Venison

Last night I cooked my venison steaks I had brought from Montana for my mother and brother. Mom didn't have any virgin olive oil so I had to borrow some from her neighbor. She was also missing a spice or two but I did without.

The steaks turned out fine as they both enjoyed what I cooked. I must have done well as I am not much of a cook and they are somewhat fussy eaters.

I have some venison steak left and that will be mine tonight. That'll teach the deer not to eat my garden.

Trivia night: comics

While I don't need glasses to see after my surgery, they do come in handy in low light situations to sharpen images. I decided to wear my glasses to trivia night this week. I am glad I did as there were lots more people in the bar this night; I was sitting where I could see more of the people in the bar; and there were more attractive women to view.

We don't know why there was this difference this night. More teams to play trivia - though the usual suspects had the most answers correct - and more people playing pool. I got distracted at times. Later when my team was sitting around after the contests were over, two attractive 20-something women came and sat at the bar. The long haired blond had her back to me. The brunette was sitting talking to her and I could see her profile. "Was she giving me a look or just looking around?" A guy closer to their age came and lingered around them briefly but seemed to get no attention.

Funny how I can seem to multi-task at times. I was listening to Darrel talk about plasma TVs while looking at the brunette and blond, and thinking about... Well, the conversation with my team members was excellent this night, and not feeling in the mood to flirt or make a fool of myself with someone half my age, I stayed with the team. The women eventually drifted off to the pool table area and sat on stools next to a lightly bearded young man their age who was watching more than playing pool. They were still there when I left the bar for the night. Did the brunette across the room turn and look at me again as I walked to the door? ...Vanity, thy name is mine.

I did my part in the trivia contest. There were a number of questions on comics and I got them all. ("Who's da Man?!") I also knew a few other answers. The others did well but in both contests we tied for second place. Our scores of 14 and 16 were short of the winning scores of 16 and 18 respectively. The usual suspects won. A few teams appeared to drop out after the first contest. Scores of 2 and 3 correct must have been discouraging.

Our team got the itch to change our name again. As since Mona was not there I was the scribe for the backup copy of answers we use when Ed announces the correct answers. Jeff and Darrel noticed I am left handed. I was asked by Jeff whether I knew that I wrote with the 'wrong' hand. Darrel wanted to change our team name to incorporate my 'disability'. On short notice, before the second contest began, we changed our team name to "Poncho and Lefty" . I don't think it will last as a team name for long.

Our team was all male this night as the spouses did not attend. A friend of Ed's, from Colorado, was in town and joined our team until he got a phone call and had to leave before the second contest began. Dave came tonight and joined Darrel, Jeff, Marvin, and I. Al was not there. Apparently he had been peeing blood. Hard for a blind person to know. Don't know any more details that that. The last I knew his body had stopped rejecting his pancreas transplant.

Dave won the bucket contents of the final quarters question - with my help. The question was:

In what state was the first car race in the U.S. held?

Initially I felt it was New Jersey. Lots of people wanted to guess. Many states were named and lots of quarters were dropped into the bucket. "Hawaii" got a big laugh. Eventually someone answered New Jersey. Wrong. Jeff had heard me but not when someone else said New Jersey and minutes later he guessed New Jersey. I then mused on states not named and decided it must be a state with a large city. Illinois. Dave heard me - I know he did as he looked at me when I said it - and then he put up his hand and guessed. Illinois was correct and Dave won the bucket which was $22 and change. The barmaid helped him count as the bar needed quarters for change and gave him paper money in exchange.

The interesting thing is Dave never acknowledged my help in the answer. Last week when Mona won based on my guess she acknowledged to the team that I provided her with the answer. As she said, and I agree with, I am not going to win if I am too cheap to toss a quarter in the bucket. Ok, the 'cheap' part I quibble with as often I don't want the prize, or don't have any money on me. This night I did have one quarter and I suppose I should have made an effort to get it ready to guess. Oh well.

Darrel, not Dave, ended up buying me a drink when buying rounds. I do not drink much and usually decline when rounds are bought, but sometimes I do feel like a drink, and sometimes it is just good behavior to join the rest in a drink.

For the second trivia contest two teams tied for first place and the tie breaker question was:

When was the beer can invented?

Our team was not in the running but everyone guessed for the heck of it. Most team members guessed the early 40s and either Dave or Jeff guessed 1932 (or was it the 20s?). My first guess was 1937, but then thought about when Prohibition ended and changed my guess to 1934. I got crap about changing my answer, but no matter, 1937 or 1934 were the two closest answers to 1935.

