course, if anyone through the years has read a lot of what I have written I think the consensus would probably be that how is today any different?
I hope any who reads this has a good day.
