Friday, December 16, 2011

NOT ONE OF MY BETTER DAYS

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QUIET DAYS IN THE OLD CORRAL

The pain had me awake at 4 a.m. so it was a quick scramble to get a couple pills down.  Twenty minutes later I was OK…..for awhile.  Can’t imagine how awful it must have been for people years ago before all the pain killing meds were invented and available.

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Twinkling stars from horizon to horizon last night and oh how I love to see that.

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THERE WAS A LOT OF DONKEY DOG SMOOCHING GOING ON TODAY AGAIN

Leonard Knight was recently hospitalized and diagnosed as incapable of managing his life.  Leonard will be spending his remaining days at a nursing home in El Cajon, California.  And, just who is Leonard Knight.  Anyone who has ever been to Slab City has seen SALVATION MOUNTAIN.  Kelly and I toured through Leonard’s creation back on December 18th of 2007.  Leonard had gone into town that morning so we did not get to meet him.  Fortunately, another old timer and friend of his showed us all around.  You can see my photos of that day here at, SALVATION MOUNTAIN AND SLAB CITY.  My post for that day can be found here at, SLAB CITY...WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY.  

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MOTOR DIDN’T COME FOR A WALK WITH PHEEBS AND I BUT DID KEEP AN EYE ON US FROM ATOP HER LITTLE PERCH

Looks like some low life scumball has hacked my Facebook account.  For anyone who has me on their Facebook, do not confirm any ‘Friends’ requests from me.  I suggest you block my hacked account.  It is not me sending out those phony money schemes.  I may dump my Facebook account anyway because I don’t use it for anything other than posting my daily blogs.  Somebody said something about changing the Password  but we’ll see.  I’m not big on those social media sites to begin with whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Dinosaur Dung, or Floppy Jaws a Flappin!!  Update…. Kelly has changed my Facebook password so we’ll see if that has fixed the problem.  Despite all the Gobblygook stuff on Facebook I guess it is still best to have at least one alternate communication site at one’s disposal.

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Sure don’t know how I would get along without Kelly.  She spent hours on the computer this morning researching this Kidney Stone thing.  The general consensus among many kidney stone sufferers is that there are alternate ways to try and get rid of the stone oneself.  I have nothing to lose by trying some methods that many have had success with.  It basically involves lots of lemon juice and olive oil.  Right now as I type this at 11:30 a.m. Kelly is off to a favorite health food store in Douglas to acquire ingredients.  I also started on Milk of Magnesia this morning because those pain killing pills have a miserable little side effect.  Let’s just say my eyes are just about bulging out of my head right about now.

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Nice sunny day with milder temps but the wind sure has begun to kick up.  Bad weather west of here has caused Jeanie and Ray to delay their departure time until Monday.  They have one mountain pass to go through and don’t want to be doing that in bad weather.

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<<< THESE TWO WILL JUST NOT GIVE IT UP

Want to say thanks to everyone for your thoughts, ideas and willingness to help in any way shape or form.  We sure have a lot of best friends out here in the RVing community who we have never met.  We do have another RV Blogging couple rolling in Saturday to say Hello and meet Jeanie and Ray plus ourselves as well.  They are the folks who will be looking after things here at the Ranch when we roll out heading further west next month. 

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By the way, I have no intentions whatsoever of returning to Ontario to have this Kidney Stone problem dealt with.  Don’t know what is going to happen but I will fight that option every inch of the way.  I know the insurance company is only looking out for their bottom line and not my health condition so we may have a nasty bit of business coming up!!  As in the words of RETIRED ROD,  “As far as returning to Canada for the procedure, that's just nuts! What did you buy US insurance for?”  Well Rod, those are our feelings exactly!!

