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April 5, 2024

Lets get up to date. Monday I had a slight fever about 100 maybe 101. I ended up back in the emergency room. I apparently had some sort of secondary infection which is fairly common with this sort of situation. It’s Friday April 5, and I’m still in the hospital. They already debrieded my foot again to make sure they got all the gunky stuff out and now they’re just trying to figure out what’s really going on with my infections. Typical.

Things are still looking positive. I’d like to thank everyone for all the support we’re getting and a lot of people always say if you need something let me know but most people call and say I need help. Sometimes all you have to do is ask. You might not be the first person we ask, but the right person will present themselves. I know we’ve all got busy lives and sometimes something simple like giving a ride goes a long way.

Right now it’s just test after test. They wanna make sure everything is right. No sense in sending me home and then I’m back again in a week. It had actually been a month and things were doing really good I thought. Sometimes you get blindsided by something you can’t even see and no matter how good you think you’re doing. There’s always room for improvement and sometimes it’s all about luck. I’d rather be good than lucky but I’ll take either one. Keep your head up that’s the best thing you can do and it’s real easy to do. Have a good weekend and I know probably everywhere else in the world that eclipse doesn’t mean much but here in San Antonio in Central South Texas area it’s turning into a very big deal. Everybody just can’t wait to stare up to the sun.

March 29, 2024

Its Good Friday morning 2024. You know it’s all about the little victories in life. Staying on your diet and keeping your numbers down but still trying to live your life to the fullest. I could sit here and cry about my situation all day and all night but in reality I’m too blessed to be stressed. You start thinking about this and that then you realize to some othe people you don’t even have problems. I make a silly joke about that but I won’t do that here. Just when you think you’ve got nothing left, somebody has less. I’m not going to get all preachy here today. Steve Ray Vaughn once said “stop taking so much and start giving everything you got.” That was pretty simple. And always remember it’s not what you got it’s what you give. I’m not asking for donations. I know it may sound like that but I’m not. Just remember nobody’s shooting at you and if they are, shoot back. I’m gonna keep this short today. Things are good things are great. You know what I’m talking about. Always remember you can start your new trend today. I know you can. Somebody recently told me that they were not allowed to eat French fries anymore. I will say this after 30 years of eating French fries it’s gonna be a shock to somebody’s system when they can’t eat French fries anymore but after 30 years you should have eaten enough French fries for a lifetime. Do me a favor this weekend when you’re sitting around with your family whether you like them or not hug your kids tell them you love them. They need to hear it. They need to feel that. Other than that don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me again until Easter Monday (a made up holiday if you ask me) y’all be safe and as usual don’t let your meat loaf.

March 26, 2024

I know it’s been a few days but they were not uneventful. Last Thursday I went to my podiatrist for an emergency situation. They told I would get a week off from Growly. That’s what I call my wound vac. I ended up only getting 5 days off. Friday I’m sitting around bored as usual. I called my parents and told them I need stuff from Walmart. I hung out with my parents and we ate lunch. It was pretty uneventful. I wasn’t even gone 5 minutes and the ring is going off at my house. One of my appointments showed up for PT and for some reason it wasn’t on the calendar. We had to reschedule that. Now if you remember from last week is when they started me on Occupational Therapy which was exercises. I tried to do a video but the video didn’t come out great for some reason. I tried to cut down the 20 minute video to a reasonable amount to post on the site but it didn’t happen.

anyway I was tasked to eventually be on an exercise rep of 15. I missed my PT session on Friday but I had my OT session Saturday. I knew I was going to be quizzed so here I am trying to learn all the names of the 8 exercises. They’re all pretty simple. The guy gets there and he’s like “Oh I don’t know the names of the exercises.” I wad trying the names but he only cared that I was doing it correctly. I have been doing my OT work out everyday. It takes about 20 minutes but I’m all over it. So My appointment at 5 in the afternoon got moved to Monday. So Monday at 1 Pm a gentleman and he added some simple sitting down and laying down.

It was quite an intense workout. No more laying around for me. Well, only when I’m doing my laying down exercises. I posted on Instagram and got a pretty good response. A lot of people let me know that I forgot that I never said anything about my hospital. I did get some very positive responses. I appreciate those. Like I said the only good thing is that although I am recovering nicely I hope it’s nice to see the outpour of people sending you well wishes. That kind of brought me back to a good spot. Not that I wasn’t. I’ve been very positive about this. I think I have an appointment to go get the paperwork done for my pension. Today I had my regular podiatrist appointment. Cookie went with us this time and we were in and out pretty quickly. Unfortunately it was across town at 845 in the morning and traffic can be an interesting situation. I never really cared for traffic. I avoid the main highways. I haven’t driven on Loop 410 in a long time no pun intended. I really didn’t plan on being there again. We had to get up at 430 in the morning so the girls can shower and then I have to shower or as close to a shower as I can. But they put the wound vac back on. You know it happens. So I have Growly on me again. I almost forgot I had it on. 5 days without it sure does make a difference. We’re still doing good and we have a little bit of appointments this week and next week it will bounce back with several more. I still have to see my cardiologist after having to get a Holter monitor. I don’t know if need xrays or not. We’ll figure it all out. It’s gonna get to the point my appointments are week on week off. But we did pretty good today at the doctor’s with getting my wheelchair out. I haven’t been going anywhere with my scooter except my parents house. Of course I really don’t have anywhere to go. So we are rolling along. Growly is back. Hopefully everybody gets some rest because once again we will probably have to hit the ground running. I hope everyone has a happy Easter and enjoys tomorrow. It’s a special day in my life but you’ll know about that tomorrow.

March 21, 2024

Yesterday my wound care nurse showed up around lunch time and went to remove my IV dressing. Thank goodness she took lab first out of my picc. It was just a couple vials, nothing I’m not used to and through the picc it’s pretty simple. No veins to look for, just comes right out of the picc. She starts to take my bandage loose so she can redo my wound vac and there was an issue. She was afraid she was going to tear the graft in my foot. She zipped me back up and we made an appointment for podiatry. We get there and I’m not going to lie I was a little anxious because of the way she described it. It was tape on tape on tape. I was a little nervous. The last thing I need is for this thing to shift.

