Just when I think I'm done, another phone call on my cell tells me I forgot to notify someone else of our new phone number. I'm pretty sure I have the long lasting flu bug that's been going around. Our daughter caught it over a month ago and she's still coughing.
@Bob Heine - Good to hear you're doing OK.
Thought about you the other day. My BIL is just starting ADT and, soon, EBRT therapy for prostate cancer. He's 88 but in good shape otherwise. Doctors thought treatment was a good idea.
Take care, friend.
Roger, I explored the options and chose the surgical removal of the prostate and nearby lymph nodes. Turned out the cancer had already spread to my pelvic bone so I had the focused X-ray treatment. PSA test indicated I still had some prostate cancer in me so I'm on the ADT regimen. My PSA results are now almost 0.0 but they are continuing the treatment. I've been getting Lupron injections every three months since September 2023 and every day I take 750mg of Zytega (down from 1,000mg) and 5mg of Prednisone twice daily. The list of side effects is longer than my arm and explain all the weird things happening to me. I guess it's better than dead. I can't get a treatment end date out of the oncologist but I understand it's two to three years of ADT.
Bob, I don't know how you so much done. Totally jealous.
Kirk, compared to my younger years it feels like I get nothing done. I think some of my activity is my squirrel brain snatching up nuts and moving them from one hiding place to another.
So, let me get this right, a 80+ year old, one arm guy, in Florida, in the attic, with a head cold, doing wiring-WOW, I am such an underachiever!
Get over the cold Bob and get out of the attic, don't you have minions for that?
Joel, when you put it that way, it sounds pretty bad. My biggest challenge is drilling holes in top plates without arousing suspicion from SWMBO. I tell her it's rats in the attic so I have an excuse to go back up there to set out a rat poison buffet.
It's official, you're a girl.
Kay, I'm sure I've been a girl for a long time.
Bummer about the head cold this late in Spring. I would of took it as Sinus headache is coming if I was dealing with a head cold around this time.
I understand being distracted these days. I try to keep on task but with so much going on I usually end up working on several projects at once. Specially if I'm working on something and then have to wait for something to cure or need something I don't currently have, then I stop working on that project and move on to the next one. Which ends up leaving a bunch of unfinished projects on my list.
The watched thread list under the forum tab keeps me informed on what's new these days. Only thing new on my thread is camaro got it's stripes painted, weather, and mowers.
Cody, other than a couple of episodes of body aches, this cold (or flu) is just an annoyance. I'm already so weak from the hormone and steroid drugs the coughing and runny nose is a distraction. Every time I start the simplest project I break out in a sweat and I have snotsicles hanging from my nose.
Bob, sorry to hear about your cold issues. Darned things anyhow.
Since I've been at the same company for forty years now, I just got a booklet of things to pick from... A trip of a lifetime... Two nights in Paris, a train ride to London, two nights there... Sounds great. I've always wanted to go to see Paris. I've wanted to go there since ninth grade, when I took a year of the French language....
J'ai habit eaus etatunis. ( I live in the United States).
Quel age a vous? (How old are you? )
Ou way le VC? ( Where the heck is the bathroom???). (Water closet)
I know I'm murdering my spelling, but sheesh, I can still somewhat understand at least SOME French... It's been some forty years, since my studies...
Rick, I am a recovered travel addict. The cure is old age and airport nightmare stories. I would jump at the chance to travel to Paris and London. I would even find a way to extend the trip until the credit card stops me.
My trip of a lifetime is not likely to happen... Breakfast is included... Nothing for dinner. If we wanted to see the Louvre, the Mona Lisa, what would that cost?? The Eiffel Tower, what's the cost for admission? An evening meal in a 4 star hotel, can we afford that? Two nights in Paris? Is that enough time to see everything?? Paris is huge and lots to offer. Same with London. We'd stay at the London Tower Hotel. A 4 star hotel... Lots to see in both cities... I don't think we could do justice with everything we'd like to see.
Another option is a pretty nice garden tractor. It's a Cub Cadet XT1 LT46. A 22 HP Kohler engine with 46" deck. The only thing I might have to buy is oil and gas... As compared to a trip to Europe... I really like the looks of the lawnmower.......
