Thursday Night, 1.2 Miles

Went to bed last night feeling really good. Got up this morning and took off the old bandage before my shower.

My entire incision is as red as a lobster's butt in hot water.

I've been changing the dressing every day (and sometimes twice, depending on the drainage) and putting Neosporin ointment on the staples per the doctor's instructions. It's been sore, but not too bad -- until this morning.

Fortunately, I had my appointment to get the staples out this afternoon, so I showered and washed it with soap and water, patted dry, new dressing with Neosporin, and off to work. A little more sore than usual, but these damn staples are always getting caught, so I didn't thin much pf this.

When my nurse practioner came in and took off the dressing, she said, "Oh, My!" Then she squeezed the sides of the incision, and I felt a sharp pain, with a warm rush.

Then she said, "Oh. Dear. Don't move -- I've got to get some gauze -- I'll be right back." When she left, I stole a look at my incision. A small handful of green and brown pus looked back at me.

Oh, gross. That came outta ME!

She came back in and cleaned it, then took out my staples. I gotta tell you, i wiggled and cried like a little girl. I haven't felt like such a wuss in a long time. She wrote me a prescription for Keflex (antibiotic) 4 times a day, and Ultram (reeeaaalll good pain reliever! every 4-6 hours. Ultram's good stuff -- no nausea, no addictive properties, and it well and truly kicks my butt. I've been typing this 'blog entry for almost 3 hours now -- just can't stop the typos. (Incidentally, I've learned to work the Spellcheck today for the 'blog . . . )

She also gave me an appointment for Monday -- NOT Tuesday, first thing Monday. Then she gave me her cell phone number, and the surgeon's as well. Call if it get's worse. "What's worse mean," I asked?

"You're a nurse -- you'll know."

This is the point when prayers would be appreciated -- It's obviously infected, and she's concerned. And I hurt like hell -- like red-hot chicken wire is stretched across my gut.

And I still have to work Friday.

And I just walked the dog 1.2 miles. Just to see if I could.

Gotta go -- the Ultram's kicking in again, and I can't remember where the bedroom is.

~~JD~~

Wednesday Evening, 2.8 Miles

Cacti growing in a rotted-out tree stump -- Only in South Texas, Baby.

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007:

AM Glucose: 116
Weight Loss: 17 pounds
Miles Walked: 2.8 Miles

Samantha and I decided we wanted to take our "Walkies" early while the sun was still shining, so we went out our Central Leg on Wurzbach Parkway -- 1.4 miles each way, with a pretty decent hill to walk up.

Started out slow with every intention of turning around when we got tired, but much to my surprise, we never did get tired enough to turn around. We plodded up the hill with a nice, slow pace, and when we got to the top, we felt pretty darn good, so we turned around and started to give our legs a good stretch with a faster pace.

My stomach didn't hurt. My feet barely hurt -- not nearly what they usually do. And I started to get cramps in the weirdest places -- my kidneys, the arches of my feet, my under-jaw area, my inner thighs. Oddest of all, I didn't have the abdominal ache I usually do after walking.

My theory is that I've been uncon- sciously altering my gait and gener- ally the way I've walked over the years. As the hernia got bigger, I continued to alter my gait more and more until I developed plantar fasciitis, or "heel spurs". When I would walk, I would also partially strangulate my hernia (which means the motion of my walking was cutting off the blood supply on-and-off), giving me the "tummy ache" after walking.

So, the new aches are a "good thing," then.

The views were just incredible, as you can see. The cacti all had new blooms on them from the huge amount of rain this spring, which is nice, also. The whole air smells like perfume according to Ariane.

I just know my brown car is covered in green Mountain Cedar pollen, even worse than Augusta GA used to be this time of year.

God, how I love this place!

~~JD~~

Monday Evening, 1.2 Miles . . . .

I am going out of my gourd with all this "relaxation." I've been posting like a madman her at the 'blog; cleaned the living room, re-arranged the living room, cleaned Julian's room, re-arranged Julian's room, cleaned our bedroom, and run a thousand errands, and finished several long-standing projects (including the family crest thing). I've even read an entire Joke Book and a book on U.S. Presidential History.

So, I think I'm ready to go back to work.

I got cleared by my surgeon today; then I got a flat fixed at Sam's Club (free tire warranty for life -- nice!), then I had lunch with my best buddy Brenda at a nice little Tex-Mex place we know in the Hill Country. Pretty cool day, all things considered.

Walked Samantha last night in a cold drizzle as the Tropical Trade Winds continue to push the Northern High back in the direction of Canada -- which is fine with me, as long as the rain fills up the Edwards Aquifer so we don't have water rationing again this summer.

Off topic -- where was I? Oh -- walked 1.2 miles to the base of the hill with Samantha and back. Felt like a complete dork, too -- in the Army, we used to walk farther than that for chow in the evening. My legs felt like hardwood, and my incision ached afterwards.

But it felt good. Let you know how work is tomorrow.

~~JD~~

The Finished Product

Okay. This is probably the most ambitious Arts-and-Crafts Project I've ever tried to do. First, a little background.

Paul Baukema is a member of a MyFamily.com website dedicated to the genealogy of the Long family, and he's a good researcher on all things Long. About three years ago he found a manuscript by a John Turner Long written in the 1907-1908 time period. His sources of information included Joel Long, James Turner and Moses Jackson Long, Professor Joseph R. Long, Mrs. Margaret E. James, and the Hon. E. V. Long. The manuscript can be found in the Heritage Quest images of the Newberry Library (Chicago, IL) images.

Hey, a Judge in the family tree. Imagine that.



The origin of this "Family Crest" is not clear. It was probably created by John Turner Long for the Manuscript he wrote, although it may have earlier origins -- we may never know.

So I decided to try to recreate it as an Arts-And-Crafts Project, and immediately ran into a few problems. First, there are no colors specified in the black- and- white pen- and- ink drawing. I thought the stars should be white -- like the 1776 flag's stars were. The sword should be silver, of course. Through a little research I discovered that the felt cap is a "Phrygian Cap", and a slave on winning his freedom started wearing a Phyrgian cap as a symbol of his freedom.

Okay then -- red seems to be the traditional color for a Phyrgian cap. . . . what color for the plaque background itself? The Virginia flag is Navy Blue; the state seal is a lighter blue; and while I still like Hunter Green, Navy blue seems to be the predominant background color for colonial flags; but I bow to the will of the people.

The next major problem was one of perspective. It's easy to choose sizes when you're freehand drawing something: less easy when you're working with established materials. The tiny swords are swizzle sticks, so there wasn't much choice in size there. I had a few choices with the stars and tried to pick something that wasn't so tiny it would get lost in the background and be noticeable without dominating the area of the craft.

Once I picked a shield shape that roughly approximated for the stars and the swords, the Phyrgian Cap was the last choice. It's obviously larger than the drawing and that was a conscious choice. Too small and it risks being overlooked (or worse, looking comical); and the "Freedom" thing is the whole reason for the Revolution, right? Worth dying for, even.

I elected to retain the hand-lettering of the Crest in the manner of the original, and made the letters yellow like the Virginia Flag; although I did some slight re-ordering of the words to make it less clunky.

So, those were the choices and why . . . .



And this is what I got.

Not too bad, if I say so myself. I'm pretty happy with it, anyway.

~~JD~~

What It's All About (or, "Happy Easter!")

Or, as Max said this morning, "What's Your Exit Strategy?"

Luke 24: 1-10 -- The Resurrection

Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then the women remembered his words, and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth; then he went home, wondering what had happened.


1st Corinthians 15: 3-9 -- Christ’s Resurrection

For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Got an Exit Strategy? A Plan for when all is said and done? And if that end was today -- would you be ready?

~~JD~~

Sunday Morning Moaning

Tired.

I think it must be the weather of all things. Cold, humid, grey-icky day. But my blood sugar was 86 this morning (which was good); and I haven't had a Vicodin since bedtime last night (and my last before that was 10am yesterday), and the ibuprofen seems to be holding it well. Very little drainage from the incision, and just a little redness around the site. I think that's related to the fact that all the bandages nowadays are "Latex-Free!", and I think I'm allergic to this non-allergenic stuff.

Heh. Nursing Joke. Ouch. Heh-heh. (Ouch!)

Might (maybe) go Walkies this afternoon if I can sneak past Ariane -- she's pretty worried about how tired I've been since the 2.6 miles Friday -- but I think that's more the weather and the damned head cold from Hell that won't go away.

But I don't want to screw this up, either. We'll see.

~~JD~~

Saturday Afternoon, Post-Op Day 5, Zero Miles

What the Hell was I Thinking?

