TOTALLY RANDOM POST II

[moose eater]

I guess I am just a chickenshit in my old age. I would pass on blow for fear of heart implosion. And my mind wanders enough without psychedelics so I am done with them as well.

But have no fear . . . I just did a Wake & Bake with some of my Mack & Crack harvest . . .

The volumes I did in the 80's literally changed my metabolism. A somewhat common morning, when I was working 3 part-time jobs, carrying 12 credits at UAF, and doing an internship as part of that, waking up to a pot of stove-top espresso, 8 or 9 worm-size lines, a yellow and a couple whites, and driving to school to take notes at a gazillion miles per hour, leaning against the wall in the rear of the classroom, while my hand whipped the pen across the paper, and they gave me A's and put me on the Dean's List, thus cultivating some of my disrespect for some aspects of the 'higher education' system.

Then maybe 24 years ago, I was in South Central Ak, a couple friends and I were visiting, and way back at home, the holding tank (pre-well) was out of water, we had guests with an infant, the water company wasn't getting with the order, I had a crop going, we were doing some legalization activism, and I was stressed.

A friend broke out some decent paste, of about 42%-48% alleged purity, I did a tiny line, very modest, and had anxiety throughout, mild palpitations, etc. But I believe the circumstances bore much of that weight, as well as the noted changes from back in the day.

I suspect a gram of uncut down there on a holiday would last me notably longer than once-upon-a-time.

 

[moose eater]

Apparently, Yellow Dye #5, when painted on the skin of lab mice, made their skin transparent for ease of study...

I wonder what my innards looked like during my hey-day of eating all manner of junk food and drinking dyed sodas as an adolescent and young adult... or, even, middle-aged adult?

Didn't eat too many Twinkies back then, however... A specific source of the stuff, mentioned by name in the article...

From Medscape....

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/not-kidding-yellow-dye-5-may-be-key-invisibility-2024a1000g75?ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_240910_etid6819371&uac=348476AZ&impID=6819371

 

[CharlesU Farley]

 

[Dime]

 

[moose eater]

The neurosurgeon said today they can cut on me in about 3 weeks, once we do a few preparatory blood draws, collection of my history, etc., and I'll probably renew my living will, and so forth.

Not sure yet if it'll be another laminectomy on the 2 or so vertebrae below the three that were done last time, or a laminotomy. Which I think we'd both prefer; less cutting is typically better, less destabilization of bone, etc.

Discussed the increased risk of tearing the dura or doing damage to a nerve if the scar tissue from the past spine surgery is thick and attached too well.

I half-jokingly told them that if there's a fuck-up resulting in something like hypoxia or some seriously debilitating issue involving the nerves, etc., to not bother to wake me up, instead to tell the anesthesiologist at that time to open up all the valves and let me drift away with Dorothy and Toto. Not a bad way to go out at all, in my opinion.

Due to dogs' care, etc., and no one living at home anymore but the 2 of us, this is one I'll likely take on by myself in Los Anchorage, with my wife in regular communication via phone and internet/Zoom/email, etc.

Told my wife and the neurosurgeon that the big buy-in for me in these events, aside from getting my spine and legs back to a point that I can more actively pursue those things in life that make staying on the planet worthwhile without some intense pain, is multi-cultural take-out foods.

I fully intend to have Nepalese and Tibetan foods while I'm recuperating, as well as East Indian and Mediterranean cuisine delivered by a family member in Anchorage (my daughter, likely) or whom ever, initially from 'Yak & Yeti' to my hotel recovery suite, or even to the hospital. Yak & Yeti being a source of good, healthy, cheap Tibetan and Nepali food.

I guess I'll need to clean my vaporizer again and have it ready for the gig, as well as grinding up a smorgasbord of my weed from the freezer.

 

[moose eater]

 

[farmerfischer]

Now that's a hell of a way to start a day!

Btw, your plants are looking great, been following the thread.

Hope everything is going okay in other areas.

Yeah I went from zero to raging mad .. I had to take my morning piss,, (squish) FUCKKKKKIN MOTHER FUCKING COCK SUCKIN DOG ...! Did it on purpose because I wouldn't letter up in bed..

 

[tobedetermined]

Not sure yet if it'll be another laminectomy on the 2 or so vertebrae below the three that were done last time, or a laminotomy. Which I think we'd both prefer; less cutting is typically better, less destabilization of bone, etc.

You are not alone in this moose. My stenosis has returned as well. I am just doing the MRI wait (Nov 20) and then the surgeon will give me his verdict. I went to a pain specialist and he was useless as expected, telling me that a little weight loss and exercise will solve it. I didn't tell him that he was wrong because he meant well. I don't think losing 10 - 15 lbs will help but I am trying it anyway and I have already shred 3 - 4 in a couple of weeks just by killing snacks and overage. My wife thinks I am nuts to diet since I am not really overweight. As for the exercise, well . . . it fucking hurts.

 

[armedoldhippy]

. As for the exercise, well . . . it fucking hurts.

my doctor tried to set up an exercise set for me too...after i told him it hurt like hell to even brush my hair because of shoulder/elbow pain. "i don't think i'm gonna be stressing those joints any more than needed, doc..."

