We have been steadily working in the yard regardless of the 96 F temperature yesterday and mid-80s today. We are to the point that after Wednesday, when the holly and boxwood get planted, we will be in a maintaining mode from here on in.
The video I posted here yesterday has received 52 views as of 1440 5/14 and a thumbs up. Seems that other people are interested in what we are up to.
The AI engine that I have used and mentioned in this blog has released a bot named App-Creator. It supports plain English input with resulting HTML code implementing the input. You tell it what you want done, and it does it. That simple. Gets a little more complicated from here. You have to take the resultant HTML code and make it useful. You might upload the code to a hosted web page, and cite the URL for this page to make it useful. I’m working on an App to calculate IRS quarterly advance tax payments and will have it up in a couple of days as an example for my readers.
Saturday, I shot the video below of most of the action that’s been going on in our yard—plant-wise. It has received a reasonable amount of hits already on YouTube, suggesting this is a popular subject. It is meant largely to bring my friends, relatives, and colleagues up to date on my latest efforts in the yard/flower beds.
Sunday’s WSJ’s Exchange Section had an article by Jason Zweig titled ” What to Do Now That Tariff’s have Decimated Your 401 (k).” He wrote in part, “Intense uncertainty automatically triggers fear and stress in the human brain, infusing our bodies with the ancient fight-or-flight response that is essential to survival. Fear fixates our attention on the negative, makes us acutely sensitive to social signals, impedes our working memory and impairs our ability to think flexibly.
An event unprecedented in most investors’ lifetimes, like Trump’s barrage of tariffs, intensifies our fear and stress.”
If nothing else, the Military and certainly combat require clear thinking without great latitude for mistakes. We are taught and must quickly learn to make life-dependent decisions quickly, with a paucity of definitive information. Such thinking prepares those with a military background to face life’s many decision points with a much different mindset and emotional preparedness.
This applies to me personally in view of what is presently taking place in the stock market and in my approach to dialysis.
Regarding the market, yes, we’re down, but I have faith in the market and its history and instead of crying in my root beer (I don’t imbibe), I’m buying in the down market. Regarding dialysis, I recognize there are and will be ups and downs, people and equipment will malfunction, but in the end, regardless of all the great support we have, when crunch time comes, and it will, it is up to us, the patients, to step up.
I was sitting on our back patio, being thankful for my day, even though I had dialysis labs (no problems). I thought back to some of the situations I’ve encountered in life and decided that being on dialysis isn’t all that bad.
Let me explain a little bit. When I was sent to Vietnam by the US Navy as a third tour there, initially, I was to be an electronics advisor mainly out of Nah Bay, which is Nha Trang Bay. As things work in the Navy, this lasted for about three weeks, and a more pressing need developed – that of updating the Mk 19 Mod 0 Grenade Machine Guns to the new Mk 19 Mod 1 configuration. This update was found to be beyond the capability of Vietnamese boat crews, so a Mobile Ordnance Team was formed, and I was in charge. The team consisted of myself, a lieutenant at the time, a Master Chief Gunner’s Mate, a Chief Gunner, and two civilian tech reps from Navy Ordance Station Louisville, KY. Get this: we were in charge of all the ordance on some 1250 Brown Water Navy craft that had been turned over to the Vietnamese Navy. To further complicate matters, no one on the US side had firm data on where said craft were located.
This tracking required me and my team to travel extensively in III-and IV-Corps by whatever means we could beg, borrow, or steal to accomplish our mission. Keep in mind that conflicts were going on in which we were involved as THE ordinance Team.
And that, my friends, leads me to the conclusion that dialysis is not all that bad; at least no one is shooting at you, have clean sheets and a bed at night, and most of the time have digestible food to eat. What’s not to like?
Saturday evening, during my usual setup of my Fresenius-provided Cycler, it froze up for the third time in less than two weeks. Knowing how the game is played with Fresenius support, I once again phoned “Support.” Although on the second call, we went through calibrating the screen with a promise that should it happen again, the Cycler would be replaced, The third support person told me that “they” had to run a screen calibration again and should that fail, the Cycler would be replaced. This is obviously not in sync with what I had been previously informed, but is not out of the ordinary for Fresenius. It appears that they can and do make up rules on the fly.
