6th treatment

Sorry for the delay in this post. Some jerk hacked into our blogs and it took Tom a bit to get us all back up and running. Why the hell would somebody do that? Anyway, this new setup will probably correct the commenting problem we’ve had in the past.

Joey’s 6th treatment was not his favorite. He was feeling poorly soon after the treatment and for a few more days than usual. I guess there’s a cumulative affect. Either that or he wasn’t complaining enough so they gave him a booster batch. Good thing it starts after the halfway point or people might get too discouraged to run it to it’s completion. Another new side affect is a numbness in his fingers which makes it fun opening bottles. And a closer haircut. What we believe is going to happen is that he has two more treatments and then a PET scan to assess the status and then either two or four more treatments depending on what the scan shows.

Bream update. You may recall I mentioned that the bream were banging the underside of the lily pads to knock the food pellets into the water. Well that was true but upon closer observation I learned something even more interesting. Any fisherman who has been around pads knows that you hear bream popping in the pads quite loudly. Turns out they actually tear through the pads to get at stuff sitting on top of the pad. They actually tear holes in the pads so the popping sound I’ve always heard is them tearing the pads. I’m impressed that they can actually determine that something is sitting on the pad and then even more impressed that they have a system for getting at it.

And by the way, I think we have bears roaming around at night. I’ve seen signs for the past month and someone about a mile away reported that one of her pot belly pigs had been eaten by a bear recently. This morning sure enough there were bear tracks in the garden and up on the road. From the tracks it looks like one big bear and at least one cub. Sure hope they don’t start causing trouble. That could get old quickly.

So far so good on the garden. I have really put in the hours moving topsoil from an old load George had bought years back. By my reckoning, I’ve moved about 10 yards and raised the garden level about 6-10â€. Between that and cutting and chopping about that much new mulch, I’m fairly well over the hard part and now watching to see if the new crop appreciates the effort. Some critter eats leaves a pin hole at a time until eventually each leaf looks like lace. I’ve sprayed every known chemical and so far the bug is the winner. I found an old powder in my stock called Sevin powder. It’s probably outlawed now so I’m hoping this one will sneak up on them. Maybe this cool weather will slow down the gnawing. The stuff that’s in now includes: tomatoes, peppers; butternut. acorn and zucchini squash; cucumbers; swiss chard, 3 kinds of cabbage including red cabbage; broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beets, and 2 kinds of spinach; celery and 2 kinds of lettuce. Some of the winter stuff is still on the porch in pots waiting for new leaves and cooler weather and some are seeds just planted and not yet germinated. If it all follows the master plan, there should be plenty to pick starting early Nov.

Next week is one of my annual batchelor weeks. Nancy takes her sabbatical to Utah. She has an annual eye checkup at the Moran Eye Institute and then fills the rest of the time with bridge games, quilt club meetings and miscellaneous visiting, shopping, and just enjoying the cool weather. Me, on the other hand, will quit worrying about things like messing up the floor. eating on schedule and shaving.

Politics
Wonder how long before Biden has a health crisis and drops out of the race? I’m thinking early October. I cracked up when in his last speech he related how FDR went directly to the people during the great depression using television. Hope the 4 people in the world who had TV back then were tuned in.

Watch Movie Online The Little Stranger (2018)

The Little Stranger (2018)

Released August, 08 2018

Director : Lenny Abrahamson.

Cast : Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, Charlotte Rampling, Kate Phillips, Josh Dylan, Lorne MacFadyen, Tim Plester, Darren Kent, Liv Hill.

Genre : Mystery, Drama, Horror.

Duration : 1 hours 14 minutes

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Synopsis :

Movie ‘The Little Stranger’ was released in August 21, 2018 in genre Mystery. Lenny Abrahamson was directed this movie and starring by Domhnall Gleeson. This movie tell story about In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house is now in decline. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life?

Watch and Download Movie The Crescent (2018)

The Crescent (2018)

Released August, 08 2018

Director : Seth A. Smith.

Cast : Andrew Gillis.

Genre : Mystery, Horror.

Duration : 1 hours 39 minutes

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Synopsis :

‘The Crescent’ is a movie genre Mystery, was released in August 10, 2018. Seth A. Smith was directed this movie and starring by Andrew Gillis. This movie tell story about After an unexpected death in the family, a mother and son struggle to find spiritual healing at a beachfront summer home.

lake talk

The lake is perfect. It’s a bit higher than normal, clear, and just the right temperature for swimming. It’s back where you can put a drink on the dock and reach it from the lake. Doesn’t get much better than that. The bass fishing could be better but it will improve in a couple of months when the water temperature gets below 80 again. I love it now that when I work myself into a real sweat in the garden or the jungle, I can just walk to the lake and jump in. And this time of year I have about an hour to fish between eating dinner and it getting dark. Wonder what the rich folk are doing.

