The Usual Suspects

I was attacked and left barely breathing. My assailant came from out of no where and I didn’t see him. When medical professionals saw me they moved quickly. My hypoxic condition called for an immediate CT scan, blood work and bronchoscopy. Before I knew it I was in a hospital gown with family and my pastor around me. Would I make it? Was I on my way out? Soon they had placed a surgical mask on me and were wheeling me down the halls. Once we made it to the operation room, my mask came off and theirs went on. Soon the anesthesia had kicked in. Through the anesthesia I remembered struggling to breath and the nurse telling me to swallow. The end was near.

For the next two hours I babbled nonsense while Barb and her mom attended me. Despite my proclamations that I could drive home, Barb drove me home in my dazed state.

Now that I’m on my way to recovery, it’s time to identify my assailant so that appropriate action can be taken. The professionals indicate that my assailant was Aureo Basidium (Sounds foreign to me. I wonder if he’s an illegal.) and that he undoubtedly had an accomplice.

The usual suspects are presented to me.
Mon Bureau (sounds French)
Tannenbaum (German I think)
Nick Pallow (Sweedish)
Humi DeFier
Kahm Pohst
Woody Pyle

I recognized each of them and found it had to believe that one or more of them could have been an accomplice in my attack.

On a daily basis I’ve worked with Mon Bureau could he possibly have turned on me in recent days?

Nick Pallow a recent friend with whom I spend significant time. Could he have simply been gaining my trust in the months before the attack?

Humi DeFier one of Barb’s friends who initially stirred up some dust but had settled down prior to the attack after we had started serving him distilled water.

Kahm Pohst has been around for a couple of years, but we’ve never had him in the house and I’ve not spent any time with him since the weather has turned cold.

Woody Pyle has been around for years and we occasionally invite him in to share a warm fire with us. But it had been weeks prior to the attack that we’d had any contact.

Tannenbaum we invited to come live with us just after Thanksgiving. He was a welcome guest up until the day after Christmas when we kicked him out of the house. It was shortly after his departure that I was attacked. Unfortunately he was picked up for vagrancy and will probably not bee seen again nor will we have the chance to question him regarding the attack.

Aureo Basidium is most certainly the one responsible, but he could not have done it without an accomplice. He will never be caught, but if we could identify his accomplice we could keep him from another attack.

At this time there is not enough evidence to charge any of them as accomplices in the attack. From this point forward though I will be keeping a close eye on each of them and at the first indication they may have been involved I’m taking them out.

$15 Blanket

Back in 1997 we took what was our "last family vacation". This was before Emily and Andrea graduated college or became married. We spent a few days at Disney World. One of those days we spent at Epcot Center. At the end of that day we were waiting around for the final laser light show. Despite being Florida, it was getting cold. I slipped into the Mexican pavilion and purchased a $15 blanket which then all four of us huddled inside as we watched the laser light show.

During the last three weeks, this blanket has been my companion much of the time. I'm sure I looked the stereotype of a senior citizen sitting in my recliner with a blanket covering me.

Thursday we bought a $200 blanket. The thing about this blanket though is that it will only last ten days and then it's gone. Why would anyone buy a blanket that's only going to last 10 days and at the price I paid? I was told to. My pulmonologist prescribed an antibiotic that was basically a blanket to cover a multitude of possibilities.

I'm not sure anyone will really know if this $200 blanket will have done any good considering that it's probably a viral pneumonia that has plagued me. But I do know that my $15 Mexican blanket has provided me with warmth and comfort and will continue to do so long after my $200 blanket is gone.

Slow Motion

I remember as a young boy occasionally play fighting and we would go into slow motion while we continued the scene. It must have been an influence from tv. I don't imagine little girls had any such comparable experience.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been living life in slow motion. In fact much of the time as been spent in no motion. I have developed pneumonia of which the worst part is getting winded easily. The simplest of daily activities leaves me huffing and puffing to catch my breath.

I read where pneumonia can last 2-4 weeks and after two weeks I have not seen any improvement in getting winded. I continue to live life in slow motion. I'm hoping for a dramatic change one of these days. The sooner, the better.

During this time I have learned that many of those around me have also at some time struggled with pneumonia and can empathize with my plight. I in turn can now empathize with them.

Perhaps for me, this is the beginning of realizing that I am indeed getting old.

Sleeping My Way To Weight Loss: Reality

Back in October of 2007 I put forward a theory that sleeping longer would lead to loosing weight.
Link to the Original post

Well, I have had the opportunity to test the theory and....It works! Since Tuesday of this week I have been getting an extra 4 hours of sleep per day. And I have at this time lost up to 6 lbs. Amazing! Unfortunately, it puts a cramp on making a living. Lest any of you think that I was just being lazy, I am having a bout with Acute Bronchitus. (I'm sure glad I got the cute one rather than the ugly one.) The best thing for this is rest.

Okay, so maybe the loss of appetite and minimal consumption played a part in it, but I think my theory is sound provided you don't overeat.

HIGH def

Back in the 60's I remember seeing movie theater marquees lobbying against "Pay Television". I saw these and wondered "Who would pay for tv? It's free." Well, some 40 years later I'm one of those paying for TV. There was no way back then that I could imagine all the different offerings available via cable or satellite services.

Congress has mandated a move to DTV Feb. 17 2009. No longer are analog tvs being sold. Pretty much the only type of tv you can purchase is an HDTV. Now our cable and satellite services are charging more for their HDTV offerings. Somehow I'm feeling a little taken having to pay higher prices for HDTV.

Maybe we should just count it up to my old age.