 

[moose eater]

You are not alone in this moose. My stenosis has returned as well. I am just doing the MRI wait (Nov 20) and then the surgeon will give me his verdict. I went to a pain specialist and he was useless as expected, telling me that a little weight loss and exercise will solve it. I didn't tell him that he was wrong because he meant well. I don't think losing 10 - 15 lbs will help but I am trying it anyway and I have already shred 3 - 4 in a couple of weeks just by killing snacks and overage. My wife thinks I am nuts to diet since I am not really overweight. As for the exercise, well . . . it fucking hurts.

Thanks.

Sorry to read of your and Hippie's nerve issues.

GOOD Docs will almost always go for the least intrusive or traumatic path in remedy.

When I first screwed my spine's nerves up to the point I was debilitated notably was in the early mid-1990's in Valdez, when we'd received over 48" of wet snow in 24 hours, and I'd gone home for lunch to dig out the rather huge propane tank from the heavy, wet snow, and turning with an over-sized shovel load of the stuff, I tweaked, and it didn't come back. But I likely had set that up during the previous 20+ years, working farms, baling hay, doing some logging, carrying heavy gear hitchhiking daily for a long while, etc., etc.

It was then that they gave me some exercises that did, to a limited degree, help. Then, over time, I continued to think I was He Man of Skeletor fame and behaved accordingly. Which is kinda' what happened with the triple laminectomy 6+ years ago.

I told my wife and the Doc on the way home yesterday, regarding my need to be able to do what I do; "Fix me up again, so I can fuck myself up all over again. It's a circle. Just get me enough repair to last another 6 years+, like the last one, at which point the Grim Reaper puts me over the finish line. Good enough for me."

The Doc is a well-preserved 67 or 68 yrs. old, and I asked them point blank, as the one I trusted and had before for this sort of work is retired now, "How steady are your hands?", "No excessive caffeine or coke pre-op, right?", "Rates of post-op infections?" (They're one of the 2 real killers in surgeries, by the way), and probably another one or two questions that were more up-front than many might ask, but after the Doc nearly killed me in Seattle, I lost a lot of inhibitions about asking direct questions, and preferably with a witness present for the answers.

I get nervous about spine surgery. Lots of hacks, and there's some orthopedic surgeons who've fucked up friends for YEARS (one for over a decade) with hackery.

If you need spine/nerve-related surgery, NEVER go to an orthopedic Doc, unless you have 1,000 first-hand reviews stating they walk on water, and their skill set makes Jesus ashamed.

In this one, the up-tick to valid concerns was listening to the Doc yesterday talking about peeling back internal scar tissue that's apt to be over the top of nerves and the dura due to the previous surgery removing a part of the back of the vertebrae; the dura being the outer lining around the spinal cord itself, inside the canal or journal inside of the vertebrae.

A leaking dura, or any of it, really, typically means opening you back up and doing some patch work or other internal repairs, meanwhile potentially leaking spinal fluid internally. And I want all of my fluids to be up to level on the dipstick.

The Doc indicated there WILL be the scar tissue from the earlier spine surgery, but that how attached it is, is what might vary, and that there's no real accurate method to assess that before opening it up to work with it. So, I guess this is a situation wherein everyone gets to have a surprise.

Gotta' have a hobby in old age, right?

If this one gives me another 6+ years of hunting, ice fishing, dip-netting salmon, halibut fishing, working in the woods and in the garden, and everyday life demands, like running the snowblower on our rather huge driveway, turn-around, and parking area, roto-tilling the potato field, etc., then, like I wrote above, I'm satisfied, as the Grim Reaper already seems to have other plans for me. Just need that finish line to be graced with functionality for the stuff that makes staying around on planet Earth worthwhile.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

The neurosurgeon said today they can cut on me in about 3 weeks, once we do a few preparatory blood draws, collection of my history, etc., and I'll probably renew my living will, and so forth.

Not sure yet if it'll be another laminectomy on the 2 or so vertebrae below the three that were done last time, or a laminotomy. Which I think we'd both prefer; less cutting is typically better, less destabilization of bone, etc.

Discussed the increased risk of tearing the dura or doing damage to a nerve if the scar tissue from the past spine surgery is thick and attached too well.

I half-jokingly told them that if there's a fuck-up resulting in something like hypoxia or some seriously debilitating issue involving the nerves, etc., to not bother to wake me up, instead to tell the anesthesiologist at that time to open up all the valves and let me drift away with Dorothy and Toto. Not a bad way to go out at all, in my opinion.

Due to dogs' care, etc., and no one living at home anymore but the 2 of us, this is one I'll likely take on by myself in Los Anchorage, with my wife in regular communication via phone and internet/Zoom/email, etc.

Told my wife and the neurosurgeon that the big buy-in for me in these events, aside from getting my spine and legs back to a point that I can more actively pursue those things in life that make staying on the planet worthwhile without some intense pain, is multi-cultural take-out foods.

