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 Being Retired now, I thought that it was time for a new name to this Blog |
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Talk about perks, my career had one of the best I can think of! I traveled in the course of business, delivering classes for my employer. I was a Senior Training Specialist for Motorola Solutions, and taught classes on a wide variety of subjects centered around 2-way radio communications. I knew that when the time arrived that I would retire, and I have. I've always said that if you can't stand the heat in the kitchen, get out! I can't handle the heat anymore. I was qualified to deliver approximately 32 different classes, but about half of those were 'Legacy' classes, and were not in demand anymore. My students were technicians, those who maintained, programmed, calibrated, and repaired large 2-way radio systems. Some of these systems are statewide, and use TCP-IP networking to allow sites to communicate with others. Some are small, traditional type radio sites. The size doesn't matter, in each case the systems must be kept operational at all times, since many of them are Public Safety Systems. So I traveled, sometimes frequently, 3-4 weeks in a row.... where have I been? Some of the places I've been (I can't list them all here, the list would be too long) are pretty interesting. 1. Hawaii - Four times, Oahu, Maui (twice), and the Big Island 2. BangkokThailand, twice 3. Frankfurt Germany, twice 4. Algiers, Algeria 5. Melbourne Australia 6. Bismarck North Dakota, Summer & Winter 7. Los Angeles, Too many times to count 8. Washington DC, Too many times to count 9. Seattle three or four times 10. Texas, all over the state 11. Florida, all over the state 12. New Mexico, HOME! Several times  Best Cultural And Regional Honorable Mention |
Overdoing It, Only On Sunday I mentioned in the Newsfeed yesterday that I thought I'd overdone things Sunday. "Note: I'm pretty sure I overdid things yesterday. ..." It wasn't that I did a lot, I didn't think it was much at all. After all, what's washing a load of dishes, and bringing more dogfood up from the basement? Apparently that was too much. It did take me three shifts to complete the dishes, my back kept yelling at me. So I'd sit a few minutes, then get back to work. I typically avoid pain meds (Tylenol, or Tylenol-3, Ibuprofen, etc), I just don't think to take them. I took them yesterday, and today before we went shopping. Only Tylenol, not T-3 though. Maybe that's why I don't ache right now. As I said in the Newsfeed, I woke yesterday with a new pain, one centered in my left buttock. It was a new type of pain, hard to describe. I finally got rid of it today. We went shopping at Wal-Mart (Wally World), we both rode those electric carts. I knew I wouldn't be able to walk that much, she needs one because she too has a bad back. Aren't we a pair? Somewhere during the day, that pain disappeared. YAY! Now we'll see if it returns when the Tylenol wears off. Other than that, a pretty normal day here. Nothing interesting to write about, though that Comet Atlas/3i still has me curious. Jim |
Comet Atlas 3i This has certainly been in the news lately. I'm someone who wonders about things like this, something strange, out of the ordinary, something to make you think about what our universe really is. Many astrophysicists think that this too may be an interstellar visitor. They're right in that thought, it doesn't seem to be from our Solar System. However, they speculate that it was built using Alien Technology. It's very difficult to determine if you ask me. I have little knowledge of things like this, then again, I'm not entirely stupid either. The following descriptions can be found here: Physicist Avi Loeb lists the nine unusual patterns that may hint at an extra-terrestrial intelligence. To me, the key word there is may. You need that word though because we don't have any proof that it is extra-terrestrial in origin. Those nine anomalies are: 1. The first point that scientist Loeb brought to light is 3I/ATLAS’ retrograde trajectory, which, according to his research, is aligned to within 5 degrees of Earth’s path around the sun or the ecliptic plane of the planets. Loeb argues that there is only a 0.2 percent likelihood of such an occurrence. I'd love to see the mathematics that gave him his answer. 2. The second anomaly is the “sunward jet” or the “anti-tail” of 3I/ATLAS, which scientists observed during July and August 2025. Many other comets in the past have developed an “anti-tail,” an optical illusion caused by the observer’s position as the object travels between the Earth and the sun. However, Loeb argues that so is not the case for 3I/ATLAS. “That is not an optical illusion from geometric perspective, unlike familiar comets,” he wrote. 