... And another brief note from The Landlord...

[Greg Langelius *]

Late Saturday, just before sundown, I had another heart attack. A genuine scared spitless occasion, I got massive help in time from local fire personnel and the hospital in Wilcox. They got me stabilized and transported me to my primary care providers at the ER of the Tuscon VA, arriving sometime around 1:30AM.

Basically a Congestive Failure event caused by a fluids overload. My lifestyle has now changed.

Jury's still out, but heart function remains the same, or slightly better than before the event. New meds (Plavix, Breo) others upped (Losartan), and some other minor tweaks. Discharged against advice around 1PM yesterday, I was a shaky wreck who hadn't slept in roughly 40 hours. I had tried to ignore advice and go home a day early, but a very good hospital staff grabbed me by the ears (figuratively), showed me my BP was all over the landscape, so I stuck around another 4 hours under close observation, and they finally gave me an more confident OK to bail around 4:30. They made me their priority and very likely saved my life yet another time. Note to self; it probably makes good sense to listen to your Doctors when you're in a hospital.

Note to self; you really are an awful patient...

Got home, sorted out my new meds situation, then crashed in bed around 9:30. Waking up today, I got to recognize that when they're changing your meds and you're sleep deprived, you can get well and truly loopy.

The future looks busy. I have more imaging coming up really soon (Nuclear stress testing with contrast later this week, back in Tucson) to see if any surgical intervention is in order, etc.

Much needs to go on the back burner, some of it permanently; but it's stuff that needs to be there at least for now. Fluid intakes, especially beer, are under permanent review. Physical activity (Yoga, walking, etc, maybe a bike...) come to the fore. Political observations and dissertations now become the purview of others. Who needs them, anyway?

Shooting projects remain a priority, but more well organized. Model Airplanes come off the back burner. Social/veterans participation will need to be throttled back. The rest is a shifting landscape (when wasn't it?).

My plans change. Again.

Greg

 

[Maggot]

Glad youre still with us, you ornery old cuss.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Greg, I'm just thankful that you still have plans that can be changed. The corollary to that is upsetting. Much like the apple-cart.

 

[oneshot86]

easy ride it homeboy, follow what the docs say to a t...
if the docs say you can excersise, do it religously...
the best two drs you can know are dr left and dr right, a body in motion stays in motion

 

[Veer_G]

Beer?! Beer?! My cardiologists would have a group shit-fit if I jumped off the wagon. I don't now what all meds you're on, Greg, but many of mine either don't function very well, or function all too well when mixed with alcohol. I'm on fluid restrictions, too, supposed to be no more than 48 oz., or 1.5 liters per day, but I usually wind up somewhere between 60 and 72 oz. This is my 16th year with cardiomyopathy, or CHF, and it never gets any easier. As of yet, only mild NSTEMIs, but I've had a pacemaker since 27 AUG 2014. Take it light, and make sure to get your feet up as often as possible to help with blood return through the circulatory system.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

This just hammers home that good friends are out there, you just have to let them in.

Taking the future in moderation, but gusto too. Yeah, I know how weird that sounds, What I mean is that I think my fun will be aplenty, but will now be sourced in simpler things that keep the stress at arm's length. Shooting will be a good outlet for stress, but only if I keep my eyes open and don't let it become an aggravation.

Veer, Your stories and mine are pretty identical, except that I made it to 13 years. My wagon actually starts to look attractive. Taking the advice about feet up, but I am continuing my Chair Yoga group participation without a missed beat. The mysticism part is max hokey, but the physical part works.

My meds... They sent me home with a cheat sheet about what they are, what they're for, and how they're taken. It's three pages of five meds per page, with a fourth sheet with four more meds. I need the help understanding it all. I really do need to do this by the numbers. That's just how my life rolls...