Questions:

1. Which Dr Seuss character sat on an egg?
2. Who wrote "The Rubaiyat?
3. Dostoevsky wrote the novel, "The Brothers _____"?
4. Which kid worked at the Daily Planet?
5. Who said: "Leaping Lizards!"?
6. In the comics, what was Archie's last name?
7. How long can Aquaman stay out of the water?
8. Whose garden did Peter Cottontail visit?
9. Which meat is better? Prime or Grade A?
10. Which animal is on the logo of Pocket Books?
11. In Greek mythology, what is the name of the giant with 100 eyes?
12. How many wives did Clark Gable have?
13. What nationality was Andrew Carnegie?
14. What was the name of the whale who swallowed Pinocchio?
15. What was the name of the Scottish Terrior in the "Lady and the Tramp"?
16. In a Disney movie, Timothy Q. Mouse was the guide for who?
17. Which Disney character will be 80 this year?
18. Who made their film debut in 1932 at the age of three?
19. From which country did the U.S. buy Florida?
20. Where was the last rail of the transcontinental railroad laid?
21. Who said, "I've always relied on the kindness of strangers"?
22. Which actress was Maureen O'Sullivan's daughter?
23. What fruit was also called "love apples"?
24. Where did Cain live after killing Able?
    
25. Who was the only person to win both the $64000 Question and the $64000 Challenge?
    

Answers:

1. Horton
2. Omar Khayyam
3. Karamazov
4. Jimmy Olsen
5. Little Orphan Annie
6. Andrews
7. 1 hour
8. Mr. Macgregor
9. Prime
10. Kangaroo
11. Argus (no team got this correct)
12. 5
13. Scottish
14. Monstro
15. Jock
16. Dumbo
17. Mickey Mouse
18. Shirley Temple
19. Spain
20. Promotory Point
21. Blanche DuBois
22. Mia Farrow
23. Tomatoes
24. Land of Nod
25. Dr. Joyce Brothers
    

Minot views

Here are some photos I took the evening I walked to the university to attend the chamber music concert.

A panoramic view of Minot from 7th St on north hill.

Photo 1 is a view of downtown by looking out over the university.
Photo 2 is a view back up 7th St.

Night views during my return from the concert.

Brass in Blue

Saturday evening I attended a brass band concert at my old high school. The band was a U.S. Air Force band called: Brass in Blue. This is a 13 member band that plays trumpet, horns, trombone, tuba and percussion with a guy singing a few of the songs.

----

I thought it would be interesting to see some of my old high school but most all of it was closed this evening. I do have a few faint memories of the theater.

By the time I arrived open seats were off to the sides and high near the back. Still, the view wasn't bad. Not all the seats were taken but I still ended up with people on either side of me crowding in this tall guy with long legs.

The program said no one would be seated after the concert started but I did notice a few people entering via a side door during the concert.

I am not young but I believe more than 99% of the people were much older than I.

The band was fine, but I now realize that brass bands are not my favorite. They are too loud and dare I say, brassy. Maybe it is my aging with less of a tolerance for loud music but I prefer the string music concert style I heard a few weeks ago. I do know that none of these songs reminded me of old cartoons.

The band consisted of 11 men and two women. I felt sorry for the women. They wore full length air force blue dresses that almost reached the floor. No sign of an ankle here! The Texas LDS religious pioneer women had better looking dresses than what these poor Air Force women had to wear. These women would fit right in a Muslim Middle Eastern country.

During the "Tico Tico no Fuba" number I think I saw TSgt Kim swaying to the beat. I noticed her skirt sway ever so slightly. That was about it for entertainment to watch during the music. Otherwise it was men with very short haircuts. Bald heads and horns glinted in the spotlight.

I was glad the band played more than marches as they got old.

Let's see.. what to look at while listening to the music?

• very old people in the audience
• two women in very ugly dresses
• men in short military haircuts, or bald
• horns shining in the spotlight
  

Even closing my eyes didn't cause me to fall asleep - the music was too loud.

TSgt Kim must not wear her Air Force dress all the time as I noticed a wedding band on her hand. The brochure's profile on her was interesting: enjoys fantasy novels and bicycling. BA in Math and music. Why didn't I meet any women like her when I was younger?

Diplomatic Courier

Recently I saw a 1952 movie that exceeded my expectations: Diplomatic Courier.

In the Cold War, Mike Kells (Tyrone Power) is a courier, who has the mission to meet his friend Sam Carew in a train in Europe and bring some documents back to Washington. However, Sam is killed on the train. Mike finds a hint in his pocket, indicating he should go to Trieste, Italy to find Janine (Hildegard Knef), Sam's last contact before he died. Meanwhile, Joan Ross (Patricia Neal), an American widow that Mike had met earlier, shows a great interest in Mike. Mike does not know, but he is being used by the American government as a bait to find the Communist spies.

Don't you just love the poster? I never saw the poster till now. The poster looks like it could be a cover to some pulp novel and not a movie. The movie is not as near salacious as the poster would lead you to believe though there is an undercurrent of sexual tension.

