A trip around the block....

Its 4:24 am




  So you are looking at this and wondering....what the blue blazes is this?

When Lori was in her final stages of her cancer journey,I was the person who administered her medications.
Be it a IV drip,norco,tamoxifen or liquid morphine,I was the one giving it to Lori. I was very faithful to her schedule and when I needed help,her oncology team was extremely supportive in walking me through what I needed and when the time came for hospice,the transition was pretty easy.
   After my lovely wife went to her reward,I was left with what do with the extra meds I had left over..I have blogged about my options,I could turn them into the police or toss them out...or even a flush them down the toilet. Those options were no options,the police really didn't want to have deal with disposal,you can't just toss away heavy narcotics away in the trash and certainly there was no way I was going to flush them.
  So that left me with one idea,to create enough coffee grounds that I could grind/pour the meds into the bowl and then toss them safely out.

  Funny thing happened to my plan,the bowl just kept growing and growing in size as I just kept on making excuses and reasons on why I haven't done this as of yet.
  So you are looking at every and I mean every pot of coffee that I brewed since May 2013. And no,I still haven't tossed away her meds as of yet. I am sure some shrink would have a answer for this...

 Got a knock on my door the other day...it was my neighbor's son who's bike I have been "keeping" ever since he left it outside against his mother's wishes. The parents and I both agreed that the son should write a letter of apology to the mom for disobeying her and leaving his brand new bike unattended to like that.
 This incident happened on 18 June and only yesterday had he come over with the letter. I had suggested to him he should write the letter two days after I had the bike. I told his folks my idea and they liked it a lot.

  But nothing happened so I hired the boys to help me do a project and again suggested a letter would be in order. He said he would and I talked to his mom about it again...but still heard nothing. I was a little confused about why he wasn't writing it,I knew it wasn't because he didn't care or respect his folks...so when he showed up and explained he had been gone two weeks on a camping trip,it made perfect sense. Hard to bring over a letter when you are 1,500 miles away!
   So I gave another mini lecture and gave back his bike and helmet and also put his letter on my fridge as a reminder that I would not see his bike outside again.

I am very down these days,I can feel my sadness and depression closing in around me. The long overnights at my job are ending just in time for me,I am getting beat up by the quiet once my co-workers go home at midnight. We still have people working,its just they are elsewhere in the store and we work alone pretty much after midnight.

  My energy and emotional levels are down,these three months are just the worst in terms of pure memories.
Death,union,birth...all swirling in my heart,far too many times as of late I have come home and just stared at where Lori's hospice bed was at...and going back to the times I sat with her,or giving her a drink,IV drip or a norco (a pain med). I asked a co-worker whose own wife has a very serious case of Trigeminal neuralgia
that he deals with on a daily basis,I asked him "When was the last time you were happy"? A simple question and my answer is as well...the last day I felt happy was the day before Lori's illness was discovered. I have ran the gamut of emotions ever since but truly happy wasn't one. I have been hopeful,thankful,loving,caring,angry,heartbroken, even peaceful in some respects but a wake up happy and go to bed happy day?

  Lori would have been 55 come the 25th of July...I know she would have wanted to travel somewhere fun,maybe a return trip to Washington,D.C. or somewhere south of here. Well,I can't afford nor am I in a mood for that but I can continue to do home improvements as I have been doing this week.
  My buddy Rich came back over today and we caulked the garage,cut away a dead heavy vine,cleaned the gutters and measured out where I am going to have to put in a board. Also went to spray some carpenter bees but ran out of spray so that will have to wait til tomorrow morning when I go get the supplies.
  Half of my basement is now clean and I am ready to tackle the Christmas side and the basement table as well. Of course the cheetah likes to come down and hang out with me while that is happening. He sits in the corner,purrs loudly and meows a few times as well....I believe this is called being supervised.
 
  The weekend of the 4th of July,the crew at work was talking about fireworks and how every year there is always someone careless who does something stupid. Everyone started telling stories about people they either knew or read about who managed to go to the extreme on the 4th.
   Lucky for me,I have never actually known anyone personally who did something that goofy (as I pat the BB still lodged in my jaw). I heard about a neighborhood kid who was hurt when he put firecrackers under a ceramic flowerpot that blew up in his face and when Lori and I lived in Northville,a man who lived not that far away ended blowing 3 fingers off his hand...and the guy in California (where else) who blew off BOTH hands fooling around with fireworks just this past week.

