Remembering Those Who Die, New years Eve, December 31, 2017

As the year draws to a close, I think about the friends I lost this year.  That's another negative about growing old (I was 73 in November), your friends and relatives begin to die and you wonder when your turn will come.  Not that I'm afraid of death, I really don't fear it at all.

The first friend passed away at age 85 in January, one Lou Woods.  Lou was a far-left Green Party member, and it's amazing that we ever became friends.  I did his taxes for years, and he took a shine to me, always inviting me out to lunch.  He finally got sick and so old that he couldn't afford treating me to lunch, so I began paying for our lunches myself.  Our favorite place was a Japanese restaurant in Cupertino called Kikisushi.

Lou had a pacemaker and his kidneys were failing, and I took him to the doctor at Stanford Medical Center a couple of times.  When his doctor told him he had only a few months to live, he began cleaning out his government provided apartment in Saratoga.  I helped him.  In November 2015 I finally had to leave him alone there, dumping things into the trash receptacle outside his door.  I walked across the green lawns of the development, littered with the brown leaves of fall, wondering if I would ever see him again.  I did, as he lived through 2016,  In November 2016, I drove him to the polls to cast his ballot for Bernie.  Soon after he collapsed and was put into a hospice near Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Gatos.  I went to see him, but he was asleep and I didn't disturb him.  His daughters soon had him transferred to another hospice near Sacramento.  I learned in early January 2017 that he had passed away.  Kikisushi will never be the same to me now.

The second friend to die about a month later was Kenny Chavez, a musician and flute player with whom I practiced and gigged for around five years.   Kenny was only 68, blind in one eye, and loved beer.  When we weren't playing music in our rock band, he could be found just sitting quietly in a corner sipping a beer. He apparently suffered a massive stroke, and died in the hospital that very night. 

The third close friend who died was Gary Elmo Potts, a fellow San Jose State finance graduate from the Class of 1972.  We worked our first finance jobs together, as internal auditors for Fireman's Fund Insurance Company in San Francisco. Two young guys who liked to hang out at Henry Afrika's famous bar (now gone), and who once explored the Palace of Fine Arts in the middle of the night, dressed in suits.  I hadn't heard from Gary in quite some time, so googled him in an attempt to find his whereabouts.  The first thing that popped up on my computer screen was his obituary.  He had died suddenly about three weeks before, in May of 2017.

Death is a part of life, and I find myself thinking about it often these days.

Working Out at the Gym Alleviates My Depression

Three weeks ago I started regular exercise at the gym.  I have a personal trainer who has shown me the exercises I need to strengthen my shoulders, back, legs and core.  I do feel a lot better physically since I started.  I also notice that my chronic depression, which has been very dark and awful for some time now, has diminished noticeably.

My main motivation in starting this regimen is to get stronger so I can better play bass.  Acoustic bass is a very physical instrument, and bass guitar involves heavy amplifiers, i.e. loading and unloading them into and out of my car.

Back from Cataract Surgery: I Can SEE!

On Tuesday, January 13, I had cataract surgery on my right eye.  For the past couple of days following the surgery, I have been resting and recuperating.  I opted to have the right eye done first, as it was my worst eye, almost useless for years.  I could see out of the eye, but my vision was noticeably blurrier and darker than that of my left eye.  I relied on my left eye to get around.

I have been preparing for the surgery for several weeks, putting prescribed drops in my eye, planning which motel to stay in the night before my 6:45 AM appointment at the vision clinic.  When I found myself laying on a hospital bed that was being pushed through halls and rooms, the overhead lights whizzing by, I knew the time had finally arrived.  Then I was pushed under a white machine and suddenly felt some anxiety.  Preparation time is over, this is it!  My eye, my vision, my sight are in the hands of strangers.  Hope they know what the hell they're doing.