I hadn't expected a whole lot from the movie but I had fun watching it. I enjoyed the banter between Patricia Neal and Tyrone Power. He is caught up in a spy and murder mystery and she is a glamorous woman he met earlier and who is putting the moves on him. Ya know... as a guy, I enjoyed watching these scenes.


Here is some dialog to give you an idea of the movie. As this is a 1952 movie, the sexual chemistry is inferred and not explicit, and therefore more fun.

[Mike is at a nightclub in Trieste, Italy searching for Janine when he unexpectedly finds Joan, a woman he met days earlier on an airline flight.]

Joan: When I started this crazy tour the last thing I was looking for was a man. Why I should pick on you, I don’t know. After I know you better, I may not like you.

But I kept thinking about you and started looking for you. I phoned all over and Tony Bennis from the Paris embassy found out for me that you has come here. Michael, it was exactly 11:45 a few days ago when you left me. What time is it now? Check both watches.

Mike: Well, it’s exactly 11:37.

Joan: Do we resume? Heaven bless 11:37. ...I don’t.

Mike: Joan, I’d like nothing better in the world, but right now I’m sort of... I.. I.. I’m.. tied..

Joan: All right, I’m gonna lay my cards on the table. Michael, tell me the truth. Are you with someone?

Mike: [showing a photo of an attractive woman standing next to a bicycle] No. No, I’m chasing her. My dream girl.

Joan: Can’t be helped. Can’t be helped, can it? I apologize to you Michael. I’m truly sorry.

Mike: No, no, no. I’m only kidding about her. I’m only doing this for an acquaintance of a friend of mine. I promised to look her up and see about her.

Joan: Do you have to see about her tonight?

Mike: It doesn’t look as though I can tonight.

Joan: [leaning in with a smile and enthusiasm] Darling! Let’s explore Trieste together!

-----------------

Joan: I’m with those people over there. They’re much duller than you are. But they got far better manners so I have to lie like the dickens. Especially that one guy! He’s the captain. He thinks he is a mate of mine. You know the kind. So I have to be nice to him. Darling, can you wait two minutes?

Mike: Yup.

Joan: Well... I hardly can! ....I’m going to, darling.

[Joan leans in and passionately kisses Mike. As her dress is low cut her cleavage shows.]

[Scene changes to a waiter looking through some curtains at Joan and Mike. He has an astonished expression, and as he brushes his hair back with his hand his toupee falls back.]

-----------

Mike: [To Janine concerning a man she knows] Well, he left in a hurry. It turned out he had an appointment to get killed. That’s right, his timing was a little off. You’ll be sorry to hear the car got him and not me.

----------

Janine: You’re making a great mistake Mr. Kells. Sam was my friend.

----------

Mike: [To Janine about Sam’s watch] Where did they get this? Did they take it off Sam’s body? Was it part of your pay?

----------

Janine: [To Mike and talking about Sam] He loved you as only some brothers love.

----------

Col. Mark Cagle: [About Janine] She’s an appealing dish no doubt. Most bad women are. One way or another, that’s why they can be so successfully bad.

----------

Col. Mark Cagle: [About bugging Janine’s apartment] I want to hear every word she says. I want to hear it when she reads.

----------

Mike: [About Joan] No. If I’m in this, it’s my own business. But she’s a woman. It’s lucky for her she’s sore at me. I stood her up last night.

Col. Mark Cagle: A thing like that just wets her appetite. She’ll meet you at one o’clock at the Nationale.

Mike: Don’t you stop at nothing?!

Col. Mark Cagle: She’s an American isn’t she? Let her do something for her country.

-----------

Joan: You started by arousing the mother instinct in me, and now you got the whole works worked up. And you got something stirred up!

----------

Sgt. Ernie Guelvada: [to Mike about Mike seeing Joan again, which Ernie finds appealing] That puts it right in the line of duty. Unnh! Some duty!

-----------

Sgt. Ernie Guelvada: [To Mike] Take it careful brother. You bruise easy.

------------

Mike: [To Janine] Oh no! No! No! I’ve been to your apartment. I don’t like what happens there. Like getting slugged.

------------

Sgt. Ernie Guelvada: You’re out of your mind going up there! You got a gun?

Mike: Ya.

Sgt. Ernie Guelvada: A flashlight?

Mike: No.

------------

Mike: [To Joan] Go home. Take off your spurs and go to bed.

------------

Joan: No questions please. I’m standing on the 5th amendment.

------------

Sgt. Ernie Guelvada: [upon seeing Joan] The widow lady! Live and learn.

Joan: If it isn’t the cavalry.

------------

Joan: [To Mike] Well, the next time you’re near Richmond, Indiana there’s a little drug store there. It’s practically the whole town. Well, drop in and tell them that the last time you saw me... the little girl is doing great. Just great.

--------------

Rasumny Platov: [(The head Communist spy) To Mike] So... as long you understand that if you do make it necessary, I will violate protocol with personal satisfaction.

