USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Nosmo King]

I had a chance to inspect a building on Vernia Street last week. The building was an old welding shop that stands right next door to my Grandpa' home. Grandpa's place was razed several years ago. But the old crab apple tree in his backyard was still there. The backyard always had the aroma of vinegar because grandpa had a nasty tendency to not rake up and clear the fallen crab apples. Rather, he would mow over them rendering them into an apple sauce that would ferment under the summer heat.

Grandpa built a bomb shelter in the back yard. My brother and I were forbidden to play in or around the shelter, and that's what made it so enticing. We had civil defense here that, in my day, scared the hell out of impressionable kids. My school, Westgate Elementary, stood a few hundred yards from the north bank of the Ohio River. We were taught to 'duck and cover' as if our little school desks would provide safety after a thermonuclear blast. Each class diligently practiced evacuation to the General Purpose room where we were supposed to live through the Apocolypse.

My second grade teacher, the matronly Mrs. Welsh, explained that there was a map on a wall of the Kremlin in Moscow that had our area covered by a Soviet bullseye. Because of our heavy industrialization, my town was marked as Ground Zero for an atomic attack. Mrs. Welsh had a teaching method that made both long division and impending doom thoroughly understandable.

Meanwhile, I would gaze out the window that looked west and south toward the river. I could easily imagine the Russian MiGs flying low across the ridge tops, banking to their right and diving to straffe the football field and then the west side of our school. I could imagine the red stars adorning the attacking jets. I could imagine the mushroom cloud over the ridges to the east that meant Pittsburgh was already aglow in atomic destruction.

By the time I was in fourth grade, the notion of civil defense shelters and Conalrad radio markers on the car radio and the olive green colored barrels of drinking water and cases survival crackers stacked up in the General Purpose room were mysteriously gone. Disappeared. Passé.

And that's also the year Grandpa's bomb shelter became a playhouse for me and my brother.

I remember the 'duck and cover' days too, but we weren't near a ground zero area so they were more fun than scary for us kids. We didn't imagine nuclear attack or Russian migs all that much. Most towns had one designated community bomb shelter but we just noted the symbols on those buildings and didn't think much about it. But my grandmother's graphic description of the angry bomb shelterless neighbors left outside and pouring rat poison down our air vent into our private bomb shelter made me pretty sure I didn't want one.

There were those orange and black Civil Defense placards on nearly every bank building, school and church in our town. We knew that those pesky Russians meant to bomb us first to take out the steel mills and chemical plants and power generators that flanked the river banks.

But what I never imagined was hordes of angry townsfolk poisoning someone else's bomb shelters. Heck! They had one of their own!

Well you were in the middle of the industrial belt so I am sure it was some different. I grew up in a teensy little town in the New Mexico oil patch surrounded by other teensy little towns. The nearest big town to us was Lubbock TX, about 100 miles away, with a whopping 50,000 or so people back then.

Ironically, atomic bombs were being exploded closer to you than me! And they gave us fallout shelters?!?

 

[Foxfyre]

I had a chance to inspect a building on Vernia Street last week. The building was an old welding shop that stands right next door to my Grandpa' home. Grandpa's place was razed several years ago. But the old crab apple tree in his backyard was still there. The backyard always had the aroma of vinegar because grandpa had a nasty tendency to not rake up and clear the fallen crab apples. Rather, he would mow over them rendering them into an apple sauce that would ferment under the summer heat.

Grandpa built a bomb shelter in the back yard. My brother and I were forbidden to play in or around the shelter, and that's what made it so enticing. We had civil defense here that, in my day, scared the hell out of impressionable kids. My school, Westgate Elementary, stood a few hundred yards from the north bank of the Ohio River. We were taught to 'duck and cover' as if our little school desks would provide safety after a thermonuclear blast. Each class diligently practiced evacuation to the General Purpose room where we were supposed to live through the Apocolypse.

My second grade teacher, the matronly Mrs. Welsh, explained that there was a map on a wall of the Kremlin in Moscow that had our area covered by a Soviet bullseye. Because of our heavy industrialization, my town was marked as Ground Zero for an atomic attack. Mrs. Welsh had a teaching method that made both long division and impending doom thoroughly understandable.

