Thoughts update

Seems the folks at the Veterans Choice Program are on the ball. I got a call from them and they are going to accelerate the process concerning the CT Scan.
It will be at an outside facility within a 2 week period......
It doesn't give much relief but it does feel good that something actually works. When I get this appointment I can cancel the one on the 26th of June.
The mind is still going a million miles an hour....

I am still alive.

It's been one of those weeks. Fear not my friends, I am still alive and kicking. Thursday was my annual scan. The wait begins. Heading out to be with friends in the Desert Tortoise Area.

The past year in review, Miltary Aviation

Military Aviation in 2010 from Aero News

Home

We got back to Cal City last night about 2100 local.
Truck and trailer are empty. Trailer is at the Uhaul place. Done.
Back to the grind on Monday.

Santa Rosa

Did the first RON here on the way back to California.
At present I-40 Westbound is closed at Gallup. All the way to West of Ash Fork. Going to be a short day.
Winter along I-40! Got to love it!
I have till Sunday AM to turn the trailer in. And it is in Cal City! Yeah! We may spend part of Saturday on the road and unload into the garage on arrival.
There is better than a foot in Flagstaff with the snow level at 3000 feet elevation.

Surgery Update

I am home in Cal City. The Missus ORPO has gone to get my prescription for Vicodin.
All went well.  I will be hard down for ten days. No lifting over ten pounds. And tonight is trash to the curb night. But we don't generate much anymore, being just the two of us.
To all who wished me well on face book,  thanks a lot. I truly mean that.

Update, again

Got the Missus out of Bakersfield Memorial after the angiogram. Small amount of arterial plaque. No stent required. Good thing.
My event for tomorrow is cancelled here and will be in another location on next Monday. The place here in Bakersfield has business practices that are suspect when using Tricare Standard-Retired such as I have. They wanted 223 bucks up front which according to Tricare is illegal.
But The Missus will get a chance to rest. The nurses didn't want her sitting in a car for the trip back over the mountain right away.

BP Bloodwork results

Got the letter today. Everything looks normal. The Triglycerides are up but that is it.
Still waiting on the referral for both the hernia and the kidney scan thing.
Much better news today!

BP update

152 over 102. Did a full blood work, EKG and Chest X-ray. The nurse took four tubes of blood and I had to pee in a cup.
We are beginning the process to get a scan of the remaining kidney. There is a possiblity that the arteries to the remaining one may not be of adequate size. This will require the dye in the blood stream. If it is small then a stent will need to be installed.
And I still need a hernia repair!

PHJ&F hit the big time!

Scoot on over to ParrotHead Jeff and Friends. He got linkage from Pamela Gellar...........Atlas Shrugs. Yeah, that Pamela Gellar. It was on coverage of the Big Do in Searchlight, Nevada. The one that Andrew Breitbart and Sarah Palin made time for. Rah Rah!
The posts and pictures are worth the time it takes to have a look and read.

New Mug Shot

Reality. And yes I do need a shave. And they are Tri-Focals, OK? And what hair you do see is mostly gray. Except for the crown, that part is very thin. The wife calls it a bald spot. She could be right but there are still a few still hanging around.
No smart alecky comments or the belly incision and staples gets put up on this here blog! Yes the spectacles are government issue. The price is right. They only cost twenty years. This will be slowly replacing icon shots on various sites in the near future. I have already had responses from my sister and former squadron mates. The term Old Fart was bandied about with some regularity on facebook.