-------------

[after escaping from a train and tumbling down a steep hillside, Mike and Janine come to rest next to each other]

Mike: You know something? This is the first time I really looked at you. Really looked at you, just as a girl.

Janine: [movie's last line] And so it is.

Okay, the last line doesn't exactly makes sense. But it doesn't matter, they are together.

If interested, the movie will be shown again on the Fox Movie Channel (FXM) cable channel this Thursday, May 1.

Wheelchair ramp

I just realized I had not posted any photos of mom's new wheelchair ramp. Here are before and after photos. I think it looks good.

Snow

It snowed overnight. Big wet snowflakes. Near the end of April. *sigh* Well, North Dakota desperately needs the moisture. The good news is there won't be any grass fires for a while.

Power chair

Mom got her new power chair this morning. Hurray!! It is the Jazzy 600XL and looks just like this. Mom really likes it as it is much more comfortable that her previous wheelchair. My brother and I like the power chair because we no longer have to struggle to push mom around in a wheelchair with a bad wheel. One wheel did not like to turn.

The new power chair is battery powered and is recharged by plugging it in to the wall outlet.

It has five speeds and can go up to 5 mph. I know that second speed is all the fast one would want to move inside the house. We learned from a person whose mother had a power chair that they are fast and powerful and her mother ended up with holes in the walls of her house.

The wheels are bigger and better so it is easier to go outside. The wheels are underneath the seat. So while the seat is the same 24" size as the old wheelchair, the overall chair width is less than the old wheelchair.

I had counted on the chair fitting through the doorway to the kitchen via the living room but the chair is still a few inches too wide. I plan to move stuff from along the wall in the area between the kitchen and dining room and see if the chair can get through there. Tomorrow's project.

I am glad Medicare and Medicare Supplemental insurance picks up the cost as the chair costs over five thousand dollars.

Trivia night: pretend

Another night of trivia. Nothing too exciting to write about. Our team finished in the middle of the pack both times with scores of 13 and 15 correct. The winning team each time got 18 and 19 correct respectively.

Since the same team (the lawyers) won each contest, the second contest had a tie breaker question between the two teams tied for second place. The team that won the tie breaker question was a first time winning team and most everyone applauded - unlike earlier when the lawyers won yet again.

Between the lawyers team and the Moonpies team made up of college professors, the rest of us don't have much of a chance. My team is: construction worker, postman, retired engineer, cop / teacher, rancher, and Indian princess.

Neither Rod nor Al attended this night. I joined Darrel, Mona, Jeff, and Marvin on the 3 Dog Night team. I am starting to remember more people's names, now I just need to remember Jeff's wife's name.

One member of the Moonpies team always gives crazy and funny answers to the quarters questions. Tonight he surprised everyone by giving the correct answer to the question:

"In 1934, who invented the board game, Monopoly?"

Charles B. Darrow - though this is in dispute. See here.

I wonder if the winner surprised himself as he didn't select any prize. After looking them over he came back pretending to carry something carefully in both hands. Everyone laughed.

Mona won the final quarters question of the night and won the amount in the bucket, eleven dollars and change.

Karaoke has been moved to Wednesday nights so no more karaoke to hear after the trivia contests are over. Still we all sat and chatted for a while afterwards as the group is fairly funny, interesting, and have good stories to tell.

Questions:

1. What is the world's largest island?
2. Who married Thelma Catherine Ryan?
3. Which artist's last 78 record included "I Got Stung"?
4. Which Wright Brother was the first to fly?
5. What was the mongoose's name in Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book?
6. What was Clark Gable's and Marilyn Monroe's last movie?
7. Which famous actress starred in the movie, "Black Shield of Falworth" with her husband, Tony Curtis?
8. Which late comedian had the license plate: KILLER?
9. Which singer and TV host had the license plate: DRUNKEE
10. Give the nickname of a presidential wife originally called Claudia Alta Taylor?

Answers:

1. Greenland
2. Richard Nixon
3. Elvis Presley. "I Got Stung" was the flip side of "One Night" (more info on the record here)
4. Orville
5. Rikki Tikki Tavi
6. The Misfits
7. Janet Leigh
8. Flip Wilson
9. Dean Martin
10. Lady Bird Johnson
    

Bathroom repairs

I have 'fixed' mom's bathroom. There were a number of small repairs needed.

• Bathtub drain

The lever no longer worked and I had to pull it out and replace it with a new one.


• Toilet handle

The handle was old and tight and I had to loosen it so it moved freely.


• Clogged sink pipe

Beyond the trap the pipe is level before it goes into the wall. Over the decades gunk built up and clogged the pipe until the water would only drain slowly.

I took all the pipes apart to the wall. I had to replace one pipe and the trap as the old metal developed a hairline leak after I cleaned it. In the photo below the new parts are the plastic ones.

