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p0rtia
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#351

Post by p0rtia »

Maybe "gesticulating"?
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#352

Post by Slim Cognito »

p0rtia wrote: Sun May 14, 2023 10:31 am Maybe "gesticulating"?
approved! (thanks)

I'm here to learn.
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#353

Post by bill_g »

At least a third of the public still wears a mask in public places. At least in the Portland metro area. Purely voluntary. No harrassment stories.
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#354

Post by jemcanada2 »

Way to go, Slim and Him!! :lovestruck: :lovestruck:

I can see people who are or live with someone who is immune compromised continuing to wear masks in the future, as well as considerate people who are sick. Covidiots will continue to be idiots though. :cry:
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#355

Post by AndyinPA »

I always see masks when I go out around here, too, although not at a one third level. The only thing I've seen jarring here was when we were in the hospital when my husband was ill. Everyone had to wear masks, but one woman made it very clear her disdain for the idea of it. She got told repeatedly to pull it up and wear it correctly. Mostly, she wore it around her neck. The last I saw her, she was headed out of the hospital, where it didn't matter, but she was dripping with disdain and anger at being told to wear the mask correctly. I can't remember seeing any other real issue with it.
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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#356

Post by bill_g »

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#357

Post by RVInit »

Yay Slim! :clap:
There's a lot of things that need to change. One specifically? Police brutality.
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#358

Post by Slim Cognito »

Hi all, a couple of quick updates.

Him is doing swell! So well, in fact, that when he follows up with his main Leukemia Doc at Moffitt in September, there's a chance, only a chance, that they may decide to push his treatment in another direction. He was so bad off the last time he was in Tampa, he was not considered a candidate for a bone marrow transplant, which is his only chance of a cure, and that is still pretty small. Nonetheless, we're hopeful. Even if they don't, he's responding so well to this trial drug that, as long as we can keep germs away from him, he may manage a decent quality of life for a while, as long as he can handle the social aspects of the bubble.

(he's not an introvert like me, he really likes being around people. I can take 'em or leave 'em).

Once D started doing so well, I started looking for something for me, as everyone was always telling me to take care of myself. Easier said than done with you're a 24/7 caretaker, amirite?

Anyhoo, a year ago, at the Pride Parade, a group marching caught my eye, They were older (my age) ladies in funny costumes, like gay fairy godmothers, rainbow tutus, funny wigs and wings. They called themselves the Calendar Girls and they've been a local group here since 2006, raising money for seeing eye dogs for visually impaired veterans and, for the dogs that don't make the grade to seeing eye, trained service animals for vets.

I contacted them last May and have been practicing with them as a trainee for a couple of months now, having the time of my life. As expected, it's nonpartisan and, as they talked about diversity and inclusion, I felt I'd found some kindred spirits. Now I still think I have, but at practice today the following happened which bummed me out, if only for a short time.

They do a lot of shows for veterans groups so they have several military-ish routines. Today the junior captain was teaching us to salute properly. After working with us for a minute or two, she piped up, "Look how Kari Lake salutes. Do it just like that."

Jeeeeeezzzzzzz.
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#359

Post by AndyinPA »

:(
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#360

Post by Maybenaut »

Slim Cognito wrote: Wed Jun 28, 2023 12:44 pm They do a lot of shows for veterans groups so they have several military-ish routines. Today the junior captain was teaching us to salute properly. After working with us for a minute or two, she piped up, "Look how Kari Lake salutes. Do it just like that."

Jeeeeeezzzzzzz.
This reminds me of something …

When I was in Officer Candidate School in Yorktown, VA, (MWR - the morale folks) brought in the USO to put on a show. These things are mandatory to attend. Nobody famous (although when I was in Alaska one Christmas Eve they brought in the actor who played Greg Brady - I had a long list of things I would rather have been doing).

Anyhoo, the USO show in Yorktown featured a bunch of pretty, scantily-clad young women singing and dancing. It wasn’t really horrible until close to the end of the show one of the performers said, “We notice there are several ladies in the audience, and this next song is just for you!”
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#361

Post by AndyinPA »

:doh:
"Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears… To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies." -Octavia E. Butler
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#362

Post by neonzx »

Slim Cognito wrote: Wed Jun 28, 2023 12:44 pm They do a lot of shows for veterans groups so they have several military-ish routines. Today the junior captain was teaching us to salute properly. After working with us for a minute or two, she piped up, "Look how Kari Lake salutes. Do it just like that."

Jeeeeeezzzzzzz.
OH NOES1!! :panic:
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#363

Post by raison de arizona »

So glad him is doing well, congrats! :dance:
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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#364

Post by Slim Cognito »

Yesterday the dance troupe I've joined had two shows, one at a nursing home and one at an American Legion. Just a couple of observations, I don't know if it means anything, I'll let veterans weigh in.

