239) Earth Day 2008

April 22, 2008
Tuesday

El Milagro: I’m here at 4:15, having left my office at 4 today. Upon hitting the parking lot I realize my blue bag is at home so I don’t have my candy, radio, or headphones. I do have my blanket and pillow. I call Liz on her phone and ask her to bring the bag if she has time later. I find my chair and Alma the Nurse is trying to set me up and poke me while Rowder is doing his Tuesday Drive By. He looks at my lab work and says all looks fine except for the phosphorous, which he notes has gone up steadily for the past three labs: 5.6; 6.6; 7.5. “What’s the deal?” I report on my email to Jennifer the Dietician about chocolate, tortilla chips, and avocado and also tell him about my nightly nauseousness. He has no suggestions or recommendations about it, replying “we’ll see if it changes…”.

Jennifer the Dietician walks up and reports on my labs officially and wants to give me a copy of the report that cannot be read because the copier is kaput. I decline to have papers I cannot read. Alma is poking me as we talk. She says, in a nutshell: blood count – great; parathyroid – good; potassium – good; calcium – great; phosphorous – the pits. How many chips am I eating, “a grab bag?” she wonders. “No silly. A ton of chips with salsa. I have no control. 7.5 won’t give me a heart attack or kill me this week, will it?” She warns that it won’t kill me and it is still very important to get those numbers back down and I should be able to control my eating, as I have done in the past.

Sherry the Social Worker comes up to report on her work to secure my Kerrville Dialysis for the folk festival at the end of May. She says I’ll have to have another TB test. I remind her that my perfect time is noon til four if she can make that work. Also, that I have already contacted the head nurse down there to let ‘em know I’m coming. Sherry also mentions my being on the list for “nocturnal” dialysis at the south site. I wrinkle my brows and wonder about that… I think I said I am interested in hearing more about it, not that I want to jump in with both feet. She nods her head in understanding and begins to give me more information: it’ll be from about 8 until 3 in the morning; MWF; 6 hours dialysis is better for the body, etc. and my brain is integrating this with all the other things I have to fit in (work, not cuddling with my sweetie, travel, UT, etc.) and reply that I’ll think about it. She says it won’t even begin until the summer sometime. Sherry goes off to write down my “perfect” time and I settle in to writing this Earth Day Post.

Her conversation reminds me that I have to ask Ron our Head Nurse for a switcheroo on times for this weekend so I can attend Ken’s wedding. Ron finally has some time and I call him over and after some consideration, we decide I’ll come in Friday afternoon for my Saturday dialysis. Those 3rd session times are always easier to fit into than the 1st shift times. I thank him profusely and comment on his new haircut.

So, Earth Day. I remember taking Johnny and Katie to Earth Day celebrations in the park when they were little kids. There were lots of booths with information about living GREEN, face painting which Katie always likes, running wild which Johnny liked, Jazz or Folk music, and lots of bumper stickers. Here in 2008, according to the news-media, it is all about living green. A couple of things we can each do to participate in a greener home are:
1. Switch out light bulbs for those curly energy saving bulbs and turn them off during the daytime
2. Turn off computer when not using it
3. Keep thermostat at 68-75 degrees
4. Recycle aluminum, waste paper, and plastics
5. Use re-usable grocery bags
6. Buy used stuff instead of new stuff
7. Sign up for donating all organs

I doze for awhile, dreaming of greening up the world and what it’ll be like when it is done… and then wake up to watch the ABC News and doze some more and then wake up to watch the last few minutes of McNeil Lehrer and then NOVA comes on and it’s Tom and Ray Magliozzi… the Car Talk guys doing a show on the future of CARS.

I love cars… always have since I was a five year old cutting the roofs off cars my mom had cut out of magazines for me to play with. “Do they ALL have to be convertibles?” she used to inquire. Little Hubley, Tootsie toy, and Matchbox cars in grade school, AMT Model Cars in Junior High School, real cars in high school, and hot rods ever after.

Ahhhhhhhh. I am in hog heaven watching this show. Sayonara!

Notes: In at 78.1 and out at 74.3 Kgs.
The rest of the story on Post # 236!
New Picture of the '84 Coleman Columbia on Post # 235!
* Earth day online à http://earthday.envirolink.org/
** Car of the Future, retrieved online April 22 from NOVA’s website, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

238) Passover, 5768

April 19, 2008
Saturday

Morning: The phone rang right at 6:30 am: it was our wake-up-call, ringing “Wake up, Wake up!” As I rolled over and picked up the phone to my ear, I knew that I’d hear nothing and I wondered why I put the phone up to my ear anyway. Who in their right mind would call us at this hotel in Arlington, Texas at 6:30 am? We jump outa bed and are ready to go within about 20 minutes. We go downstairs for the infamous La Quinta breakfast and I am amazed to find real fresh food instead of packaged foods. We grab some stuff and some coffee and head back up to pack and get outa there. We have to pick up Johnny in Denton at 8 and get back to Austin for my 1:30 chair at El Milagro. We wish we had time to lay around and enjoy this suite… it is really nice and comfy and begs us to kick back and relax. "No. We must Go".

Also, waiting in Austin, are Liz’s mom and sis: waiting for Liz to help them finish preparing our Passover meal for tonight. As usual, our Saturday plate is full! We are here at the old La Quinta Conference Center on 157, right beside Six Flags. We (TNOYS) used to use this place all the time for our Metroplex trainings, so when I drove up I was surprised to see that the place looks 100% different. The lady at the desk says, “Oh yeah. The conference center is that field out there. They tore it down and built this new building behind where it used to be. That’s why it looks different to you.”
Weird!