3. The third anomaly draws attention to the interstellar object’s mass. According to Loeb, 3I/ATLAS is “a million times more massive than 1I/’Oumuamua and a thousand times more massive than 2I/Borisov.” Despite being that big, Loeb noted that 3I/ATLAS moves “faster than both.” Based on the numbers, he argues that for a comet to have such a nature is the likelihood of less than 0.1%. 4. The fourth point of anomaly, according to Loeb, is the object’s “fine-tuned” path, which takes it on a course right past Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and “be unobservable from Earth at perihelion.” Loeb believes the likelihood of such an occurrence is 0.005%. 5. The fifth unusual pattern is 3I/ATLAS’ nickel-to-iron ratio. According to studies, 3I/ATLAS’ gas plume has an “extreme abundance ratio” of nickel and iron, which makes it stand out from other more familiar solar system comets, including 2I/Borisov. 6. With the sixth anomaly, researchers examined the data from the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer to deduce that the gas plume of the interstellar object contains only 4% water by mass. Instead, it carries a higher proportion of carbon dioxide, which Loeb argues makes 3I/ATLAS an outlier. 7. The seventh anomaly shows that 3I/ATLAS has an “extreme negative polarization, unprecedented for all known comets.” “The combination of low inversion angle and extreme negative polarization is unprecedented among comets and asteroids, marking 3I/ATLAS the first object known with such polarimetric behavior and representing a previously unobserved population,” Loeb wrote in a Medium post. Population? 8. Loeb further suggested that 3I/ATLAS may have emitted the “Wow! Signal,” which was detected in 1977by the Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope. The signal led to speculations about extraterrestrial beings, but it has remained a mystery since. Loeb argues it is the eighth anomaly, claiming 3I/ATLAS arrived from a direction coincident with the radio signal. 9. As the last anomaly, Loeb drew attention to the rapid brightening of the object near perihelion and its turning bluer than the sun, which, to him, was “very surprising,” as comets are expected to redden the scattered sunlight, resulting in having a redder color than the sun. However, whether the nine anomalies listed by Loeb hint at a technological origin of 3I/ATLAS remains debatable. On the contrary, NASA’s lead scientist, Tom Statler, while speaking with The Guardian last month, stated that 3I/ATLAS looked like a comet and behaved like one. Consequently, he dismissed alien theories; however, Loeb urged experts to collect as much data as possible and remain open-minded. I didn't bother with paraphrasing this information mainly because I want to have a record of sorts about Scientists initial thoughts about Comet Atlas 3i. Why? Because I don't think they (Scientists, the Government, whoever you want to think of as they) want the general public to know details like this. Again, why? I for one do not think the General Public could handle knowledge of alien intelligence without going bonkers. Just my opinion, I know what it's worth. |
Back Surgery 10/29/25 Well, I had 'minor' back surgery yesterday (is any surgery ever minor?). I say minor because to me, that's what it was. Someone else in this house didn't think so. Even though I felt it was minor surgery, I did send an email to my oldest explaining what was going on, and that Kathy would contact her regardless, but she would definitely contact her if something went wrong. Thankfully, nothing went wrong. Now why did I need Back Surgery in the first place? For months now, I've been limping at times. There were a few occasions where I rolled the Trash Cans to the curb, and wondered how I'd get back in the house. Yeah, I still did that regardless of how bad I felt. That's a small task I don't want my spouse to do. And, there were about 3 occasions where I was forced to use an electric cart at a local store because walking was just too painful. Why was I limping? That's an easy answer. A pinched nerve. What got me, is that I could sit for a minute, get up and walk around normally. That usually didn't last long though. Ten minutes if I was lucky. Then it was back to limping everywhere. Luckily my Oncologist had a complete MRI of my spine done last month. He thought feared that my back pain might be caused by the Multiple Myeloma I have. (It wasn't). The Neuro-Surgeon used that MRI to decide what I needed. It turns out that the nerve that exited at the L5/S1 Vertebrae was pinched. His plan was to access that nerve opening and make the hole it exited through slightly larger. So, surgery it was. I checked in at the Hospital Surgical Ward at 8 am. I was wheeled back for surgery about 10:20 or so. By 10:30, I was out and don't remember anything. I was discharged at 4 pm! In and out in one day. I will say that other than a minor back ache, I've had no problems. The incision is held closed with Surgical Glue, I was prescribed Tylenol 3, I took two of them last night to help me sleep, I don't anticipate needing to take more. There are things I can't do, things I can do. Medicines I can resume taking, as well as some I can't. I am pretty much back to my old ornery self now. I haven't had any leg pain, nor have I limped, since being discharged. I will walk more now, my discharge/recovery document says to take 3-4 walks a day, and I will. Now to see if I can get her to walk with me. That's a completely different story though. |