   Every year our local media nationwide always harp on the public to keep it safe and avoid the crippling or even fatal injuries that go along with being careless about handling fireworks. That includes house fires as well as shooting bullets in the air (a Detroit tradition).
  So it was a surprise to hear about a local weatherman for our ABC local station in Detroit,Dave Rexroth,who was in Iowa for the holiday,was seriously injured when a firework either blew up by his face or he was hit in the face by a flying firework. Either way,he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended losing a eye in the accident. He still currently in the hospital where he is having surgery to put in a prosthetic eye and will be off the air until September.
  He is one of the favorite media folks in our area and in that regard,I hope he recovers quickly and is able to resume his duties at Channel 7.



 Found out that I missed the local DVD sale at my Dollar Tree. I stopped by there to pick up some household supplies and checked the small DVD area only to see fresh movies. I poked through them picking up every new title I saw regardless of what it is.
  Since I have a lot of new readers,let me introduce you to what Dollar Tree Theater is. You can click the link or know that Lori and I loved Dollar Tree. About twice a year,the chain will sell DVDs for a buck.  Many are older films you may have heard of,there are a even a few DVD sets of TV series (I picked up the series "Daybreak" at one sale) but most are low budget obscure films that no one saw. Once in a blue moon,you might find a recent release like "Red Light"..it just depends on lucky you are when you stumble across the rare sale.

   I buy every single title I see whether I know it or not,many times I will just put it on for background noise while I putter away. And sometimes I actually sit down and watch it. But my store had been pretty much wiped out so I got only four films...decided to cruise to another store a couple of miles away where I had more luck with finding 7 movies including a Japanese anime film which was a first.
  It was then that I found out just how long it had been since I had actually stopped by as the clerk said the DVDs had come in a month ago and that I was getting the dregs...I sort of guessed that when I saw the Jessica Simpson movie "Blonde Ambition" sitting in the bin and yes,I bought a copy. I wonder if I could get paid for reviewing these old chestnuts.

  I like to extend a invite to all the new folks who have come across the blog to join my Networked Blogs group or via the Google Friend Connect which are on the side of the blog.  Also,please take a minute to explore some of the writers I follow which include my friend Sydney who is a special young lady who writes a raw and personal blog like this one.

Well I guess that is it for now.....again,thanks to everyone who supported my Food Stamp Nation entry and left some great feedback.

If you are on Twitter,please feel free to add me @Jinzo_2400. Love to sweep tweets with you.


Shout Outs

Lisa Adams - Love and light to you.
Rob W. - Thanks for another late night chat...and for sharing. We can do this.
Sue E. - Thanks for the company always...hope you enjoy the Sherlock Holmes series as much as I did.
Barb - Thank you again!
Rich - Finally feel like our repairs are going to make a real difference
Jack - Hope your back feels better soon
Dollar Tree - thanks for the DVD sale,do it again soon!
Monique Parent - stay cool in Vegas
Huron Valley Animal Shelter - for all the hard work the folks there do,you guys rock
To everyone who leaves a comment - you rock as well!!
Debbie R - java!

The Significance of the Declaration of Independence has not been diminished- by guest blogger Jessica Clackum

Its 10:30 pm

  Happy Independence Day. 

While the air around the house is filled with hundreds of fireworks going off,I am sitting inside drinking a iced coffee and watching Derek sleep on the cool tile in the bathroom. While I'm not into celebrating so much this year,watching a huge fireworks show was something Lori and I enjoyed doing.
  When we lived in Northville one year,we went for a Starbucks coffee and sat in the parking lot with another couple whom we didn't know and watched 3 different cities put on their firework shows. It was one of our favorite 4th of July that we enjoyed together.

There is a trend now among the blogging community....its called "guest blogging". Basically,if you see a writer you admire or have respect for..you ask them to come submit a guest column/entry. It is supposed to bring some fresh air in terms of both readership and content (because really,don't you get tired of just reading my words?)
   So with that in mind,I reached out to fellow blogger Jessica Clackum who writes her blog here on Blogspot called "Release the Clackum". I admire Jessica's writing style very much,her point of view is very strong and covers a variety of issues both current and historical. While our politics may be slightly different,its doesn't take away from the fact Jessica can seriously "bring it" when it comes to blogging.
  I asked her to submit anything she felt a mind to write about and she sent the following column,I hope you enjoy it and thanks again,Jessica! I would love some feedback on this guest column and if you,the reader,like the idea of seeing a guest writer once in a while here.

It was a hot and balmy summer in 1776 when a group of fifty-six delegates from the thirteen colonies convened in a meeting hall in Philadelphia to discuss, among other things, the drafting of a document to the King of England, declaring once and for all, in no uncertain terms, the intent of the colonies to form an independent and sovereign nation.

The delegates chose five men to write this document; Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams, Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson and it took nearly one month to come up with a draft to present to Congress and several days to amend and eventually ratify it. To show a unified stance against the King, the ratification of the Declaration had to be unanimous. In the end it was all or nothing, there could be no dissenters. When the fifty-six delegates signed their names to this document, they essentially placed a bounty on their own heads for they knew should the war for independence be lost, they would surely be hanged.

