Jim's Random Blog on Family, Politics and Cancer - A Time Capsule

Off on an adventure...

2012-02-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

Yep, we went to Disney's California Adventure...

Had a pretty good time. Got to see World Of Color (the BACK side). Dinner at the boardwalk, nice music, then off for a few rides.

Man, I'm tired.

An open letter to the Susan G. Komen foundation

2012-02-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks for clarifying the Planned Parenthood situation.

I, my wife, my two daughters, my mother ( a breast cancer survivor ), or my grandmother (a breast cancer survivor) will never participate, endorse, purchase, or in any way affiliate with your organisation.

EVER.

That means your sponsors, your pink ribbons, your races - everything.

NEVER.

If even one cent of my prior support went to Planned Parenthood - for any reason - it is a direct assault on what I believe as a Catholic, father, and loving parent of two young girls.

Every time I see a pink ribbon, I will think only of your direct or indirect support of aborting innocent children.

Your pink ribbons now symbolize the political correctness of your fundraising and "giving".

Thank you for your time.

James Crum

Nothing here - move along...

2012-01-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

...This isn't the lump you have been looking for.

Just got back from the doc, and lumpy, tender area isn't anything to be worried about.

Trust them - they are doctors!

That is all - I need to make another appointment for March.

jc

Smartest. President. Ever.

2012-01-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

So - the Bamster gave a SOTU speech last night.

He doesn't like long sentences... neither do I.

He doesn't like big words... neither do I.

However, NO ONE has accused me of being the smartest person in the room, NO ONE has had chills running up their leg when they talk to me, and NO ONE has any fantasy of me being President.

A Smart Politics study of the 70 orally delivered State of the Union Addresses since 1934 finds the text of Obama's 2012 speech to have tallied the third lowest score on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, at an 8.4 grade level.

Is this why no one can find anything he wrote at the Law Review he worked at?

Is this why he won't release any of his school records?

Is this why Bill Ayers wrote his books for him?

This guy is in over his head, and is treading on ego alone.

-- There is a reason I don't watch these --

What did he say that's new? Nothing.

Man, I will be so glad when this is over... next year!

I gotta go eat some Girl Scout Cookies...

jc

SOPA and PIPA really stink

2012-01-18T17:56:00.000-08:00

...and that's the nice thing I have to say.

https://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.com/en/us/landing/takeaction/takeaction.pdf

Sorry - can't figure out how to do a PDF link in the blog - yet.

jc

This guy is usually a leftist idiot, but...

2012-01-13T21:32:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

...sometimes he hits it right on the head.

jc

Yesterday was interesting...

2012-01-10T17:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had an appointment @ Kaiser Lakeview to have a mammogram and ultrasound.

Wha?

For about a month, I have had this "tender" spot on my chest. Never would have figured it out if it were not for the fact that I have dogs and kids constantly climbing into my lap when I watch TV.

At first I thought it was a bruise (sharp elbows and paws), but it never went away.

So, off to the Doctor, who set this up.

Results?

Who knows at this point.

Paranoid?

Hell yea.

Once again, if there is anything else to report, I'll put it up.

'night.

jc

Something to hate from each candidate...

2012-01-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

No one candidate has caught my fire yet. Some (like Gingrich and Paul) are getting on my nerves. Some I don't care one bit about - out of sheer "why the hell is he doing this" attitude (Huntsman).

However, this doesn't help me much. I present it to you only so that you can see the diffrences, and hopefully you can figure out something that you like.

Have fun!

jc

Bone survey says...

2012-01-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

>DING<

OVERALL, STABLE OR BETTER.
TOM LEE.

BONE SURVEY IN 12/11: IMPRESSION:
Thoracic and lumbar spine -- Severe L2 compression fracture noted similar to the previous 2008 study. Moderate degenerative change and spondylosis identified in the thoracic and lumbar spine. Facet degeneration.
Skull -- no obvious finding. Lucency previously described 2008 study not very well demonstrated.
Cervical spine -- Minimal degenerative change and spondylosis in the spine. No focal lesion is seen.
Pelvis and femur -- mild to change in hip joints. Faint lucency in the right proximal femur similar to previous report. Other described lucencies not very well demonstrated now.
Humerus series -- Mild Degenerative change in the acromioclavicular joint. Only one lucency is seen in the mid distal aspect of the left humerus measuring about 1.4-cm.