Definitely overdid it with that 2.6 Miles yesterday, and while I feel pretty beat-up about it today, I don't feel awful like I've messed anything up. Today is the first day since the surgery my pain level hasn't gone down, but I'm out to 5-6 hours between pain medicine, and at 1pm I forgot to take my Vicodin -- which means that as of now (8:00pm) I've been off the narcotics 12 hours. That, in itself, is a major step. I may take a Vicodin before bed, but I think I'll try to sleep without one.


No walking today other than potty-walking the dog. It's currently 35 degrees which is not the coldest it's been this year, but it's pretty close. We had a pretty strong hailstorm this afternoon, so everything is covered in ice or slush. (Well, I can't be too upset -- this has to be the last of the winter weather for here until December.)

I'm definitely going to bed early tonight. Walking the doggie now.

~~JD~~

Good Friday Afternoon, 2.6 Miles

I must be out of my flipping mind.


This forced inactivity of just sitting around and recuperating from my surgery is driving me bonkers. I managed to get through the night with just one Vicodin every 5 hours with 2 Ibuprofen backing them up without any problems. After doing my daily web-surfing for news (Vidette-Times, Post-Tribune, Sun-Times, Drudge, and MySA.com), I got bored with the limited programming for Good Friday (Spike TV has a marathon of "World's Wildest Police Videos", FX has a "That 70's Show" Marathon, etc.)

So I started cleaning the Living Room. While I'm not supposed to lift more than 10 pounds, Julian sure can, and he moved the chairs while I vacuumed, re-arranged, and cleaned out the winter's worth of ashes from the fireplace.

Then one of Julian's friends called and they went out for the afternoon. (Texas is 90% Catholic, so Good Friday is a school Holiday here.) So I figured it was time for another walk. At first I thought we'd just take another mile and a half or so. Once we got out there the wind came wafting out of the south from the Gulf of Mexico, the sun was warm on our skin, and the day was so darned beautiful that we just started following our southerly route and ended up at the Mail Boxes Etc we use for our mail. From there it was a simple matter to make a slight detour and take the long way home.

After the first quarter-mile my calves felt like knotted rope, but they stretched out pretty nicely after the first mile. But just about the point of no return I started to feel winded, and it was all uphill from there. We took a nice slow, regular pace the whole way -- substantially slower than usual, but I feel like my butt was well and truly kicked this afternoon. I hadn't walked much the couple of days before the surgery due to a slight sinus infection, so it's . . . . been interesting.

God, I'm tired.

But it's a good tired overall. My pain medication needs are decreasing, and I'm getting bored, which is a good sign. This will be a good chance to get a dozen little projects out of the way that I've been meaning to get out of the way.

Julian and I are going to go look for a new phone for him -- Small Project #1.

~~JD~~

Thursday Afternoon, 1.2 miles

No, really -- I went out and walked 1.2 miles this afternoon.

Samantha and I went out for her usual afternoon "walkie" and just found ourselves on the old familiar pathways; so we walked north 0.6 miles along the main drag until we reached the base of our main hill to climb, then turned around. Low impact, low stress -- slow pace. Considering the longest walk I took yesterday was to the bathroom and backl and the day before to the parking lot, I'm pretty pleased with it. Tomorrow we'll try something more interesting.

Then, just to keep things interesting, I had my annual dental cleaning this afternoon. Getting into and out of the damned chair was a lot of fun, that's for sure! A good report all things considered, but I gotta work on my Wisdom teeth -- as usual. (Well, they're hard to reach!)

I'm down to a single Vicodin every 5-6 hours (from 2 every 3-4 hours right after surgery) with 2-3 Ibuprofen backing up the Vicodin. I want to be off the Vicodin altogether this weekend, if not tomorrow.

~~JD~~

It's Funny the Things You Remember . . .

I've got staples in my belly-button. (Actually, just to the south and east of my navel, to be precise -- this picture is sideways.) I tried to count them, but (a) the picture is too fuzzy, and (b) My head doesn't bend far enough to get a good look at them. So I'm guessing there's about seven hundred staples -- sure feels like it. Oddly enough, I can actually feel inside me the Teflon mesh they used to reinforce my abdominal wall. From time to time when I move I can feel an edge here, a suture there. Interesting and odd sensation. I'm sure I'll learn to ignore it eventually, but now, it's just weird.

The first two days I spent pretty strictly on bed rest. I really want to be back at work next Tuesday, and didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that. Plus I had a slight sinus infection going into surgery Monday, so I was pretty tired anyway. So for the first day it was take 2 Vicodin and sleep it off.

Yesterday was Day 2, and by noon I knew something was wrong. Usually I sleep without any covers at all (a habit i picked up in Desert Storm), so when I was soaked in sweat and shivering uncontrollably by noon in the South Texas 80 degree heat, that was pretty unusual. Plus I had terrible pains in my shoulders, almost like intestinal gas pains. I kind of wondered to myself what the heck was going on.

Just that fast I could hear a voice in my head (It was my own voice -- don't panic) saying "Of course you're having gas pains, dummy. They use carbon dioxide -- a non-reactive gas -- to inflate and separate the abdomen during surgery so they can see what they're doing! The only way you'll get rid of those pains is to get up and walk it off, ya doofus." Of course, this was something I learned in LVN school 26 years ago -- I just needed to be reminded to start thinking more like a nurse and less like a whiny patient again.

So I got up and took some Ibuprofen (which is much better at cutting a fever than Aspirin or Tylenol) and started padding around the apartment to do some chores -- even walked the dog, and sure enough, about 10 minutes into it, I'm burping up CO2 like John Belushi at a frat party, and the pain is gone by this morning.

Meanwhile in the middle of my padding around i start to cough, which really worries me. I was half-worried my sinus infection was a cold, and didn't want to have that develop into pneumonia . . . .and just that fast here comes that voice again, saying, "And you know that the way to prevent pneumonia in Post-operative patients is to have them cough and deep breathe every hour, right? So Start Coughing, doofus!"

So as of dinner time last night I was gas-free; as of bedtime I was fever-free; and as of this morning I have no sinus, cold, or what-have-you problems.

I learned that stuff 26 years ago at Fort Leonard Wood on Floor 6-B, the Medical/Surgical Floor. It's funny the things you remember.

And All things considered, I feel pretty good!

~~JD~~

Things to Remember for the Next Time I have Surgery . . .

1.) Narcotics, especially opiates, make me nauseous.

Really nauseous.

Really, REALLY nauseous.

(Note to Self; find out how much it will cost to have the car detailed to get the puke smell out of the front seat. Also, try really hard not to puke on your wife.)

2.) Fortunately for me, Ibuprofen (Motrin) actually works better than Vicodin. With Ariane, Motrin puts her out like a light. Go figure.

3.) Always remember to keep a pillow on your lap for two very important reasons:

(A) when you have to cough after surgery, you need it to splint against the surgery site -- and you tend to cough a LOT after surgery, and . . .

(B) When the dog decides to jump into your lap, you'll be able to cushion the dog and avoid the searing pain of dog impacting stiches. And try not to blame the dog; she just missed seeing you.

Ouchies.

4.) Try not to whine like a little girl when you're in pain; it tends to make family members giggle.

5.) Always wear clean underwear into the OR.

Well, THAT was certainly fun . . .

As tempted as I am to post my own obituary here as a late April Fol's Joke, te risk of cardiac incident is just too great in certain members of my family -- so I'll just forgo the infantile attempt at humor.

Oddly enough, in as much pain as I seem to be, I'm still tempted, though.

All went well, except for the odd fact that when I woke up I couldn't remember how to speak English. My French and sign language were fine, but the English was gone for the first 15 minutes -- which Ariane thinks is hilarious.

They've given me some Vicodin, which is helping a great deal, and making me a bit philosophical -- but I'll spare you the verbiage and just say I'm fine, albeit my waistline has shrunk 2.5 inches.

And my twingle-dingle is fine. No catheters for day surgery, apparently -- Praise the Lord.

Going to make nappy now. Oooooo -- pretty butterfly at the window! Oooo -- pretty Vicodin!

~~JD~~

Tuesday Morning, 5am

Clock radio pops on. The Beatle's Twist and Shout is the perfect song to wake up to when you really, really don't wanna get out of bed -- but it brings to mind what i'll be feeling if they forget the anesthesia.

"Woke up, got outta bed -- don't need no comb on my bald head" (with apologies to Paul McCartney).

Got all my meds and paperwork. Ariane is on her second cup of coffee. (She's like the Kinko's commercial guy that says, "Looks like it's gonna be an all-nighter" and chugs the pot of scalding hot coffee -- that is how the love of my life drinks coffee in the morning.) The dog and cats all advise me to watch my nuts while I'm in there -- they all had surgery and when they woke up, their nuts were gone.

Off we go . . . .

~~JD~~

It's On Again, Bay-BEE!