This morning was my first day of doing my sitting down exercises. I used a resistance bands that one of my other nurses gave me because I don’t have any 1 lb weights at my house. That seemed to going good, and it’s all strength training. It is a workout, it took about 20-30 minutes. I was glistening to say the least when I was done. That was right after breakfast. Then there was a debate whether I had to go back to the doctor to have my heart monitor removed. It had like 4 leads coming out of it. They were taped to my chest, two mid chest, and other two under my left breast. Cookie goes to pull the tape loose for the sensors because they’re going throw it all in the bag. They said I didn’t have to be present. Man, that tape was like some kind of super tape. Forget ripping my hair, I had to check to see if I still had three nipples. That tape was rough.

They leave and it’s raining and pouring here in San Antonio so its a nightmare. Rosie is always good about taking the back roads from the east side. East Houston will take you all the way to the West Side and then some. I guess it becomes West Houston at some point but I wouldn’t know where. So they come back and Cookie has her own appointment, and we’re going to the podiatrist. I’ve been to this building before. It’s off on the West Side. To me the West Side does not seem accessible if you just jump off the highway. We get down there and they’re well there’s good news and bad news. I’m already looking at the menu at the hospital. If it’s that messed up, I’m probably getting admitted. No such luck. The doctor sees my wound and says, “Okay, we’re gonna wash it off because your wound is too wet and that’s not good. We’re giving you a week from Growly.” That’s what I named my wound vac because it growls at me whenever it has to do anything. You don’t want it to get too growly. If it gets too growly, then it starts beeping. Fine, I’ll stop.

He pulled all my sutures, I think that’s what they’re called. A young lady came in and said this won’t take long. She wrapped it up and I was on my way. I often say I’m at my worst when I’m ruthless and so I was. Without Ruth there, I’m watching Rosie have a heart attack. She’s pushing as she can, god bless her. I’m trying to make it easy, but she wanted to carry her own backpack. The backpack felt like it had 6 bowling balls in it and then there’s her purse. It’s not that big right now, but it feels like she’s carrying 5 guns. Which is not true but that’s what it feels like. She doesn’t have her walker. I tell her to push me and use the chair as a walker. We get down there and it’s an adventure. As always, I’m more worried this and that. We get home and we meet up and we’re trying to eat dinner. We thought we were going to watch two of our shows, but apparently they’re on hiatus for March Madness. No big deal. I was successful in adding one more rep to my exercises. Now I’m at 11, tomorrow I’ll be at 12.

The great breakfast mystery was solved. I felt like my portion of eggs was getting smaller and smaller. Upon further inspection I was right, but we fixed it. So I get a week off from Growly. It’ll probably fly by quicker than Spring Break. I’m not going to say we’re wide open, but we’re definitely in a different place. Sutures are out. That’s all the news that’s fit to print, and I’ll try to check in tomorrow. Hopefully we’ve got some content for the website, because people might think I’ve checked out permanently. Alright we will talk tomorrow.

March 20, 2024

It’s currently 1:45 AM Wednesday. Yesterday I had a very full day. I had a 9 AM appointment to get a temporary heart monitor they wanted to make sure my heart is… I don’t know I’m not sure what. I’m not going to lie my heart is working at way below capacity, but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s obviously not a good thing, but how long can you go with your heart at a diminished capacity. That was in and out, we were there early. But to be there at 9, it was just downtown. Once upon a time, that was only 20 minutes away. Now, we’re not Austin yet, and I hope we never are. No offense to Austin, but their traffic sucks. We were in and out pretty quick. Now I have even more wires. It’s a little tiny monitor the size of an iPod, but compared the one I had in the hospital it’s a dream. The one in the hospital was approximately 3 x 5 and an inch thick. It was solid and heavy and horrible. How I got any sleep at all I will never know. Although you don’t really sleep in the hospital, you just wait for the door jiggle, and you pop up and they say they’ll leave you alone for 4 hours and then 18 people walk through the door.

So I go get the monitor and come home. Now I wake up at 430 AM naturally without an alarm so I ate breakfast an hour earlier than I normally do. So by 10 AM, I’m starving. I’m trying to figure it out. I don’t usually take a mid morning break these days. Then I remembered my schedule was off, and it’s still kind of off. I have a 3 PM appointment to discuss some issues that I’m having. Side effects and what not, nothing too troublesome. I’d rather address them. At this point, I’m too old to lie to the doctor about anything. Especially if they ask. I’ve been having some mild heartburn, when I say mild… I’ve had heartburn that made me rush to the hospital many many years ago as a young person maybe 30 years old. I had a couple bouts of mild heartburn, the first was mild, but the second was still mild, but persistent. It hung around for about 20 minutes. My blood pressure at the house was reading in the 144s, which alarmed me because I had missed a couple of pills because I was taking them at 10 PM. I didn’t know what the pill was for. I got a little worried, but I just told my doctor and sent him a email and we called the ask a nurse. They mentioned that Ozempic tends to give you heart burn. Okay if it can rationalized away, I’m fine with that. I’m on a heart monitor now so if there is something else happening then I’m ahead of the curve.

I told him I missed my gabapentin, which come to find out is for neuropathy pain. I don’t have any pain, whenever they ask me I say zero. I don’t know if the pain medication when they gave is finally wearing off and maybe I’ll start feeling the pain of the surgery. I know it’s making me super drowsy. I take it in the morning, eat my breakfast, by 9 AM I’m crashed out. Like I’m falling asleep in my chair. I take it at 12 PM, but by 130 PM I’m unconscious. I tried to move it up to 6 PM to take with my dinner, and they told me I would just fall asleep and they don’t know when I’ll wake up. So I set an alarm to push it back to 10 PM so I can get some good sleep, but I still wake up at 2 AM to go to the bathroom. Yesterday, they told me I don’t have to take it if you don’t have pain, but I don’t want to have any pain. I don’t understand. They sent me home with pain meds, but some good brothers warned me about pain medication a long time ago and I’ve been blessed with no pain. I don’t want say if you slap me, I’m not going to feel it. I’ll definitely feel that. I just have a high pain tolerance, I’m not sure why.

The last thing I want to do is wake up in the middle of the night because I’m no longer taking my meds and I feel everything. If I have to feel pain, I’m okay. A good friend of mine was taking pills for fibromyalgia because his back was killing him and he had previous knee surgery. The medicine for the fibromyalgia did not stop the pain in his knee, only his back. I thought that was kind of curious. So now we’re surviving multiple trips to the doctor in one day. You gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. In the morning, Rosie drove around looking for a parking space while me and Cookie ran in. That’s a whole other story. Sometimes all of us have to go in and that’s not always easy to do with a wheelchair in a tiny office. There’s three seats but the wheelchair is big.

