I’m hanging in there. My Mom is the hospital again – she pulled out her feeding tube. I got the call on that at 3:30 in the morning yesterday.
When the phone rings in the middle of the night, you think it’s THAT call. I’m grateful it wasn’t time yet.
My father died when I was 19. His health had declined the past couple of years with heart trouble. From the time I was told he was in trouble to the time he died, it seemed like a couple of weeks.
Mom’s decline has taken a few years, which doesn’t take away how painful it has been to watch it happen.
No matter your age, it sucks to see your parents go, even though that’s the progression that should take place.
They’ve put a new feeding tube in her now. I go to see her down in Tampa, wondering what time will be the last time.
If you can see the above picture, that is my mother. I had grave misgivings about posting it. She used to be a vibrant and radiant woman, but the dementia is slowly winning the battle.
I asked her how she felt, and she said she felt good. I held her hand and asked if she knew who I am. She squeezed it.
She fell asleep a bit but woke up in a few minutes. I had the honor of wheeling her to a church service being held there – I’ll be in my church in Umatilla tomorrow, praying for her.
She needs feeding tubes to eat, another sign she’s closer to the end.
One of the songs my church often plays is that we fight battles Jesus has already won. I know when she passes, she’ll go to Heaven. No doubt about it in my mind.
This 17th of February 2021 brought the sad news that Rush Limbaugh had left us at the age of 70.
Along with Howard Stern, Rush has a household name from the radio profession these past few decades. I had the good luck to listen to Rush’s first show carried here in Tampa on WFLA. I was a few weeks shy of turning 18 in the summer of 1989, working at a microfilm company in Clearwater at the time.
I listened to the show with headphones on while working – and even at that age I thought he was a talent. If someone has ability, opinions don’t matter too much.
Anyone who can make it in the radio business has my respect, for it’s not an easy life for most of those in it. I will always have respect for his professionalism, and I thank God for loaning him that talent – as he often said on his shows.
Facebook reminded me I shot this ten years ago today – November 11, 2009. It must have just rained or something – so I caught this 🌈 on my old digital camera.
It’s one of those times in life that I haven’t found a hobby, but yet a hobby has found me.
Clip2comic is an iPhone app where you put in a photo and it makes cartoon out of it. And so, I’ve been taking photos of famous people and ran them through the app.
Sometimes it comes out well, sometimes it doesn’t, but I always seem to find the one color setting that works the best.
It’s one of those afternoons I am writing this blog when I hear distant thunder rolling in the background and the pitter-patter of some rain. In the Florida summer, this happens quite a bit – and it wouldn’t be totally unusual that you can get several days in a row where it rains at last part of the day.
It also isn’t that unusual that the storms get a little loud and rowdy. Having lived in Florida all of my life except two years (I lived in Georgia for about nine months in 1996 and North Carolina for a year in 1999 and 2000), I thought I’d mention my go-to tips for those of you when you get one of those kind of storms.
If you see the power flicker in your home, or you hear thunder within three seconds after you see a flash of lightning – that would be a good time to turn off the more important appliances in the house or apartment. Turn your air conditioner off, and turn your TV off before mother nature turns it off for you. If your landline phone rings or you’re in the middle of a call on one – get off the phone as soon as you can.
I leave a computer on but on battery power – and I usually have some device handy where I can count off 30 minutes which could also be a cell phone for you, alternatively. Most summer storms in my area are over within that much time. However, if you’re still hearing loud thunder or there’s still a three-second or less gap between lightning flashes and hearing thunder, wait it out a bit more.
Finally, it’s also a good time to check on any animals you may have. I usually put my cat Harry in an indoor back area for the evening to get a well-rested sleep, but if there’s a storm making noise after I’ve done that – he comes back in for the time being. I wouldn’t say he’s afraid of storms like a dog would more likely be, but he definitely “thanks” me for taking him in a bit longer.
As this entry concludes, the claps of thunder are still soft enough to be distant – though the rain’s intensity has picked up some. That’s not a bad sign, because the ground will now be damp enough to prevent more ear-splitting thunder claps. Today, turning off the A/C or the TV shouldn’t be an issue, but no two storms are alike.
With Mick Jagger in the news as of late needing a heart valve replacement, I’d thought I’d look back at his biggest solo hit – peaking at #12 on the Billboard charts in 1985.
Rae Dawn Chong, the daughter of comedian Tommy Chong, is the female lead in the video whom Jagger’s character is trying to woo.
A recent photo of my cat Harry, who turned nine July 4th.
They cut the lawns on Monday morning, perhaps other times during the week depending on whether or not it rains while they attempt to do the work.
If I’m home, someone will complain about the lawn crew adamantly in his own way. That being is my cat, Harry. He will jump up on my bed and sleep, or go under it if the lawn personnel are nearby.
In my observations with cats in my life, which wasn’t all that much before Harry came into it, cats simply don’t like noise. Yet it’s something to see a middle aged cat cower like an infant and display a sudden need for protection and attention.
At my local DMV, July 13, 2017.I’m not going to say where I had lunch Thursday afternoon, but something I ate there gave me a bad case of diarrhea that I haven’t had in a few years.
Nothing worse than that feeling of having to go to bathroom, and having to sprint to it before things get really messy, if you catch my drift.
Sleeping the past few days was a bit difficult, because I’d go to bathroom, get in bed, hear my stomach rumble like a Florida thunderstorm, rush to the bathroom, and then the whole process repeats itself a half dozen times over. Grabbing a few winks was not a desirable option, because then you might miss a few procedural steps, if you get my drift.
The moral of the story? Always keep some Coca-Cola or some other soft drink handy. It does work wonders on an upset stomach. Oh, and a good supply of toilet paper doesn’t hurt either.
Might not hurt to stay away from undercooked egg rolls too.
At Petco, April 27, 2017, Pinellas Park.
A couple of weeks ago, I took Harry for his once every three months nail clipping at Petco.
But, I had to take Harry to the store twice in three days. The first time I took him, I learned that they had adjusted the hours they offer pet grooming, from noon to 8pm. Before that, you could go anytime they were open.
Harry doesn’t like being caged up, as I figure most cats wouldn’t. He hangs on to me and meows what sounds like a “No!” when I put him in before eventually concedes.
He also, in his older age, vomits in his cage when I take him there. Don’t know how that “car sickness” got started. But I always give him treats (catnip flavored Temptations) when the ordeal is over.
Always good to see Dewayne and BA behind the microphone. April 2, 2017.
The older I get, the more appreciation I have for the game of baseball, and those who play it. It is the one sport that spans the ages like no other sport.
Yesterday the 2017 campaign got underway, with the Tampa Bay Rays getting the honor of playing the seasons lid lifter against the treacherous Yankees of New York.
The Rays prevailed 7-3, with Evan Longoria claiming the first RBI, then the first home run of the season.
Welcome back, baseball. I think I missed you a bit.
A Slice Of Big Pauly 