STEMI..., NSTEMI..., I'm still catching up on that one, and really, there will be more imaging before that's actually nailed down anyway..I got 48 hours of intravenous Heparin. Two bags of Potassium (man that stuff hurts going in, for hours, even with a Lidocaine buffer...) Other stuff, too, but my memory is sketchy on that.The Plavix and I have agreed to grow a beard again, shaving cuts can be really bad news now. That stuff went through the line in the left arm. The right arm looks like a black and blue stained steel plate target after major match. I estimate a minimum of 40 punctures. CAT with contrast, Echo Cardiogram. Much dithering over Catheterization vs Nuclear Stress and imaging; will be the latter, and soon. (*Update, May 10)

This Tucson Southern Arizona VAHCS bunch is on the ball. It's all a freebie with 100% Service Connected (Ischemic Heart Disease). Only problem, all my VA outlets (Sierra Vista, Tucson) are about 100 miles away. Here in Southern Arizona, 100 miles has become a hop and a skip. Cars get meticulously maintained, or transportation becomes a distant memory. One of our first fiscal priorities is another pair of cars. Tucson and Sierra Vista are day trips, Phoenix requires an overnight if there's any duration to the underlying primary event.

Next time somebody knocks the VA med system, I'm gonna have to laugh. This is the fifth time they've saved my bacon. I have to use the other hand if I need to count more times. So be it.

...The beat goes on...


Greg

 

[Strykervet]

Dude, we don't always agree and sometimes we do... Either way this site is better off with you here. Hope you feel better, I'm no stranger to the hospital and health issues, though most of mine are skeletal. Listen to your doctors! I've known a LOT of people with heart problems and the ones that changed their lifestyle and listened to their doctor and cut stress out of their lives, tended to live longer and have better lives. Had a couple family members say "fuck it" and they kept on keeping on and died sooner and generally suffered more in that shorter time.

For me, shooting is a great stress killer --I enjoy time at the range, quiet, not thinking about anything else, it's just zen for me. No stress. I too brought back some old hobbies, I couldn't really get back into the models again (as a kid I was a "pro") so I broke out the oils and canvas instead. I SLOWLY do faithful to-scale copies of Vermeer paintings. Loading on my 650XL is also zen-like and is light exercise.

Good luck man!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

'vet, all true.

I really have no memory of any serious disagreements with you; and if I did, it would all be water under the bridge by now. My memory on such things is gratefully short. When that doesn't work, I cut the aggravation and go with the ignore option. Obviously, that is not the case here.

I have seen the friends do as you have seen them do. BTDT, can't do that now. The Warden has gracefully reassumed her rightful position. SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed...). She's a good sort, really, and we have been talking much these past three days and are comfortably on the same page.

Models, for me, have been, and will be stick and tissue rubber powered free flight. Have done some pretty exact tissue built Classic Era scale, It's a much more expressive craft than shooting, and they both have their places, good places.

Good to hear from you on this, on anything, actually..

Greg

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Oh, about the neurotic cat. She will likely be joined real soon by a Jack Russel (mostly, a little bit of Chihuahua, black and white, named Panda), and another cat. The Jack part is still in negotiation; the cat will be from the pound, the first one that shows some real interest.

Chihuahua? Yeah, I know, but then again, we're only 50 miles from Mexico, so... The Warden Hath Spake!

 

[2ndamendfan]

Very glad you are still with us.

 

[bogeybrown]

Glad to hear that you have once again said "not yet dammit" to the other side of the grass. You've got many more things to do with kids and grandkids, and it sounds as though the preemptive move to the SW was the right thing.

Its great having you back among us once again. It takes a LOT to whup an old jarhead. Keep giving it hell Greg, Semper Fi.

 

[Dirty D]

This will sound random but get your teeth cleaned regularly, research has found a strong correlation between dental plaque and heart disease.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

2nd, same here.

Bogey, a terrifying segue, for sure. Not being able to find the oxygen has a very stabilizing effect upon the survivors. It seemed to go on for hours (well, actually it was hours...) But by midnight they had me stable and (mostly) relaxed for the 1 1/2ghr ambulance ride to Tucson. Not looking to do that again anytime soon. The move to AZ was unforeseen, a whim, actually, but based on a firm decision to end our annual war with the ice and snow, and to get where the air is a lot more pure (not today, with the massive brush fire west of Benson, about 30 miles upwind from here).