In the essence of keeping this short, I’m on a heart monitor temporarily to see what’s going on. Everyday I have to come up with more concise definitions of what I need to convey to the doctor. If I sit there and say I’m having chest pains when I’m not, or anything like that. Like dizzy spells and you call it blurred vision. At one point, my grandma was on so many pills she couldn’t see straight. They couldn’t understand what she was trying to explain to them. One day her new doctor took her off all medications and she did just fine. I know somebody somewhere is making money off this and not in a bad way. Don’t give me pain pills I don’t need. The last thing I need is to be hooked on that in my recovery journey. I don’t have time for any of that even though I sure had time for it before.

March 18, 2024

Hey everyone, this is a late rant. It’s about 3:24 PM on a Monday. In observance of St. Patrick’s day I did not post yesterday. But it was not an uneventful weekend. I went to visit my parents, more because I didn’t want them to come over here. I went over and we had a nice lunch, we were getting ready to leave and I was in my scooter, not my wheelchair. It was a little top heavy, and as we were leaving I’m not going to lie I took a tumble. I misjudged what my scooter was going to do. When I took the second step going down, it wasn’t very high, luckily I land on my head so I’m fine. Nah, I’m just kidding.

As my scooter fell forward, I tried to stop it and I ended up on half grass and half sidewalk. I jumped right back up even though I only have one foot. I had my scooter ready to go. It’s just one of those things. Later that day, I felt normal. I was a little sore and I had a cut on my big toe. I’m not afraid to admit this, it happens, you’re moving around. I zigged when I should have zagged. I landed on my shoulder mostly. But I couldn’t believe no one had a camera. I haven’t checked the Ring video. I thought it was hilarious.

I remember the first year I taught apprenticeship school. I don’t know how I did it, somehow I fell out of my chair. The class went silent, and I said, “This is your only chance. Laugh it out, get it out of your system. It’s not going to bother me.” I fell out of my chair, it was hilarious. And they did, they laughed, they got it out of their system. I’m just a regular guy, I’m not anyone special and when I fall down, people want to laugh. Because if you fall you better believe I’m going to laugh.

Going back to Saturday evening. My mom’s in panic, my dad’s freaking out blaming everything. My wife is freaking out because when you get old if you fall down it could be the last thing you do. So I picked myself up and got into the car, and my mom says, “I hope this doesn’t deter you from coming back and visiting us.” I laughed. I didn’t do any drinking, although I do love St. Patrick’s because my grandmother was Irish. I got some good Irish blood in my veins. Maybe that’s the tenacity. So today I’m waking up and my shoulder’s not hurting but it’s letting me know it took the brunt of it. My shoulder, my arm… My knees aren’t that bad. It did feel like someone slapped me on the foot pretty good.

So we’re up early for wound care, not the home visit kind, we had to the hospital again. This time we had it figured out. We got dropped off, we went to the elevator that was maybe 100 ft away, went up and got myself taken care of. I made a new friend, I hope. I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again. He knew what he was doing and you can’t really distract people like that. People are not competent in what they’re doing, they’ll tell me, “Sir please, let me work. I can’t talk and do my job.” Okay maybe that’s you because it sure ain’t me. So we successfully made it home and had a beautiful lunch and now I’m waiting for someone to redress my picc. If I didn’t tell you before, a picc is an my 24 hours IV antibiotics and it gets on my last nerve some days. I actually did a couple laps at the hospital while we were waiting to get picked up. My daughter is always impressed with what I can do wheelchair. She’s was the smart one today and said, “Let’s just leave your wheelchair in the car. Why are we taking it back in?” So I got on my scooter and got back inside. So I’m doing alright and learning as I go. Tips and tricks, I thought I had it all figured out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. These tubes do what they want sometimes and the harder you try the more it tangles up in the scooter. I thought I had a pretty good system using carabiners. I’ll figure it out.

I’m going to see my podiatrist next week, and I hope I get a good pedicure out of it, but who knows? It was interesting when I asked them to redo my picc dressing and they flat out told me they do have the stuff for that. You have to call someone. I’m in a hospital, now I’m not admitted, but I’m in building. You can’t call someone for something that takes 5 minutes?

I hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick’s Day, and if you didn’t, go look up Dropkick Murphy’s message about this and that. Have a great day and hope you come back.

March 16, 2024

It’s a stormy, rainy here in San Antonio. That’s a good thing. I know it’s Spring Break and Fiesta’s around the corner, but we always need the rain in Central South Texas. We’re always behind. We’re always on drought condition. But I’m not here to talk about the weather.

My vast collection of guitar picks that is my hobby. I have a couple of picks from a guy named Chainsaw that say “You’re only as good as your crew.” And they’re absolutely right. Without the support of each and every member of your team you are dead in the water. I’m the kind of guy, you’re either with or against me. Some people say that’s narcissistic, but I don’t care. You ARE either with me or against. That being said, many years ago when I first met my wife, I went over to her house, she made hamburger helper. The noodles were hard, the meat was cooked, possibly burnt, but I ate it anyway. For some reason I knew she was going to be my wife and that we’d be together for a long time. And we have been, 33 years in June.

I will say I was probably trained to eat horrible food by my mother. It wasn’t until I started eating dinner with a friend whose mom knew how to cook that I was introduced to the greatest food ever. Not one particular dish, just eating vegetables, and things I’d never want to put in my mouth. She’d tell me, “Steve, I’d never give you anything horrible.” She was right, and I thank her very much for that now.

Going back to my crew, I always tease everyone that when I introduce my wife and daughter that my daughter is my personal assistant and my wife is my secretary and that’s always been the truth. I’ve trained my daughter from a young person to be ready for when I need her the most, which means she figures out what’s good and bad. When it comes to computers, she’s all over it. I let her get a computer when she was 3 years old. Windows 95 was just coming out. I told her. I told her that you do whatever you need to on that computer and Dad will fix it if you mess it up or we’ll buy you another one. I wouldn’t say she’s a complete dork, but she’s got a firm grasp on the internet. She can still have her own way, and sometimes she doesn’t listen to me. But that’s okay because a kid who listens to their parents all the time… well, that’s another story.

Anyway back to Chainsaw. My crew has to be there for me. Right now my wife is dealing with appointments and calls and people checking up on me all the time. She’s basically running amok. My daughter, through no fault of her own, is already pretty competent in wound care. She’s not squeamish. She’s gotten me through a lot other stuff and taking care of me. She religiously checks my feet for damage or injury. She’s not afraid to help me with all my medical needs and I’d be nowhere without them. She’s a trained professional, a pick magnet, she survives in the pit. I guarantee she’s volunteered at more union picnics than you’ll ever volunteer for in your life. She’s been there for me at every turn and there’s no way to thank her enough. Sometimes I’m rough with her and sometimes I’m short with everyone.