A Week In Springfield, Missouri We drove to Springfield, Missouri last Monday, taking our Campervan this time. We didn't leave until almost 4pm because our older Schipperke had to visit the vet, we took her Monday to save a bit of money. Otherwise it would have been a $150 charge just to get her in. But her appointment wasn't until 11:30! We finished packing the van and left. I still managed to leave my external SSHD at home, as well as the Steroid I take once a week. I didn't need it while there, it was nice to know it was available if I chose to take it. So yeah, a very late start, and a late arrival. One of the things the van has that I like, is a small whistle in the grill that alerts animals of the Van's approach. I know there's controversy about those, but I think it might have helped us because we saw a deer in the middle of the road driving down I-44. Fortunately it was not in our lane, we passed it safely. I wonder if that whistle alerted it? We were in Springfield for the Akita National Dog Show. Sadly, the breeder of our dog couldn't make it there, but arranged for a handler to show Buddy. Well, that went south quickly. Buddy ended up being shuffled 3 times total! He met the handler about 2 hours before being shown. With everything else she had to do with her other dogs, the two of them did not have much time to get to know each other. You can see what probably happened, and did. Buddy placed second both times he was shown, and didn't earn any points towards his 'championship'. We still have a long way to go, but this is not important to me, but it is to 'you know who'. Oh well. There wasn't anything happening Friday, to me the important days were Monday evening, with the always fun Banquet, (we were still driving there then) and the Thursday evening auction, which we didn't attend. We had dropped off items for the auction earlier, but didn't feel well enough to attend the auction. My left leg and back ached something fierce, I didn't really feel like walking any distance at all. Hopefully the back surgery scheduled for Wednesday morning will correct that. Only time will tell. Since there wasn't anything happening other than Buddy being shown at 10 am, we checked out of the hotel by noon and drove home. We arrived about 6:30 or so, and spent yesterday just relaxing and recovering. Like Kåre เลียม Enga   , I wonder how much longer we can keep traveling. I suspect it will be 4-5 years, if we're lucky. Again, like a broken record here, only time will tell. |
Meeting Jace When you first meet someone, it can be a little scary. You've seen pictures of them, perhaps exchanged a few short emails/phone calls. Still, it's far different than meeting in person. That wasn't the case when JACE  and I met Tuesday. It seemed that we were old friends meeting again after a few years of not seeing each other.His wife wanted to see the Dog Show, wanted to see our Akita (Buddy) being shown. I thought she would sit with my wife so she could explain how the dogs were judged why some dogs were shown a second time, etc. Nope, she sat alone for the most part, taking it all in. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like she was in isolation, or that she was ignored. Far from it. She just wanted to experience everything is all. Meanwhile, Jace and I chatted up a storm it seemed. They left about 4:15 or so, they had to get some things done. We weren't far behind them too. It had been a while since we had breakfast, so we went to a place called The Dwayne Johnson... I'm sorry, I mean The Rock.  Dinner was very good, even if we both had sandwiches. I think we were too tired to enjoy a full meal.The original plan was to meet Wednesday night at Lambert's Cafe. https://throwedrolls.com/menu It's a pretty unique place, and the home of Throwed Rolls. If you haven't been there, and are anywhere near Springfield or Sikeston, Missouri, and love good down-home cooking, you should go. Let me try to explain about the place a little. Of course there's a menu you order from (Link is above). But there are also employees who walk around with what they call 'Passarounds'. Those Passarounds are those Rolls (and the rolls are only thrown to you, they are not handed to you), Fried Okra, Fried Potatoes & Onions, Macaroni & Tomatoes, Apple Butter, & Black Eyed Peas. Heck, you can make a meal of the Passarounds only! They