Ace Wisdom

Four years ago Grasshopper No.1 and Spouse planted raspberry bushes at a farm near Plymouth.  I was told that getting berries the first year was too much to hope for.  I was told the second year that berries were sparse.  And so it went.  The implication here is that your Mom and I would participate when there was an abundant crop.  Guess what?  This year the bushes were “dripping” with luscious red specimens.  No.1 and Spouse are too busy to pick the little morsels.  My brother-in-law, Bob  (who owns the farm) has picked a tremendous amout of berries for his family and he picked some for your Mom and I.  Envision a bag that holds a bowling ball filled with raspberries.  Yep.  They finally arrived.  Bob delivered them personally.  Can you “pig out” on fruit?

Why you ask, didn’t I go to pick the berries?  Because I’m sick of course.

I understand there are several types of raspberries and these are “late season berries”.  They were scrumptions.  We did not share them with anyone.

So a sincere thank you to No. 1 and especially her loved one who had the forsight to plant the bushes in the first place.  Also thank you to brother-in-law Bob who was kind enough to pick and deliver the berries.

Today was 72 degrees.  I bought a new spark plug and changed the oil in my snowblower while the weather was nice.  Now I have to see if the Doctors allow me to operate the snowblower when it turns colder.

Grandson Mitchell helped run his JV football team record to 7-0.  Move over Alabama.

Grandson Dominic’s team won a close JV game 28-22.  A win is a win.

Grandson Tommy can boast his team put forth a valiant effort.

Love,

Dad

In early September, your Mom and I picked today (Oct.4) to travel over to Madison to watch Grandson Mitchell play football.  We changed the plan.  We went to Madison last weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and I was feeling pretty good.  Today (the original travel date) has turned into heavy rain and a forecast of  potential lightning.  Now I ask you, was the change in plans “genius” or just plain luck?  Me thinks it was just luck.

I have been walking the Mall recently.  I am up to one hour walk time.  That is pretty close to my walk time before the heart operation.

For those of you that have 401(k)s, Warren Buffet, the investment guru, has some sage advice.  “Place your hard earned retirement dollars in the stock of businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them.  Because sooner or later, one will.”  The bottom line is that you place your money in good businesses with a strong futures.  Dah!   Genius?  I don’t think so.  Common sense rules.

Grasshopper No.2 has elected to use the UW Badger tickets next week.  Her observation is that next year Grandson Grant will be off to college and she probably won’t be able to do this again.  Enjoy the moment!

Grandson Collin became engaged last week.  Congratulations.

Great Granddaughter Myla was baptized in Cleveland, Ohio last Saturday.  She was offically welcomed to the Romanian Orthydox religion.

Enjoy the weekend.

Love,

Dad  

 

 

Somebody told me “an apple a day keeps the Doctor away”.  So far it ain’t working.  I’ve still got lots of doctors in my life.  Maybe I need to eat more apples.

This morning the government shut down!  No, only certain parts of the government shut down.  I’m going to have to delay getting my passport updated and maybe postpone a trip to a National Park.

Today launches the Affordable Healthcare Act (i.e. Obamacare).  How can that be?  The government is shut down!

And yet despite the government shutting down and “an out of control” healthcare system being launched, the stock market is up.  Go figure.

Your Mom and I drove over to Madison last weekend.  The goal was to watch Grandson Mitchell play Junior Varsity football.  It was Friday night and at game time it was 76 degees.  Mitchell’s team going into the game was 5-0.  The team is now 6-0.  They won 31-8.  Mitchell caught two passes, both for first down.  He also played defensive end.  The defense has not allowed their opponents a single touchdown this year.  I think they grow kids bigger in Madison.

I have my next major Doctor appointment in about two weeks.  Stay tuned!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

 

I must be getting closer to “normal” whatever that is.  I ventured out to my local Mall a few times this week to walk.  Somehow it seemed different.

I need to complete my personal goal of attending one of each Grandson’s football games this Fall.  I have one left to go over in Madison.

The UW Badgers have the “game of the year” at Ohio State tomorrow.  Win that game and the rest of the season could be really exciting.  Lose that game and it could be a long season.

I got my Social Security booklet covering my prescription plan for next year.  Are you kidding me?  It must be over 100 pages long.

Enjoy the Indian Summer.  It should linger for another whole week.  It must be global warming.

Love,

Dad

 

As you know, my life has been like a fairy tale recently.  I could write a book.  Maybe a movie.

The whole dream begain with a visit to my doctor.  He said that there was something wrong with my heart.  I told him he was crazy.   Everybody knows I don’t have a heart.  How do I find out the truth?  My doctor said he was going to send me to colleagues of OZ (Dr. Oz).  They could certainly tell me whether I had a heart and if I did, what was wrong.  How do I find these colleagues of OZ?  Just follow the yellow brick road!  Really?  Actually it was city streets to the local hospital.  The land of OZ is mystical.  All the inhabitants have need for intensive care.  The food is lousy and they draw so much blood you’d think you were surrounded by vampires.

The colleagues of OZ confirmed that I”ve had a heart all the time and that down deep I was a really caring person.  For some reason my heart had developed a cold and needed to be fixed.