I try to spend as much time with her as I can. When I lost my job and I say lost I mean quit, I asked her how she felt about it. She told me, “I’m glad you’re home. Your last job was 70 hours a week.” She saw me quite a bit, but not quality time. I spent way too much dealing with everyone else’s problems. To this day, we have daddy daughter night, and we hang out and do silly things we love to do. She’s just like me, a front row junkie or an upfront fanatic as I like to call it. I prefer to be on the barricade at a concert. You can’t catch a pick in the back. Although I have.

Thank you or other silly little words that come out of my mouth, I just want her to know in her heart that I wouldn’t be here without her. She knows it. Who else am I going to push down to distract the crowd so I can grab a pick at a concert. Trust me, she’s been to more concerts than you’ll ever be. I don’t care who you are. Her crowning glory is seeing Rush six times before they closed up shop and the drummer died. Impressive? Maybe not to you. But to my generation? She’s impossible.

I always say, “I’m at my worst when I’m ruthless.” Meaning without Ruth.

March 14, 2024

This is a bit of a later in the day rant. It’s about 2:11 PM. I’ve mostly done everything early in the morning. Very 6 AM kind of stuff. I’ve been a journeyman for 26 years, and an apprentice 5 years before that. I know that everybody has their own synchronicities. Maybe that’s not the word. Everybody does things a little differently either because of experience or lack of experience for a lack of a better term. I know we all have our abilities. Let’s say you’re good at blah blah blah but you’re good at yada yada and together we make a team and get it all taken care of. It’s funny how you can get 5 different answers from 5 different people.

Don’t get me wrong I can fix most things using common sense or the little I have. It’s just amazing how you can’t get a straight answer out of anyone. I know what implicit bias is because I took a class on it. So naturally we’re going to lean towards the devil we know. I say that in a positive way. For me, if I had a question about something, we had a codebook that goes along with being an electrician that tells you what the standards should be.

I know everyone’s different. I’ve said it several times. Lots of people tell me and my wife, “Drink more water and you’ll lose weight.” No, if I drink more water I’m going to die. I take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt. I’ve also been in a situation where someone says, “Hey we all need to get this project done, does anyone have an idea?” My idea might not be the right idea, but it might set the next person on the track to figuring out the problem. I guess that’s what teamwork is all about. I’m not crying about anything, but it’s like why didn’t someone tell me to take this pill with this food? Why didn’t they say such and such would be a problem. I’d rather know something than nothing.

I’m definitely not the kind of person who reads all the side effects. I usually tell my daughter to read them because if you tell me I will get all the side effects. Normally I’d go back to her and say “This is becoming an issue” and she would tell me “That’s just one of the side effects. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with it.” There’s nothing wrong with that. Unlike everyone else, if you tell me the sky is falling, I’ll probably believe you for a little while until the sky doesn’t fall. Like I said this is a late afternoon observance of the last couple of days. I want to say they have my best interest at heart, but when you can’t get a decent answer out of anybody, it’s a little disheartening. It’s not enough to slow me down. That’s pretty much my rant for the day. It sounds like I’m complaining about nothing and I probably am. I’ll end this with, when in doubt collaborate.

March 13, 2024

 Yesterday I had an appointment with my wound care doctor. It was at the hospital that I was recently discharged from and this hospital is massive. It’s got several towers. It’s just a giant footprint. The parking lot is nowhere near where I was going. I’m in a wheelchair for the trip. And even with me and Cookie doing our best we were lucky to find the place. We just had all kinds of issues that we were not ready for. I get around pretty good on my wheelchair, but I’m not going to be able to push myself the half a mile it was from the parking lot to where we were going. Even once you find the right elevator and get off on the right floor, it is a maze of hallways to find where you’re going.

We figured it all out. Get dropped off by the front, head to tower B, go to the third floor. Boom, we’re there. So, you know, learning curve, you just got to deal with it and you can’t get ugly, you can’t get mad. It’s just one of those things now. We get there and this is my first initial visit. So they are going to measure my foot, measure my wound, give me a several different tests, including, how much I can feel with the neuropathy, it’s a blessing and a curse. They checked my pulses, they rewrapped my foot, the normal questionnaires. Without Ruth I might know three of my medications of the sixteen that I’m currently taking. And, even then, sometimes she forgets. We had to make another appointment. We had to get the parking voucher, which the parking scanner wasn’t working, so we still had to pay for parking. Which when you’re on a limited budget, it’s not always gonna go well.

Everybody was friendly and nice, and, uh, so the doctor comes in, he debrides me with very minor debriding. He says, there’s only so much dead skin there. I cut off what I could, but you have a graft in your foot, and I can’t mess with that at all. He’s looking at my foot, which I have yet to see. I don’t ever want to see it until it’s sitting on a shelf. He says to me, actually it looks pretty good. He says, it’s looking better than it’s ever looked. He had seen it previously while I was in the hospital. He said, I’m going to tell you the truth. I can’t tell if this one’s going to heal or not. He says, if it, if I thought it wasn’t going to heal, I would tell you. He says, I’ll be brutally frank with you. I thanked him for that. I told him I appreciated that, and I’m not much for thanking people but, you know, you’re a trained professional.

I’ve always believed over the last 30 years that when somebody would ask me a question about why or where or when in the union, I would tell them, You sure you want to know? And then I would tell them and I would explain it to them the best I could. And sometimes, it’s not always good news. I worked with a colleague who’s passed away now, but guys would come in and they would feel like they were wrongfully terminated, even though 99 percent of the time they were in the wrong.

He just wouldn’t have the heart to tell him, No, you were fired correctly, or you were terminated correctly. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. You know, I heard it all. I saw a guy get fired for lack of motivation. Now, how you quantify that, I have no idea. Lack of production? Okay. Everybody else is putting in 300 feet of pipe a day, and you’re putting in 100? That’s lack of production. I’m not sure why it’s happening, but it is a reasonable thing. But lack of motivation? This person said, I have three jobs. How could I have a lack of motivation? I said, well, if you’re sleeping at all three of your jobs, you have a lack of motivation.

I didn’t care for this contractor, BS, double talk, whatever you want to call it. But there wasn’t much we could do, especially in the state of Texas. But that’s another story. But the fact that this guy would tell me, if I thought your foot was not going to heal, I would tell you. You can’t ask for much more than that.

