Friday, April 21, 2023
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Schedule
😀 You sent all of the Birthday Cards out in August to people with birthdays in September. 😀😀
Monday, August 29th
Hair cut in Beaver Dam. Ralph and Jean will pick you up in the morning.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Thursday, February 20, 2020
Driver's license
You may be happy to know that I shut down a computer system. I can do this while not even working. I guess it is a rare talent.
My wife, Jean, and I drove to the DOT DMV facility on the west side of Madison for driver’s license renewals on January 22, 2020. I need to get a renewed license by May 2020. She had a renewed license from last year, but it did not have a sticker showing she was not a security risk for airport security. She decided she wanted the sticker and so she needed a new, amended driver’s license.
Everything went well, up to a point. We stopped at the DOT informational booth, received a tracking number, had our picture taken, and waited for our tracking number to be called before we could obtain the new driver’s licenses. We were both called up at about the same time. She went to Window 5 and I went to Window 12. The clerks at each window entered our driver’s license information and then our passport information. (You needed the passport information to acquire the driver license’s security sticker. ) The computer system stopped for both clerks. We managed to crash our little portion of the world. Both clerks did everything they possibly could to bring the system back on-line. It would not comply. Both clerks requested we sit down in the waiting area, and they would attempt to clear up the problem.
We sat down and waited and waited. Twenty minutes later Jean walked back to Window 5 and somehow the supervisor made the computer at Window 5 work and so Jean was supplied a temporary driver’s license with the real one coming in the mail in the next two weeks. I waited another 10 minutes and I walked up to Window 12. The woman clerk smiled at me and said it still was not working. I told her the woman clerk at Window 5 was successful in getting Jean’s driver’s license record to work in the computer system by having the supervisor do it. The supervisor happened be taking information from people at Window 11. She tried to make it work for my record. No success. The computer file was still locked up. The woman supervisor said, “They have been updating the computer system and I guess this does not work. They know about it. They are working on it.” She had no idea if or when it would be fixed. I was told to come back the next day. They supplied me a priority number so I would be the first in line when I came back.
I arrived the next day, obtained my priority number, and was promptly called to Window 5. The clerk again tried to enter the information into the system. It did not work. She kept on clicking and clicking. The computer still would not accept the information. She continued clicking. No sale. She then went to another computer and scanned my passport information into that computer. She then returned. She began clicking keys on her computer again. She looked at me, “It’s not working!”. She looked down at the computer screen again. “It worked!”, she exclaimed. She was extremely happy and let out a big sigh.
I received my new driver’s license with the security sticker a week later.
So you see I can crash a computer system without even trying.
I think people should offer me a job of crashing computer systems. I accomplish that feat just by walking through the door.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
Five years ago a doctor asked if I was sleeping well. I thought so. My wife did not think so.
I never knew this could be a problem. I was told diplomatically by my wife, Jean, I snored when I slept. I never heard it. I never knew I did it. But I guess I did. I always assumed I snored less than my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law could be heard when we camped with him and his wife a substantial distance from their tent. I thought the snoring range of my brother-in-law could not be eclipsed by someone like me. Jean acknowledged a number of times my snoring may not be as loud as my brother-in-law's but it was substantial nonetheless.
I never thought anything about snoring until I had a doctor's visit in spring 2014. I had some ailment which led me and Jean to our urgent care clinic. I was examined by a woman doctor who asked an interesting question, "Do you sleep well?"
I responded to her query with, "I think so." She suggested part of the reason I was in urgent care was due to a problem with my sleeping. Her initial diagnosis from her was sleep apnea. She suggested I talk to my primary physician.
Taking her advice, I contacted my primary physician who agreed it was worth determining whether the urgent care doctor's hunch was correct. I was then referred to University of Wisconsin Sleep Clinic. Until we heard from the clinic, Jean and I did not know it existed.
The Sleep Clinic started with a preliminary study. I was hooked up to a monitor for a night at home. I was to sleep the whole night with the monitor, return the monitor, and await for the results. Jean hooked me up to sleep monitor.
After I was hooked to the monitor I felt as if I were a trussed turkey waiting for Thanksgiving. I certainly looked like it as shown in the picture above.