There's a pleasant tang of Mesquite in the air today, but at some serious cost to those more local to the fire. Cruising back from Tucson to home in Pearce yesterday around sunset was a very different trip this time. It's about an hour and a half, and the smoke was visible nearly all the way. We're currently in a cycle of winds and dust, and the fires jump right into that and go along for the ride.

In case I haven't said this before, SE Arizona is not the same as where I've lived before.

D, I get regular dental care, finest kind, from the Tucson VA. The association with heart disease is something that's been on my horizon for well into a second decade now. Appreciate the heads up, anyway.

Note to self; your Cardiovascular System is a very carefully modified and tuned system, entrusted to the hands of a loose cannon. The cannon needs new FDC management.

Greg

 

[Guest]

To tough to kill. Speedy recovery !

 

[bigdaddydmd]

I'm glad you got the care you needed and that you're still sucking air. It is good to hear that the Tucson VA is doing what they need to be to get you back onto your feet. The air quality is crap right now with these damn winds as you mentioned. Hang in there and listen to those docs (which it is obvious you are already doing) and get well soon.

 

[packratt]

If you don't want the beard you should be able to use an electric razor. My uncle had to due to thinners.

 

[SquarePizza]

I am glad to hear that you made through alive Greg, this forum would truly be at a loss without you.

I am sure someone in your primary care has brought it up, but if you have left sided CHF, and you start getting any pulmonary edema, or waking up at night feeling like you are drowning and/or needing to sleep more elevated to alleviate that feeling.. then a CPAP machine may help tremendously.

*edit* Was writing too quickly between customers. Usually its left sided CHF that causes fluid in the lungs, and CPAP can help clear the lungs and make it easier to breathe.

 

[Snipe260]

Glad your ok Greg!

 

[Mr. Z]

Wish you the best. I and many others here are better in our exploits for the advice you've given. I'm not a patient man but I'll read to the last dot when it's followed by
"Life is more interesting when one keeps a neurotic cat..."

 

[powdahound76]

Gregg
always appreciated your wisdom and more simple way of getting to it.
Keep up the good work with the Docs and for goodness sakes, keep Celia happy! (Did I get her name right?)

many times nowadays it easy to have minimal issues post MI and keep cruising. Some get hosed (like the Veer) and many hardly notice.

Happy to put in a good word for ya when I am asking The Landlord for help with my stupid self!

I would offer advice about enjoying things and not sweating the small stuff but I have read enough of your posts to know you got it dialed. I missed your report from Nationals with your grand daughter, how did that go?

Like the others, glad you whupped it's ass.

Elija

 

[cav has been]

Kinda' late to the party Greg but let me add my best wishes to you and I have the feeling you will keep on kicking. You are back on my prayer list brother.

 

[supercorndogs]

Glad to hear you made it through. I always thought yoga was for hippies. After my injury its yoga, walking, and bicycle for cardio every day. I feel like I am better now than any doctor told me I would ever be. Hang in there sir your insight is a valuable tool, and moor so we just like to hear from you.

 

[teknikallysekure]

Glad you're alright Greg.

 

[Cartman]

Keep counting those blessings man. No matter how bad it gets, it can always get worse. Which is not meant to be negative. I read The Fixer as a young man ( https://www.amazon.com/Fixer-Novel-...=1493287567&sr=8-1&keywords=malamud+the+fixer ) and ever since, no matter the physical or emotional hardships I've faced, I've tried to remember that it could always be much, much, worse. Which has enabled me to appreciate the blessings I've had in life. No matter how small. From your family to your wisdom, you have your share as well. Perhaps this will prompt you to reflect on a life hopefully well lived. And focus you on the next 30 years and how you'll make the most of every moment. Kicking death in the balls every chance you get. Feel better and please don't tell us that as they rushed you to the hospital and everyone thought you were dying, and you could barely speak, and they waited on baited breath for you to tell your family you loved them, and where the millions were buried, you quietly gasped, eyes rolling back in your head, and mumbled "get me a laptop, I need to check the Snipers Hide forum, ahhhhhh........"