After months of waiting . . . after re-scheduling labs, Doctor's appointments, and re-dancing through the same hoops all over again . . . It's ON.

Report time 6:00 am, Surgery time 7:15 am.

No word on the fate of my twingle-dingle, but I'm especially not looking forward re-shaving my tummy again.

Yeesh.

I don't plan on blogging any immediately afterwards; but we'll see how I feel.

~~JD~~

True Story; Swear to God . . .

Bear with me here; this one takes a bit of explaining, but the punch line's worth it.

The cat pictured above is our cat Fluffy. He's a Norwegian Forest Cat breed. We've had him since Missouri, almost 15 years now, so he's probably 17 years old or so. Over the years he's developed this alter-ego persona called "Flurfy", whom I vocalize with a pseudo-Norwegian accent that sound something like the the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show would sound like if he was drunk. Flurfy is a curmudgeon whose snarky, sarcastic comments frequently have us in stitches -- especially me, because I frequently have no idea what he's going to say, even though his biting sarcasm comes out of my mouth at the most inopportune times.

I wonder if Edgar Bergen or Paul Winchell had this problem?

So, anyway, suffice it to say Flurfy is a part of the family. So when Ariane got this message from Flurfy on her cell phone at work yesterday morning, she didn't bat an eye:

"Hello Dere - Flurfy Here. Da fat guy forgot his phone, y'know. What are da chances of getting me some Herring dere?"

(Herring is the natural prey of Norwegian Forest Cats, of course.)

So about 2pm when she called from work, she calls Julian's cell phone. Why? Because "I had forgot my cell phone at home" according to Flurfy.

Uhmmm . . . . according to whom?

It took her three hours to realize what she'd done. She was absolutely furious when she got home. (Heh.)

~~JD~~

Sunday Afternoon; 4.6 Miles

Spring in South Texas seems to bring out the prettiest roadside scenery. Lady Bird Johnson made it her life's work to have wildflowers planted along all Texas highway right- of- ways so that this time of year right after the winter rains are full of bluebonnets, marigolds, and Indian Paintbrushes.

Ariane, Samantha and I took the Northerly route this afternoon, but kept going past Walgreen's to the Regent Care Nursing Home 0.75 miles past. This adds 1.5 miles to our standard 3.1 mile trip. It was actually surprisingly easy one we got past Walgreen's, as the land becomes much flatter. We saw lots of squirrels -- red squirrels, grey squirrels, and even a black rock squirrel, all of which Samantha thinks would be very tasty parts of her balanced breakfast. Fortunately or the squirrels, it was after lunch, and Samantha's fuzzy doggy butt was dragging pretty low from this extended excursion.

One of the cooler things of our "walkies" is that we walk by and under the glide path for San Antonio International Airport. I always thought the coolest part of driving limousines to the Chicago airports was getting to sit in the Staging Parking Lot watching the planes land. Southwest is the primary service into and out of SA, so their colorful and different jets are always interesting. Today we got to watch a NASA T-38 fly in, as well as a Medevac Army UH-60, most likely from Fort Sam Houston. Brings back memories of my Grandma Glynn taking me to O'Hare to watch the airplanes take off and land back in the 60's when you could still walk up to the departure gates.

Good Stuff. Good Memories. Good Walkies!

~~JD~~

Another Great Moment in Male Nursing . . .

I'm sitting in the Break Room at work and my Supervisor comes in and says, "I understand you're having surgery" (referring to my impending Hernia surgery.) I said "sure" -- she asks "Sex Change?"

Another instance of NWM -- "Nursing while Male."

~~JD~~

Saturday Night; 3.1 Miles

Did our northerly route tonight to Walgreen's and back and even managed to drag Julian along, who took the nifty photo of me and my dog.

We had a fun philosophical discussion along the way. I set Julian up by offering that I thought the schools could make kids a lot healthier by banning sugar-sweetened soft drink machines and only allowing diet sodas or fruit juices and bottled water -- the rationalization being that by eliminating harmful eating habits and empty (non-nutritious) calories, the kids would be "exposed to healthy alternatives." Julian's counter-argument was that this was "forcing" the kids to accept something they didn't want, and that they shouldn't have to experience something they weren't used to.

My counter argument was that by "exposing" the kids this way, they would be able to make informed decisions for themselves later. Julian's response was that nobody should be "forced" to experience anything they didn't want to.

My response was, what about teaching people not to be intolerant of different lifestyles? Like teaching southern people not to be evil towards black people? Like teaching Iraqis not to hate each other, and to live in a democracy?

He had to think about that one for a while.

He's on his way to Colorado this week with the Orchestra to play some concerts for Middle schools there. We had to buy him some ski equipment (of all the things to shop for in South Texas!) He hasn't had a real winter coat in five years since he outgrew his last one; and it never gets cold enough here to buy another, really.

Tomorrow it'll be a variation of the Walgreen's route again, but with a 1.4 mile extension. My feet hurt bad enough right now that this seems impossible; but that's the fun of it, isn't it?

~~JD~~

Tuesday Evening, 2.75+ Miles

I have no idea how far we walked tonight. We started out on what I refer to as our "Southerly Route"; wherein we walk south 1.25 miles to the corner of two main thoroughfares; then over a little over a tenth of a mile to our Mail Drop and return. It works out to just over 2.75 miles.

However, Ariane is always pushing herself to walk farther and farther, so we made a little detour that pushed us well over 2.75. I won't know how far until I time it out on the car's odometer -- and Julian's out and about right now. I'd guess a bit over 2.9 by the way Samantha's tongue was hanging out. I usually don't see that until almost the end of our 3 mile walk (which we refer to as our "Walkies" -- Samantha starts drooling and leaping like a puppy when she hears the "Walkies" word.) That's the northern end of our southbound dog that's the black blob in the photo above as we walked the thouroughfare of choice tonight.

Morning glucose was right down where it should've been this morning at 64. (A blood glucose of 60-110 is considered normal.) The last four days had my morning blood glucoses in the triple digits, but the glyburide has fixed that fast.

Best news of the day: I wore a pair of shorts for this walk hat I grew out of last spring. Today they had room to spare. That right there is a great feeling money can't buy.

~~JD~~

Monday Night, 3.1 Miles

Sometime around Thanksgiving I started going for walks at night as a method of relieving the pain of my heel spurs. In a gross fit of irony, God saw fit to bequeath to me the same heel spurs my mom has. They started bothering me about two or three years ago, and I tried various methods to decrease or relieve the pain, from soaking my feet to elevating them to various creams, rubs, ointments, and pain relievers. Not much worked. The one thing that did work, oddly enough, was walking -- and walking a lot.

So I marked off three walking courses from the apartment and back. If I walk north along the street our apartment is on to the local Walgreen's and back it's 3.1 miles round trip, which was our trip tonight for me and Samantha the Dog. We like that route because it involves walking up a fairly steep graded hill about half a mile from the apartment (just enough distance to get a good stretch in the legs), then walking the next half mile uphill, then another 0.6 miles down the other side. When we reach Walgreen's, we turn around and re-ascend the hill for 0.6 miles, back down for half a mile again, and half a mile home. Tonight we ran most of that last half-mile, which Samantha particularly likes because she feels like a vicious wolf creature when she runs with her hair in the wind.

Or so I've heard.

The diabetes is fairly well under control. For some reason my pharmacy shorted me 75% of my glyburide medication to control my blood sugars, so I ran out last Thursday. I just got the replacements in the mail today -- during this last weekend my sugar was never higher than 174, and usually in the 130's to 140's in the morning, with normal (90's or so) reading before meals. I guess the "eating healthy" thing is working our pretty well. Ariane has lost almost 50 pounds since Thanksgiving and a good 2 inches from her waist -- and she tells me 2 whole sizes. I've lost about 10 pounds and 3+ inches from my waist.

The best part was buying a new, smaller belt today at Wal-Mart. (Deep sigh of satisfaction here.) What a great feeling.

Julian continues to be Julian. After his 1st-place performances at State (UIL) as an individual, his orchestra followed up with 1st-place performances just before Spring Break. He's pretty much assured 1st Chair next year, but he may not take Orchestra
to concentrate on his medical and language studies. (He's still going to take private lessons, though.) His pre-Spring Break trip to Mexico went very well. He managed to come back in one piece without Montezuma's Revenge (unlike a couple of his compatriots) and even named a few of the rats he met there.

Yeah, you read that right. He named the rats. Yup -- he's my boy.

~~JD~~

They Say It's Your Birthday . . . .

I've always been fascinated by what happened in history on my birthday. I guess everyone is, to some extent -- having that little thrill of recognition when you find out this or that happened on the date of your birth.

However, when you factor is (a) my love of History and (b) by OCD tendencies -- well, you get the picture . . . .

