This afternoon, I'm going to see an orthopedic specialist about my knee and my foot. The trouble started a few months ago, as I was heaving myself out of the bathtub. I felt a twinge in my right knee. My right knee WAS my good knee, doing the heavy lifting, because the left knee was weak due to osteoarthritis and the ravages of living past my allotted three score and ten years. I tried to take my regular walk that evening, and came home limping and in great pain. I waited a few days to see if the knee would get better on its own, but the situation deteriorated further, with back and shoulder pain now in play. I went to my family doctor who gave me a steroid shot in my rear to try to alleviate the pain in all three areas. The pain eased, but my knee was not right. I could feel the bones clicking, and the knee felt unsteady. Then, just before we evacuated for Hurricane Gustav, my heel and then the whole bottom of my foot began to hurt, and for a couple of days, I could hardly walk. Then that pain became less, but I determined to see a specialist for help as soon as I could. I believe the foot pain is connected to the knee problems, you know, like in the "Dry Bones" song. All dem old, dry bones bones is connected.
Pray that the doctor can find out what the problem is and that it is easily fixable. Yes, I would definitely like an easy fix. Thank you in advance. I gave you all the boring details so you could tell God exactly what the problem is, in case she doesn't already know.
UPDATE: Thanks for the prayers. They worked. The diagnosis is osteoarthritis for the knee and plantar fasciitis for the heel. The doctor gave me a steroid shot in the knee, and he is sending me for physical therapy, which I have long wanted. That is the very good news. If this does not work, there are other alternatives before resorting to knee replacement. I'll say more about the visit to the doctor later.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A New Old Friend
The Rebellious Rev recently linked to one of my posts and dropped in to wish me Happy Birthday. In his post with the link, he described me as "A friend from another blog life...." Now that is intriguing. Who can he be? I love a mystery, and I'm not in a hurry to know who he is, because I'm having fun trying to guess.
He started a new blog under the new name linked above. He's a Rebellious Rev from Texas! What's not to like about that? You may want to have a look. He is a rebel. Some of my friends and I are already on his blogroll. He works fast.
He started a new blog under the new name linked above. He's a Rebellious Rev from Texas! What's not to like about that? You may want to have a look. He is a rebel. Some of my friends and I are already on his blogroll. He works fast.
And Furthermore, On McCain's Health Care Plan....
John Bassett has left a new comment on your post "McCain's Health Care Plan":
"Well, this little quote certainly does remind us what McCain really believes and what philosophy would actually guide a McCain administration.
But the actual plan he is putting forth should scare most of us. McCain proposes treating employer-paid health care as taxable income. Since the value of that benefit will exceed the credit of 2500 dollars that he proposes to offset it, almost anybody who gets health care through their work will see a significant tax increase.
Now, the aim of this plan is to eliminate the employer-paid plan. Right away, younger employees will seek to opt out of the plan since most are either health enough to take the risk of having no health care or will be able to buy it for cheaper than the group premium. This will leave only older or sicker workers in the pool, and that will drive up prices for the group further. Finally, the employer will want to end the expensive plan altogether. The older or sicker workers will not be able to purchase any meaningful insurance on the market, so they will be uninsured.
But it gets worse. Under the McCain plan, insurers will be exempt from any state regulation except where the plan is supposedly centered. So, the state which offers the fewest protections will be home to the most health care plans. And you can be sure that they will buy the best state legislature they can to make sure this continues!
So, under McCain, you will either not have health insurance, pay more for health insurance, and, when you do buy health insurance, you will discover that you have little, if any, recourse when the insurer decides not to pay your bill. And remember, McCain and his fellow Republicans will not even let you declare bankruptcy if you run up medical bills your insurer will not cover. The only safe thing to do will be to get sick and die.
I do understand the distaste that many working-class people feel for the Gruyere and Pinot Grigio crowd that flocked to Obama early on. But voting for McCain because you do not like them is like drinking sterno because you dislike white wine. It is utter insanity."
Thank you, John. You did the hard work on this one.