~◊~Lizzie and I drove up here last night for a date! Dayenu!*
~◊~We left the munchkin at her friend’s house overnight. Dayenu!
~◊~We secured this beautiful suite with my “free rooms”. Dayenu!
~◊~We dressed up in our fancy finery! Dayenu!
~◊~We attended my mentor, Wayne Duehn’s, retirement Extravaganza. Dayenu!
~◊~38 Years of teaching, research, and leadership, at one university! Dayenu!
~◊~We visited with Jack’s HBSE professor, Ski Hunter at the bar. Dayenu!
~◊~We visited with friends from afar: both in time and miles. Dayenu!
~◊~We saw Jennifer’s delightful daughter Vivian for the first time. Dayenu!
~◊~We ate dinner with David and Cathe and Bonnie and Jim! Dayenu!
~◊~We had a fabulous salad and excellent cake! Dayenu!
~◊~We listened and laughed at Wayne’s Retirement speech! Dayenu!
~◊~We filled Cathe Jordan with Jack’s agenda for the NASW Board! Dayenu!
~◊~We moved on to the party after the party and visited with Tony Arrangio! Dayenu! ~◊~We met the monster dog Torgor and he sat on Liz’s lap! Dayenu!
~◊~We approved of Wayne’s new wall art! Dayenu!
~◊~We retired to our suite to luxuriate in a really comfy king size bed! Dayenu!
~◊~And... we slept like lambs in lavishness! Dayenu!

After checking out, we cruised up to U of North Texas and woke Johnny up several times along the way and he still wasn’t awake when we were parked in front of his dorm. But he eventually came out with his bag of laundry and various winter things he is bringing home. And, he talked about his post-graduate plans and current classes and work all the way to Waco before crashing out in the back seat. We made it back to Austin in time for dropping off John and Liz at the house before I returned the rental car and headed over for dialysis.

El Milagro: I arrive on time. Joseph the Hulk sticks me and I pointed out where he should stick… and, lo I showed him the spot with no nerves. And lo, it was painless! We are happy. I wonder how nerve endings are dispersed in my arm and make a note to ask Johnny at dinner tonight. Joseph the Hulk smiles too.

The session is uneventful. I doze for awhile. I watch the women’s 8-ball championship: Allison Fisher wins! In the final game she makes a really great jump shot to set up a combo on the 9 for the win. Very COOL! In the back of my mind the things I could be doing to get the house and yard ready for the Seder are rolling around in there. Front porch. I did ask John to pick up the pile of leaves and bush cuttings on the driveway. My brain is rambling around while the blood leaves and gets purged and comes back clean and springy. Part of me keeps and eye on the TV although there is really nothing there that catches my eye. I am ready to move on to the house and relations and seeing my son. Sometimes this dialysis is a real drag!

So it goes.

And now it is time to unhook and zip out to the rest of the day: I note that I can’t just go home and crash out, which I usually do after dialysis.

I have a house full of relations who are waiting for Jack so they can begin our first Family Passover Seder to ever happen on the actual first night of Passover! A historical moment. I’ll have to stay awake, drink a tiny bit of Passover wine (also something I don’t do after dialysis), and act hospitable and friendly… which I can do. The Seder proceedings will be conducted in the traditions of Harold Baldauf, as translated by Larry Baldauf, the current head of the family. The whole thing will be a combination of reading the Haggadah with humor and honor; calling out in unison, “Praised art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, WHO HAST CREATED THE FRUIT OF THE VINE!”; throwing the plastic plague representatives (ants and flies and crickets and two dead cows); eating the many deliciously different Passover foods; and finally singing the Had Gadyo with great FEELING. And, Shayna will read one of the prayers in Hebrew for the first time. It brings a warm feeling to me as I drive and imagine this close future of mine.

Notes: In at 76.5 and out at 74.5 Kgs. Starting BP 105/55.
*Dayenu. Retrieved online from Wikepedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayenu
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

237) Regular Tuesday

April 15, 2008
Tuesday

El Milagro: I get here on time. Joseph the Hulk cannulates me and this time he shoves the needle into my arm painfully... after I sarcastically said I like the pain... maybe he is testing me. He takes the 5 or 6 vials they take for monthly blood work. Jo the Nurse comes over to do my nursing evaluation. My BP is 116/76.

Rowder comes by to do his weekly drive by and says this week they are focusing on fistulas. How's my fistula? "Fine".
"Okay. Anything else?"
"Nope."
"Next week we'll have labs to discuss."
"Okay."

I listen to ATC, watch the ABC News, and Jim Lehrer's News Hour. Then surf through a bunch of bad TV until I find the last half of The Magnificent Seven. What a GREAT Movie!

So it goes on a Tuesday evening in dialysis.

Notes: In at 76.2 and out at 74.4.

236) The Medical Runaround

April 14, 2008
Monday

Warning: This is a non-kidney, non-dialysis post! However, writing it is helping me to calm down and somehow feel better about documenting my frustrations.

TNOYS: So, I happened on my referral from Dr. Race to Dr. Lown and thought, "Ah yes... today is a good day to call for this appointment." so first I call my primary care doc, Krienke's office and talk to the "referral office". According to Rosemary I don't need another referral besides the referral to Race, cause that referral is good enough for my insurance. So I call Lown's office and explain that I went to see Dr. Race about this atrophied little finger and he wants to refer me to Dr. Lown for the surgery. The lady asks me if I have a referral and I say "No, but..." and describe the little consulting introduction form I have and she says they must receive a referral from my doctor of record. I replay the story of talking to Krienke's office and the lady replies that then they have to receive a referral from Dr. Race's office. So, I call Dr. Race's office and talk to a nice person who says with my insurance I can just call Lown and set an appointment. I explain what Lown's office told me and the Race woman goes off to check my record and comes back in a few minutes and says, "We can fax the doctor's notes over there and call that a referral". I ask her to call them and explain that to them and then call me back, and she agrees... nice person that she is.

So, then, about 20 minutes later she calls me back and says that she did FAX the stuff to Lown's office and did call them and they tell her they must have a referral form so she has also FAX'd the material to Krienke and asked his office to refer me to Lown. I thank her for her work and end up sitting at my desk shaking my head. I have just spent 30 minutes trying to get an appointment and don't yet have one!

Arrrrrgh...

Note --> 4/23: When I got my snail mail referral, yesterday, I called Lown's office ready to tell the lady I got the damn referral; and a guy, Ken I think, answered. "I have a referral from my primary doc." "What's your insurance?" says he. "Blue, select from UT" says me. "You don't need a referral." he says. "Arrrrrgh..." says I. "Sir?" say he. I grumble, "The lady at this phone last time said I did even though I told her I thought I didn't" "Oh. Sorry." say he. So, I have an appt for Thursday, April 24th.