The Declaration of Independence is often criticized because of the alleged hypocrisy of the statement "All men are created equal" at a time when slavery was prevalent and women's rights did not exist. However, this document cannot be judged by applying modern standards. A good historian knows that historical events must be viewed within the context of their time thus while the Document may seem incomplete, hypocritical, or flawed in 2013, it was not the case in 1776.

To understand the significance and impact of the Declaration of Independence, one must take into account the events of the time in which it was written. Take for example the issue of slavery which is one that is brought up time and time again when discussing the Declaration. The Declaration of Independence initially included a paragraph related to slavery however in order to ensure ratification by the Southern colonies, Jefferson had to remove it. While slavery was an important human rights issue, independence was an even greater issue at that moment and needed to be addressed first. There is no question however that while the Declaration did not address specifically the issue of slavery, it was symbolically important in later years in the quest to abolish slavery in the United States.

The Declaration of Independence is a testament to the human spirit and man's desire to be free. Consider for a moment the Continental Army which was essentially a ragtag collection of poorly trained and under-equipped men who left their jobs, farms, and families behind to fight against the most powerful military force in the world, knowing full well the odds against them. These men fought tirelessly in the most horrible conditions and thousands died from pneumonia, malnutrition and disease. Despite the odds, the Continental Army persevered. This was not just due to amazing leadership, it was that the desire to be free was so overwhelming, it gave the men something to fight for. There was so much at stake that failure was not an option.

The Declaration of Independence and the brave men who risked their lives by signing it and the sacrifice of the brave men and women who gave their lives and fought for the principles outlined in it still continues to serve as an example to millions of oppressed people around the world who yearn for freedom. Two hundred thirty-seven years after the signing, the significance of the Declaration has not diminished. If anything it has only become more important.

To follow Jessica's blog,just click on the link below or Blogs I Follow.
http://releasetheclackum.blogspot.com/

Doing the Right Thing (and a medical update)

Its 3:21 pm

    Its blistering hot once again,we have had rain 3 times this week but right after the storms roll out then oppressive heat moves right back in...

   First off.....the great news. Lori's check up was perfect.....nary a peep of cancer was seen in her lab work or exam. This is just beyond great....we see Dr. Johnston in 3 months,get a PT Scan and then her chemo port can be removed. Time to move onward and forward,right?

  How was the 4th of July for everyone? It was a good day here....we built the brand new patio table,I destroyed yet another yellowjacket nest without getting stung and did some light housekeeping.
 We are cat sitting for our friends again while they take a trip up north. And as usual,Autumn the cat was as shy as ever. I cleaned the cat box and fed the turtle while Lori fed and watered the cat. We made sure we left the radio on and then headed out to do our errands.
  Stopped by a Dollar Tree in Belleville to look for containers for a idea Lori saw on Pinterest. We had picked up some at a larger Dollar Tree to help keep our upstairs freezer neat and organized. It worked very well so we went to our local store but they didn't carry them. So that brought us to the DT in Belleville.
Store was pretty poppin' for the 4th...we found our containers and went on our way.
  We then returned the huge planter we bought about 3 weeks ago,Lori ended up not liking it as much as she thought. We hadn't used it as of yet so it was a easy return at the Wal-Mart where we had gotten it.







   Ended up doing a little of shopping as well,people were shopping for BBQs and grills. Lot of hot dogs,brats, and hamburgers being sold.
  It was nice to see everyone smiling and laughing while they shopped. We went home and brought in the new patio table inside and put it together.
  While we were doing that I told her about the incident at my job the day before.

It was around 12:30ish on the 3rd....I just had helped a guest load up about 600 pounds of cement in their car and was headed back in....one of my co-workers was eating lunch and talking with a friend outside. Suddenly she looks to the left,looks to the store and then stands up. I'm about 50-60 yards from her but I can tell by her body language that something was wrong...I added a little more speed to my step and came around the corner and looked where she was. I was stunned....two grown men were squaring off at the other side of our store. You could hear the profanity being tossed about and both men were getting louder.
Its about 93 degrees now...and I guess I was only surprised that we hadn't seen this kind of tempers flaring up as of yet. I quick stepped down there,a white guy was arguing with an Middle Eastern man,the Middle Eastern had parked to get supplies but had blocked off (by accident)the other guy's truck. So what was a unintended action now had two grown men about ready to throw blows.
  I walked in-between them,put my arm around the Middle Eastern man,introduced myself and offered him a handshake. I knew what he was angry about,the white guy was mocking his accent. I steered him away and back to his truck,talking to him,asking him what happened. The white guy kept on barking and I turned and pointed at him "Leave it alone" I told him twice. 
 The guy I was with was named Jim. I calmed Jim down and explained that two professional contractors didn't need to act like that. He was very sorry and calmed down quickly. I then walked back to the white guy and I was a little less kind with him....I said "When I am getting him calmed down and you keep pushing his buttons,you have now become the problem."