The doctor put drops in my eye, then put a gizmo into my eye that prevents me from blinking and closing the eye.  Intense light is then beamed into the eye; tears slide from my eye, but I can't blink or escape the light.  I see a ring of black dots as a laser is lowered onto my eye, and I hear the clack clack clack of it cutting through the cornea.  "Looks great," the doc says and my bed moves again, to a different room and machine.  Now I stare at a red dot with more clack clack clacking.  The doctor is destroying my natural lens, sucking it out somehow.  Next, he floats an artificial lens over my eyeball and somehow pokes it into place.  He closes the cornea flap and tapes gauze and an eye patch over my eye.  I'm done.  It took ten minutes, didn't hurt much at all, and doesn't hurt hardly at all, now that it's over.

The next morning I visit the doctor in his office for a followup.  The nurse takes the eye patch off.  I wait until it is all stripped away before opening my eye.  And there's the world!  I can see.  I check the difference between my right and left eyes by putting my palm over one, and then the other.  It is obvious that my right eye is now far better than my untreated left.  The right has sharper focus and white appears white, not white with a yellowish tinge, as with my left eye.

The doctor tells me the eye will get better over the next few days, as it heals.  I am thrilled!  I have no longer any need of glasses for the right eye, and I opt not to wear my glasses at all.  I can see that well.

I am impatient to have the left eye repaired next.  Due to the tax season starting, it will probably have to wait until after April 15.

Lucky October

October was an especially lucky month for me.  My long favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, won the World Series in a hard-fought, seven game matchup against a powerful team.  I interviewed for a temporary assignment as the stand-in Director of Finance for the Monterey chapter of a large, national non-profit organization.  I was the only one interviewed, and was offered the job, which I accepted. Then, one day after October ended, my youngest son was married in Corona, (Southern) California.  Three days later, the Republican wave occurred, sweeping the despised Democrats out of office all across the nation, to my great satisfaction.

The Director of Finance job is quite challenging.  It is temporary, as I am a fill-in for the vacant position until a permanent replacement can be found.  I don't accept permanent jobs, as I am supposed to be retired.  I like working during the tax season, but like sleeping in the remaining nine months of the year.  Right now I have to leave the house at 6 AM in order to arrive by 8 AM, and have been reintroduced to the joys of commuting through heavy traffic.

The job is in Monterey, California, one of my favorite towns.  It is a very scenic town on the coast, and I see ocean waves breaking on beaches as I commute to work in the morning.  Lately, traffic has been terrible due to road construction, and it takes more than an hour to get to work, and just as long to return home in the evenings.  I hope to make some extra income, as I need it for some dental bills and for a new acoustic bass amplifier that I plan to buy.

I don't know how long the job will last.  Maybe one, two or three months.  Then I'll find another one, if I so desire.  If I do good work on the current job, more will be easier to get.

My new daughter-in-law is Korean.  She was born in South Korea.  Her parents, very nice people, do not speak English with great fluency.  Her mom wore a traditional Korean dress to the wedding, and looked quite fetching in it:  a red blouse with a long black skirt.  She is anxious for the wedding to bear fruit:  she wants grandchildren.  We are on the same page.

Just Got Back From My Son's Wedding

Wifey and I were in Los Angeles for the past few days.  Our son got married on November 1, and it was a joyous and fun occasion.  I have a new daughter in law, and she is special.

Thank God I'm home.  The traffic in LA was as terrible as ever.

The Stogiemeister Felled by Flu

I started feeling ill last Thursday at work; went home and soon found myself overwhelmed by flu symptoms, evacuating all bodily fluids and toxins from my body via the usual routes.  The worst symptom of the flu, for me, is the vomiting.  I hate that.  For some reason food doesn't taste as good coming up as it did going down.  I imagine it is similar to what Obama voters are feeling today.  It felt much better to vote for the well-dressed, hip, progressive black guy than it does to actually live under his policies.

For some reason, one of my symptoms was a shooting pain at the base of my spine, which later moved around to my right hip.  This phenomenon is also reminiscent of the Obama experience, i.e. a severe pain in the ass.  So not only did I have to exit my bed every quarter hour for a bathroom trip, I got to do it in excruciating pain.

All this after having had an extra-strength flu shot back in October.  I won't complain:  flu shots have kept me flu-free since my last awful bout with the illness, back in November 2000.  Perhaps I was infected by a different strain this time.