My wife has a friend that her husband lost part of his leg. After they started to treat him, within two weeks of the initial treatment, they were removing his leg, lower leg, saying, no, it’s not healing. The blood flow’s not there. I know it’s touch and go. I don’t want to lose my foot or my leg, but if it’s not healing, it’s not healing, what can you do about it? All the best medicine in the world can’t fix everything. Although, they can do a pretty good job these days.

Yesterday was such an incredibly long day. Rosie had an appointment. I had mine later in the day. And by the time we got home, we ate dinner and it was 6 o’clock and we all went to bed. I can go to bed anywhere between eight o’clock and 10 o’clock. I did not. I did have a nap actually in the morning, I woke up early and then laid back down for a little while to get ready for this the great adventure.

Today it’s gonna be physical therapy, whatever that means. I’m not sure what they’re gonna try to do to me. I will say I was able to push my wheelchair with me in it around the, the waiting area of the entrance of the hospital while Rosie went to pick us up. So I did manage to sneak in a little bit of cardio, wasn’t much, but I did it as long as I could without feeling like it was going to adversely affect me, which I don’t see how it could. Another beautiful day here in paradise. Looking forward to another milestone.

Yesterday I was able to go to the bathroom. I was able to inject myself with my medication. Sometimes small steps, sometimes leaps and bounds.

March 12, 2024

Today I’ll be using my radio voice. Moving right along, It’s March the 12th. It’s Pisces season and it’s Tuesday. It’s just a great day to be alive.

So, yesterday was a day of firsts and maybe even kind of floating into today also. Yesterday I successfully went to the bathroom by myself. Now you might say oh come on you sound like a two year old Steve but you’d be surprised. Hopping on one foot and carrying around that tube with my little growly machine and all that. I was very proud of myself.

I’m not gonna lie my wife was having to help me and although she’s not like me, a mean wiper, she’s very diligent. I’ve also done a few modifications to my scooter. I have one of my old gig bags or some people might call it a chalk bag. I brought my old Houston Astros colored one out and I used it on my scooter. I tied it on and used it. It’ll hold my drink and my antibiotic ball and it’s easy to pull in and out. Better than in my pocket. I’ve used certain different sizes of carabiners that I got and one of them holds my wound vacuum. I put a little tiny carabiner, well not tiny, on my tube so that I can pick up the slack when I’m skating. It seems to be working really good.

They’re no brainer stuff, you just hook them and they’re easy to come off and on. I put my green tassels for St. Patrick’s Day on my handles of my scooter. I’ve already got my IV pole on there, which has really come in handy because now I have something to hook to. Before, I was just kind of trying to hook onto the handlebars, but that’s already a pretty tight little setup where with the brakes. It was not exactly, easy to maneuver, especially with these slightly oversized stroller hooks that are nice, you know, they do the job. They’re just kind of oversized, but once you tighten them down as far as the strap goes, or like my backpack, I just kind of tripled the big handle on the top. It seems to be doing a pretty good job of what it needs to do.

I am pretty quick to be mobile. You know when you’re taking insulin injections, they say to rotate the location. This particular one says you can use it on your inner thighs. You can use it on the backs of your arms and your belly. I recently asked my dad if he’d ever injected his insulin any other place. He said, no, I always do it in my belly, and until recently, I’ve never done it anywhere but my belly, but when you’re injecting a substantial amount it’s kind of like how much insulin do I have just sitting in my belly fat? Today I was having breakfast and I told my daughter, How am I supposed to inject myself in the back of the arm with my insulin dose if I can’t even reach it? I showed her what it would look like and I figured out I could do it. And I did do it. And inside the thigh is a piece of cake.

You’re not going to see a bruise if you didn’t do it right. On occasion I would get a small bruise on my belly from where I maybe might have hit the wrong spot. I’m not sure what causes it, but, you know when the doctor sees that kind of stuff, they immediately, like, what’s going on here? Why do you have a big bruise on your belly? I’m not sure, but let’s work it out. So today I’m just kind of talking about, first, things I never thought I’d be able to do. I have to go to the hospital for hyperbaric treatment but that ought to be fun considering I’m not sure what they’re gonna do.

I still have to see my occupational therapy, which is the people that make sure you’re still human. Or that you’re not going feral. Cause I have seen some older people go feral in their old age, and they eat like a starving dog. They have no social skills whatsoever. They just kind of forget or they don’t care. I mean, it’s maybe the equivalent of why would I wear makeup if I’m not trying to impress anybody? Well, you’re supposed to be impressing yourself. I thought that’s the point of makeup so you can feel better about yourself because I don’t wear makeup. I don’t comb my hair and I don’t care what I look like. As long as the words coming out of my mouth have meaning and substance. I’m not trying to act like I’m some big shot cause I’m not. I’m just trying to figure it all out like everybody else.

One of my buddies on X, which is Twitter, he got a song stuck in his head, and I had never heard the song. And I don’t judge people on their musical taste, because I don’t know what they’ve been through. And I don’t know what it took to get them there. And if it took X Band to play that perfect song.

So I said, why don’t you go listen to the so see what message it’s the universe is trying to send you. I’ve had a couple of songs stuck in my head before. And until I went and I just tore them apart and just figured out the The front meaning, the back meaning, the side meaning, the subliminal meaning. It finally did help me to figure out what I was missing in my life and the questions that needed to be asked, for lack of a better term.

Alright, well, we got a full day today, we got a couple appointments. The whole world wants to see The Foot. Coming soon to a theater near you. Keep your head up and I’m telling you one tiny push in the right direction will change a person’s life. And the funny part is they don’t really sometimes know how to thank you and I don’t need any thanks. All I did was ask you a question and you took it from there and ran with it. So we’re back on the road to recovery. My sugar this morning was 112. I was waiting for my machine to kick it out and say, Alright, good try Steve, now test the blood of whoever’s there. Cause that certainly didn’t seem like it was me.

I’ll leave you with this thought. It’s cliché, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. And I know today you can do it.

March 11, 2024

One of my favorite songs from childhood is Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” It brings back great memories from my childhood in the 70’s all the way to present times. I’d like to use that song as my inspiration because I’m currently on the road to recovery. Staying in an update mode, I want to tell you a little bit about where I’m at right now. I had an issue with my left foot. I had to have emergency surgery which they basically cut open the bottom of my foot like you would fillet a fish. They opened it up and took whatever they need to, removed and debrided any and all infected skin. I’m trying to stay non-graphic. I was retaining water quite badly at the time, so my congestive heart failure was really weighing on me to the point where I’m having to tell myself to breathe. They had to put a mammal graft to cover my foot. It’s not painful luckily. I have a tube coming out of the dressing and I have a wound vacuum, which is a little robot box that growls at me when it’s working. I call it Growly because that’s what it does. It growls when it’s vacuuming out blood and stuff. I get to carry it around 24 hours a day except for showers. They are changing my dressing every 3 to 4 days.

