Food for Thought (courtesy of Dianne Webber)

This Teacher Is Truly A Genius!

"You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."  Adrian Rogers

This man is truly a genius!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he
had never failed a single student before,  but had once failed an
entire class.  That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked
& that no one would be poor & no one would be rich, a great
equalizer.  The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment
in this class on Obama's plan".  All grades would be averaged &
everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail & no one would receive an A...

After the first test, the grades were averaged & everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset & the students who studied little were happy.  As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less & the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D!  No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F..  The scores never increased as bickering, blame & name-calling all resulted in hard feelings & no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, & the professor told them that
socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is
great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all
the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.  Could not be
any simpler than that.  (Please pass this on)  Remember, there is a
mid-term election in 2010!  Please vote wisely to build back a

Patriot Democracy, as our Forefathers intended us to keep.

(I would make one change to this … we live in a Representative Republic, not a Democracy… K)

Until next time…

78 POUNDS!

Michelle, the Hospice nurse, was here today. In the course of her visit, we weighed Mom again –> ONLY 78 pounds. That’s 6 more pounds lost since they weighed her after she left the hospital – less than a month ago. Boy, my cooking must be worse than i thought. Seriously, though, it’s so difficult to find anything she likes to eat, that she can eat without choking.

We discussed ways to get her to eat, how to keep her in her chair so she doesn’t fall, and how to keep her from choking. I’m afraid solutions are difficult.

She suggested baby food, then  thought maybe toddler food might suit Mom more. She also ordered some thickener – apparently thickened liquid is easier to swallow than straight liquid, like milk or coffee or water.

For keeping Mom from falling, she brought with her a strap that beeps when Mom tries to get up, but that’s not the problem so she took it back with her. She suggested that others have used a flat sheet to keep their loved ones in their chairs. 

Survival…

Yesterday, Glenn Beck interviewed Ben Sherwood, author of The Survival Club. --if you’re interested in a transcript of the interview, see: http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/21752/

At that site, there is a shortened Survivor IQ test you can take. It only takes a few minutes and will tell you which of the five categories of survivor you are. Ben Sherwood points out that this really gives you your dominant survivor trait; you can still have aspects of the other four. The five categories, in no particular order, are Believer, Thinker, Fighter, Realist, and Connector.

Regardless of your survivor type, your best chances of dealing with disaster is to:

1. Be aware
2. Know the threat
3. Prepare accordingly.

I don’t know if you saw any videos of the empty store shelves in the D.C. area during the latest snowstorms, but it’s a pretty good indicator of what could happen in any kind of regional or national emergency. What if this emergency lasted more than a week or two.

Are you prepared? Have you considered what disasters could befall you? Could you survive on the food and water you have at your house? What if electricity, water, and phones were out of service for a month or more? Do you keep enough gas in your car to get you away from any regional threat without having to stop for gas?

Take the time to be aware of what’s going on around you. Assess any threats that might come your way and get ready for it as much as possible.

Sorry for getting on my survivalist pulpit, but we are so spoiled in this country. Of course, you are reading something written by someone who never had to buy a roll of toilet paper or can of tuna for a year or more after 1/1/2000. My motto was: I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. How will I handle all of this survivalist prep when I’m in my 25-foot travel trailer?

Until next time…

A Great Day!

After a sleepless, noisy night, Mom decided she wanted to get up about 4:30 this morning. We got up, had breakfast (she ate about 2/3 of her meal), and then she decided she had to go to bed. She slept all day including through lunch, then woke up smiling about 4 pm.

All in all, it’s been a fairly good day. Mom ate a pretty good supper, including about half a chocolate cupcake for dessert.

She does seem to have increasing difficulty walking. This afternoon, I had to use the roll-a-tor to get her from the bedroom to the living room. We did this because this morning, I had to carry her the last few feet to her chair.

Right now (about 8:30 pm), she’s sleeping peacefully in her recliner. I’m hoping for a sleepy night tonight.

On Another Note…

Today, I opened my brand new EdgeStar ice-maker that I was able to buy for a good price in a scratch-and-dent sale. It’s for my camping lifestyle. Absorption refrigerators such as are found in campers are notoriously bad at ice-making and ice retention and I love ice in my drinks. This makes 28 pounds of ice per day, in as little as 6 minutes. And, I don’t even have to do any plumbing.

Since it only stores 2 1/2 pounds of ice, I’ll make use of the many coolers I have for storage.

The really neat thing about the ice-maker is that it came just when I needed a box of the size it came in to send my brother the dehydrator I got him at Bass Pro Shop. (Wow! what a sentence structure. He’s hoping to make jerky from all of the venison he harvests. I’m hoping he’ll make me a lot of dried fruit and veggies…just kidding!

The only downside is the ice-maker weighs 29 pounds. I may carry it in the back of the pickup truck.

On Still Another Note…

Today, I started a new book: A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart. Those of you who have known me for a long time probably know I was a history major in college. The book was recommended by Glenn Beck, whom I watch faithfully every afternoon at 5 on Fox News Channel. I also listen to him from 9 – 12 every morning on 970 WFLA.