 So the good news just kept coming.  I had found the land of OZ.  I had a real heart.  They could fix the heart.  I had hopes of going back to Kansas (Appleton).

The colleagues sawed open my chest, took my heart in their hands, grafted a few veins to improve blood flow and then stuck the whole assembly back in my chest.  Not only can the doctors verify that they’ve listened to my heart beat but they actually held it in their hands.  Visual proof I have a heart.

Then came the hard part.  My heart was back in my chest and beating.  I don’t know how, but a semi-truck crashed through my recovery bedroom at the hospital.  At least that is what it felt like.  People were helping me out of bed to walk.  I didn’t feel like walking.  People wanted me to breath air into a tube to expand my lungs.  I didn’t want to blow air.  People wanted me to eat but they failed to look at the hospital menu (it was so healthy it could make you sick).

The one “smile” while I was in the land of OZ was your Mom.  The “smile” was the one constant.   Everyday.  I pleaded with your Mom to take me back to Kansas (home) but she was smart enough to know I wasn’t ready.

I was finally given a certificate saying I was an exceptional heart patient and I could be proud that the first day after the operation I had actually walked 565 steps from ICU to my hospital room pushing a wheel chair.  The wheel chair is so that if you die, they don’t have to carry you.

So I am back in Kansas.  I really never left.  I had a heart all the time.  I had just experienced a vivid dream.  I’m told my life will return to normal.  Seems to me there is a Hollywood story in there someplace.

Thank you to all the fantasy actors (including the medical personnel who were really, really nice).  It was all in technicolor.

Love,

Dad

My local cable company is messing with me.  I just agreed to a new “package” at a lower cost that delivers more TV and faster internet.  Just 30 days into my agreement I am being told that for any TV in the house that doesn’t have a digital receiver, I need to add a digital device to account for any stations that transmit only in digital.  You know, things like “Oprah”.  We have TV’s in the bedroom and kitchen that would be affected.  The question is “will there be an extra charge for the digital devices”?  The last time I checked, they cost $1 per month per device.

The cable company still doesn’t carry NBC because they can’t reach an agreement.  Shouldn’t I get a rebate?

Grasshopper No.3 bought a new glasstron speed boat last spring.  The boat body needed some work to improve the integrity of the structure (the boat was rotting).  No.3 found an excellent craftsman in Green Bay that offered to rebuild fiberglass parts of the boat for a nominal cost.  The boat went into the “rebuild mode” in May.  It is now September and the boat is still in the shop.  Normally I wouldn’t care because boats are part of my “past life”.  But… Grasshopper No.3 promised me that the two of us would take the rebuilt boat, journey down to Crystal Lake where we had the cottage and we would take a nostalgic trip around the lake.  I guess I’ll have to take a rain check until next year.

I have completed taking nutritional classes through AMC hospital.  I did not learn the magic formula for eating healthy for the rest of my life.  I don’t think dinner tonight qualifies for “healthy”.  We are having Johnsonville brats on Sheboygan Johnson Bakery buns, German potato salad with real bacon grease added for flavor topped with Dutch Apple Pie and Breyers vanilla ice cream.  After dinner you can come visit me in the hospital again.

Your Mom has worked really hard to make nutritious chili, vegetable soup and special casseroles.  I’ve lost 10 pounds from the weight I had going into the hospital.  Your Mom gets the credit.

Love,

Dad

 

I turned on the furnace heat this morning for about 1/2 hour.  Damn it was cold.  Besides I am sick!

Thursday Grasshopper No.1 celebrates a birthday.   I won’t reveal her age but she has less than 10 years before she qualifies for Social Security.  Happy Birthday No.1.

Grandson Mitchell over in Madison saw his Junior Varsity football team win it’s 4th straight game.   It was something obscene like 66-0.  The team is unbeaten and “rolling”.  Enjoy the ride.  Sometimes that kind of success only happens once in a lifetime.

Saturday I ventured down to Fond du lac to watch Grandson Tommy play Youth football.   His team was over-matched and lost “big”.  Tommy had tackles and sacks and all kinds of good stuff.  The game time temperature was 65 degrees F. and bright sunshine.  My personal nurse took good care of me.  Is there anything better than football on a September afternooon in Wisconsin.

Last night (late Monday afternoon), I got to attend Grandson Dominic’s JV game in DePere.  The team lost 18-8 but it was a great night for football.  Imagine sitting in the stands when the loudspeaker blares out “tackle by (Grandson) Dominic”.  It gave me goose bumps.

So you see, I am beginning to slowly return to normal things.

The local hospital where I had “the operation” keeps increasing the intensity of my physical rehab program.  Walk faster.  Peddle faster.  Lift heavier weights.  Don’t they know I am an old man.

As part of rehab, they recommend I take nutritional education classes.  It essentially establishes the normal eating requirements for a 2000 calarie per day eating regimen.  After you learn some of the terms like sodium, chloresterol and saturated fat, eating still  turns out to be common sense.  Dah!

My next goal is to attend one of Grandson Mitchell’s game in Madison.  Soon!

The first day of Fall is Sunday.  Where did Summer go?

Love,

Dad