On Friday I was better, but slept most of the day, repeating this regimen on Saturday.  Those stick on self-heating pads greatly reduced the pain in my hip.  This morning I can declare myself fully recovered.  Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Obama's America.

A Stogie Update (Personal Stuff)

French In Action
Since The Other McCain made me aware of it, I have been watching videos of the excellent French immersion series, "French In Action" (FIA) on YouTube.  Last night I completed episode 11.  There are 51, total, I think.  I listen to one or two at night just before sleep.

FIA is great ear training and builds confidence that one can actually understand spoken French!  Amazing.  I plan to take some intermediate or advanced French courses in the fall, along with continuing my studies of Spanish (grades are in, I got an A in 1-B).

Tax Season Has Started:  Now I  Can Buy Guns
Lately work opportunities for me have improved, though still quite anemic compared to those before Obama's election.  Looks like I will do some telecommuting consulting for start-up firms, and I have begun showing up at the tax office, though haven't yet had any appointments.  It is still quite early in the season and most people haven't received their W-2's, K-1's, 1099's, etc.

With increased chargeable hours, I may be able to put aside enough money to buy a Bushmaster rifle and a Glock handgun.  My 1911 Colt 45 works quite well, but the newer handguns have less kick and are therefore easier to aim during a violent confrontation.  I'll probably need around $1,000 to get the weapons I want.  I still have my two replica muzzle-loading rifles, 1855 Enfields.  I used them for reenacting as a Confederate soldier, but they are real rifles and fire real minie balls.  If you are really fast, you might be able to get off one shot every minute and a half.  It's a bitch ramming a minie ball down those rifled barrels, especially after they become somewhat fouled with spent gunpowder.  Yep, probably time to upgrade to newer technology.

Playing Bass Again
I am back with my old band and have had three practices.  The Rickenbacker bass plays like a dream.  The guys love it.

Last of the Pick: Fuyu Persimmons From Our Tree

Wifey picked the last remaining fruit from our fuyu persimmon tree today.  Since these fruits were last on the tree, they were especially large with deep color.  Fuyu persimmons are crunchy and you can eat them like an apple.  We had a bumper crop this year and gave large quantities of them to friends and family.

Here's a photo of one picked today, alongside my mouse to give it perspective.  Click on picture to see actual size.

Rainy Day

It's a rainy day and the wind has blown most of the dead leaves off of my persimmon tree, revealing a lot of unpicked fruit. I took a photo of the tree and am attempting my first post from my new iPad.

I took the picture with my iPad but can't say I am terribly impressed with the quality.  My iPhone takes much better pictures.

Wifey and I gave ourselves an early Christmas present, two new iPads.  She got the mini and I got the regular size, though I would have been just as happy with the mini:  the quality of this new product is great and it is more transportable than the larger sized iPad.  Both iPads stream videos with exceptional clarity.

I should note that wifey's major task with hers is to conquer the next level of "Angry Birds."

Personal Stuff: High School Reunion; Son's New Puppy

Last night wifey and I attended my high school reunion, Class of 1962.  You do the math.  A band comprised of some musician friends of mine played rock, and did very well (and got paid).  I danced until my legs were falling off.  Funny, after fifty years all the cliques and social strata of high school have melded into one big group of equals.  There are no longer any homecoming queens or football heroes, just one big crowd of fat people with white hair (or no hair).  Everyone was nice.  I had the youngest looking and cutest wife there; no brag, just fact.  I wore a tan suit that fit perfectly, thanks to my recent weight loss efforts.

At dinner I was seated next to "Wolfie," a man with cerebral palsy who was also afflicted with such in high school.  He asked me to cut his salad and his meat for him, as he only has one operable hand.  Glad to do it.

***

On the political front, the Real Clear Politics polls are again at a dead heat for Romney vs Obama.  Hard to believe that anyone but a small cadre of socialist-fanatics are voting for Obama.  I will be so glad when the election is over and we can all turn to other things.  On November 7, we will finally know if the polls were right and the lay of the political landscape.  Do we keep America or do we lose it to the forces of "progressivisim"?