Just recently I've found several really great websites to encourage my prediliction for trivial minituae. As you might guess, The History Channel's Website is just invaluable with this kind of thing as well as detailed and encylopedic on any day you might want to research. Another good one is the Those Were The Days Website, but tries a bit too hard to make jokes -- be warned. But the site that overwhelms even my twisted sense of OCD-loving trivia is Any Day In History, which is curiously run by an electrical parts supplier. (Well, I guess the boss has to do something in his office all day, right?)

I would also like to point out that (a) I cannot be held responsible for any event happening before this day in 1958 -- I just plain wasn't here. So as much as you might like to blame me for the deaths of Jacques d'Auchy Walloon in 1559, Claude II of Lotharingen in 1573, or Philip van Egmont General/prince of Gavere, dying in battle in 1590, it's just a bit too early for me. Likewise, you can't blame me for Ferdinand I being appointed Holy Roman emperor in 1558; the Battle at Ivry in 1590; or Storm floods ravaging Gorinchem, Dordrecht & Woudrichem in the Netherlands in 1559. Neither can I claim credit for the death of Karl Marx, much as I might like to -- same reason.

I would also like to point out that though Fred J. Muggs (1952) and I share a birthday (as well as hairy arms), we do not share genetics. Ask my mom.

So without further ado, here's a 23-page list (Yeesh!) of what happened on my birthday -- March 14th, through the years. (Took me all morning to collate and edit the list.)

**************************************************************

840 AD Eginhard French nobleman/biographer (Vita Karoli Magni), dies at 69

1272 Re Enzo Italian poet/son of Emporer Frederik II von Hohenstaufen, dies

1298 Petrus Johannis Olivi South France theologist, dies

1490 Charles I Duke of Savoy, dies at 21

1558 Ferdinand I appointed Holy Roman emperor

1559 French-born Swiss reformer John Calvin wrote in a letter: "If your labors, where you now are, are sterile, and if here an abundant harvest awaits them, which is the most forcible tie? the one by which God draws you hither, or the one that detains you there?"

1559 Jacques d'Auchy Walloon baptist merchant, executed

1559 Storm floods ravage Gorinchem, Dordrecht & Woudrichem, Netherlands

1573 Claude II of Lotharingen, duke of Aumale/murdered Admiral Coligny, dies

1590 Battle at Ivry: French King Henri IV beats Catholic League

1590 Philip van Egmont General/prince of Gavere, dies in battle at 30

1612 Philip Galle Flemish engraver, dies at about 74

1623 Adam-Nicolas Gascon composer

1629 England granted a royal charter to Massachusetts Bay Colony

1644 England grants patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island)

1647 Frederik Hendrik count of Nassau/prince of Orange, dies at 63

1653 Johan van Galen beats English fleet at Livorno

1681 Georg Philipp Telemann Magdeburg Germany, late baroque composer

1682 Jacob I van Ruysdael physician/landscape painter, dies at about 53

1689 Scotland dismisses Willem III & Mary Stuart as king & queen

1692 Peter Musschenbroek Dutch physician/physicist (Leyden jar)

1726 Josef Antonin Stepan composer

1727 Johann Gottlieb Goldberg composer

1734 Prince Willem KHF van Orange marries George II's daughter Mary Anne

1743 - The City of Boston conducted the first town meeting in Faneuil Hall. It became an idea that caught on quickly throughout New England.

1755 Pierre-Louis Couperin composer

1757 John Byng English Admiral (Minorca), executed at 52

1760 Anton Filtz composer, dies at 26

1768 Vigilio Blasio Faitello composer, dies at 58

1776 Alexander Hamilton is named captain of artillery company

1782 Thomas Hart Benton (Representative), "Old Bullion"

1794 Eli Whitney patented his cotton gin, making it possible to clean 50 pounds of cotton a day, compared to a pound a day before Whitney’s invention.

1795 Rubert Lucas Pearsall composer

1800 James Bogardus US inventor/builder (made cast-iron buildings)

1800 Luigi Chiaramonti crowned Pope Pius VII

1801 Christian Friedrich Penzel composer, dies at 63

1803 Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock German poet, dies at 78

1804 Johann Strauss the Elder Viennese violinist/composer (Radetzky March)

1808 Catharinus Putnam Buckingham Brigadier General (Union volunteers)

1811 August Henry Fitzroy English premier (1768-70), dies at 75

1812 War Bonds were authorized by the United States government for the first time. We presume they were in support of the War of 1812.

1815 Josephine Lang composer

1816 Second Bank of U.S. is established

1816 Montgomery Dent Corse Alexandria VA, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1895

1820 Victor Emmanuel II King of Sardinia (1849-61)/Italy (1861-78)

1821 African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded (New York)

1821 Jens Worsaae Denmark, archaeologist

1823 Roswell Sabine Ripley Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1887

1826 General Congress of South American States assembles at Panamá

1826 William Fisk Sherwin composer

1829 Charles Charlesworth England (dies at 7 of old age)

1831 Leon Leopold Lewandoski composer

1833 Lucy Hobbs Taylor, D.D.S. 1st woman to receive a degree in dentistry [1866]; died Oct 3, 1910

1833 John Sappington Marmaduke Major General (Confederate Army)

1835 Giovanni V Schiaparelli Italian astronomer (Mars)

1835 Manuel Fernandez Caballero composer

1836 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard leaves Australia

1837 Charles Ammi Cutter US librarian (Expansive classification/originated Cutter system)

1840 José Zorilla's "El Zapatero y el Rey" premieres in Madrid

1843 Boston conducts its 1st town meeting (Faneuil Hall)

1844 King Umberto I of Italy (1878-1900)

1845 -5.3ºF (-20.7ºC) in Groningen Germany

1847 Antonio de Castro Alves Brazilian poet (Espumas Flutuantes)

1854 - Paul Ehrlich 1908 Nobel Prize in Medicine; founded chemotherapy, discovered Salvarsan - a remedy for syphilis, developed antitoxin for diphtheria; died Aug 20, 1915

1854 Thomas Riley Marshall (D) 28th Vice President (1913-21)

1861 Abraham Louis Niedermeyer composer, dies at 58

1862 Battle of New Bern NC: General Burnside conquers New Bern

1862 Vilhelm FK Bjerknes Norwegian/US physicist/meteorology

1864 (John Luther) Casey Jones railroad engineer: subject of The Ballad of Casey Jones; killed in train crash Apr 30, 1900

1864 Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" premieres in Paris France

1864 Union troops occupy Fort de Russy, Louisiana

1870 California legislature approves act making Golden Gate Park possible

1873 Joannes DJ Aengenent sociologist/bishop of Haarlem (1928-35)

1874 Anton F Philips President-Director of Philips College

1874 Mary Carr Philadelphia PA, actress (Forbidden Trail, Pack Up Your Troubles)

1875 Isadore Gilbert Mudge US, librarian/author/bibliographer (Thackeray Dictionary)

1875 Norman Houstoun O'Neill composer

1875 Smetana's "Vysehrad" premieres

1878 Carel T Scharten Dutch poet/writer (Forces of the Future)

1879 Albert Einstein born in Ulm, Germany -- Nobel Prize-winning physicist [1921]: developed the Theory of Relativity; died Apr 18, 1955

1880 Oscar (Bachigaloupi) Tourniaire actor/director (Pink Kate)

1883 Juan Manen composer

1883 Karl Marx German philosopher (Communist Manifesto), dies at 64

1884 Albert Egges van Giffen Dutch archaeologist

1884 Winter Haynes Watts composer

1885 Gilbert & Sullivan's opera "Mikado" premieres in London

1887 Sylvia Beach, bookstore owner and publisher of Ulysses, is born

1887 George Creten Belgian sculptor/painter

1887 Lawrence Collingwood composer

1888 2nd largest snowfall in New York City history (21")

1889 August Strindberg's "Froken Julie" premieres in Copenhagen

1891 John P Strijbos Dutch writer (Wandering through South-Africa)

1892 Olive Netta Parsons co-founder (Collet's Bookshop)

1894 Josef Schelb composer

1895 Frans Ganshof Belgian historian

1896 Sutro Baths (San Francisco) opens by Cliff House (closed Sept 1, 1952)

1899 Emile Erckmann French writer (Waterloo), dies at 76

1899 Stanley Cup: Montréal Shamrocks beat Winnipeg Victorias, 6-2

19-- Imhotep Gary Byrd radio personality (WLIB-NY)

19-- Tamara Tunie Bouquette Philadelphia PA, actress (Jessica-As the World Turns)

19-- Tim Rossovich Palo Alto CA, actor (When the Whistle Blows)

1900 Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics

1900 US currency goes on gold standard

1901 1st performance of Anton Bruckner's 6th Symphony in A

1903 1st national bird reservation established in Sebastian FL

1903 Johannes H Weissenbruch Dutch landscape painter, dies at 88

1903 Molla Mustafa Barzani Iran, Kurd leader (KDP)

1903 Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Rat Portage Thisles in 2 games

1903 WB Yeats & Lady Gregory's "Hour-Glass" premieres in Dublin Ireland

1905 Raymond Aron French sociologist/political scientist

1906 Calgary City Rugby Football Club forms

1906 Ulvi Cemal Erkin composer

1907 Björn-Erik Höijer Swedish writer (Nu dansar Sara)

1908 Maurice (Jean Jacques) Merleau-Ponty French philosopher

1908 Nikolay Petrovich Rakov composer

1908 Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary was chartered in Waco, Texas. Originally named Baylor Theological Seminary, the school campus relocated in 1910 to Fort Worth.