235) Enter the '84 Coleman Columbia

April 12, 2008
Saturday

Morning: Gladys the Tech called me at home while I was raking the front yard with Liz & Shayna… a family project with Chelsea running around like a wild dog. We negotiated for me to come in at 1:30… in an hour and one half. I had trimmed the Mountain Laurel and tended the two new purple sages and the transplanted hibiscus and we completely raked the front and the side yard… only have the back 40 to go.

Also, this morning Shayna and I went over to Texas Truck & Trailer to buy a drop-down ball mount, since our NEW pop-up is lower than the one we used to haul. Yes, we did finally find a ’84 Coleman Columbia for a very reasonable price and now all we have to do is find a place to put it, since Westcreek Assn. has rules about trailers in driveways.

El Milagro: I arrive on time and Herman the Nurse points out my chair, right beside John the Reader. As I settle in by putting out my blanket, pillow, book, New Yorker, radio, and earphones, Herman takes my BP and I’m talking away to John and I look over at my BP and it is 235 over 180! My eyes widen with disbelief and I look at Herman and say, “What? Can blood pressure even go that high?” and Herman calmly says, "lets try it again…" and he does and it is just about the same. I am freaking out! So, Herman takes the cuff off me and puts it on himself and does his and it is 140 over something… “That’s a little high for me” he concludes. Jason the Tech is now standing there too, looking suspicious about the whole thing. Herman tells me about a woman patient he used to have whose normal BP was 250 over something and she continually told him not to worry about it. I say, “Well, mine has NEVER been this high and I don’t like it one bit?” Herman puts the cuff back on me and pops the button again. While I am feeling the clamping on my arm and worrying I tell myself “Calm down” while another part of my brain says, “Easy for you to say… you’re friggin BP is off the planet!”. Another part of my brain is yelling, “SHUT UP! Your’re not helping anything! Just chill out…” Soon the cuff says, "pffffff" and I swing around to see the machine: 115 over 76. Herman listens to my chest and concludes that my pulse is 76 and I am okay. We decide to keep track of the BP for awhile and it seems like I am back to normal. Even though I question the machine and this anomaly neither Herman or Jason the Kid have any idea or seeming concern about it. They are happy to just go on with life without questioning the universe, the machine, or my own constitution. I am so happy to be back to a normal BP that I let out a big sigh and I too choose to just move on along time's highway.

Jason carefully sticks me with his usual conscientious and patient-centered approach. He puts in a needle, attaches a syringe pumps the blood in and out, asks how it feels, reports how it feels to him, and then goes on to poke number two. Once I am set up, I am ready to finish reading a story in the New Yorker while telling myself "I SHOULD be reading my Saleebey" book. Before I even get my earphones on, John the Reader and I start a conversation and I end up putting away my magazine, book, and earphones.

We start off our conversation by commenting on the teen girls in Florida who videotaped beating up a girl and put it on U-tube. John posits that even though we (and he is probably a generation younger than me) did crazy stuff as teenagers, this kind of thing is way out of line with appropriate behavior. I share that my thought is that it has to do with a changing value system and that these new generations are the first to develop their values based on popular culture and their peers rather than their parents and the “adult” culture, and that this is due to the proliferation of technology that permits teens to insulate (“build a wall” according to Ron Taffel) their peer culture (Taffel’s “second family”) outside of their parent’s span of control. With teens’ use of instant messaging, cell phones, and email, many times parents don’t even know who their teen’s friends are, much less “approve” of them. Even though there are good peer culture influences, there are also many more opportunities for experimenting with, and documenting, behavior that dances on the edge of societally appropriate. Historically, teens’ experimentally aberrant behavior was relegated to behind the barn and whispered about. Today it is out front and on the web for everyone to see. [I wonder if Hans, with his new book, Youth & Subculture as Creative Force might offer something to this conversation?] Even after my discourse, John shakes his head and cannot understand the violence and stupidity of these girls. Any youth out there? We'd be happy for your take too.

We move on to talking about some of our own upbringing, our take on the political situation, and our kidney situations. John hasn’t yet gotten on the kidney transplant list because he wants to stabilize his health more first. This strikes me as an admirable and ethical stance. As I understand it, he doesn’t think it is ethical to get on the list before HE thinks he is an appropriate candidate for a new kidney. He evaluates his own situation with some suspect, since he has been hospitalized five times since starting dialysis. He says something to the effect of, “I would hate to take a kidney from someone and then up and die… that would be a waste.”

The flow of the conversation rolls on: hospital drugs to the similarities between vodka gimlets and kamikazes. The impact of liquids on our kidney situations. I share that they always told me not to drink more that 32 ounces a day. John is limited to a liter and a half a day and he says he can’t go one glass over that without having serious complications leading to another hospitalization. So, how much is a liter and a half? Herman comes to solve that one: “32 ounces is a liter” and then he adds, “approximately… that’s how we remember a liter” so, John can supposedly drink a little more than I am supposed to; although I admit to him that I seldom pay attention to the number of ounces I drink per day. He laments that he has to watch it very carefully, which is a reason to drink vodka gimlets rather than gin and tonic. The tonic is a waste of precious liquid.

Finally, John is about to leave and having to wait a bit for his BP to come up and the common dizziness to go down so he can drive. He leaves and I settle back to watch TV for my last hour. I watch the Masters and although Tiger has finished already it is fun watching the young guys, Immelman and Snedeker and hearing about how Tiger is in 5th place but that really means to the commentator that he is winning. Before I know it it is time to unhook and head home. Jason unhooks me and all is well. It is still a bright sunny afternoon-like day out and I look forward to checking out the lawn when I get home. So it goes.

Notes: In at 76.2 and out at 74.3 Kgs.
*Skott-Myhre, H. (2007) Youth and subculture as creative force: Creating new spaces for radical youth work. Toronto, ON: U. of Toronto Press.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

234) The 38th Anniversary of the Breakup of the Beatles

April 10, 1970
Tuesday

El Milagro: I arrive and find my chair on the back wall and Jo the Nurse, in a brightly colored smock, smiles her way over and gets my BP and sets up my machine. She asks who I want to poke me, with the big guy, Joseph the Hulk, standing right behind her. I say, "The big guy can do it." and he smiles. Then, somehow Carrie the Tech zips in and starts unrolling the tool kit and Joseph just stands there and Carrie says, "Oh... did I interrupt something here?" and Joseph replies, "fine with me for you to do the work here." and they chuckle and Carrie ends up poking me a little too fast, causing more pain than usual.