And the lake seems to be undergoing another change. We have always had lily pads at various locations around the lake and fairly close to shore. They seem to do well in 8-10′ of water. By Florida standards our lake is â€œdeepâ€; that means more than 10′. Prior to the low water period of the past year, the lake was generally 15′-20′ deep so the lily pads more or less hugged the shoreline. What I notice now is that water lilies are springing up in the center of the lake – not in profusion but enough to notice. I have commented how clear the water had gotten and my guess is that the combination of lower level and clearer water meant that the lilies had enough light to actually grab a foothold in the deeper water. It will be interesting to see if they die off with the higher water or if they gained enough of a start to proliferate.

So it’s mid Sept which is about the time the National Hurricane Center comes out with a new forecast saying that we might not have as many storms as they forecast at the beginning of the season. The scientists will say the decrease is due to Global warming – that would be the same scientists who predicted more storms due to Global warming. They’ll be so bold as to say that the cooler water temps in the Atlantic are also do to global warming. Something like melting ice in the polar regions cools the south Atlantic. Global warming is perfect because no matter what happens it gets the blame and most people will believe it.

So far so good on the fall garden. It’s definitely buggier and I probably need a bio hazard suit with all the spraying I’m doing but I’ve only lost about 10%. That sounds like a lot but I overplant by about 30% to let nature take it’s share.
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We had a meeting of the homeowners association – that would be George, May, and me. All of the protest problems at the Anthony neighborhood made us conclude that we needed to see exactly how we were set up to deal with protesters and, for that matter, all the normal home owner association concerns. Clearly you need some rules:

1. Paint and color – you can paint anytime you want; any color you want. or not at all if that suits you.

2. Plants, lawns and landscaping – you can plant whatever you want or let nature take it’s course.

3. Burning – you can burn your household and yard trash whenever you want. If you burn down one of our houses, you have to pay for that.

4. Flags – You can put up whatever kind of flag you want just so long as the rest of us don’t have to see it.

5. Protesters – you can shoot them if you want but have to be sure you are aiming away from one of the neighborhood houses.

6. Boats and trailers – you can have as many as you want and put them wherever you want on your own property.

7. Clotheslines – not a problem, hang away.

8. dogs and cats – as many as you want but if they get onto a neighbor’s property, they are fair game. If you shoot them, you have to aim away from the neighbors house.
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Politics –
Here’s an interesting thing to consider. If McCain-Palin wins, about half the dem’s will call it racism and the other half will blame the party for not nominating Clinton. And of course all the riff raff from the boonies will have gotten it wrong again. What the networks need to do is fire all the NY based anchors and hire some real people who will be able to accurately report to the people what’s going on. It cracked me up the other night when Greta Van Sustern was interviewing Todd – first dude – Palin and asked him where he was when he heard his wife was being considered for the Veep spot. He was working second shift on an oil rig on the north slope. A real guy. The elitist lib’s just have no way to deal with running against real people. They need to consult with Barbara Streisand or Brad Pitt to get some new ideas.

All about Bream

The amazing thing that has changed since the water in the lake came back to normal is the size and quantity of bream, AKA bluegill, living around the dock. These are the kind of bream that you spot underwater and say â€œthat can’t be a bream, they don’t get that bigâ€. My newest form of relaxation is sitting on the dock and feeding the fish a dozen or so pellets at a time. The speed and ferocity with which they attack the food is mind boggling. I also learned something I thought was quite interesting. Right off the dock, maybe 6-8′, is a bed of lily pads. The other day when I was pitching out the pellets, a few landed on top of a pad. After the fish had eaten all the floating pellets and I had quit tossing out more, a couple of them starting popping the pad where the feed sat. Each time they popped the bottom of the pad the pellet moved. It was quite a distinct sound and the pad flexed exactly where the fish hit. After a few hits, the pellet fell into the water and was quickly gobbled up. So I pitched a couple more onto pads and sure enough the bream worked the pad until the pellet ended up in the lake. I was amazed they could even see the pellet through the rather thick pad and more amazed at the persistence they showed in working it to the edge and down the hatch.

So I’m restarting the garden. Call me the eternal optimist but I’m starting this at the height of storm season having just lost a complete garden two weeks ago to Fay. The other danger to starting one at this time is the possibility of an early frost. I’m timing it such that any frost prior to mid December could hurt and a frost before Thanksgiving would be a disaster. So I’m really playing roulette with mom nature. The main reason I’m going at it is to try some new bug control stuff I bought. I mentioned earlier that the garden eating critters are going at it full time so I have armed myself with a totally different tack. The diazanon and malathion didn’t get the job done so I’ve crossed over to oil and soap based prescriptions. I liken this to the war in Iraq. Originally they went in with the heavy duty, conventional stuff but that just didn’t get it for the terrorist groups. The army figured out that going at it differently – up close and personal – got the job done. Diazanon and Malathion, particularly in the dosage I used, are heavy hitters. But somehow it didn’t touch the micro bugs that nailed me. The soap/oil approach is supposed to coat the stems and leaves and basically smother the bad guys. The only thing I have to lose is a few seeds and some time – which in my case is cheap. So I’m proceeding more for the science of it than the harvest.