 

[Clearlight]

Plenty of miles left on the engine GL , just keep getting the ' fuel additive ' mix right ! The big man
upstairs is just fuckin with you a little . Had to cut down on booze a while ago myself : you will get used to it ...

 

[Tucker301]

So far I've been luckier than many. Two near attacks. One in 2005 led to 4X bypass and the second last year netted me 4 stents.
I have been on Repatha for nearly two months now, and am anxious to see if it's having the desired effect.
Been reading a lot of good things about it and I am thankful for the efforts of my cardiologist and our insurance company. $5/month is pretty easy living for a medication that has a sticker price of about $14k a year.

Greg, you're a tough one, and a lucky one to boot.
Keep doing (mostly) what the experts tell you.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

My Old Man explained it. The best revenge consists of simply living well. I think that's a plan to live by. It sure saves a lot of wasted time and effort.

I've had some pretty screwed up folks try to mess with me over my 70 years. I have always approached it as not my problem, and lo', in my "Do nothing; let God handle it" approach, I'm still here, and they're all below the grass. Unconventional maybe, but still highly effective, seen from the viewpoint of ultimate outcomes.


About halfway through the latest event sequence, I was about ready to condemn the VA Health system straight to Hell. But that was just the misery talkin'.

Facts are, I got to see a health care provider perform at the very best level of available care. I got really lucky.

I know there are a lot of new protocols in trials and initial release. They look exciting.

But you all know about me and my "adequate" approach. Stalin was right on that account. What I already have is working pretty well. So I'm leaving my treatment plan up to my own Doctors.

Meanwhile, your experience sounds enviable. Keep doin' it. Stay fortunate.

Greg

I brought my 80 y/o Brother up to speed yesterday. A lot of my outlook originates in his lifelong tutelage.

He's in a pretty bad way with conditions of a very similar origin and treatment to mine, taken to their ultimate extent. He was stateside, but he was still heavily exposed to Agent Orange/Dioxin at Fort McClellan. I don't see his current condition as reason to lament, although he does. He's very gloom and doom. Well, he has a right...

But I also think he's very wrong in his approach, and told him so. He's never going to get the good out of his existence as long as he only looks for the bad. The good is already there, has always been. He calls me his hero, but in reality, he's mine. My life emulates his, and has so since he became a young adult, and I his Paduan.

Maybe my experience can convince him that there is always hope, and the opportunity to grab what you got and kiss it hard upon the mouth every daggone day. I do that every day, and maybe that has some bearing on what others call my being tough. Sorta like "Embrace the Suck...".

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Second wake-up in my own bed, what a hoot! I am simply flabbergasted at how good I feel in the aftermath. I was raised the think these kinds of outcomes weren't even in the realm of possibility.

The new pulmonary meds (Spiriva, etc.) have me breathing far better, with less labor and less shortness, than I have been able to do in years.

Celia and Elena are doing the Hall Monitor routine on me. Good for them, even good for me. When I saw my Granddaughter approaching me very deliberately with a measuring spoon and the A1 Sauce bottle, I knew I was going to have one hell of a support system (or the support system from Hell....?). It's all good, and it has brought my weight down 8 pounds since my first 177.2 weigh-in in the recovery ward. Went from 170.0 to 169.0 overnight as of this AM, with a steady decrease, pretty much all as water weight. My belly is flat, my step is springy, and my head is pretty clear. Breathing is no longer scary. I can even take a satisfactory dump. I think we're definitely off to a good start.

Still staying strictly at home. Most of our friends are my age or older, and a lot of them are Snowbirds. Right now all the snowbirds are off visiting outside the state. I think they're missing the best Spring I've seen in the last two decades. My best friend is recovering from spinal surgery at a rehab, and if it wasn't for his antics, I would own the "Worst Hospital Patient Ever of All Time" title hands down. When staff see me comin' they lock eyes-on on me. We parted on excellent terms, but I gave them all a workout.

Or rather, Celia did. She decided I was being far to patient with being NPO (basically nothing by mouth including water) after going on 16 hours straight while the Cardiology team dithered over which imaging test to order for me, but still hadn't yet by 4PM after the midnight edict. She read them the riot act, started taking names, and was monomaniacally looking carefully for new assholes to rip.