I listen to NPR ATC (food prices up 50%!), then watch the ABC News and then channel surf over to a show about the history of horse and buggy driving (http://www.rfdtv.com/shows/ruralheritage.asp) which is moderately interesting. At 7, of course, it's Survivor... where Eliza presents a fake "hidden immunity idol" and ends up going home. My take... this series not as interesting as usual, although I do like several of the players (James and Parvati), both past series 'favorites'.

After Survivor I find that LOST isn't on. It's LOST and I can't find it! I have to watch a repeat of Restless Houswives in Suburbia. Boring.

I settle on reviewing an article about the "art" of social work practice* that posits that EBP's are okay but miss the point of excellence in the practice of social work, since canning practice strategies, doesn't allow for creativity and intuitiveness of delivery. Graybeal says, "Competence in social work... will be found... by the creation of uncommon common sense. Social work is a matter of intuitive understanding, but it must be the intuition which is unusually sound, unusually fluent and accessible, and subject to unusually careful evaluation."

Soon it is time to unhook and go out into the leaving light. So it goes.

Notes: In at 77.8 and out at 74.9
* Graybeal, C.T. (2007) Evidence for the art of social work. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services 88(4), 513-523.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

233) My Atrophied Little Finger

April 8, 2008
Tuesday

El Milagro: Get here 20 minutes late… surprising since I have been rushing all day; starting in Plano this morning at a consulting gig. I left Plano at 11 and actually made it to Enterprise to return a car and then zipped over to see Dr. Race for a 3 o’clock appt. Dr. Race is referring me to a hand surgeon, Dr. Lona, since my atrophied little finger has gotten beyond where he feels comfortable tackling the operation. What I like about Race is he is personable, friendly, and down-to-earth… so I hassle him a little about referring me to “the best” guy, which I quip, “all the docs always say”.

John the Reader calls me over to discuss last night’s championship game… we both think it was one of the best games in years and we are both happy about Kansas winning. I share about my ‘brackets’ (I picked Kansas to win it all) and John shares about his family connection to Kansas and friend connection to Memphis.

Pretty soon Rosie the Tech calls me over to my chair to set me up and sit me down. As she is checking my BP and getting ready to stick me she tells me the story of her weekend trip to Houston with her cirrhosis brother and describes her frustration in dealing with his selfishness; “none of your crosses are mine to bear”. I’m a bit confused so I agree and listen to her and reflect how frustrating it must be. She goes on for about 10 minutes while sticking me and we conclude that what goes round comes round and the way he treats people will ultimately come back and bite him in the butt.

I settle in to writing up some notes about my TA trip to CITY House and then writing this material and then listening to NPR, etc. as always.

Watch the news, kick off my shoes, and take a snooze: I am tired from two days of travel, eating rich foods, and drinking too much liquids on my trip. When I do trainings or consulting I get thirsty so I drink more on those days than the recommended 32 ounces, making me a bit puffy in the hands.

I end up watching Cracking the Maya Code on PBS and am fascinated at the amount of sleuthing it takes to translate these beautiful hieroglyphs. And, so it goes here and Now.

Notes: In at 77.9 and out at 75.0 Kgs.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

232) El Nacho Malo

April 5, 2008
Saturday

Morning: I just have to record my recent foray into the world of bean nachos. Last night, after the Kick Kats beat the Lava Jets 7 to nothing, several of the mom’s decided that it was a Friday night get a drink night so we all headed to Seranno’s after the game. Of course, we arrived right at one of their busiest times and tried to find spaces for the 12 team members and about 14 parents. While we got on the list for a table for 20, most of us gathered on a long high table that traverses the bar and ordered our margaritas and chips. Finally, they set up a large table in the back room and then the mom’s found a booth to gather in, and one other dad and I chaperoned the 15 kids, including the whole team and several older and younger sibs.

For one thing, Serrano’s wouldn’t have been my choice for places to go since there isn’t much on the menu that I can eat. But, what can I say to a bunch of moms bent planning where to go for a whole team. So, I look at the menu for awhile and decide to get nachos. Why? Well, all the enchiladas are completely inappropriate. Even their green enchiladas with chicken are smothered with cheese, which doesn’t work, or even sound good to me tonight. "Tacos?" None sound good either. "Taco Salad?" Nope. So, I finally decide that bean and cheese nachos are an 'appetizer' and therefore ‘smaller’ than a full dinner. And, I can swipe off some of the cheese and beans, and the corn tortillas, although not great for me, are something I eat regularly and therefore "okay" in my dysfunctional brain.

So, since Liz is in the other room with the girls, I go ahead and order a plate of bean nachos, telling myself that I’ll take my binders right afterwards and all will be "okay". What I realize now (the next morning) is that I should also have been thinking about the nachos + binders + time + pooping equation at the time of ordering. This is a tip for all of you out there who are on dialysis and need to pay attention to what you eat.

Diet TIP: When you are thinking of ordering food (Kp), picture it binding (Vc) with your binders and moving (Kp) through your intestines and bowels and then feel it (K-) coming out the other end. Then make your choice of what to order.
[CUE --> Kp --> Vc --> Kp --> K- = Choose?]

This is, of course, is derived from the famous NLP Naturally Slender Eating Strategy, and will differ based on your own decision-making strategies. In general, the naturally slender eating strategy is cued by thinking about eating… for example, looking at a menu in the restaurant.
1. You check how your stomach feels right now (Kp)
2. You ask yourself, “What would feel good in my stomach?” (Ad)
3. See an option (create or remember) (V c/r)
4. “How would this feel in your stomach over time?” (G/Kp --> K+/K-)
5. Eat whatever will feel best in your stomach over time (1+ hr, 2+ hr, etc.), as long as it feels better than your stomach feels now.
6. CUE --> Kp --> Ad --> Vc/r --> [K+ or K-] = Choose? *

But no, I don’t really follow my tip at the time, which is why I am posting this tip today. I eat those bean and cheese nachos… along with about 20 delicious jalapeños and am just as happy as a clam afterwards.