Oh
Rick, you could spend a year in either city and still not do justice to everything they have to offer. If you were to eat three meals a day, each in a different restaurant it would take you 40 years to have one meal in every restaurant in Paris (there are about 44,000).
If breakfast is included with your Hotel, stuff some croissants in your pockets, wrap the butter and jam packets in a couple of paper napkin and you're well on your way to a free lunch. If that doesn't appeal to you, a grocery store visit to buy some wonderful cheese or sliced meat and a baguette and then sit in a park to eat and do some people watching is a bargain. If French markets are anything like English markets, a small order of sliced meat or cheese includes a free sample or three.
While you're enjoying some free sightseeing, ask a local about inexpensive but wonderful places to eat and you can avoid the mortgage payment dinner at the hotel. Some of the best meals I've eaten overseas were at local dives that served fantastic meals at reasonable prices. The people in those places also tend to be friendly and happy to suggest free or cheap places you must see while in the city.
Avoid the expensive tourist traps and visit the free attractions in Paris and London. You can visit Notre Dame cathedral and the British Museum for free. Here's some other suggestions.
That garden tractor sounds appealing but I doubt it will provide more than lawnmower memories. Two rooms at the British Museum will provide an overload of memories (the British Empire was the finest antiquities looter in the world in its heyday).
My family is talking about taking a trip to England, Ireland, and Scotland next year. my wife and her mother are obsessed with the royalty over there, me personally I'm not into the royalty, but I'd like to see some of the sites that was in the history books. I need to study up on that area and decide what exactly do I want to see.
But first, there's a trip to Boston coming up so I need to brush up on my list of things to see and eat,,,,,I mean things to do!
Cody, we've never made it to Ireland but we've made several trips to England and one memorable two-week 2,600 mile drive around a bit of Scotland. If you like a bit of history, England has a ton. My favorite was the Mary Rose exhibit in Portsmouth on the sothern coast of England. The Mary Rose was Henry VIII's flagship for 34 years and it sank just beyond the harbor in the Solent. Many salvage attempts were made but the most recent attempt culminated in 1982. We saw it in 1993 and again in 1996, when they were still hosing the timbers down with a constant spray of antifreeze. It is now in an upright position and there are rooms full of artifacts found perfectly preserved in the mud.
Cody, some of the worst roads I've ever driven on...stayed in a hotel on the harbor, straight across from the arch.
Northeast was no good for me in regards to food, I'm allergic to shellfish.
Marc, one of the many things I have happily forgotten after almost 50 years living in Florida is the condition of the roads in the Northeast. We had annual car inspections in New York and even though not a required item, I always had the alignment checked at the same time and more often than not the front end needed to be un-tweaked.
It turns out I have no food alergies but everything I eat makes me gain weight. There is one exception, I never gain weight when I have Air Pudding with Wind Dip for dessert.
we have an Air BnB reserved outside of Boston since we also plan to visit Salem.
Luckily I’m not allergic to shellfish and enjoy shellfish so I should have several things to try in Boston.
Oh and you been to Louisiana? Their roads used to be bad.
Cody, it's been a long time since I traveled on Louisiana roads. I do recall Bourbon Street being hard to stroll down without wobbling. I ran out of bars to test oysters on the half shell in. I had hoped one would be best but I would need to re-sample a whole lot more times to make an educated recommendation. If it's a platter of oysters on the half shell on Bourbon Street, it was damned good.
They still are.
Dan, I suspect they changed their last names but isn't Louisiana run by a descendent or relative of the Long family?
Les VC, ils sont souterraine.
@Squankum, sometimes those places are mistaken for basement restaurants.
This is the most GJ thing I shall read all month!
Paris and London vs new mower is always a GJ conundrum.
When tractor shopping, get the fab deck with the three blades. The stamped 2 blade deck goes south too soon. Guess how I know.
Kay, I've been told I have too many toys so I pay someone to drive a mower around my yards. The stress from stamping a deck out of a sheet of steel seems like a design
compromise failure waiting to happen.
And remember, if she does drag you to another country on vacation, take some WD-40! You never know...
@Squankum, I never understood the Windex obsession the father of the bride in
My Big Fat Greek Wedding had. I'm way more obsessed with WD-40.
Also a man should never leave home without duct tape , specially if you are going to fly
!