The level part of the pipe was filled with gunk. I was surprised how full the pipe was, and how the water could even drain through the pipe. I've worked with sewers and septic tanks in the past and this the gunk smelled that sewer smell and had the same potent staining capability.

In the green bowl, here is view of some of the gunk.





• Broken sink faucet handle

One sink handle was broken. An inner plastic piece had broken. The piece is part number 11.




I read the originally brochure and saw that the warranty had expired as it was a limited 2 year warranty and the faucet was eight to ten years old.

When I was at Menards and looking at new faucets, a couple from Saskatchewan told me that they had very good experiences with Moen, the faucet manufacturer. They encouraged me to call Moen. I did and was helped by a cheerful representative who quickly knew which faucet I was talking about, the general dates it was manufactured (mom got the faucet 10 or so years ago), and the piece I was trying to describe.

Moen sent me a new free replacement piece along with instructions on how to fix the faucet. I was happy, and impressed. I installed the replacement piece and now mom's faucet works. I'd buy a Moen faucet again.

Evening of chamber music

"Classical music is more than just background music for Bugs Bunny Cartoons. But, sometimes, it is hard to separate the two."
--- Me

Thursday night I attended a chamber music concert at the local university.

I walked from mom's house, and on a nice evening, I arrived in plenty of time. I didn't know where the Ann Nicole Nelson Hall was located so I had to wander around the campus looking at the buildings. I found the hall to be in the "Old Main" building. I am not sure how old the building is, but it is one of the first buildings so it must be nearing 100 years now.

Years ago when I attended this college Old Main was an old and out of date building. My, how times have changed. Inside the building is up-to-date and quite nice.

I have faint memories of being in the Ann Nicole Nelson Hall though I am not sure the room was named that when I attended the college. The room is large and quite nice. The acoustics were very good. During the pauses within the sections of each piece, and between the three pieces, the silence was deafening. I think the people in the audience even held their breath so as not to be heard.

Interestingly people only applauded between the three pieces and not in the minute or so interlude between the movements within the piece. This was different than what I was accustomed to as people tend to applaud as soon as they think the performers will stop playing.

The audience was quite small. I estimated the number of people to be around 30. A variety of people from old couples, families, and college students. A half dozen college age girls and a guy sat half a dozen seats over in the row behind me. Chatter, chatter, chatter. Even the guy chattered mindlessly right along with the girls. All youthful, useless, energy that young people exude when out of their normal environment and no direction known. During the intermission the girls and guy could not 'not talk' and could be heard whispering as quiet as they could.

The sonata by Beethoven was performed first. Three women came out on the stage. A violinist, a pianist, and a page turner. That's right - all one woman did was occasionally stand up then turn the page of music for the pianist.

All the women performers were dressed in blouses and slacks - so much for dressing up. The violinist - middle aged - and the pianist were dressed nicely, but their attire combined with their hair style had an asexual appearance. The violinist's hair was relatively short, the style that many older women wear. Practical. Not feminine.

The pianist's hair appeared to be long and swept up in the back. Not in a bun, but in a manner that I initially thought her hair was short also. Her hair style reminded me of the recent images of the LDS women caught up in the recent ranch raid in Texas. In their clothes and hair style they had a pioneer look about them.

asexual

1. Having no distinct sex
2. Without sexual action; as, asexual reproduction. See Fission and Gemmation.
3. Lacking interest in or desire for sex.

I don't think it neither a compliment nor a criticism to think of someone as a person and not as a man or a woman. My mind drifted as I listened to the music and looked at the performers and I pondered the difference being between a man, a woman, and a person. I think it is better to be considered a man or a woman, and not merely a person. Being labeled a person sounds politically correct and sexless. I know I would prefer to be considered a man and not a person. Being considered a man or a woman brings with it all the associations in being a man or a woman, and each sex has characteristics that are positive and interesting. Being a person is bland. And interchangeable. "Viva La Difference!"

The page turner was a woman, and not just a person. Unfortunately she sat behind the pianist, and other than the short periods when she stood, all I saw of her was when she prepared the stage between the performance pieces. She was dressed in a black pants suit with a cut that at least showed she had a narrower waist than hips. She wore two inch dress heels (versus the one inch plain shoes the other women wore) and she had more of a feminine appearance and walk. Her hair was longer also.

The women were all serious as they performed. With an ordinary view I closed my eyes to listen to the music. This was a mistake as under the surface I was tired. I didn't make it to the end of Beethoven's sonata before I fell asleep. The applause at the end woke me up.

The women walked off the stage, immediately returned to applause and to take a bow, then left.

The second piece was performed by the same pianist and page turner. They were joined by a woman on cello. She also wore a blouse and slacks, though out of sync with the somber colors the other women wore.

The second piece was a modern piece. It was a "world premiere" public performance. The piece had sharp discordant notes with pauses for effect. Modern. It reminded of classical music movie performances from the 1950s and 1960s (i.e. "The World of Henry Orient" - which I just watched a few days ago) where the music sounded more like noise than music.

