This has been a gratuitous non-holiday mention, just like celebrating July Fourth in England – or Mexico.

Can you say “Any reason to get drunk and party?”

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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The following words are keyed to attract the attention of the DHS and the NSA – including the new “Spy Center” in Bluffdale, UT: Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command 2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

Tweet

The following words are keyed to attract the attention of the DHS and the NSA – including the new “Spy Center” in Bluffdale, UT: Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command 2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

“In Flander’s Fields” was composed by Lt Col (Dr) John McCrae on this date in 1915 as he stood over the grave of a fellow officer at Ypres.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Every year, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary sells paper poppies. Dad would always buy one or two, hanging them from his rear-view mirror in whatever vehicle he was driving. I have tried to keep that tradition going, although this year I have yet to see a paper poppy being offered anywhere, and last year’s poppy is getting sun-bleached in the windshield of the Road Rhino.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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The following words are keyed to attract the attention of the DHS and the NSA – including the new “Spy Center” in Bluffdale, UT: Terrorism Al Qaeda (all spellings) Terror Attack Iraq Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Agro Environmental terrorist Eco terrorism Conventional weapon Target Weapons grade Dirty bomb Enriched Nuclear Chemical weapon Biological weapon Ammonium nitrate Improvised explosive device IED (Improvised Explosive Device) Abu Sayyaf Hamas FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces Colombia) IRA (Irish Republican Army) ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna) Basque Separatists Hezbollah Tamil Tigers PLF (Palestine Liberation Front) PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) Car bomb Jihad Taliban Weapons cache Suicide bomber Suicide attack Suspicious substance AQAP (AL Qaeda Arabian Peninsula) AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan) Yemen Pirates Extremism Somalia Nigeria Radicals Al-Shabaab Home grown Plot Nationalist Recruitment Fundamentalism Islamist Emergency Hurricane Tornado Twister Tsunami Earthquake Tremor Flood Storm Crest Temblor Extreme weather Forest fire Brush fire Ice Stranded/Stuck Help Hail Wildfire Tsunami Warning Center Magnitude Avalanche Typhoon Shelter-in-place Disaster Snow Blizzard Sleet Mud slide or Mudslide Erosion Power outage Brown out Warning Watch Lightening Aid Relief Closure Interstate Burst Emergency Broadcast System Cyber security Botnet DDOS (dedicated denial of service) Denial of service Malware Virus Trojan Keylogger Cyber Command 2600 Spammer Phishing Rootkit Phreaking Cain and abel Brute forcing Mysql injection Cyber attack Cyber terror Hacker China Conficker Worm Scammers Social media

I think I have mentioned in the past that I would not wish this type of tinnitus on my worst enemy. Well, I’ve found something else I wouldn’t want to thrust upon anyone – the treatment for this type of tinnitus. Today I experienced trans-tymphanic steroidal injections. This procedure injects steroids directly into the middle ear, in an effort to more speedily get the medicine to the inner ear, where it should assist in clearing up the issue.

First, after rechecking that your hearing is, in fact, not there, they lay you on a table. Using what feels like a tiny blob of hot wax, but is in actuality a numbing agent, the eardrum is disconnected from reality. Don’t worry – you won’t notice. You would, however, notice the next part if the hot wax treatment was not used.

A needle, containing the steroid liquid, and approximately the same diameter as the New York Subway Tunnel System, is used to first poke a “valve” hole, then the injection site, in the eardrum. The steroids are injected slowly, allowing time for equalization of pressure. This also allow some of this material to invade your sinus cavity. Yummy. Swallowing constantly is the only defense. Lather, rinse, repeat on other side.

Instructed to lay quietly for twenty minutes, in order for the liquids to quit dribbling, and to prevent the patient from taking a header because vertigo does that to you, I came up with a couple of descriptions: waterboarding the inner ear, getting water IN your ears, things like that. The vertigo and dizziness wave a little bit, and slowly depart.

Still can’t hear anything. Results are usually between immediate and two weeks. These shots are usually down in sets of three. Set number two will be Friday afternoon, about 1600 hours, on the west side of town this time, and after I see the inner ear specialist to discuss surgical options if the medicinal option does not work.

If you are considering getting this procedure, or if this procedure is prescribed for you, have someone drive you. And allow for about two hours.

This has been a public service announcement. If you have feedback, responses, or just wanna share, then leave a comment here. Or text me. Don’t call, I can’t here your end of the conversation. Can’t really hear my end either, but I do have a chance of imagining what I would be sounding like!

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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I was going to theme my posts for a while with silence – but I figured that would be boring after about two minutes. Boring for you, dear reader, since I am constantly amusing myself in my head. Anything to try to forget that I’m not getting any aural stimulation.

MRI yesterday, specialist again on Tuesday and another on Friday; Tuesday they are going to do a direct injection of steroids into the eardrum. Well, through the eardrum. We’ll see what happens with that. My friend Angie had this done to save her hearing, but it was too late in the process.

My beautiful wife has been acting as my liaison with the medical types. She has had the surgery conversation with them, since it was over the phone. So, they are looking at accelerating everything because bilateral complete loss is fairly rare. (I know – what are the odds? couldn’t hit those odds when the lottery was in the hundreds of millions, but when it came to my hearing …) They are talking about an implant in each ear. Not being a big fan of surgery, I am praying that the steroids will make some kind of improvement in either the hearing ability (allow me to hear through the static) or reduce the static itself (possibly allowing sound to get through). I envy your prayers in both of these paths, I especially envy your prayers if surgery becomes the only option.

Get on out and seize the day – love your family, listen to the birds sing, and protect your senses. Wear red today – to show your support for our troops. Thank a member of the military for their service.

Praise God in all you do.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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