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Sun is going down so gonna wrap this day up early.  Just not feeling the best and I suspect it’s those pain pills.  Pheebs and I did manage to slip out around the Ranch to snap us a few pics for tonight’s post.  Kelly returned with a whole pile of Kidney Stone busting stuff plus a bag of fresh lemons.  Maybe tomorrow I will explain what kind of a treatment plan she has me on.  Sure got a lot of ingredients here that would not be my first choice for yumminess in the old taste test department…….  Not one of my better days, but we always have tomorrow, eh:))

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GROANER’S CORNER:((  With the help of a fertility specialist, a 65 year old woman has a baby. All her relatives come to visit and meet the newest member of their family.  When they ask to see the baby, the 65 year old mother says "not yet."
Finally they say, "When can we see the baby?"  And the mother says, "When the baby cries."  They all ask, "Why do we have to wait until the baby cries?"
The new mother says, "because I forgot where I put it."

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-Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.
-Until one has loved an Animal, their  soul remains un-awakened.
BAYFIELD BUNCH PHOTO ALBUMS https://picasaweb.google.com/117858411710794543295
The only thing better than right now  will someday be the memories of
right  now...AL.

32 comments:

  1. Al, Leonard passed away a couple/few days ago.

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  2. Hope you feel better soon and pass that monster. How do I sign up for Dinosaur Dung:)

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  3. Despite all the pain and the meds you are still able to write a great Blog post and insert humour. Good for you !!

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  4. I'm so sorry Al. I wish there were a magic pill you could take! Listen to Dr. Kelly!

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  5. REALLY, really like that b/w steering wheel picture! AND hope u are on the well road sooner rather than later.

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  6. If there were herbal ways to dissolve those stones, I would have been all over it...I hope it works, but have my doubts...If they do,then the urologists need to update their treatments!..Stay away from the heavy drugs if you can..the 800 mg of Ibuprofen (which is 4 tablets of OTC ibuprofen) may help..I was prescribed Exedrin with Codeine, which made me sick...Gosh, I feel your pain, Al..:-(

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  7. Should have mentioned this the other day but most Ureolegist recommend unsweetened Cranberry Juice for any Urinary infections and Kidney Stones. Hope you're feeling better soon.

    It's about time.

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  8. So sorry you are having these big health problems--bad anytime but worse when you are away from the familiar. Can't imagine how you managed to write such great blog posts feeling as you do.

    http://travelinglongdogs.blogspot.com/

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  9. Seems that stone is a real pain in the asparagus. Hope you conquer that mountain.

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  10. i have had three stones,7mm 6mm and a smaller 3mm in the left kidney ..its still there ,the other two were taken out.the stint is still in the from the kidney to the bladder ,but it is out on the 4th of jan..anyways a friend of mine was down with stones and an old woman of some knowledge told him to drink the juice from the pickle jar,,,ugg ,but he said it worked ,dont know if they dissolved ???but no more probs

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  11. A very interesting set of images today! Enjoyed every one.

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  12. Another one of those places only an RVer would get to go! Wonder if we will ever see it.

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  13. Al...you may not be feeling your best but your "photographer's eye" had fun today! Your photos in this blog are wonderful and "artsy"! The colours...line..perspective..love them! All the best with the lemon juice/olive oil treatment...I have done it for gallstones(& it worked)...didn't know it could be used for kidney stones.

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  14. I used stool softeners along with the milk of mag to get me out of the pain killer plug up after surgery........

    Best of wishes for the break up and passing of this stone....


    Rod

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  15. For the "other" problem caused by the pain pills...the best thing I have found is Vitafusion Fiber Gummies. It's like a little gummy candy but it is packed with fiber. Chew two or four of these everyday and they really get things moving. Taste better than chalk too! They are available at Costco and probably just about any drugstore. Good luck. Looks like Pheebs has found herself a good friend in that donkey!

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  16. Welcome to US Insurance. They just want your money, not for you to actually use it.

    Martha

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  17. Sure hope Kelly's remedies work! Cranberry juice as someone said above is good, too.

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  18. hobopals, Leonard Knight did not pass away! His caretaker, Kevin Eubank, died the day after Leonard was placed in a facility. There has been some confusion about this on the web. Kevin was a good man, by the way. Not as famous as Leonard but kind and compassionate and dedicated to helping the poor and homeless. He will be missed.