The piece being played wasn't that bad - or modern - but the cellist's introduction mentioned that when she spoke with the composer he said the sonata had no overall theme or story. My mind drifted to thoughts that the best contemporary "classical" music is found in movie soundtracks. This sonata seemed to have irony, was "self aware", and seemed to be trying to be clever at times. Elements that are now part of our contemporary life, but not something I want when listening to classical music.

I didn't fall asleep during this sonata. It wasn't as relaxing.

After an intermission all performers returned to play a sonata composed by Brahms in 1883. This sonata had a different style than the Beethoven sonata. It was good but before I could describe and consider my thoughts on it I fell asleep again. Again! This time I believe I missed over half of the sonata before being awoke when the applause began.

The audience may have been small but they were enthusiastic. When the performers returned to take their second bow everyone rose to their feet. It was good.. but that good? I was tired from being asleep but I groggily rose to my feet also. I didn't want to join the only other person not to stand - a small girl who had fallen asleep also.

Baby, joy and concern

Here are a few photos from the cat photo web site that I found amusing.

.. ..

Orange little hunting bug

Last Fall Kelly brought his little 4 year old daughter along with him one time when he was out on my ranch watching for deer during hunting season. I had written about her last Fall (click here) in her orange little hunting outfit.

Kelly's mom just sent me a photo of Peyton. You have to agree that she was a cute little thing in her outfit. Kelly told me later than when he did shoot a deer and brought it home Payton was the most excited in the family.

Trivia night: thirds

Not much to write about on last Monday's trivia night. Rod was still remodeling one of his bathrooms and did not attend. Alan was there and we joined Darrel and Mona's team.

We had 17 and 16 answers correct for each of the contests. This was good enough for third place both times. We only did this good because one of team members is good with 1950s trivia. The Moonpies team won each contest with 19 correct. I forgot which team took the prize in the second contest as the Moonpies were ineligible to win twice.

We also submitted an answer sheet of joke answers, a number of which were mentioned when Ed went over the correct answers.

For one of the quarters questions I knew the answer.

In what year did Bobby Fisher become the World Chess Champion?

A member of the lawyer/judge team guessed 1974. This was wrong. I knew the answer to be 1972 and told Mona. I didn't play as I had no money, and I wasn't interested in any of the prizes. Mona won with my answer and she selected a pair of glasses with bubble bottoms. That makes six she has now.

Questions:

1. What is the traditional dish served at Wimbledon?
2. Who on TV rode a horse called Scout?
3. In which city and state is Wake Forest University located?
4. Which TV show had as characters: Pete Cockran, Linc Hayes, and Julie Barnes?
5. Who was the woman in the Folger's Coffee commercials?
6. What was the name of the pig on "Green Acres"?
7. There were three hit singles of the song "Young Love" in 1957. Name one of the artists with a hit single.
8. Which animal group had the hit song "I'm a Believer"?
9. Who wrote the song?
10. In the sports world, who was the Black Pearl?
11. Who coined the term "Rock and Rock"?
12. Whose mother ran the Admiral Benbow inn?
13. Which famous revolutionary hero made a set of false teeth for George Washington?
14. Who caused Saturday Night Live TV show to run on a 7 second delay?
15. Who was born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm?
16. In the Archie comic strip, who was Midge's boyfriend?
17. Which Midwestern city is also known as the "Queen City"?
18. Who was a citizen of the kingdom of Moo ruled over by King Guzzle?
    

Answers:

1. Strawberries and cream
2. Little Joe on Bonanza
   
3. Winston-Salem, North Carolina
4. Mod Squad
5. Mrs. Olsen
6. Arnold Ziffel
7. Tab Hunter, Sonny James, The Crew-cuts
8. The Monkees
9. Neil Diamond
10. Pele
11. Alan Freed
12. Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island
13. He had several sets of false teeth made, four of them by a dentist named John Greenwood. Paul Revere is the famous person who made a set for George.
14. The show was forced by the network to run on a seven-second delay when Andrew Dice Clay and Richard Pryor hosted.
15. Snoopy
16. Moose
17. Cincinnati
18. Alley Oop
    

New pain meds

What an early start to the day! We were in day two of the evaluation to see if mom would be a candidate for Tri-Life Pain Clinic's program for pain management. Part of Tuesday was spent meeting the physical therapist. Arlo turned out to be someone mom knew from mom's days as head nurse at the hospital many years ago. We also met with Bonnie the program director.

This morning we were to meet with the clinic's doctor and a psychiatrist. The doctor meeting was at 8 am. 8 am - when we usually start getting up in the morning.

I woke up numerous times during the night as I didn't trust the alarm clock. I had never used it before. Several of my dreams involved chasing and rounding up cattle. One place where I chased cattle in my dreams was where I grew up in North Dakota. This place was not a farm or ranch which explained why I had problems keeping the cattle on the land. Chasing cattle in my dreams also explained why I was tired when waking up.

