Three Times

Three times this month this building has lost power.  It happened again last evening.  The power has only been out for a few minutes each time, but it's still been out.

Fortunately, we didn't lose power all last winter.  Hopefully, these summer outages aren't the start of a long trend.

Hawaii Conference II

My idea to hold a lunar settlement conferemce might actually happen.  My email buddies are working to pull it off, and they have already recruited some more people to the effort.

They even have a rough target time frame-- September-October, next year, on the Big Island, as they say.  That would be right around my 60th birthday.

Another Long Wait

Everything has been going along well with my bathroom issues, but yesterday I urinated about 2:30 in the afternoon and not again until midnight.

I was never in bad pain, so I guess no harm was done, but I'd just as soon not do that again.  Since the bladder cancer, I've become a chicken when it comes to such things.

Extending Bathroom Intervals

I haven't peed since shortly after 7 this morning.  Before that, I hadn't gone for 6 hours.  Yesterday, I went 5 hours without going.

I haven't been in real pain, so I guess it's okay.  I would like to get back to going fewer times a day.  Maybe that's what my body is doing.

I finally went about 2:45.

Hawaii Conference?

Yesterday I emailed a few of my contacts in the space community and proposed a conference to look at some of the obstacles to humans settling the Moon.  My contention is that they are more legal, financial, economic, and political than they are technological.

My email got a good response.  There might be a teleconference next week to begin planning such a conference for next year in Hawaii.

Rowdy Seniors

When I moved to an over 55 apartment complex I thought it would be a nice, quiet building.  In fact, it has been.  Last winter was very quiet.

This summer has been a bit different, though.  Occasionally, I'll hear singing in the hall, or loud voices.  Kids are around now, too, presumably visiting grandparents.  Dogs make themselves heard, too.  There are several dogs living here.  I guess people have their doors and windows open now, as I do, so you can sometimes hear a dog barking.  It's an interesting contrast between summer and winter.

Little Excitement

Yodit and I went over to Target again last evening, and we had a little more excitement than either of us wanted.  We were on the sidewalk on the other side of the street from Target when a car came busting out of the parking lot and put one wheel up on our sidewalk.  The driver quickly got back down on the street and went on his way, and the car went on the sidewalk maybe forty yards from us, so it wasn't really a close call.

Stilll, it definitely got our attention.

Nice Weekend

Jordan worked with me for three shifts this weekend, and it was good to have her back.  Everything went smoothly with her here, just as it did when she was one of my regular aides.  Hopefully, she'll be back often now.

Jordan also had some big news for me.  She's getting married.  Her fiance is a very lucky young man.

Going Out

Yodit and I, along with Matthew, possibly a new aide for me, went over to Target last evening, and I got some red velvet cupcakes for snacks.

Matthew seems an interesting guy.  He's already graduated from IU, and he intends to start med school soon, using the job as an aide to help get himself through school.

Jordan

Janeka told me this morning that Jordan will be here Saturday and Sunday.  It was welcome news.  Jordan is a really good aide and a very nice young woman.  I've missed her.

Staffing the weekends can be tricky, but this weekend seems to be in good shape.

Increasing Intervals

I was able to urinate soon after writing yesterday's blog post, which was a relief.  I seem to be stretching out the intervals between necessary bathroom visits.  Since the bladder cancer, I've had to go quite frequently, and that has become my norm.  It's what we based my aide schedule around.

Before the cancer, however, I went twice a day.  Maybe now I'll be going less and less often.  We'll see.

Tough Time

I've been doing extremely well lately, but today I haven't urinated in nearly six hours.

Hopefully, I will go shortly.

The Dentist

I had a dental appointment this morning.  It was supposed to be for a tooth cleaning and replacing a filling, but the cleaning is the only one that was done.

My dentist looked at the filling, which he's been watching for years, and decided he didn't need to replace it yet.  He just shaved it, tested it, and I guess smoothed the surface, and I was good to go,

Johniece

I'm assuming my aide Johniece is gone for good.  She worked here July 1 and hasn't been back.  Janeka is searching for a replacement.

It's a loss for me.  Johniece was an energetic, competent aide, and we got along well.  I will miss her.

Progress

Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of my father's death.  He died of an infection, but the underlying cause was blood cancer.  Multiple myloma.

Today, the pharmaceutical company Celgene is pursuing a new drug to be used against multiple myloma that has the oncology community excited.  It's far too late for Dad, but it's good to see progress possibly being made.

One Doc Out Of Two

My medical doctor made his housecall yesterday, and he said everything looked just fine.

I was wrong about the dental appointment, however.  I thought it was today, but in fact it's not until next Monday morning, so I still have that to drea.... er, look forward to.

Doctor Visit

My doctor's office called this morning to say he'd be out this afternoon to check me out.  I'm not sure why he needs to come every month or so.  Most people get by perfectly well with yearly check ups.

Anyway, I have this surprise visit and a dental appointment tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be done with doctors for a while.

Getting Better

My urinary problem has improved a lot recently.  I can go longer between bathroom visits now, and there's much less pain in the whole process.

After three years of dealing with bladder cancer and its treatment, it's hard to remember how I was before.  I didn't pay much attention to such things then.  Hopefully, though, I'm moving on to a good place now.

No Fireworks

Unfortunately, the sky was overcast here last night, so I didn't even bother going out on my balcony to try to see the fireworks.  It was a bummer.

From what Yodit tells me, next July 4th will be a big one for her.  She's going through the process now to become a U. S. citizen and expects to be sworn in later this year.  Then, she wants to bring her mother and other family members here.  It's an old, honorable, American story that says nothing but good about this grand land.  Hopefully, Yodit's first Fourth as an American will have nothing but clear skies.

Independence Day

Jon and his family brought Mom over today and stayed for a couple hours.  It was a good visit.

Tonight, I'm planning to go out on my balcony to see if I can watch fireworks,  I asked Jon if he thought I could see them, and he wasn't sure, so Yodit and I will have to find out.

Delaying Obamacare

The administration has decided to delay implementation of the large employer mandate section of Obamacare-- a key element in the overall program-- for a year, until 2015.  It seems implementing the mandate is turning out to be more complicated than first thought.

That shouldn't be surprising.  The bill creating Obamacare was over two thousand pages long, and many members of Congress have acknowledged they didn't read the whole thing before voting on it.  Nasty surprises are perhaps inevitable.  Of course, Congress concerns itself with an incredible range of issues.  Members probably don't have time to absorb a two thousand page bill, even one that affected a huge part of the economy and the very lives of Americans.  That suggests bills should be kept much shorter and more focused.  If Congress doesn't read the bills it passes, in what sense are we governed by our elected representatives?

Independence Day

Technically, today should be Independence Day.  The Continental Congress decided to split from Britain July 2, 1776.  It adopted the Declaration of Independence July 4.

Just to keep the details straight.

Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!!!!

I figure I need to note this while I can.  My beloved Pittsburgh Pirates, currently on a nine-game winning streak, have the best record in major league baseball.

The Pirates haven't had a winning season since 1992, so Pirate fans are careful not to dream too big just yet.  This season's team, though, seems to have a lot going for it-- and its best player hasn't really gotten hot yet.  If Andrew McCutchen has a huge second half of the season... well, that would be fun.