"Well, this little quote certainly does remind us what McCain really believes and what philosophy would actually guide a McCain administration.
But the actual plan he is putting forth should scare most of us. McCain proposes treating employer-paid health care as taxable income. Since the value of that benefit will exceed the credit of 2500 dollars that he proposes to offset it, almost anybody who gets health care through their work will see a significant tax increase.
Now, the aim of this plan is to eliminate the employer-paid plan. Right away, younger employees will seek to opt out of the plan since most are either health enough to take the risk of having no health care or will be able to buy it for cheaper than the group premium. This will leave only older or sicker workers in the pool, and that will drive up prices for the group further. Finally, the employer will want to end the expensive plan altogether. The older or sicker workers will not be able to purchase any meaningful insurance on the market, so they will be uninsured.
But it gets worse. Under the McCain plan, insurers will be exempt from any state regulation except where the plan is supposedly centered. So, the state which offers the fewest protections will be home to the most health care plans. And you can be sure that they will buy the best state legislature they can to make sure this continues!
So, under McCain, you will either not have health insurance, pay more for health insurance, and, when you do buy health insurance, you will discover that you have little, if any, recourse when the insurer decides not to pay your bill. And remember, McCain and his fellow Republicans will not even let you declare bankruptcy if you run up medical bills your insurer will not cover. The only safe thing to do will be to get sick and die.
I do understand the distaste that many working-class people feel for the Gruyere and Pinot Grigio crowd that flocked to Obama early on. But voting for McCain because you do not like them is like drinking sterno because you dislike white wine. It is utter insanity."
Thank you, John. You did the hard work on this one.
McCain's Health Care Plan
From Paul Krugman:
Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!
McCain's plan sounds perfect to me. What do you think?
With thanks to the Weird Rabit.
Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."
So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!
McCain's plan sounds perfect to me. What do you think?
With thanks to the Weird Rabit.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
New Roads, La. (Since We're On The Subject)
The Randall Oak
Here's a bit of information on New Roads from the LSU Agricultural Center. Pictured above is the Randall Oak, a HUGE tree that is over 300 years old. The tree is on the property adjacent to ours. The story (legend?) is that James Ryder Randall wrote the words to "Maryland, My Maryland" under the tree, while he was Professor of English at Poydras College, which was once located on the property. One day, I'm going to post a picture of the tree with a person standing near it to give you a true sense of how large the trunk actually is.
The Pointe Coupee Parish Courthouse
Listed on the National Historic Register, this building was originally built in 1902 of Romanesque Revival architecture. On the grounds is a statue of Major General John Archer LeJeune, World War I hero for whom Camp LeJeune, North Carolina is named.
I like the turrets.
Thus endeth the geography lesson.
Support Bishop Clumber!
You must go, do not hesitate, go right now to the In Support Of Bishop Clumber website! It's important! As Bishop Clumber says:
Do you have a comment of support for Bishop Clumber or The Real Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh? Please email ozzie dot clumber at gmail dot com with your messages, knowing that they will be shared with him, and also may be posted to this site.
I'm going to leave a message of support. What about you?
PS: The name of the person that you email to support the former Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh, Robert Duncan, is Malarkey. I'm not joking. You can't make this stuff up.
The Wash (After Gustav)
Shown below is the result of our misbegotten idea to run the washer on the generator. The washer stopped half way through the cycle, with the tub full of water, and we had to hand wring the whole large load and hang the wet, half-clean laundry anywhere we could find a spot. Shown is the front porch and the small entry porch on the side.
See the mops in the corner of the porch in the second picture? We had to borrow mops from the neighbors, because water blew in under and on the sides of the three doors shown in the pictures. Next time around those will need to be boarded up, because the doors are not a tight fit in the frames.
That is a pathetic looking load of laundry - embarrassing, really. Why am I publishing this?
See the mops in the corner of the porch in the second picture? We had to borrow mops from the neighbors, because water blew in under and on the sides of the three doors shown in the pictures. Next time around those will need to be boarded up, because the doors are not a tight fit in the frames.