She had called me, asked if I'd had lunch, no, was dinner coming, no, and hung up. Phones started ringing at the nurse's station outside my room. Passels of personnel started arriving to explain and apologize. I was staggered. I called her back and asked her what the Hell just happened? She said she happened. I suspect they had not seen the like in some significant time. I am really afraid to have another heart attack right about anytime soon; she can be so flatly awesome. Scary even...

Since my social hub is the VFW, I need to come to strict terms with drinks. Beer is passe. I'll be starting off with a lowball glass, ice, and lemonade. On sparse occasion, there will be some rotgut in the lemonade, one shot limit. Maybe this will permit some whoopee without the wheezee. But maybe not...

Marking time, reading bunches.

Greg

 

[Duc]

I am always happy when Her anger is pointed at others...It's good to not be on the sharp end of the spear!
Just plan on getting healthier everyday.

Copied from the WWW

This quote was taken off the play ‘Love for Love’ by an English poet/playwright by the name of William Congreve in 1695.

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned​

I guess it was simplified to make it easier for us, modernised humans to say it.

So let’s break it down to understand it,

Hell describes a place where one will suffer horribly.
Hath is the old term for Has.
Fury defines the anger of one.
Scorned means someone who has been rejected in a shameful way.

When it says Hell Hath No Fury, it says that Hell does not have that kind of anger.
Like A Woman Scorned relates to a woman being shamefully disrespected or humiliated.

So all in all, it is trying to say that Hell which is perceived as one the most terrible places to be in, cannot compete with the terror of a woman when she is scorned.
Sounds pretty brutal to me, comparing the behaviour of a woman being worse than Hell.

 

[Cartman]

I just say "hell hath no fury like a woman".

 

[jrassy]

i am happy you are above ground, very hard to kill a jarhead, and i mean that in the kindest way. sounds like you have a great group around you, i appreciate you including us . God speed. i wish you the best.keep the updates coming.

 

[Rthur]

Glad to see you dodged another bullet.
Your positive attitude is an inspiration for others.

R

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Well alrighty, then... I'm going to tie this all up with a nice pretty blue bow and put it up there on that high shelf for history sake.

The problem was lifestyle, and the lifestyle is in drastic reconfiguration. I have numbers to live by, and attitudes to cleave unto. They make perfect sense, so there should be no recalcitrance. I feel better, and have better prospects than I honestly have any right to have. I am thoroughly blessed with good family, good friends, and you folks as well.

The future looks so bright, I gotta wear shades...

More to come, but not about this, that would be maudlin.

Greg

 

[Sendit6.5]

Glad you're ok and I'll be praying that your condition improves! Hang in there, bud!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fx77]

Look at it this way...while U recuperate, U can post more and surf more porn

 

[Dougie308]

Glad they got you stabilized. Be a good boy and do what the nice doctors say.

 

[SubOptimal]

Happy to hear you are on the mend and have such a fierce advocate.
Don't forget that neurotic cat in your medication regimen. I have found a purring cat in my lap to be one of the better things at relieving stress. Yeah, they can be assholes as well but when they are feeling content and affectionate, they are wonderful.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

The cat is my primary recuperational resource. She is going on 8 and is about the sweetest feline I have ever housed. I sit, she's on the lap, one minute max. She sleeps just alongside my feet every night. I can't get out of her sight without leaving the home entirely, and then she cries piteously, I'm told. We do get on...

But the domestic tranquility may be entering a disruptive phase. A very reliable source (the fierce advocate) informs me that Coppertone (the cat) is very soon to meet the canine side of the family, a Jack Russel/Chihuahua mix (yeah, I know, a Chihuahua...) with very good references, black and white, named Panda. It barks, it parks (in the back yard). But really, I think we're gonna be alright... Being this close (50 miles pretty exactly) to the Southern Border, it may entail some wisdom to invest in some Chihuahua...

The dog is intended as a favor for the Ladies, (Wife and Granddaughter) of the household. I have made it clear, I don't walk dogs, and the cat has right of first refusal.