Although I have my knee scooter, which is a godsend, Thank you Mario for telling me about it. I’m basically semi-mobile, but I have what looks like an oxygen machine that I carry around that’s vaccuuming my foot. That has taken a little getting used to. It’s about a 6ft hose and it’s long. It’s flexible, but it’s also connected to my foot, and I cannot pull it out. I got pretty close the last couple of days. I have doubt IV pick line right above my elbow. They’re hanging on my arm. I’m on IV antibiotics 24 hours for the next month. That’s a whole other story. Getting used to having a very small plastic tube going to a small football size delivery system of the antibiotics, I’ve had to adjust my way of moving around because this ball just don’t play right. I’ve gotten to the point where I take the length of the tube and wrap it around my index finger, so everything pulls on my finger instead of my pick. It’s in there good, but the last thing I need is for it to get caught in my chair or my scooter.

It’s a learning curve having to go to the bathroom with all this stuff. Before I was using a walker which was a nightmare on my hips. I would only get 10 good hops before my knee gave out. It’s a minimal price to pay. Although I’d be asleep right now forever if I wasn’t doing that. My only current dilemma is how to do 20 minutes of cardio when you only have one foot and a scooter. I could probably ride my scooter if this was a better neighborhood. I could probably go up and down in my wheelchair, but you know.

My daughter is becoming an expert. I’m seriously thinking that during the apocalypse, she will become a health care worker. I mean like removing bullets Terminator style. Now you kind of know where I’m at. it’s not the worst thing to be. I could have oxygen tanks on me too. Once you’re on oxygen, you’re very limited. I’m trying to make everything I do as easy as possible thanks to carabiners or hooks. Everything is in it’s little spot. I’ve got my backpack full of all the essentials that I need because if it’s not right next to me, it’s nowhere. Road to recovery, I’m supposed to get my wound vac cleaned today. The only downside so far is that these antibiotics smell horrible. I’m very self conscious about that and it’s not easy to be sociable. I’ve got a few appointments this week. I’m in good spirits, and in good health. I’ve been talking to some of my friends and proteges. It looks like without the time change difference we’re going to have a good week, I hope.

I hope you have a good week too because there’s nothing stopping you but yourself, I guarantee that.

March 10, 2024

I believe we’re on day 9 of my road to recovery hopefully. I want to thank everybody for praying for me. Although I think you should be praying for world peace without sounding too bougie. That’s what I’m praying for every day. Today I looked down at my foot and realized that I have a tube coming out of it and a machine that’s doing whatever it does. I also have a double pick on my left arm on a 24 hour antibiotic drip and I will be for a while. I’m not trying fool myself. I’m trying my best. I have a lot of help emotional and physical. I’ve got a long road ahead of me 

I’ll be meeting with physical therapy this week and occupational therapy which I’m sure they’ll have some homework for me to do it can’t be just sitting around I feel good I feel satisfied. I feel ready to share the light that I have with other people. Especially people that need it the most.

It seems like I’m on a positive spin. I got a call yesterday that meant the world to me. It’s just another person that I hold dear to my heart comforting me. That’s always very astonishing to me. I like to be there for certain people and when somebody’s there for me it means a lot. I’m not downplaying what my daughter is doing for me right now. She must really want to keep going to concerts with me or something because she’s fighting tooth and nail to keep me alive at this point. We’ve learned how fast things can go south.

Without getting too graphic, I personally have not seen my wound completely and I probably don’t ever want to see it, but it seems to be healing nicely. I currently can’t put my foot down, and I’m trying to stick to that. So far I’m doing pretty good, but getting up and down the front porch. You would think after living here for 30 years I should already be able to do a cartwheel through the front door.

I guess you just have to set your mind to what you’re going to do and just do it. I’ve never really failed at anything I did. I’m saying that in a humble way because you need to humble yourself or God will humble. And just because someone changes direction in their life doesn’t mean that they’re failing at what they were doing.

I’m having fun right helping my daughter edit her books. We’re watching our favorite shows, we’re laughing, we’re singing. We seem to be getting by. I received some good news, and it’s personal so I won’t share it with you. But any time you get good news that you never saw coming, it’s better than money.

The main thing that I’m thankful for which I’m not usually not thankful for much, is the fact that I’m not feeling any pain whatsoever. That’s always a plus. My wife is currently reading a book about a movie star who was so hooked on pain killers that it killed him after many years. He was way too young to go. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t had feel any pain. Of course I’m the MTV Pepsi Generation. We feel neither highs nor lows. We’re just stuck in the middle and enjoy what we can. That’s easy when you still have some light left in your life. Until tomorrow, see the world around you for what it is. Everything today seems to be fake and made up.

March 9, 2024

Sorry we’re a little behind on the updates. Just to let you know I’ve had my wound cared for at least twice, I’m sucking through these 24 hour antibiotics. I got my scooter all set up. First world problems. I’ve had to simplify my life and get rid of some things here and there, obviously reorganize and make a path. I had to get everything on wheels. I’ve learned to measure my food. I’ve learned when to say no, and follow instructions. Apparently the best way to heal your body is through nutrition. Obviously the air you breathe and the water you drink those are important too. When you can figure out how to make a meal that satisfies under 600 calories, you’re doing. You can’t be afraid try new stuff. My son is a vegan chef, and he’s handed me stuff I didn’t like and other stuff I would have never thought it was vegan. If you don’t tell me the meat is vegan, I don’t care as long as it tastes good.

Let’s talk about decluttering. Lots of people have a rule that if you haven’t touched it in a year, throw it away. Maybe I’m a packrat, but there are some thing I’ll never throw away. I’m all for decluttering but there are certain items in your life that will hold your spirit and maybe somebody they will inspire your family. I still have my graduation ring after all these years. The funny thing is my son told he didn’t want a graduation ring, maybe in retrospect it’s just to remind you of the milestones in your life.

I’m on the road to recovery. I’m a routine kind guy. If you put me in a routine like a third grader, and I’ll say my prayers and take my nap at a certain time. I used eat to peanut butter and cheetos for the first 9 years of my life religously for lunch. That’s peanut butter with no jelly. My dad was an electrician, we weren’t rich. Jelly was for rich people.