1908 Stanley Cup: Montréal Wanderers beat Toronto Trolley Leaguers, 6-4

1909 Amsterdam Social-Democratic Party (SDP) forms

1909 André Pieyre de Mandiargues French writer (Margin)

1911 Pete Piute [Morris Kaufman], New York NY, comedian (Village Barn)

1912 - Les Brown bandleader: Les Brown and His Band of Renown: Sentimental Journey My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time; Leap Frog, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm; died Jan 4, 2001

1912 Death of Albert L. Peace, 68. One of the noted Scottish organists of his day, Peace composed many cantatas, organ pieces and hymn tunes, including the enduring St. MARGARET, to which the Church today sings George Matheson's "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go."

1912 King Vittorio Emanuel III of Rome injured during assassination attempt

1913 John D Rockefeller gives $100 million to Rockefeller Foundation

1913 Witold Rudzinski composer

1914 : Stock-car racer Lee Arnold Petty was born near Randleman, North Carolina, on this day. Now famous as the father of Richard Petty--the all-time "winningest" racer in NASCAR history

1914 Fiorenzo Marini Italy, épée (Olympics-gold-1960)

1914 Henry Ralph Carr soldier

1914 Jiri Reinberger composer

1914 Serbia & Turkey sign peace treaty

1915 German cruiser Dresden sinks

1915 Alexander Brott composer

1915 Carlos Surinach Barcelona Spain, composer (Monte Carlo)

1915 German cruiser Dresden blows itself up near coast of Chile

1915 Kenneth Rowntree painter

1916 Battle of Verdun: German attack on Mort-Homme ridge, West of Verdun

1917 Macha Louis Rosenthal critic/poet

1918 Dennis Patrick actor ( The Time Travelers, Choices, The Air Up There) killed in house fire Oct 13, 2002

1918 1st concrete ship to cross the Atlantic (Faith) is launched, San Francisco

1919 - Max Shulman novelist, playwright (Strictly for Laughs, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, I Was A Teenage Dwarf, The Tender Trap, Rally Round The Flag Boys) died Aug 28, 1988

1919 : Max Brand publishes his first novel

1919 Luther Henderson Jr Kansas City MO, orchestra leader (Polly Bergen Show)

1920 Hank Ketcham cartoonist: Dennis the Menace; died June 1, 2001

1920 Dorothy Tyler-Odam Great Britain, high jumper (Olympics-silver-1936, 1948)

1921 Lis Hartel Denmark, equestrian dressage (Olympics-silver-1952, 56)

1922 Colin Fletcher author (Walking Through Time)

1922 KGU-AM in Honolulu HI begins radio transmissions; also KSD-AM in Saint Louis MO begins transmissions as well as WGR-AM in Buffalo NY.

1922 Les Baxter US, singer/orchestra leader/composer (Born Again)

1923 U.S. President Warren G. Harding became the first Chief Executive to pay taxes and account for his income. Harding’s tax bill amounted to nearly $18,000.

1923 Allies accepts Vilnus taking East-Galicië in Poland

1923 Diane Arbus photographer/innovator

1923 German Supreme Court prohibits NSDAP (Nazi Party)

1925 John Barrington Wain England, novelist/poet (Hurry on Down)

1925 Walter Camp father of American football, dies at 65

1926 François d'Assise Morel composer

1927 Bill Rexford auto racer: NASCAR Winston Cup Champion [1950 at age 23]

1927 Joop F Wolff Dutch editor (Truth)/Dutch politician (CPN)

1928 Frank Borman Gary IN, astronaut (Gemini 7, Apollo 8)/CEO-Eastern Airlines

1929 - Bob Goalby golf: PGA champ: Greater Greensboro Open [1958], Coral Gables Open Invitational [1960], LA Open, St. Petersburg Open Invitational [1961], Insurance City Open Invitational, Denver Open Invitational [1962], San Diego Open Invitational [1967], Masters [1968], Robinson Open Golf Classic [1969], Heritage Golf Classic [1970], Bahamas National Open Championship [1971]; Senior PGA champ: Marlboro Classic [1981], Peter Jackson Champions [1982]

1929 Thomas Bell Jr race horse trainer

1930 Dieter Schnebel German vicar/composer

1930 Ray Flockton cricketer (prolific New South Wales batsman of 50's)

1931 Phil Phillips (Baptiste) singer (Sea of Love)

1931 The Trans-Lux Theater opens in Manhattan on this day in 1931; the First theater designed for rear projector

1931 Bob Goalby golfer (British Open-1968, Canadian Open-1968, New Zealand-1970)

1932 George Eastman US industrialist (Kodak-camera), suicide at 77

1933 Michael Caine (Maurice Micklewhite) Academy Award-winning actor (Hannah and Her Sisters [1986]; Sleuth, The Ipcress File, Alfie, Educating Rita, California Suite, Jack the Ripper, On Deadly Ground )

1933 Quincy Jones composer: film scores, TV show themes; bandleader; record producer; arranger; 25 Grammys, Grammy’s Trustees Award [1989], Grammy’s Legends Award [1990]; Musical Director for Mercury Records, then VP; established Qwest Records

1933 Civilian Conservation Corp begins tree conservation

1933 Winston Churchill wants to boost air defense

1934 - Eugene (Andrew) Cernan astronaut: pilot: Gemini 9 [June, 1966]; crew member: Apollo 17 [Dec, 1972] moon landing, spent three days exploring lunar surface [w/astronaut Harrison Schmitt], Cernan quote before departing for Earth, “As we leave the moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. God speed the crew of Apollo 17.”

1934 Shirley Scott swinging, blues-oriented organist: recorded mostly with former husband Stanley Turrentine [they were married from 1961 to 1971]

1935 Shirley Temple leaves handprints at Grauman's

1935 Folsom becomes 1st line to use 1-man streetcars

1935 Jo van den Booren composer

1936 Bob Charles golf champion: British Open Champion from New Zealand [1963](1963 Houston Open)

1936 The U.S. government went into the magazine business on this day with the publication known today as The Federal Register.

1937 - Fred Allen and Jack Benny met on radio in one of the biggest publicity gags ever. It was called, “The Battle of the Century.” The two comedians locked horns in the ballroom of the Hotel Pierre, exchanging torrid insults that were heard by the second largest audience in the history of radio. The ‘feud’, incidentally, lasted for the next 12 years! This was probably the longest-running publicity stunt in history.

1937 English Bible expositor Arthur W. Pink wrote in a letter: "Neither the nearness nor the remoteness of Christ's return is a rule to regulate us in the ordering of our temporal affairs. Spiritual preparedness is the great matter."

1937 Peter van der Merwe cricketer (South African captain of mid-1960's)

1937 Pope Pius XI publishes anti-Nazi-encyclical Mit brennender Sorge

1938 Johnny Gleeson cricketer (mystery spinner for Australia 1966-72)

1939 Bertrand Blier Paris France, novelist/director (Going Places)

1939 England draw with South Africa at Durban on the 10th day

1939 Nazi Germany dissolves Republic of Czechoslovakia

1939 William Benjamin Lenoir Miami FL, astronaut (STS-5)

1940 27 killed, 15 injured when truck full of migrant workers collides with a train outside McAllen TX

1940 Eleanor Bron Stanmore Middlesex England, actress (Women in Love, Bedazzled)

1941 Years before Desi Arnaz would make the song Babalu popular on the I Love Lucy TV show, Xavier Cugat and his orchestra recorded it with Miguelito Valdes doing the vocal. The song was on Columbia Records, as was the Arnaz version years later.