I went to bed with this apparatus on and an hour later we had a tornado warning. I had to unhook much of the apparatus and head down into our basement. After we had an all clear, I then trudged back to bed and re-attached the monitor and all of its accouterments. I then had a fitful night of sleep.
Madison had a tornado but not where we live and so the monitor had data when I woke up the next morning. We took the monitor back to the sleep folks and awaited the results.
The results from the one-night monitor demonstrated I had a sleep problem The sleep people did not know how bad the problem was until they told me to come back a week later for another sleep study.
This time the sleep study occurred in the basement of the Wisconsin Sleep Center building which is located about two miles from our house. Me and three other sleep study people were ushered into the building, given a synopsis of what would occur, watched a fifteen minute movie, and then were escorted to a waiting area.
After a 15 minute wait I was summoned by a young, female sleep researcher. Besides sleep research, she was a waitress at a nearby restaurant. She told me I would be placed in a room with telemetry, some of it hooked to me, some of it watching me, as I slept. She and the telemetry would watch me all night. After the data from the sleep study was analyzed my primary physician would be contacted. After that contact then something may or may not be done.
She left and told me to change to pajamas I was told to bring to the sleep study. After I changed, she hooked me up to all of the instruments and then wished me a good night. She turned off the lights and told me to get some sleep. All of this happened around 8 pm and because I do not normally go to bed until 10 pm, I sat in the darkened room staring at the ceiling for a long time.
The next morning my sleep researcher came in and said they had all of the data they needed for the sleep study. I was told to change, sign some papers, and then I was released.
My primary physician was contacted at the end of the next week. As it turned out, I came in second place regarding the overall results of the sleep study. I had stopped breathing and then started breathing again, 70 times in an hour. The 70 times an hour was only good for second place because someone had stopped breathing and resumed breathing 84 times in an hour during a sleep study. Nonetheless, the people at the sleep study were impressed at my 70 times an hour no breathing sequences. I found out I was good at something I should not do, interrupted sleeping.
After these results, I was immediately paired with a CPAP machine. What does a CPAP machine do? According to the literature:
"the soft, steady jet of air from the CPAP machine creates enough pressure to keep the airway open."
I have to admit the CPAP machine is responsible for a better night of sleep. In fact, I take it with me wherever I go, it helps that much.
The CPAP machine is a burden. It is not light and does add considerable weight to your luggage. It also likes distilled water which it consumes at an amazing rate each night.
But, I should expect it to be a burden. What else do you expect when you finish in second place?
My wrong analysis resulted in Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).
I never knew this could be a problem. I was told diplomatically by my wife, Jean, I snored when I slept. I never heard it. I never knew I did it. But I guess I did. I always assumed I snored less than my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law could be heard when we camped with him and his wife a substantial distance from their tent. I thought the snoring range of my brother-in-law could not be eclipsed by someone like me. Jean acknowledged a number of times my snoring may not be as loud as my brother-in-law's but it was substantial nonetheless.
I never thought anything about snoring until I had a doctor's visit in spring 2014. I had some ailment which led me and Jean to our urgent care clinic. I was examined by a woman doctor who asked an interesting question, "Do you sleep well?"
I responded to her query with, "I think so." She suggested part of the reason I was in urgent care was due to a problem with my sleeping. Her initial diagnosis from her was sleep apnea. She suggested I talk to my primary physician.
Taking her advice, I contacted my primary physician who agreed it was worth determining whether the urgent care doctor's hunch was correct. I was then referred to University of Wisconsin Sleep Clinic. Until we heard from the clinic, Jean and I did not know it existed.
The Sleep Clinic started with a preliminary study. I was hooked up to a monitor for a night at home. I was to sleep the whole night with the monitor, return the monitor, and await for the results. Jean hooked me up to sleep monitor.
I went to bed with this apparatus on and an hour later we had a tornado warning. I had to unhook much of the apparatus and head down into our basement. After we had an all clear, I then trudged back to bed and re-attached the monitor and all of its accouterments. I then had a fitful night of sleep.
Madison had a tornado but not where we live and so the monitor had data when I woke up the next morning. We took the monitor back to the sleep folks and awaited the results.
The results from the one-night monitor demonstrated I had a sleep problem The sleep people did not know how bad the problem was until they told me to come back a week later for another sleep study.