Meanwhile, I would gaze out the window that looked west and south toward the river. I could easily imagine the Russian MiGs flying low across the ridge tops, banking to their right and diving to straffe the football field and then the west side of our school. I could imagine the red stars adorning the attacking jets. I could imagine the mushroom cloud over the ridges to the east that meant Pittsburgh was already aglow in atomic destruction.

By the time I was in fourth grade, the notion of civil defense shelters and Conalrad radio markers on the car radio and the olive green colored barrels of drinking water and cases survival crackers stacked up in the General Purpose room were mysteriously gone. Disappeared. Passé.

And that's also the year Grandpa's bomb shelter became a playhouse for me and my brother.

I remember the 'duck and cover' days too, but we weren't near a ground zero area so they were more fun than scary for us kids. We didn't imagine nuclear attack or Russian migs all that much. Most towns had one designated community bomb shelter but we just noted the symbols on those buildings and didn't think much about it. But my grandmother's graphic description of the angry bomb shelterless neighbors left outside and pouring rat poison down our air vent into our private bomb shelter made me pretty sure I didn't want one.

There were those orange and black Civil Defense placards on nearly every bank building, school and church in our town. We knew that those pesky Russians meant to bomb us first to take out the steel mills and chemical plants and power generators that flanked the river banks.

But what I never imagined was hordes of angry townsfolk poisoning someone else's bomb shelters. Heck! They had one of their own!

Well you were in the middle of the industrial belt so I am sure it was some different. I grew up in a teensy little town in the New Mexico oil patch surrounded by other teensy little towns. The nearest big town to us was Lubbock TX, about 100 miles away, with a whopping 50,000 or so people back then.

Ironically, atomic bombs were being exploded closer to you than me! And they gave us fallout shelters?!?

Once each year, they open up the Trinity Site (about 130 miles south of here) to the public. That's where the first atomic bomb was tested. We've never been down there but other than a monument and a tiny museum, I understand there isn't much to see and very limited public accommodations out there in the middle of nowhere. There is much more to see at the Atomic Museum here in Albuquerque that chronicles the whole thing from the first inception of a nuclear bomb, how it was built, and the tests that followed.

 

[Montrovant]

Leaving for the little one's first soccer game in a few minutes.

I'm a bit worried about it. She doesn't really know how to play yet. She has only had 2 practices and knew very little about soccer before she joined. She's not yet 7, so I don't expect her to be great at it, I'm more concerned that the other girls might react badly to the little one not knowing what to do. Most, if not all, of the girls on her team played last year. Most of them aren't great either, but I'm a pessimist, so I worry that the little one doing something silly will end up causing conflict.

Still, it's most likely that they'll just have fun and everyone will run around not really knowing what to do, I suppose. That's certainly how it was when her team did a little 4v4 game in one of her practices.

 

[Foxfyre]

Leaving for the little one's first soccer game in a few minutes.

I'm a bit worried about it. She doesn't really know how to play yet. She has only had 2 practices and knew very little about soccer before she joined. She's not yet 7, so I don't expect her to be great at it, I'm more concerned that the other girls might react badly to the little one not knowing what to do. Most, if not all, of the girls on her team played last year. Most of them aren't great either, but I'm a pessimist, so I worry that the little one doing something silly will end up causing conflict.

Still, it's most likely that they'll just have fun and everyone will run around not really knowing what to do, I suppose. That's certainly how it was when her team did a little 4v4 game in one of her practices.

I can relate. My granddaughter, in her first foray into soccer at I think age 5, didn't care which goal she kicked the ball into. She just wanted to kick the ball.

 

[Gracie]

It is really pretty in that area. I was looking in the Carson City/Truckee area for rentals. Not a whole lot. But I found a lot of really nice mobile homes for sale on zillow in the 70K range. Not that I have that kind of money, but still.....

Don't have that kind of money either, yet.

I was looking at payments.....209.00 per month mortgage....187.00,,,349.00....plus the space rent. It's doable, but gotta have money to put down on it. Which I don't have either. So yeah.. hear ya.