also had a special appetizer last night. Jowl Bacon, Catfish, Cornbread, and Onions. Needless to say, we ordered that. Like most places in today's America, the serve you far too much food. We had 3 large To-Go containers, I think Jace and his wife had 2, possibly 3 also. There was also a young lady walking around asking if we wanted a Cinnamon Roll (that wasn't free, it was added to our check.) It too is HUGE, and delicious (We saved ours for breakfast). I didn't come close to finishing my BBQ Ribs, and my wife also had a side of Chicken Gizzards with her meal. Yummmmmm. No one leaves Lambert's hungry, I will say that. What I was impressed with, is how easily the four of us got along. Again, it was like meeting old friends Tuesday at the dog show. No one would have known that we were meeting for the first time. When we pass thru SW Missouri again, we plan on getting together then also. Anyone in this area is welcome to join us!  |
Heading To Springfield, Missouri Today we head for Springfield, Missouri in our Campervan. With everything 'major' done now, I feel it's ours... finally. Why Springfield? That's where the Akita National Specialty Dog Show is. It will be held there the next 3 years. I was never into shows like this, of any type. You know. Dog Shows, Cat Shows, Male of Female Body Building, etc. She was raised around Dogs, her and her Mother frequented these shows. I am just 'along for the ride'. While there we'll have to revisit some of the places we were at over 20 years ago. Lambert's Cafe, Mythos Greek Restaurant (in Joplin), maybe even Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City is a bit expensive to enter though, we'll see if we go or not. Springfield is a nice place, plus it's out of Illinois. I could live there, and I know she loves Missouri, even if she does call it 'Misery' as a joke. I will still be on daily, completing the daily tasks might be difficult. We'll see how many daily tasks I'm able to complete. Either way, I'm always around. I will leave you with a link to one of those video's that Schnujo  loved. Remember, these are AI generated. |
Some Good (And Sort Of Bad) News About That Van Wednesday afternoon I called Camping World in Woodstock Georgia, looking to ask the guy (Mason) in Finance where the title for the Van was. He had said I'd have it Monday or Tuesday. With Monday being a holiday, I waited until Wednesday. Mason told the receptionist that he would call me back. I asked to speak to Mason's manager since Mason seemed to be dodging me. Instead, I spoke with the person who handles their titles and she apologized profusely for not sending it last Friday. Long and short of it? The title arrived yesterday! YAY... /that's the good news. When the tires were replaced Tuesday, the shop discovered that there are no tools in the van for changing a flat tire. No Jack, no lug nut wrench, and no tool to lower the spare from beneath the van. I guess it takes a special size lug-nut type wrench to crank it down, and they didn't have the right size. So we have no tools to remove a flat tire, and no tools to allow us access to the spare. I checked with the local Dodge dealership, they couldn't identify the tool either! Plus, they wanted over $200 for the jack alone! Something I can get at Wal-Mart for about $75. Shaking my head again over all that. Then, I went to Springfield Illinois to have an extended length running board installed on the passenger side. And of course, there was a snag, and it wasn't done. The dealership in Woodstock Georgia had ordered one that fit a 2018 RAM Promaster Van, not one designed for a 2018 RAM Promaster Campervan. Those are not interchangeable between those van models. So yeah, good news, and bad news. The Beat Goes On, doesn't it. We just priced a new Van, 2024 model. A little over $190,000 for it! Dang I'm glad we bought used, even with all the troubles we've experienced. |
Shaking My Head I'll start by saying I have one piece of advice for anyone who is contemplating purchasing a Recreational Vehicle of any kind. DON'T get it at Camping World! Now why would I say that? Well, we were warned by my Sister-In-Law. She had a bad experience with them when she was trying to get some Warranty work done on her camper. But the one we found happened to be at the Camping World in Woodstock. Georgia, not New York, for those of you who attended, or remember that outdoor concert in the 60's. It's on the Northern edge of Atlanta. We drove there to look at it (we already had a $1000 hold on it, giving us the 'right of first refusal' really, liked what we saw and decided to buy it. I flew there a week later, and on 9/11/25, I signed the papers for it. There was one piece of paper I didn't receive though. Something called 'The Title'? Yeah, they had sent it to the Georgia DMV and not received it back yet. Did they tell us (me) about it when I signed all those papers and gave them