1941 Nazi occupiers of Holland forbid Jewish owned companies

1941 Wolfgang Petersen Emden Germany, actor (Shattered, Enemy Mine)

1942 Rita Tushingham actress: Dr. Zhivago, A Taste of Honey, Trap

1942 Jerry Jeff Walker Oneonta NY, country singer (Mr Bojangles)

1942 John Whittaker English real estate developer (Peel Holdings)

1942 Rita Tushingham Liverpool England, actress (Green Eyes, Doctor Zhivago)

1943 German troops re-enter Kharkov, the second largest city in the Ukraine. A high-priority target for the Germans when they invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the city was a railroad and industrial center, and had coal and iron mines nearby. Among the most important industries for Stalin's war needs was the Kharkov Tanks Works, which he moved out of Kharkov in December 1941 into the Ural Mountains. In fact, Joseph Stalin was so desperate to protect Kharkov that he rendered a "no retreat" order to his troops, which produced massive casualties within the Red Army over time.

1943 Jim Pons Santa Monica CA, bassist (Turtles-Happy Together)

1944 - Clyde Lee basketball: Vanderbilt Univ [rebounds: 1,223: 1964-1966]; NBA: SF Warriors [rebounds: 7626: 1966-1967, 1975-1976]

1944 Pavel Grigor'yevich composer, dies at 66

1944 Peter Paul Zahl writer

1945 - Walter Parazaider musician: reeds: group: Chicago (If You Leave Me Now, 25 or 6 To 4, Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?, You’re the Inspiration, Hard to Say I’m Sorry)

1945 Herman[us J] van Veen Netherlands, cabareter/singer/composer/writer

1945 Michael Martin Murphey Dallas TX, country singer (Wildfire)

1945 RAF bomb cuts railway link Hannover-Hamm

1946 Belgian government of Spaak, forms

1946 Jasper Carrott English comedian (Jane & the Lost City, Detectives)

1946 Steve Kanaly Burbank CA, actor (Fleshburn, Ray Krebbs-Dallas)

1946 Wes Unseld NBA all-star (Baltimore Bullets, MVP 1969)

1947 Jan [AJ] te Veldhuis Dutch MP (VVD)

1947 Janis Schmitt St Louis MO, playmate (February, 1978)

1947 Jimmy O'Rourke rocker

1947 William Jefferson (Representative-Democrat-LA)

1948 Billy Crystal Long Beach NY, comedian (Soap, Saturday Night Live) Emmy Award for Best Individual Performance and Writer in a Variety or Music Program: 63rd Annual Oscars [1991]; Emmy Award-winning Writer for a Variety or Music Program (Midnight Train to Moscow [1990], 64th Annual Oscars [1992]; actor: City Slickers, Throw Mama from the Train, Soap, When Harry Met Sally)

1948 Freedom Train arrives in San Francisco

1950 Michael Ford son of U.S. President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford

1950 The FBI debuts its "10 Most Wanted" list

1951 During Korean War, US/UN forces recapture Seoul

1951 Earthquake at Euskirchen, Germany

1951 Rick Dees radio disc jock (KIIS Los Angeles)

1952 David Byrne guitarist/vocalist (Talking Heads-Burning Down the House)

1952 J Fred Muggs chimp (Today show)

1953 Klement Gottwald premier/President of Czechoslovakia, dies at 56

1953 KOLR TV channel 10 in Springfield MO (CBS) begins broadcasting

1953 Nikita Khrushchev succeeds Malenkov as Secretary of Communist Party

1953 Tim McKee US, 400 meter medley swimmer (Olympics-silver-1972)

1954 Adrian Zmed Chicago IL, actor (TJ Hooker, Dance Fever)

1954 Braves Henry Aaron homers in his 1st exhibition game

1954 David La Croix race horse trainer

1954 Jann Browne country singer (Mexican Wind)

1954 KDAL (now KDLH) TV channel 3 in Duluth-Superior MN (CBS) begins

1954 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship

1954 Ludomir Michal Rogowski composer, dies at 72

1954 NBA Baltimore Bullets end a 32 game road losing streak

1955 - Boon Gould musician: guitar: group: Level 42: The Chinese Way, The Sun Goes Down [Living It Up], Hot Water

1955 Prince Mahemdra becomes king of Nepal

1956 Natalya Dmitriyevna Kuleshova Russia, cosmonaut

1956 Satchel Paige signs with the Birmingham Black Barons (Negro League)

1956 Tessa Sanderson Kingston Jamaica, British javelin thrower (Olympics-gold-84)

1957 Indonesian government of Sastroamidjojo resigns

1958 Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Prince of Monaco/bobsledder (Olympics-1988)

1958 Eugeen Van de Velde Flemish musicologist/critic/composer, dies at 64

1958 South Africa government disallows African National Congress.

1958 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, while the USSR performs an atmospheric nuclear test.

1958 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the first gold record. It was Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star on RCA Victor Records. The tune became the first to win million-seller certification, though other songs dating as far back as the 1920s may have sold a million records or more.

1958 Alarmed by recent advances by the Soviet space program, the United States establishes NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) to coordinate its own efforts to reach space. America's first satellite is released this year.

1958 Charles de Gaulle is elected the first president of France's newly created Fifth Republic.

1958 Credit cards get a boost; charge card American Express debuts, and the forerunner of Visa, the BankAmericard, also appears.

1958 John Kenneth Galbraith pens The Affluent Society to criticize private consumption in American society and advocate greater spending on public resources.

1958 Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe publishes his novel about colonialism, Things Fall Apart.

1958 Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the U.S.S.R.

1958 Prince Charles, son of Elizabeth II and future husband of Diana, becomes the Prince of Wales.

1958 Robert Welch founds the right-wing John Birch Society to combat communism, which he believes has infiltrated the highest levels of government.

1958 The first atomic submarine, the Nautilus, built in 1954, travels under the North Pole.

1958 The National Defense Education Act places heavy emphasis on math, science, and language education.

1958 The play A Raisin in the Sun, by 29-year-old Lorraine Hansberry, is at tale of the modern African-American family.

1959 Elvis Presley made the album charts, but no one would have known by the title of the disk. For LP Fans Only was the first LP ever issued without the artist’s name to be found anywhere on the cover -- front or back.

1959 Patrick Dupond Paris France, dancer (La Bayadere)

1960 14 die in a train crash in Bakersfield CA

1960 George Horvath Sweden, pentathlete (Olympics-1980)

1960 Helen Hopkins Donneybrook Australia, golfer (Australian International 1983)

1960 Wilt Chamberlain (Philadelphia) sets NBA playoff record of 53 points

1961 Akiba Rubinstein Polish chess player (opening theorist), dies at 78

1961 Gary Dell'Abate Uniondale Long Island New York, producer (Howard Stern Show, Private Parts)

1961 George Weiss becomes president of New York Mets

1961 Grigoriy Kornev Russian speed walker (world record 5 km)

1961 Russell Todd actor (Jamie Frame-Another World)

1961 The New Testament of the New English Bible was simultaneously published by both the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses. (The complete Old & New Testament of the NEB was published in 1970.)

1962 Disarmament conference opens in Geneva without France

1962 Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings) is 2nd NHLer to score 500 goals

1962 Kirby Puckett centerfielder (Minnesota Twins)

1963 Bruce Reid cricketer (brilliant left-arm Australia pace bowler 1985-92)

1963 Pedro Duque Madrid Spain, engineer/astronaut (STS 78 alternate, sk-95)

1963 San Francisco's Guy Rodgers ties NBA record with 28 assists

1964 "Girl Who Came to Supper" closes at Broadway NYC after 112 performances

1964 : Jack Ruby sentenced to death

1964 Dallas jury sentences Jack Ruby to death for Lee Harvey Oswald murder

1964 Donald Evans NFL defensive end/tackle (New York Jets)

1964 Richard Migliore jockey

1965 Allies launch second wave of Rolling Thunder

1965 Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with West Germany

1965 John Stephenson cricketer (England opening bat in one Test vs Australia 1989)

1965 Kevin Brown Mcintyre GA, pitcher (Florida Marlins)

1966 Darcy Wakaluk Pincher Creek, NHL goalie (Dallas Stars)

1966 Tertius Bosch cricketer (South African pace bowler 1992)

1967 JFK’s body moved to permanent gravesite

1967 1st NFL-AFL common draft, Baltimore Colts pick Bubba Smith

1967 Edward M Fincke Pittsburgh PA, Captain USAF/astronaut

1967 JFK's body moved from temporary grave to a permanent memorial

1967 Melissa Brennan Reeves Eatontown NJ, actress (Jennifer-Days of our Lives)

1967 Vijay Yadav cricketer (Indian wicket-keeper between More & Mongia)

1968 - After two seasons on television, ABC-TV showed the last episode of Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Robin. The first Batman episode was Hi Diddle Riddle, shown on January 12, 1966. The pilot program for Batman cost $300,000 -- quite expensive by 1966 standards. Through the two seasons, the ‘Dynamic Duo’ welcomed these stars to the cast: Art Carney (The Archer), Tallulah Bankhead (Black Widow), Eartha Kitt (Catwoman), Julie Newmar (Catwoman), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman), Liberace (Chandell), Vincent Price (Egghead), Cesar Romero (The Joker), Rudy Vallee (Lord Phogg), Milton Berle (Louie the Lilac), Shelley Winters (Ma Parker), David Wayne (The Mad Hatter), Zsa Zsa Gabor (Minerva), Van Johnson (The Minstrel), Otto Preminger (Mr. Freeze), Burgess Meredith (The Penguin), John Astin (The Riddler), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Cliff Robertson (Shame), Joan Collins (The Siren) and Anne Baxter (Zelda the Great). Finally, a partial list of official Bat-Noises: Aargh!, Clash!, Crunch!, Klonk!, Pow!, Splat!, Clunk! Eee-Yow! Ooof!, Powie! Swoosh!, Biff!, Conck! Ouch!, Qunkk!, Thunk! Boff! Crash!, Uggh!, Zam!, Zap! and others. Wow!
1968 - Megan Follows actress: The Chase, Anne of Green Gables, Hockey Night, Second Chances, Domestic Life, The Baxters