Flash forward to 2 am, when the binders and bowels have worked and I am awakened with a bodily signal to go sit on the toilet. A word about binders: we eat stuff and then we take our binders (I take 1/2 a Fosrenol chewable, 3 PhosLo’s, and 2 Sensipars after the evening meal) which “bind” with the phosphorous and potassium in the food we just ate, and move that binded material on through the intestine and bowels so it doesn’t get ingested into the system where the kidney can no longer process it. Once binded and moved through, of course the material comes out in a bowel movement, which I refer to as poop. The consistency and frequency of passing the poop has to do with the amount of binded material and, I think, also the flagrancy of our breaking our dietary rules. In other words, the worse we eat, the worse our experience of pooping. So, here I sit at 2 am and at 5 am emptying my bowels of material binded from the tasty bean and cheese nachos with the 20 delicious jalapeños.

El Milagro: I had called in late to get a time; after we all (including Chelsea the Dog and Calla the Flower) went to the farmer’s market to buy organic doggie treats, blackberry peach jam (Yum Yum) and a columbine plant for the back hillside. Jason the Tech said I can come in at 3:15 pm.

I arrive at 3:15 and they have me in the back corner today. I say “Hi” to Margaret the Nurse who is playing with my machine as I walk up and she gives her normal “Hmmpf” and the old stone face that always makes me wonder what is up with her.

Amanda the Tech is here and we discuss school and summer plans while she sticks me. She is taking the summer off from school and gonna work full time, which will brighten this place up immeasurably. Today I can tell she has increased her confidence at sticking people, like me, for instance… an 8.5 on the old 10 point scale. She says “thanks for the feedback” in her blondie blushing way and I share with her some of our own summer plans. I think of my own daughter, Katie, and wonder what she would be like as a Tech… weird thought…

I am listening to the end of Folkways on KUT and they are in their fundraiser pledge drive and Tom Pittman (Austin Lounge Lizards) announces a pledge from Plano, Tx! They listen on the net and are sending in a pledge… cool! Us dyed in the wool partners of KUT even listen during pledge drive to see who is pledging (heard Bobbie and Theresa this morning)… we are hopeless radio heads.

Suddenly I notice a shrill siren sounding alarm and see Jason the Tech sprint across the room and into the back. We have Water Problems! Then J the T returns and talks on the phone to someone (the water guy?) and then comes around and adjusts everyone’s machine, telling me my alarm will go off again. Now he is back on the phone while inspecting some sort of manual.

Now machine is beeping to tell us “there is no water you guys” and the staff comes by about three times before I ask them to show me how to turn off the beeper myself. Aha… I finally get my machine training… en vivo. Gladys the Major Tech comes by soon and reports that the water is off and they don’t know why but the Water Guy is on his way. Even though all these machines keep beeping their water notices, I have my A+ earphones on, now listening to ATC, so I am not bugged by the whole scene.

So, the water guy gets here and talks to Jo the Nurse, telling her it is broken and she must “return” everyone. That means, return the blood that is in the machine. Before they get to us in the back corner, the H2O guy pops back out saying he replaced a filter and it is gonna work again… so everyone gets turned back on.

I’m watching the Santa Anita Derby by now. El Gato Malo; Colonel John; Meeting with Destiny… they’re all there in their finery. The short term race has Colonel John come around the far corner, move to the outside, and just zoom by five others to take the win by almost a half a body. No matter how ADD one is, you can’t get bored with a two minute horse race.

Jo comes up and reports we’re doing fine again, but by now I’ve noticed my normal wash (rinse) isn’t there and mention it to her… she apologizes, saying they are out of my rinse, so I have no rinse today. Well, you know what that means…

So, we’re on to the Final Four and again entering basketball heaven… I want Memphis to beat the Hell out of UCLA, since Memphis beat us they should show themselves to be more than anyone else can handle. If they beat UCLA then somehow I will feel better about them beating UT, since we beat UCLA earlier in the season.

Is it a case of the placebo effect or are my calves really both simultaneously cramping? The calves think it is real cramps. My brain is trying to convince my body that it is like an oppositive placebo thingie… I don’t have the rinse so I fool myself into getting cramps… and in a few minutes my leg pain convinces my brain that it just doesn’t matter (it just doesn’t matter!)… let’s yell at Amanda. She comes over and gives me some liquid, then helps me stand up and put some weight on my calves… which, after about 4 painful minutes, begins to work and I sit back down. When cramps are over I find myself feeling so happy usually… and a bit worn from the pain. Within a very few minutes of getting back to a comfy TV watching stance, my time is up. Memphis has won and I rush home to watch Kansas and North Carolina. I want our Big 12 champ to beat NC, btw.

Notes: In at 76.3 and out at 74.9 Kgs.
* NLP Practitioner Notes (1986) © Unpublished Manuscript from NLP of Colorado. Day 14, p.4
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

231) First Week of April

April 3, 2008
Thursday

El Milagro: I arrive almost on time, after stopping by a convenience store to pick up some hard candy to snack on while blood cleansing. Carrie the Tech sticks me. Herman the Nurse is here and stops to kid me about missing the training session last Sunday. Our PAC had set up a session to learn the dialysis machines for 10 am last Sunday, and out of the 10 people who signed up, only one showed up and he already knows about how the machines operate. I apologized to Herman that I completely forgot about it and although it was in my calendar, I usually don’t look at my calendar on Sunday mornings. I asked him to consider another time, and he just laughed, so I will wait a few months to schedule it again.

Jennifer the Dietician came by and we discussed the idea of dieticians bringing healthy snacks once a month and she clarified that they are willing to do a snack in the first few weeks of the month and the PAC can do something the second two weeks of the month. She is concerned that we not bring donuts and I replied that we can plan to bring recipes we have made from the DaVita website.

Tonite Survivor is back on and I am glad about that, having missed it for the past few weeks, and then, while watching it I am kinda bored by the show’s happenings and again wondering if the whole Survivor thing is over for me. Afterwards I switch over to LOST only to find another repeat. But, after that there is a new Without A Trace, which I hurry home hoping to not miss to much of the beginning.