a bunch of money? Nope, that was glossed over. I called about the title a week later and essentially was given a run-around. They explained that they expected to receive it in a week or so, and that it would be sent over-night to me then. Well, that was the week I was in Albuquerque, and it didn't arrive. It took two more phone calls to get it straightened out. I should have the title Friday, maybe Saturday. How can I be so sure? I've been sent a copy of it in Text, front & back, signed over to me. I've seen the Fed-Ex Envelope and tracking number. So really, the check's in the mail. If you find yourself doing business with Camping World, make sure you are given good answers to any questions. Answers that contain the words 'Should', 'Might', etc, are not acceptable. Answers should contain 'Will', 'I have it and will mail it today'. Learn from my mistakes, don't repeat what I've been through. |
That 'New' Van Again Well, we're almost finished with this New Van Saga. We've had it inspected by an RV Inspector and yesterday an RV Technician came by and cleared the minor discrepancies he was capable of clearing. (Rear light not mounted, dust on Refrigerator Vents, Debris in the Overhead AC). Things like that. Today I took it to a local Tire Shop and had them winterize the Engine components. The RV portion had already been winterized. They also replaced all four tires, they were 6-7 years old. They all had good tread, they were 'just old'. They would have replaced the Spare Tire also, but there is no Spare Tire Removal kit in the van. It's not where it should be, nor could they find it anywhere else. That remains an open item to take care of. I knew tires wouldn't be cheap for it, but they didn't cost as much as I feared. This weekend we're going to Springfield Missouri (for a week!) in it to attend the Akita National Specialty Dog Show. While there, we'll have the chance to meet JACE and his wife, and have dinner with them at Lambert's Cafe, the home of 'Throwed Rolls'. His wife wants to attend the dog show, so he and I will have to find a way to pass the time.Lambert's Cafe https://throwedrolls.com/menu#tideandtackle I love their menu! You choose your dinner plus two sides. Y'know, things like Corn, Baked Potato, Green Beans, Sliced Beets, and so much more! Plus some servers carry around what they call 'Pass Arounds'. They will have large containers of Sorghum Molasses, Apple Butter, Macaroni & Tomatoes, Fried Potatoes & Onions, Black Eyed Peas, and Fried Okra. Plus, those Throwed Rolls. You want one, tell them, and they throw it to you. I think I'll have either the Frog Legs, or Fried Shrimp. If I was brave, I'd have the Liver and Onions. I'm a little brave, but I'm not completely stupid. I can't stand Liver & Onions. Seriously though, it should be a good time. If you're in the Springfield Missouri Area, you should come & join us! We'd love the company! |
Resting At Home Well, I'm resting, or trying to. In Albuquerque, it seemed I ran my little (or big) you know what off. It wasn't until I napped one day that I felt rested. Why as I so tired most days? One reason is the Medication I take for the Multiple Myeloma. Revlimid, along with the Dexamethasone will cause fatigue. The Chemo drug (Revlimid) messes with your blood something fierce. The longer I take it, the worse it seems to be. I won't bore you with details, but there are times I really feel in my 90's, not my 70's. My Red Blood cell count is all messed up. It remains low, despite taking prescribed Iron tablets daily. I know I wasn't near this tired a couple of years ago. I've been on Revlimid for 4.5 years now. I was told that the Doctor wants a person on Chemo for 5 years, with a 'clean' Bone Marrow Biopsy before taking a patient off it. I guess we'll see what happens in June, huh! Having any kind of Cancer is Hell. Pure Hell. I do consider myself lucky though, it could be much worse. After all, I could have Lung Cancer, Stomach or Throat Cancer, or the worst of all (In my opinion), Pancreatic Cancer. If the Myeloma had not been found early (40-50% of my White Blood Cells were Cancerous when found), it would be a different story. Most people never know they have Multiple Myeloma until their bones start to ache. What has happened is that the Cancerous White Blood Cells have managed to completely fill the marrow, and will eventually cause the bone to crack. The Cancerous White Blood Cells couldn't migrate through the bone, but with the bone now cracked, they can. I haven't read further than that, but man, imagine Cancerous White Blood Cells now free in your body. And the pain you experience due to cracked bones. I am very lucky, and thank God for my Allergist catching this so early and sending me to Dr. Sriratana, my Oncologist. Still, I have this fatigue. I'll gladly bear that vs the alternative. So I now rest, all I can. |
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