That is a pathetic looking load of laundry - embarrassing, really. Why am I publishing this?
Gustav In New Roads
These pictures from the aftermath of Gustav in New Roads, Louisiana, were taken AFTER the initial clean-up. I didn't have the presence of mind to take pictures before the clean-up started.
Big Tree Down
Across the highway, which runs in front of the house, you can catch a glimpse of False River, the oxbow lake that was once a part of the Mississippi River, but was cut off when the river changed course.
Gathered Piles Of Tree Limbs
In the center rear of the picture, those are not bushes growing, but piles of fallen branches.
Persimmon Tree Down
Ripe Persimmons On Fallen Tree
The fruit at the top of the tree would never have been picked, because it was a very tall tree. The good news is that the folks who like persimmons had a field day.
Big Tree Down
Across the highway, which runs in front of the house, you can catch a glimpse of False River, the oxbow lake that was once a part of the Mississippi River, but was cut off when the river changed course.
Gathered Piles Of Tree Limbs
In the center rear of the picture, those are not bushes growing, but piles of fallen branches.
Persimmon Tree Down
Ripe Persimmons On Fallen Tree
The fruit at the top of the tree would never have been picked, because it was a very tall tree. The good news is that the folks who like persimmons had a field day.
Friday, September 19, 2008
How Sarah Palin Was Elected Governor
From the The Raw Story:
In perhaps one of the strangest twists to date in the story of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a video now shows the governor crediting her electoral success to a preacher who claims to successfully hunt witches.
The speech, shown below, was filmed in June. Palin describes the visit of Pastor Thomas Muthee to the Wasilla Assembly of God in 2005.
....
In 1988, Pastor Muthee and his wife traveled to Kenya after being "called by God." Setting up shop in the basement of a grocery store, they claim to have brought 200 people "to God" and away from the town's "spiritual oppression."
The source of the oppression? Witchcraft, Muthee says. When researching the community, they found that a woman named "Mama Jane" ran a divination clinic that drew a large following in the town.
“We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place,” Pastor Muthee said.
Read the rest and watch the video of Sarah Palin's speech at The Raw Story.
Keith Olbermann had the story tonight on Countdown. He said that Jeremiah Wright (Obama's former pastor) looked like Fr. Flanagan next to Pastor Thomas Muthee. You can't make this stuff up.
More on the story of Mama Jane, the "witch" from The Christian Science Monitor.
In perhaps one of the strangest twists to date in the story of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a video now shows the governor crediting her electoral success to a preacher who claims to successfully hunt witches.
The speech, shown below, was filmed in June. Palin describes the visit of Pastor Thomas Muthee to the Wasilla Assembly of God in 2005.
....
In 1988, Pastor Muthee and his wife traveled to Kenya after being "called by God." Setting up shop in the basement of a grocery store, they claim to have brought 200 people "to God" and away from the town's "spiritual oppression."
The source of the oppression? Witchcraft, Muthee says. When researching the community, they found that a woman named "Mama Jane" ran a divination clinic that drew a large following in the town.
“We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place,” Pastor Muthee said.
Read the rest and watch the video of Sarah Palin's speech at The Raw Story.
Keith Olbermann had the story tonight on Countdown. He said that Jeremiah Wright (Obama's former pastor) looked like Fr. Flanagan next to Pastor Thomas Muthee. You can't make this stuff up.
More on the story of Mama Jane, the "witch" from The Christian Science Monitor.
About Those Oil Rigs That The Fish Love
From Forbes:
WASHINGTON (AFX) - At least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing in the Gulf of Mexico and a ruptured gas pipeline is on fire after Hurricane Katrina hit the region, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a source from a US Coast Guard unit operating in the area.
'We have confirmed at least 20 rigs or platforms missing, either sunk or adrift, and one confirmed fire where a rig was,' Petty Officer Robert Reed told AFP.
The missing rigs were in the Gulf of Mexico, Reed said, citing Coast Guard overflights of the area and information from oil companies.
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