Sunday, March 29, 2015

Manchurian Apricot Trees are almost here !

Fresh apricots in a Boston, Massachusetts, USA...
Fresh apricots in a Boston, Massachusetts, USA grocery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I used to own two Manchurian Apricot trees when I lived in Illinois.  I planted them and actually lived in one place long enough to finally get a single apricot.  A relative of mine then proceeded to cut the trees down while helping me do some yard work.  He thought they where overgrown brush I guess.  What could I say to him?  Sigh.

Now, I have another chance to plant and grow Apricots and I plan on living here until I feel the juice of the apricots running down my face and staining my shirt in a nauseating fashion during harvest season.  Provided God is willing and global warming doesn't change the climate to kill the apricots I should get a harvest in a few years.  No one will ever be allowed to prune any fruit tree in my yard again until I am resting with my grandparents in Hartford's Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
grow Manchurian

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Remicade Infusion coming up

Stomach colon rectum diagram.
Stomach colon rectum diagram. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Its time.  Time to be infused with Remicade so my GI tract stays intact a little while longer.  Sit in a chair with a needle in your arm for a few hours while your pumped full of the good stuff.  I am actually getting used to having needles stuck in me and waiting to see if I have any bad reactions.  No bad reactions yet but I have been told that their are some rare reactions that don't sound like a whole lot of fun.  Remicade seems to be working well for me so I am happy about that. Random potential bad reactions are the risk you just have to take if you want to live like a human being instead of a GI tract cyborg. I wonder if the Aurora clinic gives you food and a beverage during the infusion. Froedtert used to do this but they stopped providing that luxury. How I dream about those Froedtert sandwiches, chips and soda! Sometimes the nurses would give me a double portion of food under the table in spite of the threat to their job by obsessive bean counters in management. You know you have been in the hospital too long when you start dreaming about hospital food.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Officer Christopher Manney should have been allowed to retire with reduced pay.

A senior police officer of the Hamburg police ...
A senior police officer of the Hamburg police on assignment at Hamburg city hall, Germany. Français : Capitaine de la police de Hambourg en faction devant l'hôtel de ville de Hambourg, en Allemagne. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Officer Manney may have violated a police department rule however I am willing to bet he didn't do anything that anyone else would have done in defense of their life when attacked.  Police officers are human beings that can make horrible mistakes that result in the death of innocent people.  I strongly suspect that is what happened in this case from what I have seen on the news although I could be wrong.  Officer Manney does not seem to have shot because of malicious intent but yet an innocent person died.

Law enforcement is a job where it is very easy to make a mistake.  Police are dealing with people in a variety of mental states and yet they are expected to be better than human. You know what, sometimes everything in the rule book doesn't always work in the real world every time because police make bad mistakes just like anyone else. Officer Manney and his family don't deserve to lose his income for the remainder of his working life.  He should be allowed to retire with a prorated pension or be given desk work with reduced pay for the remainder of his career.  Every officer in the Milwaukee police department deserves to be fired like officer Manney because anyone of them would probably have done the same thing but I suppose that would not be very practical.  Its more efficient just to give into a threatening mob and sacrifice one man so the whole city stays calm and violence is avoided.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Hartford, WI has an A+ Walmart

The Walmart in Hartford is the best one that I have ever been in.  Its open 24 hours, clean, has nice employees and has an excellent inventory of everything. I am willing to do my part to rev up the economy by buying at Walmart.  All I need now is a little cash.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

ISIS is the moral equivalent of the NAZI's

Auschwitz concentration camp, arrival of Hunga...
Auschwitz concentration camp, arrival of Hungarian Jews, Summer 1944 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When Hitler was killing the Jews the United States originally did very little about it. A ship load of Jewish refuges was even turned away from the U.S. before we entered WWII.  The current weak response to ISIS will be looked at by future generations of this country with equal shame and disgust.  Christians, Muslims and others are currently being killed and raped in the name of an evil perversion of a religion.  Its time the United States used whatever military force is needed to destroy ISIS.  We have already entered the war in a weak ineffectual manner but that will not get the job done.  Do you really think it can't happen in our country if we don't take action?  I remember where I was on 9/11 and we should not forget as a people or we will lose our freedom due to inaction.  Our enemy will come to our country if we don't clean this mess up at its source.

I noticed that ISIS has not directly attacked Israel yet even though the religion of ISIS is not friendly towards Judaism. I guess ISIS doesn't really like to pick on a country with the guts and military force to give it a real fight because ISIS fighters are too busy raping innocent women, beheading Christians and forcing people to convert to their evil beliefs.  The U.S. needs to use overwhelming force to stop this evil just like we did in WWII.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Headphones save the day again!

English: Philips headphones
English: Philips headphones (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
How did anyone ever live without headphones?  I am not sure who invented them but that person should have their own national holiday named after them. I believe they save marriages, stop arguments and keep you healthy by reducing stress.  The only problem is our cat has an unhealthy fascination with the thin cord and he instantly bites it in half if you turn your eyes for one second.  Fortunately Amazon has some cheap replacement headphones that are actually fairly good to replace the cat attack victims which keeps my sanity marginally intact.  Why does all hell break loose anytime I try to close my eyes and sleep? Headphones allow me to close my ears like a beautiful balm from heaven and relax. Eventually my eyes follow suit and find blissful slumber in spite of everyone else's daily emotional idiocy. I can always fix their problems tomorrow after a little shut eye.  Maybe they might even wise up a little and stop acting like a two year old without a pacifier when I stop helping them for a few hours.  Doctors said I should get better sleep but they need to tell the people trying to keep me awake rather than me.

You know what,....... well never mind I have already said too much.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Luden's Honey cough drops are the best.

I don't have a local source the the Luden's Honey cough drops because everyone seems to just stock the cherry type. Amazon is the only place that has them cheap.  My life would be much more difficult without this cough drop because I easily develop very painful sores inside my mouth due to Crohn's disease occasionally and the Luden's really seem to help.  The Luden's cough drop is the only one which is really soothing.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Martha Stewart again?

Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My wife is watching Martha Stewart again.  Could anything be more boring that being force to watch Martha Stewart? I do think it was unfair that Martha had to go to jail so I have sympathy for her. I suppose I could leave the room but then I would be leaving the most comfortable spot in the house when I am very tired and ache all over.  Martha, Martha, Martha..... why can't you just retire?  Don't you have anything better to do than make fancy custard?

Why was the automobile ever invented?

I learned to drive with out a license on the truck in the picture above. I thought this was the best thing ever at the time. Now every time I drive any distance I start to hurt in very unpleasant places due to Crohn's.  I really am beginning to hate driving and any long drive requires a significant recovery time. It kind of a bummer situation but I suppose when I finally lose my license due to old age I will hate that more. Many other people have it worse off than me so maybe I should keep my complaining to myself.  On the other hand, complaining is kind of fun in some ways. So you could actually say my Crohn's disease is providing me with free entertainment.