Well, at least I am stable.

jc

Woot Failure Update

2011-12-30T07:31:00.000-08:00

Well, got tired of the silence, so I e-mailed Woot.com again, wishing them to just cancel the whole damn thing, and amazingly enough I got a response eight minutes later...

...To the e-mail I sent a week ago!

Too late, it's already in the mail. Oh, and we won't charge you the $5 for expedited shipping (gee thanks).

Well, Dad got it last night, and his reaction?

"Well that would have been cool -- A WEEK AGO!"

Thanks Woot for a near hit for Christmas. No longer can I trust expedited shipping or anything else you promise. You have gone from "hip Amazon / Think Geek" down to "Fred's WWWorld of WWWonder WWWebsight".

Oh, thanks for my $5 back.

jc

Doctor update

2011-12-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

I love Dr. Lee.

We laughed and joked and had a rollicking good time.

However, my IGD numbers were not in yet (yea, that's an important one).

I am a bit anemic.

I gained eight pounds.

Oh, and the thyroid numbers made me up my dosages from .75 to .88.

I have a tender spot on my chest that I will be getting checked out on the 9th.

Tomorrow morning I have a "full body x-ray bone survey".

Other than that - I'm fine!

Gotta get some sleep - in my electrically heated bed!

jc

Yay! My TSH is 4.45!

2011-12-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

TSH

4.45

0.35 - 4.00

uIU/mL

What does this mean?

I get a bigger pill!

I started off with 5 MCG of Levothroid, and eventually went up to 75 MCG (that I took only hours ago).

I will start tomorrow taking the bigger 88 MCG of Levothriod.

Just in time to loose the weight I have gained this month...

jc

Just more chemo fallout.

Not happy with WOOT.COM

2011-12-24T16:11:00.000-08:00

Big fan of Woot.com, but no more.

Ordered my Dad, his friend, and myself teeshirts off of Shirt Woot.

I even did expidited shipping.

No joy.

Here is the note I left on their blog:

Downtwinkles...

Ordered overnight, still have not received it.

Waste of effort.

Waste of time.

Waste of $35.

jc

Earlier in the week I even sent them an e-mail, and got this back:

Your email to Woot Member Services has been received. This is an automated reply.
Your request has been assigned Case # W-999157-K6FC.
As you might expect, we receive a fairly large volume of emails. This reply is sent from our case assignment system to indicate your position in the queue has been reserved. Our staff works Monday through Friday during normal business hours in an effort to keep response times under 24 hours. However, on weekends, response times will be delayed until the start of the work week as our staff is not in the office. Please be confident that we will respond and resolve your issue in a timely and efficient manner.
Thank you for your support,

Ya, right.

It was a cool shirt, too - one perfect for Dad and Tony.

Oh, well. If I am around next year, perhaps we can use it then.

Gotta go to mass now...

jc

They are still out there... God Bless

2011-12-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

We hope they have a truly silent night.

Merry Christmas

jc

He is Number 4!

2011-12-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

I think it's grade inflation...

jc

Guns are the new Gold

2011-12-20T20:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, there is concern that things are getting out of control here. Guns and ammo may be the next gold... and they are more fun and useful to boot!

Via: Ammo.net

I do have a few, and yes, ammo has risen, but I didn't realize just how much.

Via: Ammo.net

Crime has risen lately here in my home town, and it will get only worse. The jails are going to be releasing "non-violent" offenders to relive overcrowding (and over lawyering) in the prisons.

Joy.

Fair warning: you won't get my stuff that easily (even if the dogs will take you to the secret stash in the back). And, after going to the range last week, I am getting pretty good at the .45, so take note.

Gotta go clean up some stuff...

jc

Bad back...BAD!