I notice a couple more newspapers endorsed Romney today.

My eldest son and my youngest son are both here for the weekend, the latter showing off his new Pomeranian puppy.  Bogie, my dog, absolutely loves her and the feeling seems mutual as they joyously chase each other around the backyard.  Missy the cat is still surveying the situation from underneath the safety of the dining room table.

My persimmon tree is loaded with fruit.  Wifey has started picking the ripest ones.  The aroma of bacon wafts from the kitchen and it is time for my second cup of coffee.  Have a great Sunday.

"The Vision of the Anointed" and Other Stogie Stuff

The Vision of the Anointed
Upon R.S. McCain's advice to readers, I just purchased the PC Kindle version of Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed."  It looks to be a fascinating book, a peak into the assumptions and premises of liberal thought.

Sowell explains how liberals see themselves -- as morally superior and more intelligent than anyone else.  This is why they have such disdain for conservatives, assuming as they do, that their thought patterns and beliefs are the evolutionary apex of thought, analysis and understanding of the world around them.  Working under the assumption that they are just so damned smart, informed and knowledgeable, liberals automatically assume that those with different opinions are neanderthals, rednecks, pickup-driving oafs in tank tops and baseball hats.

I am looking forward to reading this book.

New iPhone 5
Yep, I got one.  This week I retired my four year old iPhone 3 for the iPhone 5.  I am not one of those cell phone aficionados who must have all the latest tweaks, gadgets and features.  However, it was time for a newer phone.  Haven't checked out all the features, but I do like the built-in digital camera (8 megapixels -- that's about as good as my actual digital camera).  Also like the apps available -- I use Loseit.com as well as a bank gadget for making deposits by iPhone, and recently added a couple of apps for Spanish language study -- dictionaries and a verb conjugator.

Personal Post: Fall Is Here; New Rickenbacker Baptized; Losing Weight

Stogie With Rickenbacker Bass Guitar

Yesterday was the first day of fall.  The temperatures are falling and there is a new chill in the air in the morning.  Our persimmon tree is loaded with fruit, which will be fully ripe sometime in November.  I love this time of year.

Yesterday, wifey and I were invited to a band party by a musician friend.  A band party is where a bunch of musicians come together to jam, even though they may never have played together before, with non-musician friends and family as the audience.  There is a lot of food and drink and conversation.

I brought my new Rickenbacker bass guitar and my Fender bass amp, and sat in with the host's personal band.  His band is quite good, very strong both vocally and instrumentally, and it was a privilege to play with them.  I was pleased with the sound of my new Ric, as you can't really tell how a new instrument will sound with a band until you play it with one.  The new Ric purrs through ballads and growls through rock, and I love the fast neck.  (Thanks again, son, for buying it for me.)

The son who bought me the Ric has also shown me a new way to take off weight (and keep it off), and it's not that hard.  He has lost 50 pounds with this technique, seeking to regain his Army weight.  It's a program called Lose It, at wwww.loseit.com.  There's also a smart phone app for it, so you can use it whether or not you are in front of your computer.

To lose weight you need a system of feedback, a way to monitor the calories you take in daily.  Once you determine the maximum number of daily calories you need, Lose It allows you to log in whatever you eat, and the program supplies the calories for hundreds of common foods, including restaurant dishes and supermarket foods.  With one of the newer smart phones, you can also read the bar code on any packaged food to determine the calories per serving, and Lose It will then log that in for you.

Lose It provides categories for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, and keeps a running total of calories consumed for the day, with a second total for calories remaining before you reach your limit.  It also provides a graph of your weight loss and predicts the date on which you will achieve your goal weight.

When you know you have to log in everything you eat, you think twice about reaching for that bag of chips, or unconsciously munching on junk food.  The program helps you to stay focused on your weight loss goal.

I have lost about 10 pounds, just getting started -- but I have dropped a waist size and look and feel better, so I know it's working.  I highly recommend this tool for those who want to take off some weight.

Glorious Fall

I love the fall season. The persimmons on my backyard tree are ripe and almost ready to pick. They need another couple of weeks or so.