Joey is doing just fine but he did lose his eyebrows. They weren’t much to start with so the loss is no big deal. He had eyebrows like me, very light colored, so they were barely noticeable to start with. Wonder if his will come back dark and curly? Mine eventually turned into Andy Rooney walrus brows. All the blood testing still shows good heading into the 6th treatment. I think after the 8th, he gets another PET scan to check internal progress. Nancy mixed up a batch of corn chowder and some daiquiri jello this time. He’s gained 5 pounds so we know none of the food is going to waste.

GO GATORS. Let me advise the BCS guys right up front – what I’m not looking for is a Florida-Missouri matchup in a post season bowl game. Give both of us a nice BIG 10 team to beat up on.

Politics – I separate and label this so those so inclined and could care less about my opinion, can skip it.

I was truly surprised/shocked that the McCain speech outdrew Obama’s at the convention. I assumed that since it was opposite the NFL season opener, it would be poorly watched. What does that mean? Good news for McCain or bad news for the NFL? I understood a big number on Palin – curiosity – but who hasn’t heard McCain? Do you think that maybe Palin raised the interest so much that people wanted to hear him? Love to see a demographic breakdown on who watched.

Here’s the other big surprise to me. The feminist groups are tearing into Palin. I would have assumed that since she was a successful woman in a leadership position, feminists would have been proud and elated or at least mute. What’s that all about? Is it because she chose not to abort her handicapped baby? I thought the feminists were pro choice but maybe it’s not the freedom to make the choice they support, but exactly what the choice is. Maybe it’s even something more fundamental. She’s really attractive and most of the feminists are really doggy and to be a feminist in good standing, you have to be on the ugly side. Whatever it is, you can now say for sure that the feminist groups are not genuinely supportive of women – just some women.

And what’s blowing me away is how out of touch the Dem leadership is. They bypass Clinton and then trash Palin. I laughed when Charlie Gibson, the lib ABC anchor, said that the polls showing a 20% shift in women voters from Dem to Republican was â€œstartlingâ€. These NE clowns simply don’t understand the thought processes of normal, mortals. Guess what Charlie, women are going to vote for the ticket with the woman on board; blacks are going to vote for the ticket with a black on board; and if a Hispanic were on one of the tickets, that ticket would get the Hispanic vote. duh!! The big thing Palin brings to the ticket are Republicans who were cool on McCain – me included.

What this is starting to shape up in my eyes, is the same issues that elected Bush. Character and trust. Time and time again, the American people in the end, go for the candidates they feel they can trust; have strong characters; and are willing and able to defend them from the bad guys. Nobody can doubt that when the chips are down, you’d want McCain to have your back and not Obama waving a white flag. Forget the issues like healthcare, education etc. etc. They are important to small interest groups but trust and security trumps all other issues. And I think by now everyone understands that no matter which party has the white house, these issues are beaten to death in congress and nothing much ever changes. So Dem’s, please quit nominating big city libs. You won with Carter, you won with Clinton, and you won with Lyndon Johnson. You lost with Dukakis, you lost with Kerry, you lost with Gore (not really from Tennessee). Start grooming some good ole country boys from the south or the west and give up on the NE snobs.

Post Hannah

My favorite observation coming out of the Palin speech – â€œThe unhappiest woman in the country was Michelle Obama; the happiest woman in the country was Hillary Clinton.â€ Not sure who said it, but it cracked me up.

Hannah is history. We got about 1/4â€ of rain and no wind so that was much ado about nothing. Now we’re watching Ike. I saw this morning that the models were showing this one possibly hitting the Carolina’s; possibly hitting a gulf state; possibly doing the keys. In other words, not a clue where it’s going. That I believe. I think it will be an interesting study in psychology if this starts heading for New Orleans. It sounded like lots of people were already complaining about evacuating for what turned out to be a minimal storm.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised that Joey’s latest treatment has not been a problem. We were concerned that perhaps the shortened time between #4 and #5 would exacerbate the after affects. I wonder if having the added responsibility of lashing down the boat in preparation of a wind event overrode whatever else was going on inside. There’s one other possibility. Nancy sent over a new soup – Tomato Florentine – and he confirmed that he did eat some the other day.

