Adventures in Health Care

ROLLER COASTER!

Sorry about the delay in posting folks, but lots of time spent in a germ ridden hospital and this cold caught up to me - and I just sort of felt wiped today. BUT : GOOD NEWS!

Ok, a little back tracking. Remember way back on Friday when we had one doctor and a simple urinary track infection ? Then came weekend doctor and a MAJOR MYSTERY BLOOD INFECTION and possibly a heart valve involved : Two weeks in the hospital!

Well, the weekend is over and we are back to doctor #1 and we are back to the UTI and home in a couple of days.... Yeah, do yourself a favor and get sick on a Monday.

Neil is feeling much better and very much ready to come home. We both thank you all for the good thoughts and wishes....

We need some lightening up!

THE QUEEN HAS WORN THE SAME SHOES FOR 50 YEARS

Daily Koda

Adventures in Health Care

Brand new levels of how much I can dislike a situation, really.

I am sure that I have led a most charmed life to be experiencing a lengthy hospital stay for the very first time at my advanced age. They are all very nice there, its comfortable, easy to get in and out of - and I hate it as much as I have ever hated anything. Turns out, at least this hospital sort of does a bankers hours sort of thing - note to self get sick on a Monday, cause nothing happens over a weekend.....

Neil had a much better day , as I descended into the depths of a gross , messy-wet Summer cold. I took him his computer and he was lost in it for a few hours, back to old times . As much as I did not want to leave, I only stayed a few hours today - he did not need be around me in my spewing state, and I was not at ease in the yellow fabric mask ( which I went through like three ) He was doing much better, white cell count witch was at, I think 17 - was down to 11 - and 10 can pass as normal - even if they like it to be lower than that , six to 10,

A new doctor today, who seemed to shy away from our original diagnosis - more tests, not to be done till Monday, but this morning and afternoon his fever was gone - back tonight, it is a roller coaster. I want to do so much more than I can - I do not deal very well with helplessness.

I will do a better job of spreading the word, I just did not feel well at all last night. Not that there is anything anyone can do for us - it is all just a waiting game. 

I'll be there in the morning for an all day stay.

Adventures in Health Care

Neil is sick.

Not a good day, well - it is good that he is getting the help , but as of 9:30 tonight, they don't what he has, other than he was very dehydrated. All started Tuesday afternoon, we went to the Med First place that night, then he did not feel well yesterday, but our doctor was not in the office, so we waited till today and when we went in - he sent us straight to the hospital.

I will update on facebook and on here when I can.

 When they dont know what you have you get a really nice private room and bath. This is his view.

LOVE

 

OK, a whole lot happened on this front today, so lets dive right in.

 From the AP : A federal judge has struck down Indiana's ban on gay marriage, calling it unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Richard Young ruled Wednesday that the state's ban violates the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection clause in a mixed ruling involving lawsuits from several gay couples. It wasn't immediately clear whether the ruling means same-sex marriages can begin in the state. The Indiana attorney general's office says it will appeal. Federal courts across the country have struck down gay marriage bans recently, but many of those rulings are on hold pending appeal. Attorneys on both sides of the issue expect the matter to eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court. It also wasn't immediately clear what impact Wednesday's ruling might have on a faltering movement to add a gay marriage ban into the Indiana Constitution.

From the AP A federal appeals court for the first time says a state cannot prevent gay people from getting married. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver found that Utah's ban on same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. The judges upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the ban in December. They immediately put their ruling on holding so it could be appealed. The case has been closely watched because it represents the first ruling on gay marriage at the appellate level since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act in June 2013. The ruling likely will be appealed to the Supreme Court. The panel has not yet ruled on a similar ban in Oklahoma.

AND , because of this some county clerks in COLORADO are using this ruling to start issuing marriage licenses.

AND!

In a much more personal and FUN topic, my very good pals MARK AND BOB 

GOT MARRIED THIS MORNING!

The boys are up visiting Mark's sister and her wife in scenic Ithaca, New York, for his nephew's high school graduation . I was so happy to be included. Neil could not make it ....