This time the sleep study occurred in the basement of the Wisconsin Sleep Center building which is located about two miles from our house. Me and three other sleep study people were ushered into the building, given a synopsis of what would occur, watched a fifteen minute movie, and then were escorted to a waiting area.
After a 15 minute wait I was summoned by a young, female sleep researcher. Besides sleep research, she was a waitress at a nearby restaurant. She told me I would be placed in a room with telemetry, some of it hooked to me, some of it watching me, as I slept. She and the telemetry would watch me all night. After the data from the sleep study was analyzed my primary physician would be contacted. After that contact then something may or may not be done.The next morning my sleep researcher came in and said they had all of the data they needed for the sleep study. I was told to change, sign some papers, and then I was released.
My primary physician was contacted at the end of the next week. As it turned out, I came in second place regarding the overall results of the sleep study. I had stopped breathing and then started breathing again, 70 times in an hour. The 70 times an hour was only good for second place because someone had stopped breathing and resumed breathing 84 times in an hour during a sleep study. Nonetheless, the people at the sleep study were impressed at my 70 times an hour no breathing sequences. I found out I was good at something I should not do, interrupted sleeping.
After these results, I was immediately paired with a CPAP machine. What does a CPAP machine do? According to the literature:
"the soft, steady jet of air from the CPAP machine creates enough pressure to keep the airway open."
I have to admit the CPAP machine is responsible for a better night of sleep. In fact, I take it with me wherever I go, it helps that much.
The CPAP machine is a burden. It is not light and does add considerable weight to your luggage. It also likes distilled water which it consumes at an amazing rate each night.
But, I should expect it to be a burden. What else do you expect when you finish in second place?
Friday, October 4, 2019
Lawn Mowing Hazard
I cut the lawn for a woman two houses down from our house. She has a large lawn. She has asthma and told me it took her four hours to cut her lawn because she had to rest many times to catch her breath. I told her I would cut her lawn when I cut my lawn. I've cut her lawn over 50 times in the last three years. Her lawn grows as if the grass is on steroids. In 2019, there were no breaks in cutting the lawn because it never stopped raining, unlike it normally does in July and August and the lack of rain inhibits the growth and gives me a break from cutting the lawn.
The length of the grass and the upcoming two days of heavy rain convinced me her lawn needed cutting the afternoon of Monday, September 30th. September 30th had temperatures in the 80's with high dew points. It was hot but dry. I was not looking forward to spending the next 50 minutes cutting her lawn and then 30 minutes cutting our lawn with my 22 inch Toro self-propelled lawnmower but I felt it had to be done even if I was out in the hot sun losing significant amounts of water from my sweating body. I unhooked the drainpipes from the eave troughs of her house and then began the hot lawn cutting session.
The lawn takes time to cut because of the lot. The house sits east and west. The east side has about a 10 foot swatch of grass between the garage of the property line of the house next to it. The west side has a 15 foot swatch of grass between a deck elevated five feet above the lawn and a row of trees planted by the house owner to the west. The west side also has a small front lawn in front of the house. Below the house is a substantial yard. The challenge is to cut the east and west side lawns and the west front lawn while at the same time making some headway on the lawn below the house. Over my many times cutting the lawn, I came up with the most efficient way. I would start on the east side, swing down the south side, and come up the west side. I would then reverse and continue this until the lawns on the east and west side and the west side front lawn were cut. I would then concentrate on the remaining lawn at the south end. Throughout many times I completed the lawn mowing process, the west side deck was never occupied.
I started my assault on the lawn in the afternoon after the lawn had sort of dried out from the rain of the prior day. I went from east to west and returned. I did this three times. The lawn cutting was a quarter of the way to completion. I was on my west return trip when I came up half way to the deck. I noticed movement in the periphery of my left eye. All of a sudden an older woman rose from a lounge chair on the deck. She was wearing a white bikini in which she clutched her bikini top to her breast because the bikini top was not tied in the back. She motioned to me to turn off the lawn mower. I was shocked. Over the many times I had cut the lawn no one ever sat or lounged on that deck. The only life on the deck over the years were a few house plants. I also knew it was not the house owner. I had no idea who this woman was.