2011-12-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well, not as bad as what dumped me in the hospital a few years ago, but twinges and twangs of flashback proportions.

The problem is thus: Collapsed vertebrae damaged nerves, healed wrong, keeping those nerves dangerously close to bone chips ( chips that healed where they fell). Most of the time I am OK, but then a peculiar twist or bend "twangs" the nerve bundle. PANIC. I shut down for a few days, overly cautious and super paranoid that I will have to use the GD walker again. I eat, get fat, and exasperate the back problem with new stresses. Repeat.

Yesterday, it hit me as I was getting out of the car. Luckily, I had gripped the door handle as I was transitioning from sitting to standing, or it would have been ugly. It took me a few moments to get my hips under my back and settle myself down.

Not fun.

I will crash for a bit before Kristin's birthday bash (ok, just going out to dinner).

jc

When you have lost MAD Magazine...

2011-12-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

When you have lost the snarky-smarter-than-thou crowd, it's over.

jc

RIP Christopher Hitchens

2011-12-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

I have read some of his brilliant work online, and heard him several times on the radio... He was brilliant and yet didn't seem too full of himself.

I read this article recently, and since he too was dealing with cancer, it held special meaning for me.

Trial of the Will

Reviewing familiar principles and maxims in the face of mortal illness, Christopher Hitchens has found one of them increasingly ridiculous: “Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” Oh, really? Take the case of the philosopher to whom that line is usually attributed, Friedrich Nietzsche, who lost his mind to what was probably syphilis. Or America’s homegrown philosopher Sidney Hook, who survived a stroke and wished he hadn’t. Or, indeed, the author, viciously weakened by the very medicine that is keeping him alive.

If I could write as forcefully and elegantly as he, my life would be complete.

Alas, as my wife noted tonight - Brain Jim work BAD.

Have a Dr. appt. tomorrow to have something looked at. Rather apprehensive about it.

'night.

jc

More full of FAIL

2011-12-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Man, what an embarrassing fool...

jc

Does Obama Know the Difference between Great Britain and England?

2011-11-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

From The Heritage Foundation, the moron in chief gets it wrong... AGAIN.

In a press conference this evening, the president referred in stumbling fashion to the “English Embassy” in Iran instead of the British Embassy. One can only imagine the kind of howls of derision that would greet any presidential contender if that kind of basic error were made before, say, the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can watch the video above.

Here is a quick, non Harvard or Columbia lesson for you:

Even I, a state college bitter clinger, knows better.

Did the POTUS teleprompter fail? Surely THE ONE could not have made such a BASIC mistake.

eh, I gotta go work out...

jc

Ummm, an ilustration for idiots

2011-11-29T16:57:00.000-08:00

Pathetic that it needs to be plain and simple.

I blame the teachers and their union allies...

jc

Quick trip recap

2011-11-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

Went to Carson City, visited my Aunt, Uncle, and Grandma.

They are all well as can be expected, but the merciless drum beat of time keeps beating.

Bob and I went on "Jim & Bob's Big Adventure" and had a great time.

Travel was almost uneventful. Lost my kool reading glasses on Southwest airlines. TSA terrorized my 7 year old by putting her in a glass cage and checking her for explosive chemicals... except that since she is 7, her daddy had to be scanned for explosive chemicals (good thing I showered after going to Cabela's). Oh, and the 8 year old saved her water from Aunt Pauline's house and stored it in her carry on. THAT had to be checked for explosives, too. As if the back-washed teddy grahms didn't give it off.

Oh, a new philosophy came about "The hardest part of herding girls isn't keeping them from killing each other, it was stopping myself from allowing it".

The Vegas layover was as crappy as I expected.

Glad to be in OC.

Gotta take a nap...

jc

Yes, BHO, why not go after Fannie and Freddie...

2011-11-16T10:49:00.001-08:00

Oh, that's right, they do your bidding...

jc

Way. Too. Cool.

2011-11-09T10:27:00.000-08:00

I so want to do this...

oh, gotta go to Costo instead.

jc