Oh, dear; life is about to get interesting eh...?

Greg

 

[Maggot]

The cat is my primary recuperational resource. She is going on 8 and is about the sweetest feline I have ever housed. I sit, she's on the lap, one minute max. She sleeps just alongside my feet every night. I can't get out of her sight without leaving the home entirely, and then she cries piteously, I'm told. We do get on...

But the domestic tranquility may be entering a disruptive phase. A very reliable source (the fierce advocate) informs me that Coppertone (the cat) is very soon to meet the canine side of the family, a Jack Russel/Chihuahua mix (yeah, I know, a Chihuahua...) with very good references, black and white, named Panda. It barks, it parks (in the back yard). But really, I think we're gonna be alright... Being this close (50 miles pretty exactly) to the Southern Border, it may entail some wisdom to invest in some Chihuahua...

The dog is intended as a favor for the Ladies, (Wife and Granddaughter) of the household. I have made it clear, I don't walk dogs, and the cat has right of first refusal.

Oh, dear; life is about to get interesting eh...?

Greg

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Nine months on...

I improved, did a lot of reading (still do), Penda did not come to live with us for reasons that may have to do with some extra-special pickiness on the other end. Instead we packed into the van, went over to the Tombstone Animal Pound, and selected a sibling pair of Chihuahua/Jack Russel origin, and by the way, a large longhair black tabby named Miss Maddie (or Dementia by my Wife...).

The dogs are just what I had asked 'us' not to get, yappy and slightly dumber than stumps. Doesn't help that I was the one who couldn't bring themselves to break up the Brother and Sister. Oh, and Miss Maddie turned out to be a kitten, and has gone from big to huge, easily twice the length, weight (surliness?) of my small cat, and (perhaps) less intelligent than the dogs (but I doubt that to be actually possible...).

Miss Maddie often (usually) mistakes me for her chew toy. Coppertone still loves me dearly, but I think she's getting some reservations on that, since she occasionally attacks me with tooth and claw when she has seen me holding and petting the other cat. Never a dull day at our house.

I found a great shooting partner, another Marine, former Battery Commander in 12th Marines at the very end of Vietnam, and we had been going to Douglas Municipal Shooting Park every Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he was badly hurt in motorcycle accident back the beginning of January, and has yet to venture out (he has a constant neck brace). Full recovery is expected , but it's also likely to take quite some time. In the meantime, I'm marking (shooting) time by handloading a bunch of final test loads in 223/75gr, setting up to test 65gr SGK's,, and printing out rubber powered free flight WWII scale plans in 1/24th scale.

I've been through a long series of Cardiopulmonary Rehab sessions, and I am finally able to whip my weight in cockroaches. Since we don't seem to have any of them in the immediate vicinity, I can probably breathe a sigh of relief.

Staying off the beer at the VFW, I have been reassigned from Post Service Officer to Post Adjutant. Two months into that, they don't appear to sizing up my replacement yet. Yet.

I'm finally getting comfortable in what is a totally different environment. My expectations were unrealistic, my actual experience has turned out a bunch better than I had hoped. I went through a period where I was on a home monitor for weight, BP, and answering about 20 triage questions a day. They finally decided I had passed the test and now I'm still recording weight, BP, and PO2, but on paper, for myself.

The beat goes on...

Greg

 

[QuickNDirty]

Hang in there, Man.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Good to hear, Greg. Really good to hear.

Any chance you can put up a few pics of your scratch-built planes? I've expressed interest in them many years ago, and am still interested! ESPECIALLY if you've got scale WWII additions, to boot.

Those pop-bottle windscreens work out for you? (I don't remember if I'd asked)

 

[Mike 556]

Greg, keep fighting! The dogs will keep you on your toes! I'm new here and to long range shooting. I've learned as much as my pea brain can absorb from this forum and in particular your down to earth common sense posts. Thank You for sharing your expertise and knowledge.
Mike

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Well, don't let the Bear Pit drive your heart rate up...

And keep aspirin handy. Want we should take up a collection to get you one of those defibrillator-heart-startin-paddles-thingies? I'd be in for the fundraiser.