These past few weeks, I am fully understanding why so many are homeless. And how they will stay homeless. The organizations that help people are all shut down now. If you are on a waiting list for low income housing...they are accepting no more to put on the list because that list is now a 5 to 7 year wait.

 

[Gracie]

And then, if you are in such pain it is non stop, for days at a time, can't work because you are busy crying or trying to ignore the pain or are asleep because you are eating pain pills like candy because the specialist refuses to see you unless you take the drug the drug company is paying him to push on patients so there is no help there....and if you start contemplating not seeing a way out and only a future of pain so bad you think you are being tortured and the future is nothing BUT that pain so you think about offing yourself and talk to someone about it and they turn you in or worse..you do it and you didn't do it well enough and wind up still breathing...THEN you will get a home in a nice little cell with Nurse Ratchet because you can't even end your own suffering because you are "cray cray". Which starts the cycle all over again along with your bestest buddy....the torture of non stop pain who will never ever leave your side because it loves to torment you so much.

Wow. what a rant. But it had to be done.

 

[Foxfyre]

And then, if you are in such pain it is non stop, for days at a time, can't work because you are busy crying or trying to ignore the pain or are asleep because you are eating pain pills like candy because the specialist refuses to see you unless you take the drug the drug company is paying him to push on patients so there is no help there....and if you start contemplating not seeing a way out and only a future of pain so bad you think you are being tortured and the future is nothing BUT that pain so you think about offing yourself and talk to someone about it and they turn you in or worse..you do it and you didn't do it well enough and wind up still breathing...THEN you will get a home in a nice little cell with Nurse Ratchet because you can't even end your own suffering because you are "cray cray". Which starts the cycle all over again along with your bestest buddy....the torture of non stop pain who will never ever leave your side because it loves to torment you so much.

Wow. what a rant. But it had to be done.

A person really does need to find a doctor who is able to listen and hear what the patient is saying, and who is willing to work with the patient to find a solution.

 

[Gracie]

Meanwhile, a touching tribute to a dog by the man that loved him so much.

http://www.dose.com/animals/26921/The-Internet-Is-Bawling-Over-This-Owner-s-Touching-Tribute-To-His-Dog/?utm_source=partners&utm_medium=aol&utm_campaign=tt&icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl16|sec1_lnk2&pLid=128651268

"Yesterday was weird. I couldn't get myself out of bed. The guy I live with lifted me up. I tried to get my legs under me, but they wouldn't cooperate. He said, 'Don't worry, I gotcha buddy,' carried me downstairs, and out the front door. That was so nice of him. I needed to pee so badly, I just had to go right there where he put me down. Normally I wouldn't, but we both decided to make an exception to the rule.

I started walking down the parking lot toward that place where all the dogs like me go to poop. I felt my paws dragging on the ground. 'How strange,' I thought. Then suddenly, I just had to go, really badly. In the middle of the parking lot. Normally, I wouldn't do that. It's against the rules. My person cleaned up the mess. He's good at that. I felt embarrassed, looked at him, and he said, 'Want to keep walking, buddy?' I did, but it was surprisingly tough. By the time we reached the end of the parking lot, my head was spinning. I tried to climb the little hill, and nearly fell over. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

He reached down again, and ran his hands over me. That felt good. He picked me up, and carried me home. I was still confused, and my head was light, but I was glad not to have to walk all the way back. It suddenly seemed like an impossible distance. I was so glad to lay down on my bed. My person petted me, saying, 'I gotcha covered, buddy. I gotcha.' I love the way that makes me feel. I know he does. He makes everything better. He felt my paws, and pulled up my lip. He said, 'Oh buddy, are you cold?' I was. My face was cold, my paws were cold. He texted a few people, and came back to pet me.

A few minutes later, another person arrived. He's one of my favorites, and his name is Jay. He petted me, and said to my person, 'Do you want to get a blanket?' They put a blanket over me, and wow ... that felt good. I relaxed, and they both petted me, but they both started to choke back tears.

I never want them to cry, it breaks my heart. It's my job to make them feel better, and I was just a little tired, and cold. I drifted in and out of sleep, and they were always there, making sure I was okay, and chatting with each other.