They got married at the top floor of the Herbert F. Johnson Art Museum on Cornell campus. The I.M. Pei designed building is a beautiful place for a wedding - BUT, it is walls of glass that played havoc with my photos - all back lit and such. SO, not that many of my pics are any good. This is the view over Cornel.

This is the view far above Cayuga's waters.

Then we all went for a lovely lunch.

So very nice to see my pals and be included in their very special day

Awful

This story made all the national press last week when a big truck crashed into a building in Ithaca, killing someone in the ground floor bar. As I was coming home today, I came down a big hill and there is was. 

Story from USA Today.

Neil

Sigh - We have some sort of totally toxic stomach flu sort of thing in our house , Neil is awfully sick. Went to the local Med-First thing last night, and going to our regular doctor tomorrow... good thoughts sent our way would be appreciated.

The Case Against 8 Official Trailer (2014) Documentary, Proposition 8 HD

 So meant to right about this new documentary Sunday night , best laid plans. If you have HBO / HBO TO GO or what ever its called watch. It is not perfect, and some things are left out in order to make it a better story,but it is a great slice of history.

All day play date

We had next door's Fletcher all day today.... Koda was worn out by the time he went home

Salted Caramel Macarons

TIME FLIES

THIRTY THINGS YOU WILL NEVER SEE IN ATHENS, Ga. AGAIN

Everyday is like Sunday..

Koda and I dropped Neil off at St. Johns -

He has to walk around and pee on stuff anytime we go over there....

Just an off the charts beautiful day in bustling down town Honeoye Falls

I came home and finished off my little pies for a bake sale to benefit the youths of the church in something they are doing, really any excuse to make tiny pies. So easy, and people just freak out - the Key Limes are just the back of the bottle of key lime juice with the zest of one lime added - boom - bake for 12 -14 min and cool over night. Top with cool whip ( real whip cream suffers something terrible from any heat at all, and it was not at all hot today.

The chocolate is my go to Martha Stewart chocolate meringue pie recipe that I have posted before. Just spoon into the store bought tart shells and again, cool over night. Topped with these perfect local strawberries , just for color

Came home and got the entire lawn mowed before the game....

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ! Close

With less than a minute left to go American soccer was poised to have its very own Lake Placid moment... USA! USA! US.... not so much. 

For the regulation 90 min, in the dense jungle heat and humidity, the US led Portugal 2-1. Five minutes added - and with just a few seconds left, Mendon joining all of America in cheering, Portugal's 80 million dollar man, Ronaldo set up his team mate Silvestre Varela scoring on the very last kick of the game. We tied.... and now face Germany on Thursday in a must win game. Germany took Portugal down 4-0.
Yes! Futbol / Soccer here on the k+b, the land of SEC Football and AAA Baseball - but it is just so much fun to watch. It is also just fantastic that everyone can root for the same team. I bet you this is the last non prime time major network World Cup - even if it will be in sleezy Russia in four years. Everyone is watching this time....

HAPPY SOLSTICE !

Everyone jumps on my bandwagon and is a pagan for a day twice a year .....

 It could not have been a more lovely day, coming from a crisp cool starlight night. AC off windows open to the fresh air. Bright and sunny today for the longest day of the year, not too warm at all.....

 The perfect start to Summer!

..

DINNER

Slab o Ribs

Beans

Salad

I am just not a big fan of spare ribs - like artichokes, its just too much work for too little food! But, at least I found a recipe that works ... I've ruined many a rack. It is ALTON BROWN's recipe - just put on the grill when they come out of the oven instead of the broiler.... 

 Koda Helped

Why there will always be an England .....

SPAIN GETS A NEW KING

And  you would think he was just elected the head of the local Lions Club .... ( and he shaved his most hunky beard ) ALSO, they chose to do this the day after , or so, that reigning world champs , the Spanish football team is totally eliminated from the World Cup. 