Like I always say if you can’t do something, teach somebody something and I think we’ll get through together. Next time you’re bored thank somebody for what they’ve done for you, even if they don’t need to hear it from you. Hug your babies and give them a kiss for me. Have a good one.

March 7, 2024

Well it looks like another beautiful day in paradise. This morning I’m reminded that as an apprentice my journeyman telling me that he already forgot more than I’ll ever know. I use to laugh at that. He was probably right. He was a wizard. He could do anything. To this day, I often still say what would Carl do? And it’s instantly clear what he would do after spending some time with him and him teaching me everything I know. Certainly not everything he knew.

I remember the day that I got to the point where inferior work was installed. I questioned what they were doing and I suddenly realized that I was that old geezer now that forgot more than they’ll ever know. But I’ve never held that against people. My job has always been to teach my apprentice how to fish. I give him a fish, but teach him how to fish. I’ve been proud of all of my apprentices for what they’ve done whether they quit or not. Sometimes you gotta know when to quit. I know that sounds horrible. Some people have never quit never say die, but sometimes you have to know when to quit. Allow yourself to become frustrated and then step back and let me show you how to do it in an easy trick because most things in life are just a simple trick that you just have to be taught by somebody else. Other people have to learn the hard way that’s fine I’ve never been that way. I’ve been happy to learn from other peoples mistakes. Not in a bad way.

Every day I return to the shops as an apprentice and I’d be asked what did you learn today? There were other apprentices that would tell the old man to just shut up and leave them alone. I would think hard and tell him what I thought I learned that day. He would either say you’re right or he’d correct me and say things like not how, but when to do certain things. These people in their own way somehow came to learn from me also. They would understand that things do change and old ways aren’t always the best. New way, old way, together we’re going to figure it out and that’s what it takes sometimes. The whole team has to get together figure it all out.

I used to think all I could do was be an electrician. I consider myself foremost a wire twister, not a genius, not a control expert. Although I’ve done my fair share of all of that. When people ask me what I do for a living, I would usually say I’m a wire twister. I always thought when I was a kid that my dad was a hooker because every day I’d ask him “What did you do, Dad?” And he’s say, “I hooked up a transformer, I hooked up a panel, I hooked up this, and I hooked up that. So I thought he was a hooker because in my 5 year old mind. That’s what he was because that’s what he said he did. I took him at his word.

You know Ric Flair used to say, “To be the best, you have to beat the best.” But I disagree to be the best, you simply have to be the best. And do it for personal pride not necessarily gain. A long time ago electricians were tough guys and they were the best of the best and they did it just to show they were best. Were they egomaniacs? Possibly, but it got the job done. Bragging rights came along with it, because sometimes that’s all you’re going to get. Whether that’s good or bad depends on the guy. If you’re bragging about something you really didn’t do. Street cred is always going to be found out. Whether you’re really that guy or you’re not that guy. I’m a firm believer that everything I need to know in life, I learned in kindergarten. Not doing the work but just being around the guys that were still doing it 40 years later. I don’t believe anybody should have to work at any job for 40 years without being able to finally rest and enjoy the fruits of their labor while they can. Because it’s going to catch up with you. The average person is in construction for 5 years of apprenticeship and 5 years after that. Whether you get hurt or you get smart enough to do something else. I was a firm believer in all I could be is a wire twister until I started working different places. My attitude and my love of customer service, helping other people make it through their journey if you will.

I learned a long time ago, we’re all on a path that gets us there. Just because I’m having a good day, somebody might have lost their luggage, or their booth didn’t arrive, or they’re lost, or they have no idea what they’re doing or where they’re going. If I have the ability to help them and make them smile and get them back on track, that was very rewarding to me [working at the convention center.] On a daily change of things, because let’s face it no one wants to be doing the same thing every day. Yeah, we were just installing booths and taping cords to the floor, but every show was different. Every day was different and you never what you were going to get into.

Problem solving definitely made a difference in that point in my life and once customer service is your life, you can easily switch to being a boss. You can switch to being a rep at the hall explaining things to people that normal people wouldn’t understand. Like how insurance works, like the system works, and how you signed up for the system whether you like it or not. That’s the thing, 90% of the things that happen to us, we allow them to happen to us. Things happen or you either roll with it or you don’t. We used to do the biggest shows in the world extemporaneously, which means very little preparation. We occasionally lose track sometimes with that mindset.

I’ll be the first to admit that the last thing I ever worried about was my health. That was backburner for me. I had things that I thought were more important than my health. Doing the right thing with your health starts when you’re young, and you don’ think about it and before you know it, you’re overdoing it. I’ve always lived my life to excess. I never worried about whether I was going survive the concert or the job site I just hope that I did. Don’t get me wrong I’ve ended up in the hospital after a concert, thinking I was well enough to go and I wasn’t. I’ve ended up dehydrated after a good show. Sometimes you gotta get your priorities straight, and sometimes you worry more about other things than what’s going on your life.

That all being said, I’m progressing quite rapidly in a positive direction now in this healing. I’ve always been a very upbeat person, but I hate to say it, but I do have a tendency to allow the negative people around me to drain me and leave me holding the bag. They are so negative that they are literally sucking the life out of me. I’ve always been simple minded. I learned from Gordon Ramsey, there’s two rules: Keep it simple stupid and cut your baggage. Anybody working against you doesn’t need to be in your life or in your zone. You’re either with me or against. Why would I keep anyone around who is sabotaging my success? If you can’t learn something today, then somebody something even if it’s something tiny to you. It could make a different in someone’s life.

March 6, 2024

Another day, another death, another sorrow, and no regrets. Here we are day 5 out of the hospital. Things are looking up. I’m up and at ’em nice and early getting all my vitals taking care of, started my breakfast getting my medication taken. The only good thing about a health scare is that you’re reminded of who your family is. Friends is a show I’ve never watched. I will say, what is understood doesn’t need to be discussed. There’s some people that maybe you haven’t talked to in a long time, but the minute you call them it’s like you’re back in the 5th grade. It’s just simpatico. Even if you’re not a Pisces, Scorpio and Pisces go together like rice and beans. They’ve always be there for me and communication is nonverbal. I don’t have to tell you what’s going on, you already know because we’re that close. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got plenty of other people that I need. I never even knew what a party was until I met some Aries. They don’t mess around and they are there for you. They’re all about loyalty.