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  19. Al, your kidney stone was not a pre existing condition before you left so your insurance should pick up the costs.
    Travel insurance isn't my specialty now, but I used to sell it and know the wordings pretty good.
    Sorry to hear you are still in so much pain, I have heard lots of positive things on the holistic methods. Certainly worth a try.
    Cheers!

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  20. At this point I would be drinking lemon juice, cranberry juice, the juice from the pickle jar, and a couple of others. Urologists wouldn't be so keen on such methods because they can't get a kickback for recommending them. I myself would try rhinocerous pee before I would take a prescription drug!

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  21. Sorry for your pains Al but with your great attitude I am sure you will be just fine.

    Your photos continue to amaze me. How you can take a subject and carry it out as the theme for your post.

    That beautiful Arizona sun helps compared to the dreary days we are having here in Texas . . . but then, my thoughts went to - Yeah but I bet he could even turn these dreary days into some fantastic shots.

    Now that is funny! Your word verification for this comment was 'remedi'.

    Keep Smiling!

    Sharon

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  22. I love pickle juice...drink it when ever I get a chance...Maybe I won't have the stones.....
    As usual great pictures Al......
    Hang in there! Maybe your double on Facebook will take your kidney stones!!LOL

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  23. Sorry about your problem, Al, but you sure didn't lose your blog writing ability because of it - loved today's photos and writing - wishing you the very best in healing - take care and listen to Ms. Kelly!!!

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  24. Love your pics, and the tractors. You are a great photographer. There is no place for sand burs, especially in our plumbing. The pain can stop as quick as it started. Let's hope soon.

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  25. Wishing you a quick and speedy recovery. I've heard about the pain that comes with kidney stones. :-(

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  26. Sorry you are feeling so bad. I've ?got one of those small drain snakes that goes on my drill in the rig, want me to UPS it to the ranch? I',m sure you'll forget about the kidney pain once Kelly fires the drill up!!!!

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  27. We met "Lenny" Knight a couple of years ago. Sorry to hear that he had to move from Salvation Mountain - his life.
    We still hope your kidney problem will be solved soon. How come you have to wait that long with such pain?Isn't that considered an emergency?? Geez...those insurance companies are rascals.

    I understand you are not on J.B's ranch. Weren't you supposed to ranch-sit there or did I get that wrong?
    Hang in there, Al!

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  28. So sorry you're in so much pain. Wish I could twitch my nose and make it go away for you. But Ms. Kelly seems to be doing a pretty good job of trying to make that happen. We met Leonard two years ago and it's sad that he can no longer do what he loved so very much. Good luck with the insurance company - hang tough.

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  29. Al -- we've been off and on blogs recently, mostly off. Sorry you're hurting! Sounds like you are down in McNeal again, well within shouting distance. Sure would like to rub elbows with you one of these days before you go gallivanting off west.

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  30. Al: I am one of your blog followers and do not have one of my own...our life is boring compared to yours and Kelly's :-) Be careful with your kidney stones. My husband had stones that plugged up his plumbing; doctors kept messing with his prostrate; Jim ended up wearing a catheter and finally went to Mayo Clinic in Phoenix where the doc removed seven stones--one was 1.5" long! Take care and we wish you well..

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  31. Anonymous (Martha) said... Welcome to US Insurance. They just want your money, not for you to actually use it.

    You may have a point Martha but unfortunately it is NOT the situation that Al is facing. He is dealing with Canadian Insurance, a country that many want the US to emulate for health care insurance.

    This is what Al had to say about the personal travel insurance that he bought in Canada.
    "Had a question about our personal travel insurance. Our Canadian Health Insurance does not cover Canadians when traveling out of country so it is necessary for Canadian travelers to purchase additional and extended medical coverage for the length of time we travel. Due to age and medical problems I would venture to say that it is high insurance costs that eventually end the travels of many aging RV'ers."

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  32. Al please make sure the stone is not blocking the ureter. Herb could have lost a kidney from this condition. Some are just too big to pass. I don't know if you have had them along the way but, Herb's was his second. The first one passed, the second was just too big. It took three surgeries to get that bad boy. You DO NOT want to lose a kidney. Geez, what would we do without your amazing stories on your blog. C, H, and Boo Too

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