Update 01/21/2016

My last three days of chemo ended Jan 8 and it seems like the recovery time keeps getting longer. I don’t think it does but it seems that way. During this last batch of chemo, I watched a BBC television show called The Vicar of Darby. It was about a female vicar for the church in the small town of Darby, UK. I enjoyed watching it, the British have a bit of a different sense of humor than we have but it was still fun watching the show. During one chemo session one of the nurses came in and wanted to know what I was laughing at, I told her. I felt a bit guilty because I didn’t want to upset any other patients but then I thought maybe by my laughing someone might feel a bit better knowing life needs to be enjoyed.

We haven’t been doing much, it has been too cold and I haven’t felt like getting out in it. I have read a lot; I have five or six books in various stages of being read. I get magazines on my IPad through the library, that is a great service. The Omaha Public Library has a little over a hundred magazines available for download to read. Most of them I don’t read, I have no interest in their subject matter, but it is still a great service.

I am waiting for the new Bond movie, Spectre, to be released. I don’t go to the theater to see movies anymore because I end up missing too much of the movie with my frequent trips to the restroom. I wait for them to go to DVD sales and then I either rent or buy. I have found renting the movie is a lot cheaper than go to the theater, although there is a theater here in town where seniors pay only $5 and then if you want popcorn etc. it will cost another $20+. Movie going isn’t cheap anymore, actually hasn’t been for some time now.

We are being buried in political ads. I know most of you think you are also, but we are getting hit with the national ads and the Iowa caucus ads.  Only two more weeks and it will calm down a bit, hopefully. I don’t mind politics; I just don’t like the meanness of it. I don’t believe half of what any of them say and whatever they claim they will do if elected has to be taken with a grain of salt because once elected their job becomes the job of getting reelected.

So I think this is very true:

“No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.” – Mark Twain

I have always enjoyed Mark Twain’s humor, I have been to his home in Hannibal, MO, he wasn’t there at the time but it was still nice to visit.

We all need to have laughter in our lives, I have known too many people in my life who took everything too seriously or maybe I didn’t take things serious enough, I don’t know, I just know you have to have laughter in this life or it will get you down.

The internet has its place in our lives and probably takes up more of our lives than it should but I have found it to be a great place to find humor. You Tube is a great place, I love to go there and watch all the comedy, old comedy, that I want. I read somewhere everyone should have a good deep down belly laugh at least once a day. I try, I don’t always succeed but I try.

I subscribe to The Joyful Noiseletter, it is a publication of great humor, 

https://www.joyfulnoiseletter.com/. It was founded so the clergy could have humorous stories and anecdotes to tell from the pulpit on Sunday mornings. The contributors are from all denominations and all the articles are a great read. It has never failed to make me laugh.

Took the car into get the thirty-thousand-mile service done on it. I try to keep our vehicles serviced and I probably spend more than I should but I take them to the dealer of the manufacturer of the vehicle. I have done that for most of the vehicles we have owned. We just have the one car now, haven’t come up with a reason for two yet. Since neither one of us works and I don’t seem to get out much these days it just seems a waste of money to have two vehicles.

Speaking of money, I wonder what the actual price of a gallon of gasoline should be today, with the price of oil being so low, based on the value of the dollar versus when we were younger. I did see where a gas station in Michigan, I believe, had regular for eighty-four cents per gallon the other day. I am not sure I understand why the market is going down because of the price of oil. It would seem to me the low price of oil would cut transportation costs and most likely some costs elsewhere so this should bolster the economy not hurt it. Oh well, I am not an economist so I really don’t understand all that is involved in these numbers. I do wonder if I will have to be looking for work anytime soon.

I found a video of Johnny Cash singing this song so I looked up the lyrics and I liked them so here they are:

Ragged Old Flag

By Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your old flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it."

He said, "Have a seat," and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is." He said, "I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag.

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when
Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing Say Can You See.
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seems.

"And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag.

"On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II.
She hung limp and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She was sent where she was by her Uncle Sam.

"She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her back here at home.
In her own good land here she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused.

"And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.

"So we raise her up every morning, take her
Down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground and we fold
Her up right.
On second thought, I do like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of the Ragged Old Flag."

Songwriters: JOHNNY CASH

© BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

For non-commercial use only.

Data from: LyricFind

Being a veteran this may have more meaning than to someone who has never served, I hope not but it is possible. Some say it is just a piece of cloth, but it is a piece of cloth many have died to preserve the freedoms it represents. I believe it is time for all of us, elected officials and the general public, to look at history and see what it tells us. Whether the general public believes it or not history does repeat itself and not always for the better. It seems to me the rhetoric in the political commercials are getting out of hand more so than in the past. The problem I see is a commercial says whatever they want without regard if it is the truth, half-truth, or blatantly false. Which poses the problem of what to believe or not to believe. I don’t believe a person should take at face value what is said by their choice of candidate, I believe it is the duty of all voters to research the truth and then decide who they want to vote for. Does this happen, maybe in less than ten percent of the voters. Even with that said this Ragged Old Flag gives everyone the right to choose who they want as their candidate and I stand behind that one hundred percent.

It is now almost two weeks since chemo and I am feeling a bit stronger. I hope I keep from getting dehydrated which as I have found out before can happen anytime. Hopefully my immune system is beginning to repair itself and the other systems are striving to get stronger. One more chemo on Feb 3,4 and 5, then we are done until tests indicate the need for another round of chemo. Our goal is still the same as when we began this journey, keep the cancer under control for as long as we can. God willing it will be for a few more years.

Thank you for all your positive thoughts and prayers, they mean a lot to me and I know they help.

Till later, Stay safe and healthy.