Since it was the AL and July 4, the bulk of the performances were military-themed, Caissons, God Bless America, and so on (Green Beret always leaves me in tears. I literally had to stop listening to the words and concentrate strictly on count in order to keep a stoic face). The group clapped and seemed to enjoy the performances but it wasn't until one of the women did her solo, which consisted of her using ASL to perform Proud To Be An American. Granted, she did a moving performance using as much body language as possible to convey dancing as she signed and it was impressive, but, of all the patriotic/military songs they did, the only one where people stood up and cheered was the Lee Greenwood song. And it wasn't just at the end. As soon as the music started, they all stood up.

I've been wrong many times before but it seemed odd that THAT was the song they chose for a standing ovation and not God Bless America. Thoughts?

Sidenote: This was the first performance I'd been to where the guide dog trainers from Southeastern Guide Dogs came to tell their story and brought dogs for the people to see and kinda interact with, including a new puppy. I'm going to post a link just in case anyone wants to check them out and make a donation directly to them. If you'd missed my earlier post, the group I've joined raises money so vision-impaired vets can get their dog for free (and the pups that don't pass vision-impaired training still are trained as service dogs for vets suffering from PTSD so everybody wins!).

https://www.guidedogs.org/
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#365

Post by Reality Check »

The don't call it "The Red Neck National Anthem" for nothing. I will never stand up for that C&W garbage. It became popular during days of uber patriotism after 911.
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#366

Post by Slim Cognito »

I hadn't posted any updates on Hubs' condition as things seem to be pretty stable, but early last week I noticed he didn't look right and was more somnolent than usual. I check his vitals daily and noted his temp was low-grade. I didn't give him anything for the fever because we fell into that trip last winter. He took two Tylenol every night to help with sore muscles from physical therapy and we had no idea a pneumonia was growing in his lungs until it almost killed him. Why, because he had no fever due to the daily acetaminophen.

Anyway, I monitored the fever and when it reached the threshold for an ER visit, 100.4, it was the middle of the afternoon and I didn't want to take him to a crowded ER like last winter, when we had to sit in an outside overflow waiting room until they called him, then they put the guy with no immune system on a gurney in a hallway with all kinds of sick people wheeling past him. So I called Oncology and they had me bring him in. They drew blood for cultures and agreed that he needed to avoid the ER during the day so they sent me home to watch him very carefully. The fever had ebbed to upper 99s by then so again the threshold was set at 100.4. He was fine through the evening but when I woke him at midnight, his temp was 101 so off to the (empty) ER we went.

Since it takes a few days for cultures to grow, they kept him on broad spectrum antibiotics which may have kept things from progressing aggressively, but did nothing to knock it down. He began developing GI distress over the weekend, all the usual things you don't want to hear about, but it did make it easier to narrow things down. He went for a contrast abdominal CAT scan and cultures were back this morning. Yep, a stomach bug, a very nasty stomach bug. But now he's starting an antibiotic developed for that very bug so hopefully we'll start seeing some improvement soon.

He's still battling leukemia and had just finished a weeklong course of chemo so his labs were dangerously low before all this and have continued to drop but I'm hoping they'll improve along with the GI situation.

He's been on this trial chemo regimen for about nine months now, the average lifespan on this trial is 6-18 months* so I was pretty scared he was starting a downward spiral. Hopefully, it was just the bug and nothing else. Prayers, well wishes and magic spells all welcome.

*He was given five weeks to live at the time he was finally diagnosed if he didn't go with a trial because they had nothing else that could effectively fight AML, and he had an even more aggressive mutation so, in the overall picture, his treatment response has been freakin' amazing.
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#367

Post by Volkonski »

Best wishes for a good outcome. :bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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#368

Post by Foggy »

Oh man I hate this hate this hate this. Dammit.

No fair! I call no fair!
Out from under. :thumbsup:
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#369

Post by Annrc »

:bighug:
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#370

Post by Slim Cognito »

I hope I haven't spoken too soon. I just got off the phone with the doctor and I'm glad I got to talk to her as Hubs tends to downplay everything. Apparently the diagnosis is typhlitis and it's pretty serious. It's not uncommon in cancer patients or anyone with a compromised immune system.

They're bringing in a surgeon to assess whether intervention is necessary and they're switching him to a milder anticoagulant in case he needs surgery. Anyway, off to the hospital for the rest of the day and hopefully I get there before the surgeon does.

(long sigh)
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#371

Post by p0rtia »

------> :heart:
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#372

Post by bill_g »

Ugh.

Big hugs, best wishes, sigh
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#373

Post by Maybenaut »

:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson
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#374

Post by Uninformed »

:bighug:
If you can't lie to yourself, who can you lie to?
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#375

Post by raison de arizona »

:bighug: :bighug: :bighug:
sending healing vibes
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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