At 4 am my brother and I each got up to ensure mom had her pain meds an hour before getting up. My alarm clock went off at 5 am. What an ugly sound!

It seemed to be touch-and-go a few times but we were ready for the bus several minutes before it arrived at 7:40 am. We waited in the cool early morning air out on mom's wheelchair ramp deck. Heather, a CNA from ManorCare, arrived across the street to help Donna get Bob up for the day. Heather saw mom and came over briefly to greet mom. This is the first we had seen Heather since mom was at ManorCare. Heather is very nice and is a good and competent CNA.

The visit with Dr. Olsen went well. He is an ER physician but has an interest in pain medicines and pain management and also works for Tri-life one or more days a week. He seems to be very knowledgeable in addition to being very nice. The net of our meeting is a goal to eventually switch, in phases, all of mom's pain meds to new ones.

Lyrica doesn't help hardly anyone and has bad side effects. Celebrex is not a good pain med either. Both of these pain meds are not good for people with heart problems as one of their side effects is fluid retention. Having had congestive heart failure, fluid retention is a big problem for mom. The Oxycodones lose their effectiveness over time as they are narcotics. Effexor is an anti-depressant and not good either. Effexor is expensive also as a month's supply costs mom $25 and the insurance plan pays $104.10. So much for the month's supply mom has left.

Cymbalta is a new pain med mom will start. It is part anti-depressant and part pain relief. It seems that chronic pain is because nerves gates get stuck in the "on" position. Apparently cymbalta helps close some of the nerve gates reducing the pain. It also is not a narcotic, another plus.

The meeting with the psychiatrist was canceled. It was decided from Tuesday's evaluations that mom is not a candidate for Tri-life's program right now. The three week program is very intensive and goes from 8 am to 5 pm each day. Mom is not up for this intensive program right now.

The Homesteader restaurant is right next door to the Tri-life clinic, and since we had such an early start to the day and no breakast, we went over there for breakfast before calling the Commission on Aging bus to return home. Mid morning on a week day there were not many people in the restaurant, but the food was good.

By the way, another "med hassle history" item I forgot to mention in my previous post, was that I found out Monday that Celebrex is to be taken with food. In ManorCare, and in the instructions they sent home for mom's medicines, they had Celebrex taken at bedtime. Bedtime at ManorCare, and at home, does not involve food. All this time...

Med hassle history

Med hassle history:

• Left Manor Care in March. Them not writing their DEA number on the pain med prescriptions they wrote delayed pain meds one day. One other med prescription was missing. Prescriptions written as: no refills.


• Visited mom's regular doctor, Dr. Pugatch, a week later in March. No change in any meds. I had the doctor write new prescriptions with several refill capabilities to last until next appointment in June. His nurse had three weeks before meds were needed so plenty of time to get the prescriptions right.


• Prescription refills needed by Monday night.


• Didn't get to pharmacy until 5 pm last Friday. (I know, but time just races by with all to do.)


• Percacet and Oxycodone: prescriptions must be written. No over-the-phone or faxes allowed because these are narcotics. Also no idea on my part about this requirement. And apparently no idea by the doctor/nurse?
  


• Can't switch several prescriptions to suggested equivalent meds which have generics and are cheaper without the doctor writing new prescriptions.


• Monday


• Called doctor 9 am for pain prescriptions and request to switch several other meds.


• Called at 4:50 pm as I had not heard back from doctor. Was told the request was still on his desk to be signed. Decided to come and wait in doctor's waiting room after 5 pm to ensure I got pain prescriptions as soon as the doctor wrote them as the doctor would leave at 5:30 pm and the clinic closed then.


• Was told by nurse the doctor wouldn't change the other meds without mom making an appointment to come in to discuss it. (money making scheme?)


• Delivered the pain med prescriptions to pharmist and got pain meds. Got most other meds.


• Discovered no prescription written by doctor for Crestor.


• Discovered Furosemide (Lasix) prescription written wrong. Wrong dosage, wrong amount each day, wrong number of pills. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
  


• Another med written for twice the dosage of pill with instructions to cut each pill in half. Huh? Where did this come from? The pills are triangle shaped with no marks to enable a person to break them in half.
  
  We have no cutting tool for cutting pills, and even if I had one, cutting a triangle pill in half is difficult. Why was the pill shaped like a triangle - to prevent patients from cutting the pill in half and saving money?


• Found our these latest doctor/nurse errors after doctor's office closed for the day (remember I had picked up the pain meds around 5:15 pm, then had to drive across town to hand deliver the pain prescriptions to the pharmacist).


• Found that Medicare drug plans requires patient to pay the first $ no matter total cost of med. I.e. if a one month supply costs $100 and it is a preferred med, patient pays the first $25. If patient only gets a half month supply and the total cost is $50, the patient still pays the first $25.
  