I fully intend to have Nepalese and Tibetan foods while I'm recuperating, as well as East Indian and Mediterranean cuisine delivered by a family member in Anchorage (my daughter, likely) or whom ever, initially from 'Yak & Yeti' to my hotel recovery suite, or even to the hospital. Yak & Yeti being a source of good, healthy, cheap Tibetan and Nepali food.

I guess I'll need to clean my vaporizer again and have it ready for the gig, as well as grinding up a smorgasbord of my weed from the freezer.

It's obvious you've been prepped well by the medical team, you've obviously prepped yourself, now ya just got to dive in and Roll With It. Enjoy the shit out of that food!!

 

[CharlesU Farley]

 

[moose eater]

It's obvious you've been prepped well by the medical team, you've obviously prepped yourself, now ya just got to dive in and Roll With It. Enjoy the shit out of that food!!

A moment of choosing the rainbows and discarding the rainstorms.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

A moment of choosing the rainbows and discarding the rainstorms.

Saw this this morning, and thought of you :

 

[moose eater]

Saw this this morning, and thought of you :

View attachment 19065905

One of the benefits of having my camper van down there when I'm down for medical appt's in Los Anchorage, is that I can crawl into the back, in the living area, close the curtains, fire up the vape, and no one is wiser.... or offended. Other than perhaps by what my paranoia tells me is my 'stoned look' post vape.

If I drive down instead of flying down, I might or might not be able to take the van as it's 2-wheel-rear-wheel drive, and there are some cooler areas coming home that might or might not have snow by then.
All the other three vehicles are either 4x4 or all-wheel drive, and all but the truck would get much better fuel economy. MY wife would possibly be driving me home, either flying down to get me, which would require me driving down and her flying down to snag me and the vehicle, or...

There's also the possibility that, in order to make sure someone is here with the 2 dogs at all times, I could fly down, and later have my daughter drive me back up when she drives north to see her beau. She's out moose hunting at the moment with her boyfriend, east of here a couple hundred miles, but we briefly discussed options after she dropped of the cottonwood here the other day for the next couple batches of smoked fish.

OR... I can fly down, and fly back, though if it's like last time, I'll be pretty fucked up for a bit.

Don't know if I'm even going to call my younger son, who's living in Los Anchorage at the moment, and working sometimes remote sites out of there as a base. Little room in my life for assholes at the moment, regardless of whose DNA they carry. I wasn't going to phone him this last trip for the scan and bad-news-appt., but when I was about 75 miles or so north of Anchorage, and headed home, I phoned him, told him I'd been conflicted about phoning him, and told him that his excuse-making is transparent as al hell, and when everyone around you knows you're full of shit, what's the purpose in continuing to put out bullshit?

He, like too many people these days, including many supposed adults, has a limp-dick excuse for almost anything where he's derelict, and they rarely really hold any water, but that doesn't stop him from further detracting from what little integrity he might have remaining, and uttering them, as though no one will say, "That's a bunch of bullshit." Though he OUGHT to know by now that I WILL... Unless he's just that disconnected from the life signals all around him, and completely obtuse.

We'll see. Maybe he'll have an epiphany of conscience before I die. Otherwise, it's very well understood by my wife that he's NOT to receive as much as an invite to my burial out in the back yard. In fact, that'll be a VERY small crowd. I know my 2 dogs will be there. That's one certainty about that day.

Anyway, I've got to get some bulk beef burger busted up and into some wax-lined freezer paper, then into the larger freezer.

 

[right]

Nature abideth . The snake in picture#1 has made his home here in this barrel for some time. He is eating the tadpoles and bugs seen in picture #2

 

[moose eater]

It's lining up to be a banner weekend.

9 fillets of my older son's Kasilof sockeye salmon thawing along with perhaps 25 of my own Copper River sockeye, all to be made into traditional style salmon strips on Sunday, with stripping the filets on Saturday evening, I hope.

About 15-lbs. of sweet, seedless watermelon, 7.5-lbs of high-bush blueberries, ~10-lbs. of combined frozen high-bush cranberries and wild rose hips mixed from the property (wild hibiscus fruit), 4 or 5-lbs of frozen rhubarb from the garden this summer, several lbs. of dates and another several lbs. of raisins, all going into my wife's wine making tomorrow.

A batch of beef and organic refried bean burritos with sweet peppers, sweet onions, and jalapeno peppers.

Only a handful of balsam poplar and green-cut alder poles to peel yet for fish smoking.

And if it's sunny enough, an oil change to be done on the 4th motor vehicle and maybe the Honda snowblower to get it ready for winter.

And a small harvest of potatoes waiting in the potato field to be taken care of before it freezes, as well as carrots, squash, snow peas, cucumbers, etc.

We'll see what actually gets done and what doesn't.

165-gallon load of #1 heating/fuel oil we'd intended to transport and transfer to the main tank had to wait due to the frequent rain most of this last week, so that still needs done, too. I don't transport fuel oil in the rain if I can help it.

 

[Dime]

Some strains naturally go gold

 

[moose eater]

Some strains naturally go gold

Are those all the same strain? Which stain or strains?

 

[Dime]

Yes,nevs haze x god bud bx. Not all the plants go goldish but many do