After the second screen calibration, the system, as it has in the past, came up and got me through the night. Now, I can expect a call from Fresenius Corporate inquiring if I was able to complete my dialysis treatment.
I thought readers should know about this and be forwarned should it happen to you.
Apply the following to facing dialysis challenges:
When you’re up against a trouble, Meet it squarely, face to face; Lift your chin and set your shoulders, Plant your feet and take a brace. When it’s vain to try to dodge it, Do the best that you can do; You may fail, but you may conquer, See it through!
Black may be the clouds about you And your future may seem grim, But don’t let your nerve desert you; Keep yourself in fighting trim. If the worst is bound to happen, Spite of all that you can do, Running from it will not save you, See it through!
Spent about an hour on my replacement computer and pretty much made it mine. The computer is a decent mini-PC with 16 gigs of memory, Windows 11 Pro, and a half a gig drive. It was NOT loaded with bloatware, and setup was straightforward. I loaded PCMATIC up on it and ran a scan, which came out OK. I subscribe to Office 365 so that was also not a challenge. I loaded up CCleaner, aka CrapCleaner, and had to update 5 drivers. So far, so good, and now I have audio!
On the second front, I also worked on transferring settings, et,c from my wife’s former iPhone SE second generation to her new Google Pixel 8a, which also went along easily. I had to bother her for her fingerprint and facial regonition, but other than that, her new phone is up and running.
Tomorrow, Thursday, I have scheduled another go with the dermatologist at 1000. I’ m there with a modest truck load of “stuff” for out son up in Palo Pinto. Friday, we should be back to something normal for us.
BTW, the thornless roses are in full bloom and look nice!
Our back patio has a thornless rose in bloom (please see the embedded video below). Got me to thinking about the phrase “a rose by any other name.”
The phrase “a rose by any other name” originates from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. In this context, Juliet argues that a name is irrelevant to the essence of a person or thing. The implication is that the qualities or characteristics of something remain unchanged, regardless of the label it carries.
This applies directly to those of us on dialysis. It is very very easy to fall prey to letting dialysis define you. Yes, we are on dialysis, but we are lots more than that. We have families and responsibilities, and some of us, enjoy a full life outside of dialysis. For me, it is at best and worse an inconvenience that we must learn to live with. It does not bind or define us. It provides and supports our life and lifestyle(s).
And below is a short video about our thornless rose plus plus:
Back in the day, when I was in high school, I attended frequent weekly dances where we either slow danced or did some form of what was then (1954-1956) the boogie woogie. All of us had our moves, some better than others. I was at the lower end of the dance spectrum due to lack of practice. For don’t you see, my mother was an avid Seventh Day Adventist and their faith, frowned on such activities especially those held between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. Since the biggest open dance was held on Friday night at the YMCA, I was by default deprived of this form of enjoyment. So this leads me to today’s story, a dance called “Walk of Life” that is really neat by Sven Otten.
Sven Otten, born in 1988, is a German dancer and web video producer who gained international recognition through his YouTube channel1. He became famous for his unique dance style, which he calls “Neoswing,” a combination of swing elements and modern dance moves12.
Otten’s journey to fame began in December 2012 when he published his first YouTube video1. His second video, featuring him dancing to Parov Stelar’s “All Night,” became his breakthrough hit, amassing around 50 million views14. What makes Otten’s story remarkable is that he learned to dance by watching YouTube tutorials in his room.34
Otten made his first TV appearance on “Got to Dance” in 2015 and has since been featured in several TV commercials1. He has become particularly popular in Italy, where he is known as “il ballerino de la TIM” for his role as a brand ambassador3.
Otten’s YouTube channel, where he is known as JustSomeMotion (JSM), has continued to grow. He created a Dance-Academy on his channel to teach his style to others35.
Beyond his success in Germany and Italy, Otten has also gained popularity in Brazil as an ambassador for Telecom Brasil and has been making waves in the United States3.
Sven Otten’s unique blend of dance styles, combining elements of UK House Shuffle, Electro Dance (Tektonik), and Charleston, has inspired many imitators worldwide23. His success story serves as an inspiring example of how passion, combined with the power of social media, can lead to a successful career in dance and entertainment.