He also got a little sheepish but was still mad because the other guy had spit on him. I dunno,I might inclined to toss a loogie if you are yelling "Fuck You!!" and making fun of my accent.
Now while I'm breaking this up....I see our store manager watching and I go,"oh shit". Afterwards...I walk up and told him I was sorry,the store policy is safety first and I wasn't sure if I had crossed the line.
  He just shook his head and "No,no....that was great. Where did you learn how to defuse situations like that at"? I said "Marsugi's...San Jose,California" and laughed.

  But isn't that something? That you could get into trouble by doing the right thing? Like what happened to this lifeguard?

Florida lifeguard Tomas Lopez was fired after he tried to save a man's life -- an example of how a company's fear of liability can sometimes make waves and backfire.

Lopez, 21, was hired by Jeff Ellis Management to monitor a portion of a public beach in Hallandale Beach, Fla. The company allegedly gave Lopez strict instructions to stay inside his patrol zone, ABC News reports.

But when Lopez spotted a man in distress outside his patrol zone Monday afternoon, he ignored those instructions and leapt into action.

By the time lifeguard Tomas Lopez got to the man, other bystanders had already pulled him to shore, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Lopez stayed with the man until paramedics arrived.

That valiant act was Lopez's last as a lifeguard, as his employer fired him for straying 1,500 feet outside his patrol zone. The man Lopez tried to rescue was in an area where swimmers are advised to swim at their own risk, the Sun Sentinel reports.

"We have liability issues and [lifeguards] can't go out of the protected area," Lopez's ex-supervisor told the Sun Sentinel. Jeff Ellis Management could possibly have been sued had Lopez's rescue attempt gone wrong, the company said.

In general, a person has no legal duty to rescue a victim in distress, unless a special relationship exists. Such a duty can be established when a lifeguard is contracted to patrol a specific beach.

But if a Good Samaritan fails to exercise reasonable care during a rescue and makes things worse, he can potentially be held liable for damages. That liability may be imposed on an employer, if the Good Samaritan's actions were within the scope of his job duties.

After a national outcry over lifeguard Tomas Lopez's firing, Jeff Ellis Management is now offering Lopez his job back, ABC News reports. But Lopez has turned down the offer, saying he won't rescue the company from drowning in a public-relations disaster created by its own liability policy.

Seriously,has it come to that? That we may not act to save a life,help out to solve a problem,break up a fight because we might be held liable and even lose our jobs? Instead of feeling good about getting involved,my first reaction was "Did I go too far"? That should never be the case,should it? 

The above video is one in a series from Liberty Mutual and it shows how just ONE good act of kindness can inspire others to do the same. We really so badly need more of this,don't we? And to do it from our hearts,not expecting anything back but simply because its the right thing to do.

  We finished our table and took it back outside. I grilled up some steaks,Lori made the sides and the tea...I went and set the table. We had a lovely dinner and then cleaned up the kitchen and watched TV. The fireworks started at about 8pm. I took Derek upstairs because he is afraid of the loud noises. Snacks on the other hand,just laid by Lori and slept through them. 

  Michigan has legalized the selling of fireworks and while that is okay...I don't think with the high heat,setting off bottlerockets was the best idea,at least 5 houses were hit and burned by fireworks in our area. Its something to be aware of....but with more and more cities cancelling their fireworks show,families doing their  thing is now becoming the norm. 

   As so many of you know,I love to read....in fact I'm wrapping up yet another book called "The 10th Fan" which details Major League Baseball courting of the baseball fan. One down,100 more to go,right?
Lori doesn't like to read much in the way of novels and such. She loves art books,travel books and cookbooks but when it comes to reading a James Patterson book or a Andrew Vachss book,ehhh,not going to happen. She did read the two Dan Brown books,The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. I bought her "The Lost Symbol"but that one has been gathering dust and acting as a bookend to about 20 unread books on my list.
   Imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw Lori was reading Lisa Ann Walter's book..




Not a bad book to pick up to read to say the least....its a very entertaining book and one I hope you all get a chance to read.

My next blog entry will feature a new interview with  super cool handbag designer Evon Cassier. Been waiting for her to get a chance to finish it and send it back. Well it has arrived and now I'll be so tickled to introduce Evon and her amazing creations to you all....

That is all I got for now.....thank you for reading this and hope you'll tell a friend/leave a comment!


Michael