@gman007, so true. But do leave the sticky aluminum tape at home and save it for the duct sealing jobs.
Great idea! I'm pretty sure my hard-sided suitcase might need some WD on the hinges by now.... I travel so often, you know... Thing is, it's been so long since I've seen my suitcase, I wonder what color it is. I seem to remember that it's dark blue. But it has plenty of room for an extra pair of socks. The free trip is a starting point. We can add more hard-earned money to it and stay longer. I wonder how long the line of people would be to get into the Eiffel Tower. I'd hate to spend much of my limited time there, waiting in line.... It certainly would be a chance of a lifetime to go there. I'd need to take a refresher course on the French language before we go,. Don't think that would be absolutely necessary, but it would be pretty cool if I can speak in their native tongue, even for a few minutes...
Rick, I did so much traveling in the '80s-'90s I gave up checked bags. I had everything I needed in a carry-on bag and a laptop shoulder bag for the round-the-world trip with a two-week stop in India. Whenever a hotel stay was more than one night, I had my shirts, socks and underwear laundered at the hotel. When I left DC to spend a week at home, I dropped off all the clothes (except what I was wearing) at the cleaners on the way to the airport. When I returned with my near-empty carry-on, all the clothes from the cleaners went in.
Actually no, l've mostly travelled West. I've never been out of the Country unless you would count the time Dad took us up to the World's Fair in Canada in 1967.. I was two years old at the time. I still remember some parts of that trip. I did, however go on a trip, for a class, through Sandvik Coromant, the cutting tool folks. We ended up in New Jersey at the Liberty airport. Me and my boss ( the boss and I)...I need to work on my grammar... Were treated like royalty.... As soon as we landed, and started walking through the airport, there was a man in a black suit, waiting for us with cardboard sign with the bosses name on it. He took our luggage and told us to follow him to the black, shiny Lincoln Town Car. That was an experience in itself... We stayed in the town, called Paramus, NJ. Our class at Sandvik was not far away, but a really nice van ride to get to class every day. I can't say enough about the folks at Sandvik. If you look at my icon pic, I'm wearing the hat from Sandvik, that they gave to me. That was an incredible class to learn how to program hard metals in NX. The whole trip was awesome. The whole experience was out of this world. I didn't get to see New York City, as much as I wanted to, but I did see the Statue of Liberty through the airplane window, both coming in and going out from the airport.
Rick, I think your memories of childhood travels makes my case. Take the trip and control expenses and your memory bank will be full,
As I was out there, I had just machined a rock drill for them on my VTL. A gigantic mushroom shaped thing. I asked the folks there, but they didn't have a lot to say about that project, but thanked me many times for my efforts...
Rick, hard work being recognized is a pretty good thing these days.
I have the perfect suitcase for the trip.
It was my grandfather's. He, my grandmother and the family traveled the world in 1948.
Leonard, be careful opening that. A lot of precious memories could be spilled.
Bob:
Catching up on your thread (2 hours+):
Congratulations, Happy
(fill in the blanks), condolences, hope you've got
(fill in the blanks) solved, "I've had
(fill in the blanks) happen to me at least three times!"
I scan the posts for at least a half dozen threads, copy to quote and then never find the time to actually post something to comment on myself.
Rick:
Skip Paris, skip a new Cub Cadet (MTD stands for "More Trash Daily) and find a restored International Harvester built Cub, no later than a 1981 12 or 14 horse.. Will outlast you and work like a beaten mule
..
Gerry, thanks for stopping by and for all the time you spent catching up. I'm in catch-up mode as well.
If Rick skips the Cub Cadet he's turning down his ILO (In Lieu Of) award. I think his company's offer is limited to a list of items and he needs to choose one.
There you go... Looks like it's pretty well built. I've only been on an airplane a few times, but prefer a carry-on suitcase. When I went to New Jersey, I borrowed my son's back pack, thinking that it would be ideal luggage. I was stopped, pulled over to the side, and searched from top to bottom in both airports in both directions... The only thing they confiscated was a small bottle water, gifted to to me by Sandvik....
Rick, I've never used a backpack but it think they are more suspicious looking than a rolling carry-on. Besides, the wheeled carry-on is less of a strain on your back (and you can stack stuff on top, strapped to the handle.
