Road Trip

Wow!! I lost 20 lbs in July. It could have been more, but I wanted to keep it reasonable for my first month of this plan. ‘Piece of cake’ too! I mean this is the easiest diet plan ever. I copied it right out of the US Congressional playbook. Here’s how it works. To keep it easy I didn’t put any eating restrictions on myself so I ate lots of everything I wanted. My thinking was that by doing that I would only gain a maximum of 40 lbs. But what happened was that I only gained 20 lbs. In effect then I lost 20 lbs. Like I said, a ‘piece of cake’! In August I’m going for 30. Why mess around?
I watched Gene Sperling on Fox News Sunday this AM. He’s one of Obama’s economic guys. I had to have Kat run outside and get the duct tape though. My head was about to explode after just a few minutes and I was going to need several wraps. But then I got it! It was Bush’s fault. All except for what was caused by the Japanese tsunami. Well geez! Why didn’t he just say so? I’m sure I can scrape up a few more tax dollars for a worthy cause. I’d just spend it on gas or something I want. It’s like a favorite bumper sticker I use to have. “Work Harder! 10 million people on Welfare are depending on you.” Arrgghh !!!
  Kat and her latest.

“ROAD TRIP”. That’s what you hear from us every other day, or so, when we’re kind of stuck here in Texas Hill Country. With the weather, meaning temperatures in the 103-106 degree range, we don’t spend much time outside. If I try hard I can get outside until about 11:00 and then it’s AC time. That kind of sucks because my schedule says that morning is computer time. Then just about the rest of the day would be outside for some maintenance or woodcarving, maybe a walk or sit in the shade and read, whatever? But if I try that schedule now I’m screwed for going outside. It’s all inside on AC. And regrettably I’m old, stubborn, curmudgeonly, and set in my ways. So to change my schedule is tough. As a result I don’t get much outside time. Not enough anyway. And if I do it’s usually woodcarving. And if you’re thinking I could get outside in the evening, think again. I think it’s still in the 90’s until after midnight. There’s a new sheriff in town.


Soooo….. The one saving grace is a ‘Road Trip’ We hop in our new Ford Escape and take a tour of Hill Country or something. Go run over rattlesnakes or tarantulas, maybe do a few laps around Wal-Mart. Yesterday we drove 50 miles to Uvalde, TX for dinner at the Golden Corral only to find it was closed. So we ended up at a place called the ‘Kettle’ which was marginal at best. We should have opted for the Texas ‘Stop Sign’. Know what that is? DQ, as in Dairy Queen. Every town in Texas with more than a population of 25 has one. I think our favorite was in Blanco. Drove 30 miles to that one more than once. By the way, the DQ Belt Buster burger fits nicely into my new diet.  Anyway, we like the Escape and it has been a savior here in the heat. I suppose we could head north but I just finished my last check-up on the cataracts so now it’s late and the heat extends in every direction from here for 1000 miles or more and gas prices are not going down. So I guess we’ll ‘tough it out’ and take a few more ‘Road Trips’.
After a couple of weeks at Canyon Lake COE park we ventured to Bandera, TX. The ‘Cowboy Capital of the World’. I don’t really understand all I know about that? We were there though. Even made the last day of the annual celebration; just by accident. We missed the rodeo though. But it seems to me, based on what I saw, that Molalla, OR, could stake just as good a claim to being the ‘Cowboy Capital of the World’. “Just Sayin’! Maybe Bandera had a couple more cowboy antique stores or a museum. Or maybe it’s just Texas vs Oregon? Not that it’s not a nice town. It is! And Texas is great! I just don’t get the Cowboy Capital thing? And the barbecue place was crummy. The ‘DQ’ was good though. You saw that coming huh?

An EPIC post. Or, on seeing again.

Talk about an overused pronoun. “Epic”. Don’t miss the next exciting episode, “it will be epic”! In an ‘epic’ address to the nation yesterday President O……… Bull crap !!!! I got your ‘epic’ !!!! It’s all about as epic as this installment of my blog. But! I suppose it just ‘is what it is’? Just the latest buzz word in use by the media. Still it bugs me. At least the overuse of ‘hero’ is winding down. Don’t get me wrong we do have some current heroes. It’s just that mostly what is defined as heroic is merely dieing or gaining attention in any situation that the media can paint as requiring sympathy. I require a little more substance from ‘my’ heroes.  And it doesn’t hurt if they’re in the military.  Not a requirement though.  Has anyone out there made the same connection I have between Cialus and Dr. Seuss? Every time I hear that commercial for Cialus, the one that says, “Cialus for all day use”, or something like that, what I hear is “Cialus, the littlest Seuss for youngest use”. Now that I’ve written this I need to look it up. I’m sure I remember reading a “littlest Seuss for youngest use” book to the kids. OK, as it turns out it was one of my favorites! ‘Hop on Pop’, subtitled, the simplest Seuss for youngest use’. Close! Regardless, I still here the Seuss thing in my head when that commercial comes on. That just ain’t right !!! Maybe I should call the FCC, FTC, FAA, CIA or maybe NCIS or something? Well it works for atheists and downtrodden minorities. OK, that was kind of lame. True but lame. Anyway now that I’ve shared my little limerick, you’re  stuck with it too. Ain’t it grand?

So I’m a little more than a week into my after cataract surgery experience. All I can say is ‘’’’ HOLY CRAP”” !!!!! I CAN SEE !!!!!

I’ll tell you, if you haven’t done this you have no idea. There are colors, there is clarity, there is definition, I can do things again. I knew my vision was bad, but ….. I had no idea. We went to Wal-Mart last night and I didn’t even need my glasses. I could read the expiration date on the milk and sour cream with no magnification. I drove and could read all the road signs and billboards. In the distance I could make out what was out there instead of a green or brown background. I could look at the car instrument panel and read the odometer, clock, and all that stuff. To all my woodcarving friends I can carve and see detail again. It is so much easier to carve when you don’t have to do it using the Braille method. Easier on fingers too. LOL, just kidding. I do still require reading glasses but the magnification I use is reduced about by about a factor of four and my eyes don’t get tired and itchy like they did. My eyes, make that eye, must be 20 years or so younger. And I still have the left eye to do. It’s incredible!!! Now I have to get off my ass and work on getting the rest of me to feel a little younger. Going to play Pickleball a little later and expect to be able to see the ball again. Can’t wait.

 

Day One                                                   Mine                                               Hers                           

TTYS

And have a Happy Fourth !!!