1968 CBS TV suspends Radio Free Europe free advertising because RFE doesn't make it clear it is sponsored by the CIA

1968 Erwin Panofsky German/US art historian/iconologist, dies

1968 Megan Follows actress (Chase, Anne of Green Gables)

1968 POM performs atmospheric nuclear test at Maralinga Australia

1969 - Less than one month after winning her first horse race, Barbara Jo Rubin became the first woman jockey to win at Aqueduct Race Course in New York. She rode Brave Galaxy to victory and into the winner’s circle.

1969 Nixon discusses the possibility of U.S. troop withdrawals

1969 Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st woman jockey to win at Aqueduct

1969 Ben Shahn US painter, dies at 70

1969 Greg Biekert NFL linebacker (Oakland Raiders)

1969 Larry Johnson NBA forward (Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks)

1969 Laura Leighton actress (Sydney-Melrose Place, The Other Woman)

1969 Seymour Nurse scores 258 in his last Test Cricket innings, West Indies vs New Zealand

1969 Ty[rel] Bennion Seattle WA, rower (Olympics-1996)

1970 Meredith Salenger actress (Dream a Little Dream, The Kiss)

1970 Thomas McLemore NFL tight end (Indianapolis Colts)

1971 Barbra Streisand appears on "The Burt Bacharach Special" on CBS TV

1971 Ernie Brown CFL defensive tackle (Calgary Stampeders)

1971 South Vietnamese troops flee Laos

1971 The Rolling Stones leave England for France to escape taxes

1972 - The Cincinnati Royals announced plans to move the National Basketball Association franchise to Kansas City, MO. You may think that the Royals not only moved, but changed their sport ... to baseball. However, the Kansas City Royals baseball team was already in place, so the basketball team became the Kings.

1972 Antowain Smith running back (Buffalo Bills)

1972 Aris Brimanis Cleveland OH, NHL defenseman (Philadelphia Flyers)

1972 Clover Maitland Australian field hockey goal keeper (Olympics-96)

1972 NBA's Cincinnati Royals announce they are moving to Kansas City

1972 Tom Barndt NFL/WLAF guard (Kansas City Chiefs, Scottish Claymores)

1973 Chris Sullivan defensive end (New England Patriots)

1973 Liam Cosgrave appointed president of Ireland

1973 Murat B "Chic" Young US comic strip artist (Blondie), dies at 72

1974 Justine Joyce Australian rower (Olympics-96)

1975 Susan Hayward actress (Young & Willing), dies at 56

1976 : Busby Berkeley dies

1976 Alberta Franklin silent screen actress, dies at 79

1976 Busby Berkeley US choreographer/director (Strike Up the Band), dies at 80

1976 Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his 7,000th race

1976 Martha Saalfeldt writer, dies

1976 Sarah Elizabeth Ulmer Auckland New Zealand, 3k independent pursuit cyclist (Olympics-96)

1976 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1978 Marines terminate Molukse action in Province house (1 dead)

1978 NFL permanently adds 7th official (side judge)

1980 A Polish Airlines flight, on a Soviet-built Ilyushin 62 jet, crashes while attempting to land in Warsaw, killing all 87 people on board, including 22 members of the United States boxing team, on this day in 1980.

1980 3rd Emmy Sports Awards presentation

1980 World Ice Dance Championship in Dortmund West Germany won by Krisztina Regoczy & Andras Sallay (Hungary); World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Dortmund won by Marina Cherkasova & Sergei Shakhrai (USSR) ; World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Dortmund won by Anett Potzsch ; World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Dortmund won by Jan Hoffmann (German Democratic Republic)

1981 Ken Barrington cricketer (82 Tests for England, 6806 runs), dies

1981 René Clair French director (It Happened Tomorrow), dies at 82?

1982 Kate Maberly actress (Secret Garden)

1982 Kirill Vladimirovich Molchanov composer, dies at 59

1982 Sally Little wins LPGA Olympia Gold Golf Classic

1982 Sidath Wettimuny scores Sri Lanka's 1st Test Cricket century

1983 Jordan Taylor Hanson Tulsa OK, singer-Hanson (MMMBop)

1983 Maurice Ronet actor (Circle of Love, Frantic, Sphinx), dies at 55

1983 OPEC cut oil prices for 1st time in 23 years

1984 Aurelio Peccei Italian businessman/CEO (Club Rome), dies at 75

1984 Space Shuttle Challenger moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating of STS 41-C mission

1985 Bill Cosby captured four People’s Choice Awards for The Cosby Show. The awards were earned from results of a nationwide Gallup Poll. Barbara Mandrell stunned the audience by announcing that she was pregnant while accepting her second award on the show. She talked about “the child here tonight in my tummy.” Bob Hope won the award as All-Time Entertainer beating Clint Eastwood and Frank Sinatra for the honor.

1985 11th People's Choice Awards: Bill Cosby wins 4 awards

1985 Michael Secrest (US) completes 24 hour ride of 516 miles, 427 yards

1986 Benno Ammann composer, dies at 81

1986 Edith Atwater Chicago IL, actress (Phyllis-Love on a Rooftop), dies at 74

1986 European Space Agency's Giotto flies by Halley's Comet (605 km)

1986 Jozef Kresanek composer, dies at 73

1986 Marlin Perkins TV host (Wild Kingdom) at 80

1987 New York Met Darryl Strawberry charges Red Sox pitcher Al Nipper during spring training exhibition game, causes bench clearing brawl

1987 Providence, with Billy Donovan's 25 points, beats Austin Peay 90-87

1987 Skier Piotr Fijas jumps record 194 meter

1989 Edward Abbey (environmental author) dies after surgery at 62

1989 Oliver Bernsen son of Corbin Bernsen & Amanda Pays

1989 Zita Empress of Austria/Queen of Hungary, dies at 96

1990 4th Soul Train Music Awards (Soul II Soul, Janet Jackson)

1990 Mikhail S Gorbachev becomes president of the Soviet Congress

1991 British authorities release the so-called "Birmingham Six," six Irish men who had been sent to prison 16 years earlier for the 1974 terrorist bombings of two Birmingham, England, pubs on November 21, 1974.

1991 British Court of Appeal frees "Birmingham 6" who had been unjustly sentenced in August 1975 to life imprisonment

1991 Emir of Kuwait returns to Kuwait City, after the Iraqis leave

1991 Howard Ashman song writer (Disney's Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) dies of AIDs at 40

1991 Jef Houthuys Belgian union leader (ACV, 1968-87), dies at 68

1991 Jerome "Doc" Pomus lyricist (Save Last Dance for Me), dies at 65

1991 Robert Maroff dies at 57

1991 World Ice Dance Championship in Munich won by Isabel & Phil Duchesnay (France); World Ice Pairs Figure Skating Championship in Munich won by N Mishkutenok & A Dmitriev (USSR); World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Munich won by Kristi Yamaguchi (USA); World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Munich won by Kurt Browning (Canada)

1992 C V Wood Jr theme park developer (Disneyland), dies of cancer at 71

1992 Farm Aid V

1992 Jean Poiret French actor/writer (La Cage aux Folles), dies at 65

1992 New York Mets Daryl Boston, Vince Coleman & Dwight Gooden accused of rape

1992 Ralph James actor (Orson-Mork & Mindy), dies at 67

1992 Soviet newspaper "Pravda" suspends publication

1992 Steven Brian Pennell executed -- 1st execution in Delaware in 45 years, at 34

1993 "Conversations with My Father" closes at Royale NYC after 462 performances

1993 "Face Value" closes at Cort Theater NYC after performances

1993 "Saint Joan" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 49 performances

1993 3,000th performance of "Nunsense"