She started talking as the lawn mower stopped. She continued to clutch her untied white bikini top to her breast. I thought I heard my name but I was not sure.
“....Why does it take you 15 times to cut the lawn along here?”, she called out in an angry voice while clutching her top to her breasts.
I was still in a state of shock and my brain was also not functioning. My normal smart-alecky response would have been something like “I only went six times but I can redo it if you want.” That response did not come from my mouth.
“I am sorry. I did not see you. I did not know you were there.” I whispered. That was the best my brain and mouth could do. My brain was still frozen from surprise.
Then she got irate. “You certainly did know I was here!”
I was flabbergasted. Her diatribe implied that I was cutting the lawn simply to watch her sunbathe on the deck in her white bikini. Until she garnered my attention from the lounge chair, I never knew she was there.
And who was she? I did not know for sure. She could be the reclusive neighbor living in the next house to the west of the deck. Her husband and I knew each other because I blow snow from their driveway in large snowstorms But I had not seen her close-up for many years. If she did say my name then I thought that might be the mystery woman. However, I was not sure which added to the confusion my brain was trying to sort out as quickly as possible.
My brain stayed deficient. It had not recovered from the first crack about the 15 times of cutting around the deck. It was even of less use now. My mouth also failed. The best I could do was utter a weak, "Sorry."
I started up the lawnmower and went back to the back lawn. I mowed a strip and stopped. My brain was coming back. It was unfrozen. My mouth reacted with relief.
The first cogent thought from part of the brain was, "What just happened?"
The other part of the brain answered, "Hell if I know!"
The first part of the brain reasoned, "The lawnmower makes noise. We don't know how far the sphere of influence exists before she is not bothered by the noise. What the heck are we doing here?"
The other part of the brain agreed, "Let's get the hell out of dodge before we are accused of something else!"
Both parts of the brain cooperated and told my body to push the lawnmower, not look back at the deck, and go home and cut our lawn.
After I cut our lawn, I headed inside. I told Jean about my experience with the sunbather. She thought it was a great story.
The sun stayed out on that last day of September 2019 until 6 p.m. and so I avoided the neighbor's lawn because I did not want to again experience the wrath of the nearly topless sunbather.
I went back to the neighbor's lawn the next day when it was starting to rain. I saw half of the lawn was still not cut. I re-hooked the drainpipes to the eaves troughs. I looked and there was no sunbather in a white bikini. My brain, both sides, kicked in with many retorts to the situation as it presented itself yesterday. "I am cutting the lawn and not wasting my time looking at you."; "What the hell are you doing on her deck!'";"You don't have anything to protect with that bikini top!"
Another part of the brain told the retorts from yesterday's brain parts that failed, "It is a little late for that fellows."
I returned three days later to finish the lawn mowing. The day was cool and windy. Every time the lawnmower and I were in sight of the deck, I made sure there was no one sitting in the lounge chair. I breathed a sigh of relief each time I confirmed there was no action on the deck.
From now on when the sun shines and I have to cut the neighbor's lawn, I will look to see if there is a sunbather on the deck. If there is, I will walk the lawnmower to the deck and offer the sunbather the opportunity cut the lawn once she has completed sunbathing. I will even show her how to start the lawnmower. After that me and my brain, all parts of the brain, will sit down and have a beer.
The length of the grass and the upcoming two days of heavy rain convinced me her lawn needed cutting the afternoon of Monday, September 30th. September 30th had temperatures in the 80's with high dew points. It was hot but dry. I was not looking forward to spending the next 50 minutes cutting her lawn and then 30 minutes cutting our lawn with my 22 inch Toro self-propelled lawnmower but I felt it had to be done even if I was out in the hot sun losing significant amounts of water from my sweating body. I unhooked the drainpipes from the eave troughs of her house and then began the hot lawn cutting session.
The lawn takes time to cut because of the lot. The house sits east and west. The east side has about a 10 foot swatch of grass between the garage of the property line of the house next to it. The west side has a 15 foot swatch of grass between a deck elevated five feet above the lawn and a row of trees planted by the house owner to the west. The west side also has a small front lawn in front of the house. Below the house is a substantial yard. The challenge is to cut the east and west side lawns and the west front lawn while at the same time making some headway on the lawn below the house. Over my many times cutting the lawn, I came up with the most efficient way. I would start on the east side, swing down the south side, and come up the west side. I would then reverse and continue this until the lawns on the east and west side and the west side front lawn were cut. I would then concentrate on the remaining lawn at the south end. Throughout many times I completed the lawn mowing process, the west side deck was never occupied.
I started my assault on the lawn in the afternoon after the lawn had sort of dried out from the rain of the prior day. I went from east to west and returned. I did this three times. The lawn cutting was a quarter of the way to completion. I was on my west return trip when I came up half way to the deck. I noticed movement in the periphery of my left eye. All of a sudden an older woman rose from a lounge chair on the deck. She was wearing a white bikini in which she clutched her bikini top to her breast because the bikini top was not tied in the back. She motioned to me to turn off the lawn mower. I was shocked. Over the many times I had cut the lawn no one ever sat or lounged on that deck. The only life on the deck over the years were a few house plants. I also knew it was not the house owner. I had no idea who this woman was.
She started talking as the lawn mower stopped. She continued to clutch her untied white bikini top to her breast. I thought I heard my name but I was not sure.
“....Why does it take you 15 times to cut the lawn along here?”, she called out in an angry voice while clutching her top to her breasts.
I was still in a state of shock and my brain was also not functioning. My normal smart-alecky response would have been something like “I only went six times but I can redo it if you want.” That response did not come from my mouth.
“I am sorry. I did not see you. I did not know you were there.” I whispered. That was the best my brain and mouth could do. My brain was still frozen from surprise.
Then she got irate. “You certainly did know I was here!”
I was flabbergasted. Her diatribe implied that I was cutting the lawn simply to watch her sunbathe on the deck in her white bikini. Until she garnered my attention from the lounge chair, I never knew she was there.
And who was she? I did not know for sure. She could be the reclusive neighbor living in the next house to the west of the deck. Her husband and I knew each other because I blow snow from their driveway in large snowstorms But I had not seen her close-up for many years. If she did say my name then I thought that might be the mystery woman. However, I was not sure which added to the confusion my brain was trying to sort out as quickly as possible.
My brain stayed deficient. It had not recovered from the first crack about the 15 times of cutting around the deck. It was even of less use now. My mouth also failed. The best I could do was utter a weak, "Sorry."
I started up the lawnmower and went back to the back lawn. I mowed a strip and stopped. My brain was coming back. It was unfrozen. My mouth reacted with relief.
The first cogent thought from part of the brain was, "What just happened?"
The other part of the brain answered, "Hell if I know!"
The first part of the brain reasoned, "The lawnmower makes noise. We don't know how far the sphere of influence exists before she is not bothered by the noise. What the heck are we doing here?"
The other part of the brain agreed, "Let's get the hell out of dodge before we are accused of something else!"
Both parts of the brain cooperated and told my body to push the lawnmower, not look back at the deck, and go home and cut our lawn.
After I cut our lawn, I headed inside. I told Jean about my experience with the sunbather. She thought it was a great story.
The sun stayed out on that last day of September 2019 until 6 p.m. and so I avoided the neighbor's lawn because I did not want to again experience the wrath of the nearly topless sunbather.
I went back to the neighbor's lawn the next day when it was starting to rain. I saw half of the lawn was still not cut. I re-hooked the drainpipes to the eaves troughs. I looked and there was no sunbather in a white bikini. My brain, both sides, kicked in with many retorts to the situation as it presented itself yesterday. "I am cutting the lawn and not wasting my time looking at you."; "What the hell are you doing on her deck!'";"You don't have anything to protect with that bikini top!"
Another part of the brain told the retorts from yesterday's brain parts that failed, "It is a little late for that fellows."
I returned three days later to finish the lawn mowing. The day was cool and windy. Every time the lawnmower and I were in sight of the deck, I made sure there was no one sitting in the lounge chair. I breathed a sigh of relief each time I confirmed there was no action on the deck.
From now on when the sun shines and I have to cut the neighbor's lawn, I will look to see if there is a sunbather on the deck. If there is, I will walk the lawnmower to the deck and offer the sunbather the opportunity cut the lawn once she has completed sunbathing. I will even show her how to start the lawnmower. After that me and my brain, all parts of the brain, will sit down and have a beer.
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