In all seriousness... stay healthy. Your commentary here is always welcome and, better still, sage.

Stay frosty, mi amigo! And by that... I mean... stay warm and breathing!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[Lowlight]

Glad you’re here Greg you’re an original Hide guy and will always be

 

[Maggot]

Nine months on...

I improved, did a lot of reading (still do), Penda did not come to live with us for reasons that may have to do with some extra-special pickiness on the other end. Instead we packed into the van, went over to the Tombstone Animal Pound, and selected a sibling pair of Chihuahua/Jack Russel origin, and by the way, a large longhair black tabby named Miss Maddie (or Dementia by my Wife...).

The dogs are just what I had asked 'us' not to get, yappy and slightly dumber than stumps. Doesn't help that I was the one who couldn't bring themselves to break up the Brother and Sister. Oh, and Miss Maddie turned out to be a kitten, and has gone from big to huge, easily twice the length, weight (surliness?) of my small cat, and (perhaps) less intelligent than the dogs (but I doubt that to be actually possible...).

Miss Maddie often (usually) mistakes me for her chew toy. Coppertone still loves me dearly, but I think she's getting some reservations on that, since she occasionally attacks me with tooth and claw when she has seen me holding and petting the other cat. Never a dull day at our house.

I found a great shooting partner, another Marine, former Battery Commander in 12th Marines at the very end of Vietnam, and we had been going to Douglas Municipal Shooting Park every Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he was badly hurt in motorcycle accident back the beginning of January, and has yet to venture out (he has a constant neck brace). Full recovery is expected , but it's also likely to take quite some time. In the meantime, I'm marking (shooting) time by handloading a bunch of final test loads in 223/75gr, setting up to test 65gr SGK's,, and printing out rubber powered free flight WWII scale plans in 1/24th scale.

I've been through a long series of Cardiopulmonary Rehab sessions, and I am finally able to whip my weight in cockroaches. Since we don't seem to have any of them in the immediate vicinity, I can probably breathe a sigh of relief.

Staying off the beer at the VFW, I have been reassigned from Post Service Officer to Post Adjutant. Two months into that, they don't appear to sizing up my replacement yet. Yet.

I'm finally getting comfortable in what is a totally different environment. My expectations were unrealistic, my actual experience has turned out a bunch better than I had hoped. I went through a period where I was on a home monitor for weight, BP, and answering about 20 triage questions a day. They finally decided I had passed the test and now I'm still recording weight, BP, and PO2, but on paper, for myself.

The beat goes on...

Greg

Dern Greg (Note I ddnt cuss just for you) I could have fixed you up with a wolf....Sad, but Im going to have to re home this beauty, she keeps finding ways to get over a 6 ft fence and killed some chickens yesterday. Breaks my heart, shes a good girl otherwise, sharp as a tack

 

[QuickNDirty]

Well, don't let the Bear Pit drive your heart rate up...

And keep aspirin handy. Want we should take up a collection to get you one of those defibrillator-heart-startin-paddles-thingies? I'd be in for the fundraiser.

In all seriousness... stay healthy. Your commentary here is always welcome and, better still, sage.

Stay frosty, mi amigo! And by that... I mean... stay warm and breathing!

Cheers,

Sirhr

Good idea. I was thinking about picking up an AED kit just in case for the home.

Not sure if this one is worth a damn or not, with the voice prompts, but shock/don't shock determination seemed convenient. Not sure if it'd work if you were alone and you knew you were going down so you pre-emptively put on the pads and hoped it made the right call.

http://www.aed.com/cardiac-science-...MIqsSnvee_2QIVDDFpCh0CxwXQEAYYAyABEgJZRfD_BwE

 

[jungle45]

Keeping you in my prayers. Be well.

 

[Nik H]

Keep going strong Greg...I always enjoy your posts...there is always a lot of wisdom in them

 

[Alphatreedog]

Glad you're still on the attendance rolls Greg . I enjoy your grounded responses to some very inflammatory subjects . I am also quite inpired by your sharing the shooting sports with your Grandaughter . We are blessed to have such an Elder .