SEE THE LOW KEY EVENT HERE

Daily Koda

In his barking spot on the screened porch. Leaf, Squirrel, Fed-Ex , Al Qaeda - all pretty much treated the same .....

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches - Everyday Food with Sarah Carey

This is pretty much just slow cooker bbq - but with the added spice at the start AND the braising in cider vinegar - I am going to try this one.....

Dinner

 Shocker, but Neil had a meeting tonight, so he just picked up Chinese on the way home. I did not take any photos of the Chinese food, so just enjoy these shoes from Charlotte Olympia Fall 2014 " Shanghai Express " Collection .  H/t TLo !

GLORY GLORY

Seen this afternoon at the LOWE'S in Macedon, New York.

Dana told me tonight that it is 72 days till kick off -

A Tale of Two Marches ....

TODAY IS THE DAY !

The gays are going down.

Spent my morning watching the National Organization's for Marriage's MUCH ballyhooed and promoted MARCH ON WASHINGTON! ALL the powers that be were behind this one, Newscorp and the Catholic Church - and oddly, the Moonies.  The Moonie owned Washington Times had a huge multi page pull out on the march just this week - Tens of thousands, if not hundred of thousands of folks are on the way......

Yeah, not so much ...

 Even the paper that backed it, The Washington Times, said " Hundreds "were there.  So again - THE HOLY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH promoted this with all sorts of Arch and normal Bishops on the quickly slapped together stage, talking about abortion ( really, most of this rally was pro life....WHEN it was in English ). 

In October of 2009 Cleve Jones, one wonderful guy, decided that we - the gays - ought to march on Washington ourselves FOR marriage equality and THIS is what showed up.

Long time readers will remember that NEIL played a big part in this rally, there to represent the Episcopal Church - at least the gay part of it, and we got to be back stage and met famous folks!

HERE drift back in time and see what a fun day we had!

B-52's Give me back my man

Vacation in Athens is calling me ...

From the website PITCHFORK : R.E.M. were a very different band when nobody was looking. During their early years on I.R.S. Records, they were hardworking and mysterious, touring constantly and writing songs that glanced toward subjects but didn't walk right up to them. After the quartet signed with Warner Bros., they would eventually embrace the role of Best Band in the World—an aspiration that's toppled nearly every other band that has aimed for it. When drummer Bill Berry left the group, R.E.M. became the band trying to find its way forward, then the band that bowed out rather than rethought or scaled back their operations.

Or, at least that’s how the story played out on their albums; on their B-sides, R.E.M. ranged toward the strange, the one-off, the experimental, the goofy. That sense of play makes their recent, massive rarities dump via iTunes—160-plus tracks—something of a revelation, despite coming a good three years after their break-up. The two sets are divided by record label. Complete Rarities: I.R.S. 1982-1987 gathers odds and ends from 1987’s Dead Letter Office, 1997’s In the Attic, plus the non-album tracks from the 1988 retrospective Eponymous. The more substantial Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988-2011 compiles 23 years’ worth of major-label singles, promo items, remixes, live cuts, and alternate takes. If the recent Unplugged collection paints them as alt-rock pros who seeded some ambitious songcraft into the charts, then these two rarities comps prove that R.E.M. were kinda weirdos at heart.

10 tracks that may not be their best or best-known moments, but reveal facets of the band that have been forgotten or overlooked over the years.

Susan Lovell : PUT YOUR ARMS IN THE AIR !

Living is easy ....

The warmest day of 2014 so far - 90 +.

 Took Neil to the train station ( an adventure in itself ) came home and Koda and I hit the swimming hole!

 Big thunder-boomers tonight, and starting to cool down now.

OK Go - The Writing's On the Wall - Official Video

Because all the cool kids are posting it, and these boys are way adorable.

Dinner

Salmon 

w/ Sorrel Chutney

Mixed Rice

Peas -n- Carrots

NOT my prettiest plate, BUT did not have to leave the house to make it, always a plus!

United States, World. World, United States....