Notes: In at 77.3 and out at 74.2 Kgs.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.
<◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊><◊>

April 1, 2008
Tuesday

El Milagro: I arrive 20 minutes late and my chair is ready. Alma the Tech, who is the diminutive opposite of Joseph the Hulk, comes to stick me today. She is small and seems very comfortable with her job and sticks me fast with NO pain. Rowder and the dietician come by with my labs from Easter and my phosphorous is up again and Jennifer the Dietician wants to blame it on Easter and then catches herself, saying “you don’t do Easter, do you…” but, I do eat… and, who knows what spiked the phosphorous. So, as usual, they ruminate and we decide to wait and see what comes up next lab. Rowder asks if there is anything I need and, as usual, I reply, “no”. I check the clock and again wince at the idea of my insurance paying for a two minute doctor’s visit.

I read my Saleebey book for awhile while my brain is plotting next steps for the social work licensing mess we have in Texas. I am thinking that a “call to arms” letter in the NASW Newspaper might be the way to advertise the problem in a broader way and get folks rallied to work on some rule changing activity.

I turn on NPR to get these plots out of my head. One thing about spending so much time in dialysis is there is plenty of time for plotting, thinking, and just generally considering lots of stuff we don’t usually have the time or luxury of considering. It’s like the modern equivalent of Thoreau’s sojurn at Walden Pond… not as naturalistic and idyllic… but, it does force one to sit and think.

By the end of ATC, I am looking through the TV channels (which Thoreau didn’t have at Walden Pond) and find the History Channel’s series on the Universe and immerse myself in the collisions of the universe and forget all about all my little concerns.

Notes: In at 79.1 and out at 74.5 Kgs.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

230) In Which Joseph the Hulk Sticks Me

March 29, 2008
Saturday

El Milagro: I call in to find out what time I can come in and Ron the Nurse says, 2:30 so here I am at about 2:45, finding my chair on the back wall. Today it seems like the place is short-staffed, there are three nurses I can see and two techs. The guy who is in charge of cleaning the re-usable dialyzers, known as the ‘reuse technician’* is working the floor as a tech! He comes up and takes my BP and is setting up the machine and I think that he will do all that and then call Gladys’s the Tech over to stick me. But no, he plans to do it himself… and he looms over me and asks in a quiet yet formidable voice, “Is is okay if I stick you?” with a little grin.

Now, let me tell you a little about Joseph the Reuse Tech. Joseph is about 6’8” tall and probably weighs about 240. He is tall and thick like a tree, or a linebacker. He is Hispanic with short cropped hair and a tough look, with sometimes a sinister grin. He always wears black t-shirts and when he has his clear plastic apron and surgical gloves on he reminds me of a Frankensteinish figure of imposing magnitude. I don’t know if he actually has tattoos, but he could have them. He drives a dark metallic green late model Mercury sedan painted and tricked out like a moderate low rider with spike wheels and when he drives out of the parking lot late at nite it is an ominous site… such are my hallucinations about Joseph.

So when he says with that little grin, “Okay if I stick you?” I gulp and respond “Have you ever stuck anyone before?”. “Lots.”, and I choose not to question that at all. He is a slow poker, going from step to step in a laborious way that causes me to hallucinate that either he doesn’t know what he is doing or he is very careful to proceed with each step in a self-conscious and thoughtful way. Throughout the process, as he goes back and forth to the machine, he continually asks Jo the Nurse questions about the settings, so even if he does know sticking, he seemingly knows the machine less well. I ask Joseph, “So, is sticking people a move up?” and he just looks back without letting me know anything about if he even understood that question. He makes a non-informative grunt or maybe it is an affirmation… or, maybe a shrug… it is hard to read… and we go on.

I note that although Jo the Nurse is coaching Joseph on the machine, neither she nor any other nurse comes by today to do a nursing eval.

Joseph sticks me with the power of a 240 lb man with Blutoish arms… the needle POPS into my vein with none of the normal resistance my scared veins put up. Pop! In goes one needle. Pop! In goes the second. Done. He deftly tapes ‘em up and I say, “Good job” and he grumbles, “Thanks”. Whew. That’s over and Joseph the Hulk moves off to loom over another patient down the line.

Ah Saturday: I don’t feel like reading the book I have been bringing every session, which I am supposedly reading in prep for my Fall class on SF Therapy. The book is Dennis Saleebey’s, The Strengths Perspective in Social Work Practice and today it lays in the bottom of my bag untouched. I draft this post and then I surf the channels and end up watching one of the History Channel's shows on How the Earth was Made, about the clash of continents and the upheaval of mountains, etc.

From there I go to the clash of March Madness Basketball teams; specifically North Carolina and Louisville… the white headed wonder (Roy Williams) chesting up against our brylcreem boy, Rick Patino. A good game and yet we all know in our hearts that NC can’t really be beat this year… at least not yet. So I keep cheering for Louisville to come back, even though they spend most of the game 7 points down. And, of course, on my brackets I have NC at this level… but it is more fun to cheer on Patino’s boys.

I finish my blood cleansing session before the game is over and rush home to watch the final few minutes. And so it goes, Kokomos.

Notes: In at 77.1 and out at 74.4 Kgs.
*What is a reuse technician? Retrieved from Davita online, at //www.davita.com/UploadedImages/ReUse
Tech.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.davita.com/dialysis/c/621&h=200&w=200&sz=

16&hl=en&start =11&um=1&tbnid=YtG6is1zJugywM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=104&prev=

/images%3Fq%3Ddialyzer%26um %3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DX
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

229) What's your name? Is it Mary or Sue?

March 27, 2008
Thursday

El Milagro: I arrive and weigh in before my chair is ready so I hand out the El Milagro News that they have finally copied for us. I notice as I hand it out that people seem to be ready and excited to see it… I think it is catching on. Now if only folks would submit things for the next issue. I am thinking I want to send one over to the doctor’s office too and argue with myself about whether I should send a hard copy or a PDF.

Carrie the Tech sticks me today and it is a milestone: for the first time ever I don’t feel the first poke at all! I mention that to her and she says that sometimes people say that… and “thanks”. I am amazed at the experience but before I can celebrate too much the second poke comes and I do feel it’s prick of pain and I am brought back to reality… wondering how that first stick happened… is it the case that we have places where there are absolutely no nerve cells?

Carrie and I talk about my work day and I share that it was okay… a meeting with the state folks where we tried to get their blessings on a research project… and, of course, they can’t really do much… blah blah… However, we did plant the seed and they did say they would write a letter supporting the project, so I guess that is the most one can ever expect with the kinds of constraints they always must work under.