• Tuesday


• Called doctor's office and spoke to nurse about her/doctor's screw ups. She wanted me to make an appointment and have my mother come into the doctor office and bring all mom's meds to discuss what she should be taking. I thought we had done this in March? My answer: NO.


• Went over each one of mom's meds on the phone to ensure the correct prescription.


• Nurse will correct the dosage so I won't have to cut triangle shaped pills in half next time.


• Nurse will check into why the Furosemide prescription is all wrong. In the meantime I will have to cut some of the pills in half to get the correct morning dosage. Oh joy. At least the pills are round with a line in the middle.
  


• Nurse will have doctor write a Crestor prescription.


• Nurse probably knows I am not happy with this situation. I tried to be good as mom just got Dr. Pugatch last year and really likes him. She was afraid I would upset the doctor and get her dropped.
  


• Visited the pain clinic with mom this afternoon for an initial evaluation. Got feedback discouraging use of a number of mom's pain meds and recommendations on other pain meds to use. Great - just refilled some of them. Lyrica = bad. Others not so good. Cymbalta recommended. Will see doctor at pain clinic tomorrow.
  
  Which reminds me... the appointment is very early tomorrow morning and I must go to bed now.
  

More med hassles

This will be short else I will write something I may regret. Yes, it is about mom's medications, doctors and pharmacists. *argh!* If this keeps up I will either jump off a cliff else push someone else off a cliff. (I suppose it is a good thing I am in North Dakota right now where there are no cliffs).

My brother was smart when he went to pick up the medicines from the pharmacy. He had the pharmacist call me with the news that a prescription was missing from the doctor. The pharmacist, and not my brother, got an earful from me.

My efforts started at 9 am today and went past 5 pm when I sat alone in the clinic's lobby so the doctor wouldn't slip by and forget to write the required prescriptions. Then, later, I found some other of mom's prescriptions are still not completely correct: missing, wrong amounts, wrong dosages. And I found out one med mom has been taking at bedtime ever since she was in Manor Care is to be taken with food. At bedtime?

I will be calling the doctor's office again tomorrow morning.

More pain med hassle

Time to refill my mom's meds. Weeks ago during mom's doctor visit I had him write prescriptions for all of mom's meds and his nurse said she would call them in to mom's pharmacist. I figure this would leave plenty of time before mom's meds needed to be refilled.

Well... time passed quickly and it wasn't until this past Friday that I went to pick up from the pharmacy a number of the meds before they ran out on Monday. Time passed Friday and I didn't get to the pharmacy until 5 pm. I know... let's see... Friday after 5 pm. Not the best time in case something goes wrong!

Yup, you guessed it, no prescription was available for mom's two pain meds. The pharmacist said since they are a narcotic the doctor cannot call the prescription in to the pharmacist. A prescription has to be hand written and then handed to the pharmacist. Great. Just great. Why hasn't someone mentioned this to me before?

I don't know who dropped the ball. Did the nurse call or fax all the prescriptions to the pharmacist and he neglected to tell either the nurse or call my mom to explain the pain med prescriptions had to be hand delivered? Or did he tell the nurse who then neglected to tell us to come pick up the written pain med prescriptions?

At any rate I couldn't get mom's pain meds filled. I had the pharmacist call the doctor's clinic office but he got no answer. I drove across town to the clinic and found no one there except for the cleaning crew and people in the clinic's pharmacy. *argh!*

Mom's percacet pain med will last through Monday but her oxycodone med lasted only through Saturday.

I don't think these pain meds are all that great anyway, but the pharmacist claims people on the street will pay lots of money for these meds in order to get high. I think they are idiots. Unfortunately the government then places all these restrictions on the meds and innocent people in pain have to suffer.

On Monday I also need to talk with the doctor in an effort to get generic versions of some of the meds. The Medicare Drug prescription plan mom has categorized meds into three tiers:

1. generic
2. preferred
3. non-preferred

I am not sure the difference between preferred and non-preferred except non-preferred meds must be newer and therefore more expensive. The higher the tier the less the drug plan pays and the more you pay. Generics you pay $4. Preferred: $25 and Non-Preferred: $54.

Naturally one wants to pay less money and use generics. But generics are not available for all meds. So for the meds without a generic equivalent, why should the drug plan make a person pay more than the generic price? It's not like mom has a choice of what to take. I can understand later placing the med in a higher tier when a cheaper generic becomes available as this would be an incentive for everyone to use the cheaper med. Then the patient can choose to pay for for the med they want.

I found there are different meds for the same symptom and one version has a generic equivalent and another doesn't. Some of mom's meds fall into this category. While the meds seem to be the same, only a doctor can change them. The pharmacist can say Crestor and Zocor are used for the same thing and while Zocor has a generic, mom needs the doctor to change the prescription from Crestor to Zocor.

More work for me on Monday.