For what ever reason, and this is a first, I am really enjoying watching the World Cup . ( I almost typed Soccer ) I read a lot of UK newspapers and sites, so that got me going with the England team ( who lost ) and them today, I watched IRAN play Nigeria - yeah, mostly for the Iranian team, but still ...

So late this afternoon when the UNITED STATES played Ghana I was all fired up - AND for only the second time in US FIFA history, we won our first match, being the Ghananians ( not a clue ) 2 -1.

US FAN REACTION

Smalltown Boy Reprise 2014

Thirty years ago, I guess today, this song came out . More than a little bit amazing to think of all the changes in that quick as a wink amount of time.... ORIGINAL SONG

Dinner

Roasted Thai Marinated Pork Loin *

Roasted New Potatoes

Roasted Beets 

Seasoned Collard Greens 

Make your own pan night, I really like the flavor of both potatoes and beets when just roasted flat, not in a foil pouch or covered, the little overly caramelized bits are wonderful. These were big beats, all this is only three roots, and I should have cut them into a bit smaller pieces to roast at the same time as the potatoes.

Just make the sheet of foil a little to long, and make a little wall in the middle, works just fine....

* Lime Juice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, olive oil, salt/pepper  - also a little onion and fennel, just because I had half a piece of each ... done for about 8 hours.. was really good.

Pay no mind to the calendar

FINALLY

Middle of June and I finally got some things into pots on the steps this afternoon. I bought the plants a while back, but have either been busy or it has been raining....

Goat's Cheese, Pistachio & Prune Cake - The Little Paris Kitchen: Cookin...

MOVIE DAY

Grey and chilly up here today, really only one thing to do

X-MEN : Days of Future.

Finally got around to seeing it, it was a busy couple of weeks. I was a massive fan boy back in '81 when the comic came out, and really, this was one of my favorite story lines, with John Byrne being close to my, and everyone else , comic artist... so I went into this one a little suspicious of what would happen . 

Not too, its just a whole different universe, which is perfectly fine, go , its pop corny. No real depth of Comic Cannon needed - The Wolverine and Mystique show.. I can think of worse.

# .... 6 was teased at the end of this one.. but with what age of X-Men ?

Dinner

Sylvia Plath and Fish Tacos - no poetic license taken ...

We were home early...

( but yummy fish tacos )

GOOD NEIGHBOURS , eh ?

I knew this was coming down the pike, just the date slipped up on me - not in the car enough to get with my CBC. This , via JMG  : Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is going back to Queen's Park with a majority government after Thursday night's stunning election win. After 40 days on the campaign trail, Wynne ran away with a victory and enough seats to form a majority government. Taking to the stage just after 11 p.m. to her campaign theme song, Katy Perry's "Roar," Wynne called the vote a "strong mandate." "You voted for jobs, you voted for growth, you voted to build Ontario up," Wynne said in her victory speech at the Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto. "We're not going to leave anyone behind." Speaking directly to voters, Wynne promised to respect them. "You have put your trust in us and we will not let you down," Wynne said. "I will work every day to earn and keep the confidence of the people of Ontario." Wynne - the province's first openly gay premier - thanked her wife Jane Rounthwaite who joined her on stage to raise their hands together in victory. The vote is another milestone - it marks the first time the province has elected a female leader to the premier's job.

Sky is Fallen ....

What, two days ago when the universe ended as the United States embassy in Israel flew a rainbow flag for Tel Aviv pride week ? Hundreds of comments on their facebook page, all full of end times, gloom and doom - Obama is the antichrist, the usual usual.

The UK joined in the party yesterday, going much more bold than just the flag. Fun pics of British staffers in the parade, having a wonderful time. Even changing the Facebook cover pic thing to a rainbow Union Jack.....

Total crickets from the peanut gallery - right now there are 5 comments, all saying the same thing, WHAT A FUN PARTY, sorry I missed it. Why, there will always be an England ......

SO a tip of the k+b hat to our UK cousins with a little non hooligan football songing for their team in Brazil.

THE FIVE GREATEST ENGLAND FOOTBALL SONGS , EVE

( its all about the New Order )