When Carrie is done, the new nurse whose name escapes me right now comes up and does my nursing evaluation. What is her name? She makes it worse by saying, “So, Jack, how are you feeling today?” while I’m staring back at her blankly, thinking, Zelda?, Marian?, Christy?… trying each of these monikers on with her face. No help. I do know a way to meet someone and immediately remember their name and I search my memory for if I did that strategy when I met her… nope. I never come up with her name and she is now gone on to serve some other customer.

The strategy? Well, as you meet someone for the first time, look at their face, say their name aloud, imagine it written in magic marker on their forehead, and simultaneously ghost write it on your thigh. This works pretty well because it uses all your rep systems to anchor the name. Of course, you have to remember to do it.

I turn on the TV and watch the ESPN Sports-center, with Bobby Knight talking about March Madness, and then flip to the first game tonight, North Carolina and Washington State… well, you can guess how that one is going… and pretty soon we are flipped over to the most exciting game of the evening; Xavier and West Virginia. Even though I have Xavier winning on this level (on my brackets), I am cheering for WVU and their young-looking boy, Alexander. Great game which goes into overtime.

As it finishes I finish with the blood cleaning operation and am going home happy cause I love watching college basketball. Life is Good.

Notes: In at 78.2 and out at 74.9 Kgs.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

228) The Pascal Moon & March Madness

March 22, 2008
Saturday

El Milagro: I call in the morning and Jason the Tech checks and says, “When do you want to come in?” and we agree on 12:30. The parking lot is empty when I arrive.

So, here I am @ 12:30 and Rosie happily sticks me (and is seemingly from her smiles and laughter in a very good considering she had planned to be out of town visiting her sister today instead of working) and reports that it’s the holiday weekend that makes everyone want to get out of here early. Rosie and I are yakking away and she puts my tempo-dot ultra-modern paper temperature taker thingy in backwards and I sit there for awhile mum while she pokes me… and then she checks the reading and there is none. Her eyes widen! I’m DEAD! “Oh yeah” she laughs… “I put it in backwards…” and we start the process over.

Jo the Nurse comes by to do my nursing eval and asks me if we are getting ready for Passover, since Easter is this weekend… and I report to her what I’ve heard about Easter on the radio, and conclude, “Passover (“...is celebrated on a specific date which is the fourteenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan. Since Christians used the Roman custom of measuring days from midnight to midnight, the date is the 14th, but for Jews, who measure a day from sunset to sunset, the Passover, which begins after sundown, the date is the 15th day of the month of Nisan”*) starts April 19th this year, and Easter is earlier than normal, based on the Pascal Moon”. I continue to tell her what I have heard about the date of Easter being connected to the date of the Pascal moon. “So, this year, instead of Easter and Passover being close, Easter is close to Purim***, which was celebrated last night at our congregation”. Jo’s response was surprise… “I didn’t know that! That’s blasphemous!” she cried… clarifying that the church changed the date from one based on Passover to one based on a moon. Neither of us know how, when and why that happened and we agreed it would be a good reason to hit the internet. Well… here ya go, answer-o… “At the Council of Nicaea, called by the Emperor Constantine in 325, it was formally decreed that all (Christian) Churches would celebrate Easter on the same Sunday and that the Sunday would be the Sunday that followed the fourteenth day of the Pascal Moon.”*

James the Nurse comes by and stands thoughtfully, watching the basketball previews on my TV… finally turning to comment on the games so far. We discuss the Big 12’s standings with KSU, KU, UT, Okla, and A&M still in the throw. Only BU is gone so far. Today we have the W. Virginia / Duke game and I share with James that I almost picked WVU but in the end went with Dukies. Mike Krzyzewski’s going for his 70th tourney win today, the highest number of wins of any playing coach!

So I settle back to watch some March Madness and notice that my neighbor chair’s guy toss his Sprite can in the trash. This could be another job for PAC People! I note that I should bring up the idea of a recycling program at El Milagro at our next meeting.

Later: well the Dukies lost it. What a great game! Well worth watching even though WVU’s win makes my 5th loss in my brackets. As the KSU / Wisconsin game gets under way I get unhooked and ready to go home and watch some basketball. So it throws.

Notes: In at 76.2 and out at 74.0 Kgs.
*Chuck (nd) Why the date of Easter changes each year. Retrieved online March 2008 from HubPages, http://hubpages.com/hub/Why_the_Date_of_Easter_Changes_Each_Year
**Passover: Festival of freedom (nd) Retrieved online March 2008 from the Chabad.org website, http://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1723/jewish/The-Passover-2008-Calendar.htm
***Rich, T.R. (2007) Purim Retrieved online March 2008 from the Judaism 101 website, http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

227) Spring Has Sprung & I Am Late

March 20, 2008
Thursday

El Milagro: How late can I come to dialysis? Well, today I am an hour late! Rosie asks, “Why are you so late?” and I reply, “I have no idea. I checked the time sometime earlier at work and then things started happening and all of a sudden I looked at the clock and it was 4:40! So, I called here and got Suzanne on the phone and told her I was on my way and to apologize to you all.” Then, of course, the traffic was bumper to bumper pre-bunny all the way across town.

“Oh. You lost track of time” she replied. Her reply bushwhacked my little brain a little… I lost track of time?… that would’ve been an easy thing to say… why didn’t I think of it? Then she added, “so, I guess we won’t let you off til 8:30…” to which I responded, “how about only 3 hours since I only gained 2 pounds or so?” She snickered and only much later did I get it: she was suggesting 3 hours.

Today is the first day of Spring and Zilker Park was full of people, reminding me of Les Grande Jatte by Suerat… in the way of perfection being reminiscent of a clear day with sparkling color and bright hues splashing around, which also slowed me down. In Sureat’s painting I always hallucinate that these folks have left work early to go to the park, although I believe he mostly painted Sunday strollers. Anytime the weather and colors are striking, I immediately jump in my mind to this painting; perfect reflection of light and color.