The house was found

WE found the house we wanted late yesterday afternoon. It is in that former planned community of California City. It is in Kern County. Think Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, with the county seat of Bakersfield.
We are renting a 1,600 square foot, three bedroom, two bath with a two car garage in a very nice neighborhood. It has an outstanding kitchen and a huge living room. It comes with the refrigerator, range, microwave and dishwasher. And there is a washer and dryer already there! And the rent is only 800 bucks a month! The back yard is just the right size for the sheltie that we have and it has a patio that is out of the evening sun. So those who I hope will show up next spring for a Santa Maria BBQ will have to enjoy the sunset over the Tehachapi Mountains from the driveway.
When we get internet service, we will send pictures to any and all and my facebook account!
Tomorrow will be occupied with getting utilities and such transferred to our name. The water has to be done at city hall.
There is no supermarket in town. The nearest is in Mojave but the commissary at Edwards is an easy trip. We did the Visiting Quarters at the base last night. We may even try to get into the system at the clinic for our primary care. One of those retired earned things, ya know.
On Thursday we are going to rent a U-haul to move a couch, occasional tables, lamps and maybe a small chest freezer from Palmdale. The Missus Old Retired Petty Officer's Sister has some things for us to use. And we can afford a small chest freezer.
I am glad we decided on Cal City over Lancaster/Palmdale. They are just to busy, even though having all the conveniences of a pair of cities that have almost 400,000 people in them just couldn't match the small town atmosphere and lower costs.
The Missus did ask the one rental agent office staff this one: Why do I want to move here? His answer was: low crime and affordable. Sounds good to me. As for flying the Missus back to Wichita, her sister in Palmdale will provide the lift to LAX. It is cheaper to fly out of LAX via DEN or DFW than Ontario or Bakersfield.

Road to Oceanside and such

Well we took off from Wichita on Thursday evening about 1830 hours. We headed west on US 54 to catch I-40 at Tucumcari, NM. We had supper in Liberal at about 2200 and the place closed at 2230. It was cold! The temp was at 32 and the OK and TX Panhandles were about the same. We did a short nap at the Sky City Casino Rest Area. And breakfast was at Earl's in Gallup. It is the only place in Gallup to have breakfast, period. The BNSF Maintenance of Way guys can fill the place up. If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for me. We did hit some of the tourist shops along the way to get things for granddaughters. We managed to get to Kingman, Arizona by mid afternoon on Friday. Then it was time to call it a day! We did the almost 1100 miles to there and we were bushed. We got a room, some ice beers and Mike's Hard Berrys and both of us were asleep by 1700 hours and didn't wake up until about 0530-0600 on Saturday. The trip from there to Oceanside was a snap. It was a beautiful, cloudless day in the Mojave and the entire LA Basin to San Diego County along I-15.
We had dinner at Claim Jumpers as it was my sister-in-law's birthday. She finally hit the big Five Zero. I had a oiece of salmon that was simply awesome! And two schooners of Sam Adams!
Today is chill out and relax, maybe hit the pool. It is forecast to be in the upper seventies today.I It will be great to take a dip on November 1. And the incisions haven't yet been submerged. And Hector also has a spa/hot-tub. In that, above the world in the Oceanside hills, the possibility of an outstanding day is there, dear readers.
To Jeff, I didn't get a chance to get pics on the way. Sorry. Maybe I will get a few by the pool! And it is a stunning day here in Oceanside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow we head for California City to do the house search and such.

Monday and five weeks since the surgery

Five weeks today. The scars are slowly receeding. The smaller three that were part of the actual laprosocpic/robotic part of the operation are down to just little lines and dots! The big one that was used to take the kidney out is still red/reddish-pink. All the scabs are completely gone. The pain of excessive situps is slowly fading. I will have my release/up chit in hand tomorrow. It gets faxed to Edwards in short order after that.
Just something else to ponder. When the doc says I have good news and bad news doesn't just happen on TV and in the movies. That is how this all got started!
Tomorrow, staple removal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up Chit/Progress Report

The visit to the urologist was uneventful. He said the incision is doing just fine and I am waiting for him to fill out the three pages that the Air Force sent me. It is the same SF that I had for the initial physical for the job. Gotta love Uncle Sam and the endless paperwork. I guess that comparison to sitting on the porcelain throne comes to mind. The job isn't finished until the paperwork is done! Those of ou who have been in the Armed Forces will completely understand.
Now I wait to get the paperwork back. But the part that actually screwed up the day was waking up with a fever, sore throat and such. In awhile it will be Walmart brand nighttime cold/flu medicine and Powerade.
Thanks to all for the support and encouragement! It is kind of cool being a part of this blogging thing.
As soon as I get this thing to upload my photos, I will toss a few in. It doesn't seem to want mine for some reason.
To Karla, Perri and Ann, Thanks a million. Now all I have to do is twist Pinch's arm and get on the instapinch blogroll!