Throughout the day, my person made some phone calls, and spent a lot of time with me. I heard him say, '9 a.m. tomorrow ... OK ... yes ... I'll tell you if anything changes. Thank you Dr. MacDonald.' He called someone else, and said, 'I'm sorry, I have to cancel tonight.' Then as I was drifting off to sleep, I think I heard him cry a little again.

In the evening, more of my favorite people came by. They were all so loving. I licked their tears away when they would get close enough to my face. They whispered sweet things in my ear, and told me I was a good boy. Later in the evening, I felt well enough to stand up and walk to the door to see who was coming in. It was more exhausting than I'd remembered it being, but I loved seeing them all. I heard my person say something like, 'That's the first time he's gotten up under his own power today.' Everyone seemed glad that I was out of bed. I was too, but wow... after the excitement wore off, it was so exhausting to move around.

After the last visitor left, my person took me outside to do what he called, 'my business.' We went back inside and when we reached the bottom of the stairs, they looked twice as steep and ten times as long as I remembered them being. I looked at my person, and he looked at me. He said, 'Don't worry, I gotcha buddy,' and carried me up.

Then it got even better! Instead of sleeping in my bed, he called me up to sleep on *his* bed. Let me repeat: *I got to sleep in the bed with my person!* We normally have our own beds, but last night we snuggled, and it felt so good to be that close to him. I thought, 'This is where I belong. I will never leave his side.' I didn't feel very well though, and it was hard to breathe sometimes.

It seems like it started a few months ago. We were playing fetch and I just blacked out. I don't know what happened, but I think I stopped breathing. I could hear my person calling my name. I couldn't move a muscle. He lifted my head, and looked into my eyes. I could see him right there, but couldn't lick his face.

He said, 'Benny, are you in there?' I couldn't respond. He looked at me, and said, 'Don't worry buddy, I gotcha. I gotcha covered.' I started to spin into darkness, but then my lungs took in a deep breath, and I could see again.

We went to see some doctors, and since then I've heard a lot of words like, 'cardiomyopathy,' 'cancer,' and, 'kidney failure.' All i know is that sometimes I feel okay, and sometimes ... you know ... I just don't. My person gives me pills.

This morning, I heard my person get up and take a shower. He came back in the room, and smelled so nice. He helped me get up, but this time, I could do it on my own. We got to the top of the stairs, and wow ... they looked long and steep again. He said, 'I gotcha buddy,' and carried me down.

I did my business, and we came back inside. He opened a can, a really, really delicious can of wet dog food. Oh man ... I love that stuff!

Jay showed up again. What a nice surprise! He and my person seemed concerned, but everyone was petting me. It seemed a little like a play, where all the actors were sad, but pretending to be happy. Pretty soon after that, another person showed up. She was wearing doctor pants, and I leaned on her.

I heard them talk. Everyone looked at my gums, and felt my paws. I heard the doctor pants lady say, 'It's your decision, but he's definitely in that window. I don't want to push you, but looking at his lack of color, I am honestly shocked he's even standing up. In addition to the paws and jowls, look here ...' she pointed at my face, 'This should be pink. It's almost white, and verging toward yellow.'

My person and Jay went inside to talk about something. When they came back out, I heard my person say, 'I agree. I don't want to wait till he's in absolute agony.' So we went inside. Truth be told, I was feeling pretty badly, even though I was up and walking. It seemed like my whole head was cold, my paws were freezing, and my back legs weren't working right.

The doctor pants lady said, 'I'll just put this into his muscle. It's a sedative. Then I'll come back over here, and you can just love on him till he's asleep.' My person kissed my face, and looked in my eyes. He was trying not to cry.

Doctor pants lady gave me a shot of something in the leg. I just looked at my person. He is so awesome. I will always be right by his side.

He and Jay petted me, and said the nicest things — what a good dog I am, what a good job I've done, how thankful they are to have me in their lives. After a while, my mind started buzzing. FOCUS! I looked back at my person. I love him so much. I drifted again. FOCUS! I can see my person. I love him so much. I will always be right by his side. He knows that. Am I sleepy? FOCUS! I'll always look at him with my whole heart ...

Doctor pants lady said, 'He must have an incredible will to stay with you. He is really powering through. That's impressive.' My person choked back tears and said, 'I know. This guy lives for me. He is the most devoted soul I've ever met ...' We put our heads together, and closed our eyes. I felt relaxed. I can't really describe it. We looked at each other again. I just felt like riding that buzz, but maybe lying down was better. My person helped me down. Man, that felt gooooooood.

I felt him and Jay petting me, and heard them talking to me. They love me so much. How lucky am I? Then I felt thousands of hands petting me. Everyone I'd ever known and loved was there, petting me, scratching my ears, and that spot under my collar that makes my leg move. Everyone should try this. It's just amazing!

Then I felt the doctor pants lady touch my leg. Did I tell you that my person had to have both of my knees repaired? They're titanium, and have served me well, but you know ... I've been feeling a little creaky lately.

With everyone petting me, the doctor pants lady put another needle in my leg, but this time, as the fluid went in, I couldn't believe ... my knees were perfect! And as I felt it move through my body, the cancer disappeared! And then my kidneys felt better! And finally, even my heart was whole, and healthy! I felt like I had sprung away from all of my sickness. Amazing!

I saw my person, and Jay, and the lady who lives at our house, Shelly. They seemed to be huddling over something. I walked over to look. It seemed like ... I don't know. It kind of looked like me, but the way I looked when I was feeling really sick, or exhausted. The face was blurred out, so I couldn't really tell, but that poor guy looked like he had been suffering.

I could tell my person was both relieved and very, very sad. I love him so much. I looked at that me-shaped shell, and I looked at him ... I think he was sad about that shell. I jumped around the room, like a clown, but it seemed like they wanted to be somber, and focus on whatever that thing was they were petting and kissing.

But my person was definitely sad. I leaned on him, like I've done a million times before, but it wasn't quite the same. It felt like his body was a cloud and I passed right through him. So I walked up next to him, sat like a good boy, and my heart whispered to his, 'Don't worry, buddy. I gotcha covered.'

I will never leave his side.

He knows that."

 

[Gracie]

A person really does need to find a doctor who is able to listen and hear what the patient is saying, and who is willing to work with the patient to find a solution.

No such thing.Which is just another notch to add to the "nowadays" list of what todays world is.

 

[Gracie]

And before anyone thinks something weird about my post.....don't.
As long as karma is next to me.....I'm here. I will never leave her at the mercy of anyone else.

 

[Foxfyre]

A person really does need to find a doctor who is able to listen and hear what the patient is saying, and who is willing to work with the patient to find a solution.

No such thing.Which is just another notch to add to the "nowadays" list of what todays world is.

There are still some out there though they are a dying breed. My surgeon is such a doctor--he heard and addressed my fears and wanted to be absolutely certain that I heard and understood his--and knowing that I am a nervous nellie when it comes to medical stuff, he took time to explain in plain English everything I asked and offered some things he knew I would be asking. He was amazing. I also have a personal physician, though she is on a personal mission to find SOMETHING wrong with me that she can treat, is pretty good to hear me and explain and take care of whatever the immediate problem is.

 

[Gracie]

Problem is, FF, I am on Medi-cal. I can only see their docs. And there is only ONE ra specialist in this county. I can't go to another county. They wont pay for it. See? Just another wall I keep running in to.

 

[Foxfyre]

Problem is, FF, I am on Medi-cal. I can only see their docs. And there is only ONE ra specialist in this county. I can't go to another county. They wont pay for it. See? Just another wall I keep running in to.

But. . . if and when you move, you may find a much more satisfactory situation. Also doctors come and go. There is always that better place to aspire to. . . .

I am on an HMO that also limits the doctors available for me to see, but being in an urban area, we do have considerably more choice than would be available in a small town setting.