1993 Johan Koss skates world record 5 km (6 :6.57)

1993 Meg Mallon wins LPGA Ping/Welch's Golf Championship

1993 Ricky Ponting hits twin tons for Tasmania aged 18 years 84 days

1994 Abdelkader Alloula Algerian playwright, murdered

1994 Mexican banker/billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu kidnapped

1994 Sally Mary Caroline Belfrage writer, dies at 57

1994 Soyuz TM-21 launches with V Dezyurov, G Strekalov & US astronaut Norman “Norm” Thagard to the Mir Space Station.

1995 1st time 13 people in space

1995 Gerard Thomas Victory composer, dies at 73

1995 Johan W "Jo" van Marle CEO (KNVB, 1980-93), dies at 70

1995 William A Fowler US nuclear/astro-physicist (Nobel 1983), dies at 83

1996 Australia beat West Indies by 5 runs in Cricket World Cup semi

1996 Crufts show at NEC Birmingham, (1995 winner, Joshua, an Irish setter)

1996 Dewi Lorwerth Ellis Bebb rugby international/journalist, dies at 57

1996 Nico Kiasashvii professor of English Literature, dies at 69

1996 Vic Marshall chemist, dies at 74

1997 68 year old Gordie Howe signs AHL contract with Syracuse Crunch

1997 Fred Zinnemann (director) dies of heart attack at 89

1997 Iranian military plane crashes, killing 80

1997 John Curtis Jr president/CEO (Luby's Cafes, Texas), commits suicide at 58

1997 Olympics gold medalist Michael Johnson wins 67th James E Sullivan Award

1997 President Clinton trips & tears up his knee requiring surgery

It's OFF!!!; A Study in Massive Incompetency

So, I'm sure you're wondering "what happened???"

Yeah, well, me too. I was there and I'm still not really sure. The "Mission Statement" of this particular hospital says "The mission . . . is to promote the good health of the community by providing the highest quality of care to both inpatients and outpatients . . ."

Heh. Heh-heh.heh. Ha! BWAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAAAA!!!! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. Oh, that's too damned funny. Really. Hee-hee-hee!

Let's start at the beginning. I've had this abdominal hernia for a couple years and finally decided to get it fixed last fall. So I got a referral from my physician and started the process of making the appoitments and such. The first two times I tried this they gave me arbitrary appointments during my work times that I couldn't make. (The first time they didn't even notify me until after the appointment had passed!)


So this was the third time I was trying to get this taken care of. At every step along the way I showed them both my insurances -- I have one from Ariane's work and one from my own. Since I was having my insurance through the System that support's Ariane's work they always took her insurance, but I paid my co-pays with the Medical savings account from my work.

So, at all points along the process they were well aware I had two insurances.

The day of the surgery we checked in at 9:45am right on time. They asked how we wanted to pay for the $100.00 co-pay, and I gave them my medical savings account card. The receptionist did a double-take, noting this wasn't from their hospital, and I told her it was from my own workplace. She asked if I had insurance, and I gave her both cards. Again.

She brought up her supervisor, who told me they had to get a referral for the surgery. What, now??? Yes, she said, my surgery had to go through my insurance and not Ariane's -- my insurance is primary, not Ariane's. Which means the referral process had been done through the wrong insurance network.

So, in short, they didn't have their receptionists trained to ask the right questions -- which means I have to start the process all over again from scratch.

I have appointments for next week. (Sigh)

Interesting side-note that may illustrate my anger at the congenital idiots that work at this hospital: the day I went for my pre-op labs they scheduled my appointment for 10:30am and i went fasting to get the right labs. I didn't actually get into the lab until 12:45 that morning, and as I'm sitting there in the lab the technician tells me the physician didn't fill out the lab slip properly, so I would have to go get it filled out correctly.

Now, I've been a nurse 26 years, and you can shoot me in the head the day I say something like this to a patient. I told the tech to call upstaits and get the orders herself (albeit much more politely than that.) Here I am -- diabetic, with a massive headache from not having eaten that morning, and she wants me to trot back up a flight a stairs and the length of the hospital to correct their mistake? Not bloodly likely!

When I got these labs back they had done only part of the labs necessary -- and my blood sugar was 57 -- dangerously low.

So, wrong appointment times, wrong insurance snafu, wrong labs, and endangered the patient -- which is somehow my fault. You can bet your sweet bippy I'm having the surgery at some other hospital. Ariane was absolutely furious -- she wanted to kick that self-righteous little supervisor's ass right there and then -- I had to grab her arm and lead her out.

God, how I love that woman.

So, I'll let you know.

~~JD~~

It's On, Baby!

Tomorrow -- Wednesday, February 7th, 2007. 9:45am call time; 11:45am surgery. Prayers are appreciated as always -- it's a scary thing, sure.

I'm still having trouble with that twingle-dingle thing, though. Yeesh!

~~JD~~

Max Lucado is just an incredible Preacher . . . .

One of the best things that's happened to us since we moved to San Antone has been the great churches we've attended. When we first arrived we attended the Northwest Church of Christ for about 3 years, which was about 300+ people and pretty active, which we liked. However, over time the distance (about 20 miles) got to be a bit tiresome, particularly as gas prices started to climb, so we started attending Oak Hills Church. Oak Hills is blessed with Max Lucado as their preacher - and he is just phenomenal.

Max has this knack for taking everyday concepts and making them into compelling sermons and studies. And here's a little secret: if Max has written a book about it, we've probably been hearing about it as a sermon series at Oak Hills about a year prior. His book you'll be seeing in about a year (and that we're in the middle of right now) is called Pure Sex. It's a bit unusual in that the sermon outlines are available online so that parent's can "preview" them before they get to worship -- no surprises for little Johnny or sister Susie. (They're also availabe as downloads of the sermons from iTunes as well.)


When's the last time you heard a sermon about Sex at your church? The sermon series we just finished on "John 3:16", where Max analyzes the passage word-by-word, the word "perish" lead to a study about Hell that was far from your usual fire-and-brimstone sermon -- the most scriptural and unusal sermon I think I've ever heard. Max is the master of gently spoon-feeding you little concept after little concept until suddenly you've got a tummy full of scripture and a mind hungering for more.

He's even had Hermie and Wormy co-star onstage with him during the sermons. It was Christmas, and Max got a tie with Hermie on it; Hermie got a tie with Max on it. (If you're not familiar with the characters, they're the stars of Max's children's books -- follow any one of the links.

Really good stuff. Go buy one already.

~~JD~~

Just Some Newsy Little Notes

Julian had his UIL performances today for violin. (I used to know what "UIL" stood for when I did it myself back in High School Choir; something like University Interscholastic League or something.) UIL is the group that puts on the music competitions at the High School level. Any individual or group wishing to perform selects a piece from the prescribed selections. Pieces are graded acoording to difficulty; so if you have a piece of moderate difficulty level and get a score of "1" (Perfect), you still didn't do as well as somebody who played a very difficult piece and got a "2" (Near Perfect.)

Julian played a moderate-level of difficulty piece last year and got a "1" for it. I think that's why he was selected as First chair for the JV band. He's been working really hard with a music tutor (who is a violin player for the San Antonio Symphony himself) all year. So when he chose a piece with a very high difficulty level, he started practicing over a month ago with a fervor rarely witnessed.

Didn't surprise me a bit when he received another "1", either. His mother remarked last week she couldn't tell the difference between the recording and Julian any more.

His mother is (again) in full swing at UT finishing up her Nursing pre-requisites. She's thinking about going to Physician's Assistant school too -- and she's got the grades for it. (All A's except for one "B" in Anatomy lab -- only onc credit, but you'd think the sky fell in. Yeesh!)

Me -- my surgery's on for Wednesday the 7th at Ariane's Hospital. I'm the last case of the day -- 12pm to 3pm; with Recovery from 3pm to 6pm; assuming all goes as planned. It just occurred to me the other day -- they'll do a couple of things as precautions before the surgery should anything go wrong, they can be prepared. It's pretty much standard procedure everywhere I've ever seen a surgery. They'll put an IV line in me (well, yeah -- I've seen enough surgeries to expect that.) They'll put a tube down my throat when I'm out to help me breathe (again, I expected that -- so there better be some ice cream in it for me!)

And . . . . they're gonna catheterize me.


You know -- put a tube up my pee-pee so I don't wet the Operating table.

Oddly enough, that is the thing (pardon the pun) that's bothering me the most. They'd better wait until I'm damned near unconscious to do that one to me. (Maybe I can just do it myself before I get on the gurney.) I really don't want anybody I don't know poking around my twingle-dingle, y'know?

I mean . . . MAN!

Gotta think about that one. Yeesh!

~~JD~~

P.S.: YEEEEESH!!!!!!