When you got guys that got your back, that’s all you need in life. It doesn’t matter if it’s going to concert, doing the family reunion or the Christmas party. Those people that you count on, you can count them no matter what anytime anywhere and I’d like to think they can count on me. I’m the kind of guy you can always count on. If nothing else, I can make everyone calm. I know I have a calming effect on several people. And when I say calming effect, I mean they’re not worried about anything when I’m around. It could be the worst day of their life, and as long as they know I’m somewhere nearby, I’m going to figure it out and get us where we need to be as a group. Fame is fleeting, luxury is fleeting. One day you think you’re on top of the world, and in reality all the stuff you’re worried about is nothing.

While I was in the hospital, I had some bonding moments with the ladies that were taking care of me. So few people encourage people to do anything. I hate to say it, but I was not encouraged as a kid to be all that I can be. Along with no plan, the fact that I’m any kind of superstar and that my kids and my brother are superstars, is just a testament of sheer will. I don’t know what would have happened. I’d probably be a millionaire or I’d be dead if my parents would have said “go for it” or pushed me to do things. I’m not talking about being entitled. That’s a word that didn’t exist when I was a kid.

I hate to say it, but my one regret in life is not sticking a guitar under my daughter’s neck the minute she could stand up which is exactly when you’re supposed stick a violin under a kid’s neck. Start them playing young and normalize that. Music holds the key to life, I guarantee that. Good, bad, or ugly; it’s going to inspire you to greatness which is the only true joy some people have in their life. Don’t get me wrong, everyone that knows me, my hashtag is #spiteful. I’ve gotten like that over the years. I’m a Scorpio, I hold a grudge.

It doesn’t hurt me to tell someone they’re doing a great job. I know I’m not the smartest guy in the room, and I never will be. God forbid, I’m a cheerleader on a good day. I’m a clown at best, and I’m there to let you know everything’s going to be alright. Because I know it is because I’ve seen the future already and I know what’s going to happen to all of us. Some people might say “it’s the terror of knowing what this world’s is about.” Somebody has to be there to steer us in the right direction. Think about it, leadership is leading the ship. You have to make sure it’s going in the right direction. Too many times I’ve heard people complain, but when they’re in charge, it’s “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” You can’t make a change if your attitude is “now I’m in charge and I’m going to be spiteful.”

We have our retirees group and I know a lot of them. For the most part they like me, and I have a certain respect for all of my elders, thanks to my Catholic school upbringing. I have respect for them to my own detriment, and I carried somebody who didn’t deserve to be carried, and I couldn’t “clap back” as they say now. I would just smile and think “I guess this my burden in life, because I will carry an old man in hopes that somebody’s carrying my old man.” Even though he never needed any carrying. I’m not going to sit here and say seize the day, but if you don’t somebody else will. I’ve learned the hard way that nice guys do finish last every time, and there’s not much you can do about that in the universe except hope that someday that the karma will come back and take care of me, not take care of them. I put my own karma out in the world and it seems to work for me. You might think “What are you talking about? You’re in the worst position of life right now.”

My old buddy Coy always said, “any day you wake up is a good day.” And I would always think to myself, “How would you know if you’ve never not woken up to compare it?” I know that sounds like a stupid joke. There is up if there’s no down, that’s a simple fact. Today, teach somebody something even if you have drag them screaming and kicking to their destiny. It’s going to make you feel better. It’s going to make them smarter, and they might be the one that saves this world. I think we need some saving right now. This is not about politics or religion, this is just about the universe. I’ll leave you with this. Do something today even it’s wrong. Have a great day.

March 5, 2024

Day 4 out of the hospital and when you’re having fun time flies doesn’t it? I definitely seem to be on positive path back to recovery. It’s not going to be an overnight thing, and I know that. Luckily I got nothing better to do other than help edit my daughter’s books and figure out what my next move in life is. For me I’ve never had a plan, never wanted a plan. I’m that bag floating on the wind, and I’m going to be at right place at the right time at all times.

I will say that I’m having withdrawals because I can’t get any hospital food. Think I’m crazy if you want, but man the hospital food is just freaking awesome. I know I’m retired from concerts after 40 years, but when the special ones come to town I’m going to everything I can including making a deal with the devil to go. That’s just me. There’s so few things in life that bring you true pleasure so you better take advantage of them while you can.

In case you didn’t know it, wheelchairs get you front row at the concert. You might have to accidentally roll in someone’s leg or right behind the ankle. You live in the pit, you die in the pit.

If I haven’t said enough, thank you for all the well wishes, all the support and love outpouring. I wouldn’t be here without you guys. I’m not using the old joke “I don’t know why to thank you.” I know exactly who to thank, and I’m not a thankful kind of person. Some people don’t need thanks for what they do. They do it for their own personal reasons and I learned long ago clowns like me saying thank you doesn’t mean much. Just like when people say “I’m sorry about this” and “I’m sorry about that.”I’m a “don’t do it again” and “I’m going to change my evil ways” instead of apologizing. If you can’t respect that, I’m probably not going to apologize to you anyway.

I’ll try to keep y’all updated. It’s a learning curve and thanks to all the people who are professionals. I learned when I became a trustee, lean on your professionals. You pay them a ton of money to do it. Of course, all my professionals are unpaid. Medical advice from two or three different people is always handy because one guy is going to live and die by the book, but in reality everybody’s different. And drinking a gallon of water to lose weight is the best way to die.

Stay tuned to our antics. At this point my daughter Ruth is being heavily recruited to be a combat medic. She’s already seen the face of the devil on the bottom on my foot, and she didn’t run or hide. The devil blinked and turned its head again. If you think you’re having a bad day, you’re not. You have first world problems. And I’m never eating Whataburger ever again.

Y’all have a great day. If you need some sunshine, call me because I got plenty of it. No one’s going to break my stride.

Audio recordings coming soon.

March 3, 2024 8 AM

Will update after I take my meds

March 2, 2024 8 AM

If you don’t think you need a rainbow oversized #moomoo, you’re just fooling yourself. Get some while you still can. Let the others chase trends, be a trend setter baby

March 1, 2024 8 PM

I’m home now with my discharge in my hand.

March 1, 2024 8 AM

Midnight MRI. Now I know what it feels like to be in an air fryer. Daily struggle: not having my emotional support cat.

February 29, 2024 8 AM

Chapter 32: super sepsis and flesh eating bacteria. Daily struggle: #milkgate awaiting procedures too many to name. Thank you for all the well wishes. If you know me, you love me.

P.S. if you wanna see my foot google portal to hell

February 28, 2024 4 PM

Reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated. I am currently recovering from my second surgery on my foot. Keep checking this page for more updates. Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers.