Well, I'm working desperately to address that situation, but its going to be very difficult to save enough money for a bigger float tube by opening day.
Royal Dun
Monday, March 31, 2014
Bad News
It happened. I turned 65 years old and went to the doctor for my first Medicare checkup and received some horrible news. I was 10 pounds over the weight limit for my float tube!
Well, I'm working desperately to address that situation, but its going to be very difficult to save enough money for a bigger float tube by opening day.
Royal Dun
Well, I'm working desperately to address that situation, but its going to be very difficult to save enough money for a bigger float tube by opening day.
Royal Dun
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Spring's Arrival
Thursday marks the first day of spring, not to mention my bride and I will celebrate our 43rd anniversary. We have already acquired some spring bulbs and another outdoor wind ornament.
Some years ago, I was told that St. Patrick's day is the time to cut your roses down to 12 inches or so to invigorate them and produce healthy plants. Well, St. Patrick's day was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I'll dig them out of three feet of snow so I can trim them.
We've been looking for our Crocus' to be popping up, but they're hard to spot under the snowbanks.
May B. Knott ... sitting in for Royal Dun
Some years ago, I was told that St. Patrick's day is the time to cut your roses down to 12 inches or so to invigorate them and produce healthy plants. Well, St. Patrick's day was yesterday. Maybe tomorrow I'll dig them out of three feet of snow so I can trim them.
We've been looking for our Crocus' to be popping up, but they're hard to spot under the snowbanks.
May B. Knott ... sitting in for Royal Dun
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Brought to You By NAFTA
When the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1993, I never had much opinion about it one way or another. I agreed with its premise of expanding trade between Canada, Mexico, and the United States as I thought it would bring medication prices down, help move labor across borders where it is needed, etc.
Instead, twenty years later, I find it costs me far less for one of my medications if I order it through a Canadian pharmacy (it ships from India). I pay about half the cost (including shipping) for a 90-day supply than it would cost for the generic in my local pharmacy.
It seems like we hear of more cases of contaminated food than before. Although it is difficult to blame it on NAFTA, much of our produce and vegetables are imported, especially during off-seasons. When I go to the store now, I have to check the expiration date on every single item I buy. On a recent trip to the grocery, I found about 10% of the items sitting on the shelves was expired. One product was outdated by 7 months!
I realize that sub-standard management oversight and training of help, poor attitudes of people stocking the shelves, and labor shortages all contribute to this. Even so, I wonder if NAFTA really means No Aliment Fit To Accept.
Instead, twenty years later, I find it costs me far less for one of my medications if I order it through a Canadian pharmacy (it ships from India). I pay about half the cost (including shipping) for a 90-day supply than it would cost for the generic in my local pharmacy.
It seems like we hear of more cases of contaminated food than before. Although it is difficult to blame it on NAFTA, much of our produce and vegetables are imported, especially during off-seasons. When I go to the store now, I have to check the expiration date on every single item I buy. On a recent trip to the grocery, I found about 10% of the items sitting on the shelves was expired. One product was outdated by 7 months!
I realize that sub-standard management oversight and training of help, poor attitudes of people stocking the shelves, and labor shortages all contribute to this. Even so, I wonder if NAFTA really means No Aliment Fit To Accept.
Evolution Has a Ways to Go
Prentice N. Largefonte hit 80 last year and we spent several evenings on the river together. He can still out-wade, out-cast, and out-fish me when he's in the mood, but last year was the first time he asked me to tie a fly onto his tippet for him. The light was failing, and his hands were just unsteady enough that his fishing would have been done for the day, had I not been there to help. On another of our evening forays, he commented to me that it is getting difficult for him to cut his toenails. He said "it hurts'. I managed to dodge the topic by mentioning that my hearing was getting worse and worse.
Nature exacts certain tolls for allowing us to age. Things like hair, hearing, flexibility, and sexual prowess diminish and are replaced with bladders and bowels that are more active. We also gain greater awareness of muscle groups that can ache. The other day, as I was getting ready to dress, I realized that I too found the task of trimming toenails more arduous than before. It may have been due to some new muscle group that was announcing its presence or some other muscle group that refused to stretch to accommodate my task.
Nevertheless, I resorted to sitting on the edge of my bed and crossing my leg so that one foot rested on the other knee, in the normal fashion that men sit.
It was then that I noticed a flaw in human evolution. The sole of my foot was facing me and the toenails all faced away from me. In order to trim my nails, I had to twist my foot to an angle I could reach with the clippers. It hurt! It occurred to me that evolution would better serve us if toenails were eliminated from our feet, since we no longer need them as claws. Our species lost that need several millennia ago, so what's the deal? We lost our tails, why not toenails? I suppose its another toll exacted by Nature, just so we remember who's in charge.
Now I'm thinking about camping and fishing with Prentice next summer and I'm wondering what incapacities he will share with me. I'm prepared to tie some more flies on for him but if we're sitting by the campfire and he hauls out a set of nail clippers, my hearing will suffer even more degradation.
Royal Dun
Nature exacts certain tolls for allowing us to age. Things like hair, hearing, flexibility, and sexual prowess diminish and are replaced with bladders and bowels that are more active. We also gain greater awareness of muscle groups that can ache. The other day, as I was getting ready to dress, I realized that I too found the task of trimming toenails more arduous than before. It may have been due to some new muscle group that was announcing its presence or some other muscle group that refused to stretch to accommodate my task.
Nevertheless, I resorted to sitting on the edge of my bed and crossing my leg so that one foot rested on the other knee, in the normal fashion that men sit.
It was then that I noticed a flaw in human evolution. The sole of my foot was facing me and the toenails all faced away from me. In order to trim my nails, I had to twist my foot to an angle I could reach with the clippers. It hurt! It occurred to me that evolution would better serve us if toenails were eliminated from our feet, since we no longer need them as claws. Our species lost that need several millennia ago, so what's the deal? We lost our tails, why not toenails? I suppose its another toll exacted by Nature, just so we remember who's in charge.
Now I'm thinking about camping and fishing with Prentice next summer and I'm wondering what incapacities he will share with me. I'm prepared to tie some more flies on for him but if we're sitting by the campfire and he hauls out a set of nail clippers, my hearing will suffer even more degradation.
Royal Dun
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