Sunday, June 17, 2007

I have one lady I am caring for who is sweet and funny. She is always smiling, and laughing, although she is in chronic pain. She has a glamor shot pic of her on her wall. We talked about what she wants to do, and she said she wants to dance again. She can't right now as she is just too frail, needs a walker. The last time I saw her this past week she had gone out to lunch with her kids, she said it was a nice goodbye. I asked her is she was going somewhere, and she smiled and said yes. She said Jesus was going to come carry her up to heaven. She is doing fine, as far as I can see, and is as alert as ever, but I have heard that people sometimes know when they are going to die before anyone else does. I asked if she was going to be there when Icome back on Monday, she said she didn't know. I wonder if she will be? I guess if not, she will be busy dancing.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Seaside for the weekend

We went to seaside for the weekend for SEAPAC, a ham radio convention. It was fun, especially for PC Doc, but we all enjoyed camping. The kids saw a movie about the Columbia River at the evening presentation at the campground, which even I found interesting. The boy won a radio at the convention, a Yeasu Triband handheld, Dad was very grateful, since yon boy has no ham radio license and cannot operate said radio. He can have it when he gets his license dad says. OK then.

A couple of cuties

The Carousel at the Mall


Ok, I know it doesn't look crowded but off picture there were lots of people and this is Oregon, our beaches are wide open, it is possible to still find beaches with only one or two people on them, just not at Seaside, especially when Portland is hot.


Niece at the beach

The yard part 3

So, we are basically done with the bulk of the work, we still have a hillside to terrace, and since we started the other side yard we should finish it. It will look nice also, it looks great now. It is so nice to sit on the patio, enjoy a crackling fire in the chimnea, gaze at the green. When the sod is set and can be used, it will be nice to sit in the evening and enjoy our other side yard, we need to get seating there but that will happen. Since we have no backyard we want to make full use of the yard we do have, and this will make our resale much higher later on. Everyone wants a huge back yard especially if you have kids, but the people who built this house built it for an older couple who were pretty debilitated and had no use for a back yard. They apperantly didn't have a use for a front yard either, because they barkdusted it and put in some plants and left it at that. Out neighbors are so happy to see grass instead. As a reminder, here is where we started,





The grass on pallets, delivered at 7:54 am


The sod getting layed down
......almost done
almost......


TADA!


and the side yard

The side yard close up. We want to have a seating area here, and maybe a chiminea


And because we had so much sod, we started the other side yard, which we had not planned. It looks nice too, especially from the patio.


My son, working very hard indeed.




The side yard again






The view from the patio.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Gay Groups Decry Surgeon General Nominee



So, Bush's nominee for Surgeon General is under fire because 16 years ago he wrote an article stating that sex between gay men is not natural and carries a higher risk of injury or disease. I did not think the veracity of this fact was in question. Does this make him a homophobe or a twisted individual? If the church was debating whether to condemn or condone the use of alcohol and he wrote an article saying that alcoholism (admittedly not a lifestyle choice and notably familially linked) put one at higher risk for medical and health problems would one consider him twisted and alcoholaphobic? I do not see the difference really, and am not sure why one would draw some conclusion about his ability as a medical professional becasue he holds an accurate opinion about the medical risks carried by certain behaviors. How odd.


"Sixteen years ago, he wrote a paper for the church in which he likened the reproductive organs to male and female "pipe fittings" and argued that homosexuality is therefore biologically unnatural.
"When the complementarity of the sexes is breached, injuries and diseases may occur," Holsinger wrote, citing studies showing higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases among gay men and the risk of injury from anal sex.
Holsinger wrote the paper at a time when the church was one of numerous denominations considering a more open stance on allowing practicing homosexuals to join. It took that step in 1992, saying gays are of "sacred worth" who should be welcomed. Practicing homosexuals are still prohibited from serving in the clergy.
Gilgor, the gay rights activist, called the paper "one twisted piece of work.""

http://www.thebody.com/content/art2282.html
Just so you don't think I am making this up or pulling info out of this air, this is from a gay support website, of course things are couched cautiously (ie., "it has been reported that" ...gay men are at higher risk for alcohol abuse, drug abuse, liver cancer due to alcohol abuse, etc) but it can't escape the fact that there are health risks associated with being a gay man. No judgement being made, just that facts are facts, and people ought not be lambasted for stating the facts, just because one might not like the facts.