Though I haven’t gotten very far in this book, I already find it interesting. I hope people in this country begin to wake up soon, before progressivism and socialism take over and we lose whatever freedom we have left.

We need to get back to our Constitution and rule of law. On the news today, I heard about some Republican (I expect it of Democrats) scoundrels who, though they voted against the stimulus bill and decry it vocally every chance they get, are not above accepting stimulus money for their states. That is why I think we should throw them ALL out. We need to tell them to GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE (see WWW.GOOOH.COM).

Until next time…

Rut Confirmed

Yep, you guessed it; last night Mom spent yet another sleepless night, talking, shouting, crying, whining, and sitting up in bed. When she sits up, she usually can’t lie back down by herself, because she puts her legs through the railing before sitting up.

About 6 am, she finally wanted to get up. Then, during a breakfast of cornmeal (which should be very easy to swallow), she had a choking spell. Later in the day, she fell.

I often wonder if there is something more I could be doing to keep her safe. So far as falling, I think the only solution is to tie her in a chair. I hate to do that, but when she fell today, I couldn’t stop her. She stood up and, before I could get around my computer desk to walk with her, she was on the floor.

She’s also been reluctant to eat anything today. I think she’s afraid she might choke again. I’m surprised she remembers the choking, but it was pretty scary.

Thankfully, I was able to get out for four hours thanks to Maria from Right at Home. I made my trip to Sam’s and to Publix. I don’t know how the pioneers did it, not being able to go to the store any time they needed to. After bringing in and putting away my purchases, I was able to take a bunch of garbage to the dumpster. I can’t believe how much garbage two people can generate.

On another note…

I’ve gotten plans for building solar panels. All the soldering looks extremely tedious, but you can make an 85-watt panel for under $100. I tell you, I am sold on solar, especially living here in Florida where it’s sunny almost every day.

The plans even included some neat instructions for building a small solar charger for AA and AAA batteries using chipped or broken solar cells.

If anyone is interested in seeing how this works, let me know.

Until next time…

I Think We’re in a Rut

I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since Wednesday, but I could almost post the same info tonight as Wednesday.

Last night, my mother had another sleepless night. Note that I didn’t say quiet night, but rather sleepless. She didn’t sleep and neither did I.

Then today, she decided she could just walk wherever and whenever she wanted. I warned her to let me know when she got up so I could walk along beside her. She is still so shaky when walking, as evidenced by the fact that she took another spill. Even after that, though, she still wouldn’t sit in one place for more than a few minutes.

The only thing that would be different from the above is that she didn’t just fall once today, but twice – once while I was in the shower and once while I was in the bathroom for another reason.

Yesterday, Nadine came again which allowed me to go to one of my favorite stores -- Bass Pro Shop in Orlando. Karen Dersham went with me and we enjoyed a great lunch at the Cricketeer Arms after walking through the store. The Cricketeer Arms is a British pub that serves the best fish and chips I think I’ve ever had.

Mom is becoming increasingly unresponsive. She won’t look at you when she talks. It’s nearly impossible to understand what she says – unless it’s profanity. She constantly drools even if it’s been hours since she ate or drank anything. It’s not uncommon to have to change her clothes 2 – 3 times per day.

Any ideas, anyone, on what I can do about this? I bought her a very long bib for meals, but she hates it and pulls it off whenever she gets a chance.

Though she says she’s hungry more often, it hasn’t changed how much she eats. Now, my niece will probably say that is a reflection of my cooking – wouldn’t you, Colleen -- and she may be right, but Mom doesn’t even eat much of her favorite take-out foods.

Tomorrow, a nurse from Hospice is supposed to stop by to check Mom out after her falls. Maybe she’ll have some suggestions about the drooling.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Until next time…

Another Sleepless Night

Last night, my mother had another sleepless night. Note that I didn’t say quiet night, but rather sleepless. She didn’t sleep and neither did I.

Then today, she decided she could just walk wherever and whenever she wanted. I warned her to let me know when she got up so I could walk along beside her. She is still so shaky when walking, as evidenced by the fact that she took another spill. Even after that, though, she still wouldn’t sit in one place for more than a few minutes.

Fortunately, this afternoon, Nadine from Right At Home Plant City came by and I got to have a little break. I went to see the movie Leap Year with Amy Adams of Julie and Julia fame. It was a terrific movie. The scenery in Ireland was spectacular.

Until next time…

Manatees

Today, while Maria from Right At Home Plant City was with Mom, my brother Jeff, sister-in-law Kathy and I went to lunch at Westshore Pizza (our second trip there in 3 days) then drove over to the TECO plant on Big Bend Road to see the manatees that shelter there during the cold months. Water temperature there near the plant is over 80 degrees while the Gulf temperature is only 67.

There were easily more than 50 (FIFTY) manatees there swimming lazily around in the water, occasionally lifting their nose out to breathe. If you have never been there to see this incredible sight and you are within a day’s drive, you should come to see them.

This is the first year I have seen so many manatees – from past experience, I’ve only seen 20 or 30 at one time. Of course, this winter has been so much colder than normal.

On Another Note…

Mom had a choking incident this morning. It was very scary, but she finally was able to get rid of whatever was stuck in her throat. I was sure glad I wasn’t here alone for this.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support.

Until next time…