As Rosie is poking me and setting me up, Ron the Nurse comes by to do my nursing evaluation and I ask them for feedback about the recent St. Patricks’ Day snacks. Rosie replies that staff loved my cookies ("they’re not too sweet; just right") and Ron added that the staff have really had a good week, food wise. There were cupcakes, my cookies, and a cake brought by someone today. I mentioned that perhaps the idea is catching on for bringing snacks. I added that I would love to bring a big hotel tray of enchiladas except we on dialysis can’t eat them… and that somehow tangented into my describing our chile rellenos to Rosie. She likes 'em with cheese and carne... we from El Paso, only with the anaheim chile and the white cheese.

They move on and I settle in to watching ABC News: we have thousands of troops coming home with traumatic brain injuries and Bob Woodward interviews them over and over and it is a sad report on the war and the government’s putting effort into the war but not so much on caring for the kids afterwards.

I am awaiting Survivor but to no avail… Duh. March Maddness has taken over CBS: which is okay… so I watch A&M beat BYU. Later I click back and forth from basketball to LOST and somehow I get lost in the shuffle. I get unhooked and shoot home to see the end of lost… too late and now we are all lost.

So it goes.

Notes: In at 77.7 and out at 74.7 Kgs.
BTW: I know I haven't posted in awhile... have been busy with my ongoing life and in and out of town and even thinking about other ways to take this blog... and haven't really come up with anything... so I haven't been super motivated to write. (In case you wonder)
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

226) A Visit from Liz

March 11, 2008
Tuesday

El Milagro: Today is a little strange cause Herman the Nurse is here filling in for someone AND Suzanne the Administrator is on the floor! The place has had some trouble with keeping up with the state requirements for staff on the floor, and is trying to hire techs and get them trained… for some reason today Suzanne and Herman are here helping out. It’s nice to see that the administration works the floor and I can tell that Suzanne will learn something that will help her as an administrator. I have always agreed with the concept of cross training and I can observe Suzanne’s mind working as the techs are showing her their tasks and regimens.

Today I get John the Reader’s chair as he is leaving. He says he is somewhat better and he looks better. Carol the Tech sticks me and I settle in to my session, listening to NPR in my ears and deciding to have brief doze first. Someone is gently jiggling my leg… it is Lizzie! She has dropped by to bring me some candy. She stays for awhile and I am temporarily one of those people who has someone there with them. Very Cool! I introduce her to Suzanne and Herman brings her a chair and we sit there and talk a bit and look at the TV. I get an idea of how devoted these people who come and sit by their loved ones are that I hadn’t had before. Anyway, it is a neat thing and then she leaves and I start watching something on TV…

Notes: In at 76.9 and out at 74.8 Kgs.
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.

225) Dancing Feet

March 8, 2008
Saturday

El Milagro: I called and am able to come in “…in 20 minutes…” so I rush around and am here at 1 o’clock today. Rosie is in a dog shirt, working the other side of the room… Debbie the Tech is here today, as is Gladys the Tech. Rita the Nurse cannulates me and does my nursing eval. She is evidently one of the nurses who doesn’t mind “lowering herself” to do the poking.

The other day in our PAC (Patient Advisory Committee) meeting one of the complaints of the patients to the administration was that some of the nurses won’t cannulate people because they feel it is below them. This was brought up while discussing the patient complaint that the center is way behind on getting people on the machines on time, and some of the PAC members think that the scheduling could be better accomplished if certain techs weren’t sitting around B.S.ing with each other rather than working diligently to get all the patients on the machines. This is complicated, according to these folks, by nurses who see it as below their station to hook patients up on the machines. My comment: Do you really want a nurse who doesn’t want to hook people up, hooking you up?

So, anyway, Rita is a 'hookin-up nurse'… and she hooks me up deftly and quickly. I’m listening to KUT’s Folkways and they’ve playing a lot of pre-SXSW* people today. Maggie Walters (Midwestern Hurricaine), James McMurtry (Just Us Kids), Bo Bice, Joe Ely, Justice Townes Earl, etc.

I’m eating apple slices from home today… unusual for me to have anything to eat here aside from the hard candy rolling around in the bottom of my bag. Lizzie cut some apple and bagged some cookies for me to munch on, since I hadn’t eaten lunch before I left. I munch with Justin Townes Earl crooning about “…the good life from now on…”, and I am glad to have such a juicy snack. Lizzie is the BEST! Of course, everyone who knows her knows that… it is still surprising to me that she chose me to hang with, I say to myself smilingly.

I munch and listen and read the new Time about Hillary’s return to the race… seems like women put her back in it… I read and then doze…

The Bluerunners** are playing live when I come back around 2… Cajun band… good beat makes my feet dance out from under the red, Mexican blanket covering them. I look down and watch them feets jumping around, almost as if they were independent of the rest of this body. It’s a weird sight and gives me that sense of the largeness of the body… like when you realize that this body is just an incredibly long line of cells joined together by some sort of mystical energy called life. When I look down that Levi and flannel covered collaboration of cells across the universe and see the maroon socks poking out from the end of the ragged blue jeans under the Mexican blanket… they seem to be light years away from these eyes in my head. They are dancing to the beat of the Bluerunners' rhythms in my earphones… so there must be a stimulus response thing going on that is devoid of conscious thought… I feel like Steve Martin*** when he has crazy feet… (You can't actually see Steve's feet in this pic, but I like the idea of cat ironing).

I watch these dancing feet of mine through the rest of the Bluerunners’ set and at some point notice that a diabetic amputee across the way seems to be watching my feet and I hallucinate that he is wishing he had dancing feet too. The slow impact is that somehow my brain of brains reconnects with my unconscious rhythm-meister and those feet slowly slow their jigs down to a calming stillness.

I decide to click off Folkways and turn up the TV, which has been silently showing various basketball games. I find a movie, then a music video of Bruce Robison****, and finally settle on the Discovery series, How’s It Made about making winter coats, stoves, and canisters for pre-formed potato chips I can’t eat. Oh well…

Another Saturday… Onward through the Fog…

Notes: In at 76.4 and out at 74.7 Kgs.
* South-by-Southwest - SXSW - online http://sxsw.com/
**Bluerunners online at http://www.bluerunners.com/home.html
*** Check out Steve Martin's website --> http://www.stevemartin.com/
****Bruce Robison online at http://www.brucerobison.com/
New Readers: For an INDEX, click January 2008 on the Sidebar and page down to post # 207.