 

[Gracie]

My gyno called me yesterday. She rocks. But she is just a gyno. She said she got my blood tests back. She said my thyroid is off the wall crazy. So I looked up thyroid probs and symptoms. Yep. It fits, now that she sees I do not have diabetes. I have to take another blood test in 2 weeks to see if the change in the levothyroxine has helped. Not thru my general doc. He knows nothing, does nothing. I have to go thru her. And she cant help with the torture. I get farmed out for that. But the one Im supposed to be farmed out to wont see me because I refused his insistence on one particular brand of drug...which means hes getting a goodly amount of kickback from them. So..I deal with this shit because I can only rely on me. And Im getting really really tired. I want to be treated like Ben the dog. But there is no one. Just me.

 

[Gracie]

There is no place to move to.

Trust me on this bit of wisdom:
You know who your real life friends are when you need them most...and which ones were just flapping their gums IF a circumstance happened where you needed their help. I have found out. Pray nobody else ever gets in that position. Its a very rude, sad, depressing eye opener.

 

[saveliberty]

We have a free clinic run by a local church. Any such thing in a county near you?

 

[Gracie]

That is who I go to. Where my doc is.
Medi-cal pays for all that. The problem is, the only RA specialist, who I HAVE to see cuz regular docs won't deal with it, refuses to see me.

 

[Montrovant]

Leaving for the little one's first soccer game in a few minutes.

I'm a bit worried about it. She doesn't really know how to play yet. She has only had 2 practices and knew very little about soccer before she joined. She's not yet 7, so I don't expect her to be great at it, I'm more concerned that the other girls might react badly to the little one not knowing what to do. Most, if not all, of the girls on her team played last year. Most of them aren't great either, but I'm a pessimist, so I worry that the little one doing something silly will end up causing conflict.

Still, it's most likely that they'll just have fun and everyone will run around not really knowing what to do, I suppose. That's certainly how it was when her team did a little 4v4 game in one of her practices.

I can relate. My granddaughter, in her first foray into soccer at I think age 5, didn't care which goal she kicked the ball into. She just wanted to kick the ball.

In the end another girl on the team scored into the wrong goal, unfortunately while the little one was playing goalie.

They lost pretty badly, 6-1 I think it was, but it was fine. She had fun playing her first soccer game.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Things always happen for a reason, GW. I think you have some good plans and now that that is out of the way, you can forge forward! And, this means we here at the CS will be able to keep you cuz if the other thing came to be...you may have been MIA more often than not and we would all miss you.

Time would have been at a premium, certainly. More importantly, I would have to give up my critters, or face the idea of neglecting them for lack of time. Yeah, I'll be haunting the CS for a time yet, certainly. Thanks, Gracie!
How's your situation coming?

 

[Foxfyre]

My gyno called me yesterday. She rocks. But she is just a gyno. She said she got my blood tests back. She said my thyroid is off the wall crazy. So I looked up thyroid probs and symptoms. Yep. It fits, now that she sees I do not have diabetes. I have to take another blood test in 2 weeks to see if the change in the levothyroxine has helped. Not thru my general doc. He knows nothing, does nothing. I have to go thru her. And she cant help with the torture. I get farmed out for that. But the one Im supposed to be farmed out to wont see me because I refused his insistence on one particular brand of drug...which means hes getting a goodly amount of kickback from them. So..I deal with this shit because I can only rely on me. And Im getting really really tired. I want to be treated like Ben the dog. But there is no one. Just me.

That is who I go to. Where my doc is.
Medi-cal pays for all that. The problem is, the only RA specialist, who I HAVE to see cuz regular docs won't deal with it, refuses to see me.

All the more reason you should check out the Budwig Protocol. I have been fighting persistent serious anemia ever since my surgery, and my doctor's prescription (and a gazillion tests to determine the cause) netted nothing. The numbers on the blood test wouldn't budge. So since December, I took matters into my own hands, discontinued the ferrous sulfate I had been prescribed and hate taking, and went on the Budwig Protocol--not following it exactly but close enough--and yesterday when I had blood drawn: 1. Iron levels tested almost normal--they will be normal in another few weeks I'm sure. 2. RA symptoms in my hands - gone. 3. A really severe and chronic psoriasis outbreak - hugely improved and getting better week by week.

Overall, bloodwork was perfect across the board except I am still just a tad anemic.

I am a believer.