Free again

After three days in solitary, more or less in Providence Little Company of Mary.  I have vowed they will never catch me again.   

Is Everyone In the Operatng Room? Oh, Yeah? Which Hospital?

Two friends and one relative have had/or will having surgery in rather rapid succession.  A sister had varicose veins removed just the other day.  She's fine!  Today a friend and gifted writer is having outpatient surgery on a thumb.  She's not only a lifelong strong tennis player but she wrote a great book - "Last Trip Home" by Maureen M. Miller which is available at amazon.com 

Tomorrow I go in (at the ungodly hour of 5:30 a.m.) for a posterior lumbar decompression of L3 - 5 which is scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. and last perhaps only 2 hours.  Then released for home after Recovery; possibly another two hours.  This will be after you are wheeled out of the OR and asked to get off of the table and walk a couple of steps.  Same thing after both hip surgeries.  "Gitch'er languid ass off that table and stomp on outta here"  With which I am only too happy to comply. 

Of note - no longer is there a surgical waiting room where friends and relatives wait for the surgeon to come out drenched in blood (for best dramatic effect) and tell them what's what.  Technology and The Virus have changed all of that.  Today the surgeon will pull out his cell phone and call Richie on ours.  

Anyone else "Going under the knife" soon or recently?  "Under the knife" reminded me of limbo dancers.   Those days, Doctor, are gone.  Close and let's get out of here.  

The Virus's Gift

To someone with way too 'way much time on their hands.  I am reminded of something I bet more than one of our mother's laid on us - "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."  With the corollary "So go pick up your toys!  If I get tangled up in that Slinky again, there's going to be hell to pay!"   Since Betty White is about as far from devilish doings as one can get, that part doesn't apply but have you found yourself lately thinking of how may things Betty White  is older than?  Somehow I didn't think so ...

To catch up - she was born January 17, 1922, and is therefore 98 years old.  For our Brit readers, Betty is four years older than Queen Elizabeth II.  They have met during "Golden Girls" fame.  It is not known if "Lizzy" was auditioning for an appearance.

Things we take for granted (and a great deal more) today:

The microwave - 1946 when Betty was 20 years old.  

The ball point pen  1930 when she was 8. 

The electric garage door opener 1926.  And given the lack of cars to put in them, kind of a show-offy thing, no?

Instant development cameras - think Polaroid in 1923.  She was only a year old - 'way too young for selfies.

The juke box in 1927 but she was only 5 and perhaps her parents frequented neither bars nor soda shops? 

Scotch-tape in 1930 - at 8 I bet she could get into all kinds of trouble taping things together - the rabbit and the cat didn't work out too well for one ..

The Slinky Toy came along in 1943 and Betty, 21, got a Congressional Hearing to determine if a Slinky was a toy for all ages or invented to torture all ages.  The result was unfindable.  

  

Ready To Make A Run For It? Covid Getting You Down? Check These Out for an Alternative

Mauritius

population - 1.27 million

344 cases

10 deaths

Per month:

1 bedroom apartment $287

public transportation $25

utilities  $91.75

per month $404 

Saint Lucia

pop. 182,790

cases 25

deaths 0

1 bedroom apartment $367

groceries $372

public transportation $148

utilities $145

total $1,030

Taiwan

population 23.6 million

cases 480

deaths 7

1 bedroom apartment $397

public transportation $94

utilities $99

per month total $923

New Zealand

population 4.92 million

cases 1,219

deaths 22

1 bedroom apartment $954

groceries $282

utilities $172

per month total $1,516

Built to Last and Then Some - and Then Some More

Step up and hear about Madresfield Court, built in 1086 to house the Lygon family.  They. have owned it and lived in it now for 900 years and 29 generations of family.  

It has a moat, 18 + bedrooms which were given bathrooms in 2014.  The roof covers two acres of building for a total of some 160 rooms.  Just think of the winter heating bill … awesome. 

A frequent visitor in the '30s was novelist Evelyn Waugh who based "Brideshead Revisited" on the Lygon family.  During WW2 had the Nazis invaded England, plans were in place to evacuate the British Royal Family to Madresfield which means mower's field.  

If you'd like to see it, tours are offered for 15 pounds which I would bet is Euros today.  

I must say, they built to last back in 1086.

Oddities Courtesy of Reader's Digest

Can You Believe This?   Don't know if it's meant to be ironic or what?

Sweden's famous Ice Hotel has a smoke detector!  

The season for visiting the Ice Hotel ends in April when it melts!  It was original constructed of big (1,00 ton blocks) of ice gleaned from the next door Torne River 

The founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, asked for whiskey on his death bed.  (The nurse refused.)

  The founder was Bill Wilson born November 26, 1895 and took to the deathbed mentioned above with emphysema complicated by pneumonia on January 24, 1971 age  76 

The "Father of Traffic Safety" Willian Eno invented the Stop! sign, speed limit, traffic circle and the one way street, but never learned to drive.

Laughter Can Dissipate Rage -

Let's see if I'm right.  For four nights in a row I have been livid at the news - once again - that the stupid Democrats   have kicked "Jeopardy!" and Alex Trebek off the air.  Trebek is a great deal more interesting than their braggadocio  four nights in a row.  

And lest you rank me for favoring Them, next week I will again be having tantrums about the stupid Republicans putting Alex in the parking lot.

When it comes to Jeopardy and Alex there is no favoritism.  He wins.  Hands down.  Both miserable political parties can go pound sand somewhere else. 

Hoping the Reader's Digest can provide a laugh.  From a brief multi-joke bit titled"Dear God" - kids questions for their minister.  The kids are in the 3rd grade.

Dear God

How come you didn't invent any new animals?  We still have all the old ones.  

Dear God

Is Reverend Coe a friend of yours or do you just know him through business?

Dear God

Who draws the lines around the countries?

Dear God

How did you know you were God?

Dear God

I bet it is very hard to love all of everybody in the whole world.  There are only four people in our family and I can never do it. 

Dear God

I think the stapler is one of your greatest inventions.