Check out the picture. We met a couple last March and in chatting over lunch, determined that we had all lived in San Diego in the early 60’s and had both worked for General Dynamics and had some common acquaintances. Bill and Dottie Robison live in Ormond Beach and have a nice place at Astor on the St. Johns so we’ve had a couple of opportunities to meet subsequently. I guess the other day they were going through some old photo’s and found one that they thought had captured Nancy so they forwarded it on to us. Sure enough, that’s Nancy – second from the left – sitting talking to Dottie and her mother in front of our apt in San Diego. The carriage in the background was Joey’s and the young boy is Jim, their oldest son. The picture was taken in 1964, so as it turns out, our new friends are really old friends. And that’s not the end of the coincidences. We discovered that I went to high school with Bill Robison’s cousin and even funnier, Bill’s cousin lives in the condo’s adjacent to Joey’s Marina and has been a frequent customer of Joey’s. Joey made the first hook with Wilt Wagner and then all the loops closed when Bill and Wilt showed up at Joey’s boat when I happened to be there too.

Pre Hannah

Here we go again. This one has me a bit more concerned than Fay and I’m expecting it to be more of a wind event. The path seems to be unstable so really not sure how much advance work to do.

Joey’s 5th treatment is today and we’re a bit apprehensive about this one because it’s only 12 days since the last one. We’ll see. The worst of it for him will probably be just about the time Hannah is making it’s presence felt along the east coast and I doubt he’ll feel much like battening down the hatches. He’s handling this remarkably well and I think I know why. He doesn’t have time to be sick. Aside from a fair amount of cruise business, he has a couple of consuming projects going. For example, he realized that in older half dollar coins, the intrinsic silver value is more than the face value of the coin. Once he found that out he started haunting banks for bags of half dollars – and gathers them at $7000 per trip to the bank. He then goes thru the 15000 coins and sorts out the â€œgoodâ€ ones. He’s had some success and it’s certainly kept him occupied. Or maybe it’s the handwriting projects. A year or so back he got interested in old fashion, Ben Franklin like, handwriting. He attended a seminar and classes in Ohio and spends quite a bit of time practicing and perfecting his craft. So he offered his services to the Cocoa Historical Society on a gratis basis. Now he’s on the trail of old, antique Singer sewing machines called Featherweights. Nancy has had one for a couple of years and believe it or not, these 50+ year old machines are the machines of choice for quilters because of their size, portability, and the fact that the stitches are so true and consistent. Last week he spotted one at a flea market and called to ask if he should buy it and what it was worth. He took a chance and got it for Nancy even though he couldn’t ascertain that it worked. They drove right here from the flea market and sure enough, it worked like a champ. I cleaned and oiled it and it performs perfectly. See what I mean – no time for sick sick.

My time for the past couple of weeks has been consumed trying to recover the garden. That’s code for moving wheel barrow after wheel barrow of fill dirt to the garden to try to raise it up a foot or so. One thing I learned is that the storm totally aroused the fire ants and mosquitoes. I was working in one area of the garden and dug into a fire ant mound that must have been the NYC of fire ant habitats. About 10′ away I hit London. These were masses of ants that literally resembled living orbs of jelly. I managed to get away from both of these with just a few bites but if I had not been alert, I think they could have consumed me in a few seconds. And the mosquitoes remind me of the masses we had back in the 50’s. That’s where you fear breathing because you’ll suck in a mouthful. And these are different than the normal ones we get. These are huge and can hold about a gallon of blood. On a one by one basis, they’re easier to deal with than the smaller, faster ones but in a swarm, they black out the light. Maybe a good wind event is what we need to send these bad boys over to Tampa.

Politics – Sarah Palin. I was very soft on McCain and have always thought he was a Democrat throw back to the 50’s. I would vote for Palin in a heart beat. My kind of Republican. Hunts, fishes, eats moose – what more could you want? In favor of drilling and making the oil companies pay big for the privilege – not just talk but a track record on doing just that. Kicking corrupt politicians out of the system – not just talk, but a track record. I love it that she’s not a lawyer and not a blather, blather, blather legislator. Love that she’s a Journalist by trade, has run her own business and has several years of Executive level decision making. The bottom of the Republican ticket has more experience than the top of the other guys.. The thing this choice is going to do is bring more Republicans to the ballot box. McCain is big with Independents – those are people who really don’t know what they are; she’ll nail the Republican base where he’s shaky. No doubt she’ll pick up some disgruntled Clinton supporters who, let’s face it, were shafted. How you can end up with Biden – the presidential candidate who got the fewest number of primary votes – on the ticket instead of Clinton who won all the big states, is beyond comprehension. The Democrat voters said clearly â€œwe don’t want this guy for presidentâ€. Hillary basically ran the table in the primaries after a bad start. Has to be personal because it sure defies common sense. So I guess the only thing we have to suffer through is the press beating up on her teen age daughter. I think they forget how many of us had teenage kids and know just how unpredictable that can be. And beating up on her is going to offend quite a few young ladies I’m sure.

I just love having a real person on the ticket.