Coffee-helicopter-raven-Talkeetna Mountains; last post until we get to Hawaii - escape from the net

This is the only picture I took today. I had planned to have Kalib in the picture, but it didn't work out. Last night I asked him if he wanted to go to Abby's for breakfast today and he nodded, "yes." He seemed pretty excited about it. But this morning, he got to the trains before we could leave and then only wanted to stay with the trains. So Margie and I went by ourselves. Kalib stayed home with Caleb.

I got this cowboy cup. Margie got a chicken cup. They're both good cups. I'm happy with either one.

I should have taken more pictures, I know, but I have been doing some pretty heavy coughing the past couple of days and it has been slamming my brain around in my head - not to mention stretching and aggravating this gigantic belly hernia my doctor gave me so, when I finally my chance in life to go to Hawaii, I get to take it to the beach and make everybody scream.

I guess I won't. I'll keep my belly covered, even on the beach.

What a drag!

And I want to go surfing. How am I going to do that? Gotta wear a belly support, because that's how weak and fragile my adomen is. How do I paddle a surfboard? What happens when I get caught in the churning soup and get twisted and bounced around?

I fear I am going to have to be a spectator, from the beach.

It really infuriates me. Before my surgery at the end of June, Doc said it would take me about three weeks to heal. Ha!

Sooner or later, he's going to have to do another surgery to repair this belly hernia damage inflicted upon me. He says that will take about three weeks to heal. When? How? It's such a nightmare right now, trying to pay all these medical bills. My brother Mac says I should come to Thailand and get it done there. Medicine is good in Thailand, he says, and cheap. I think I might have to wait until January, 2014, when I get a new insurance policy without preconditions under ACA to replace the one I got forced out of after dumping in all that money that would have been much better spent as a tax to fund Single Payer and follow me on through into Medicane rather than as loot to insurance company executives, high paid employees whose entire responsibilty is to find ways to deny payment and shareholders eager to capitalize on people's medical misfortune and thereby make it all the harder for them.

Anyway, it's best I cease talking about this as it only makes me mad and doctors are human and can make mistakes, too, just like I do, and they still say my surgeon is about as good as they get and that what happened to me was a fiuke.

The point I was trying to make before I got off on this rant is that as a result of all this coughing, slamming my brain around in my head, my mind has been kind of dull the last couple of days and so, after I took this picture this morning, I forgot to take any more.

Just a little bit ago, Kalib's mother came out, picked him up and drove off to Anchorage with him. She brought Jobe, too, but he was asleep in the car and didn't wake up. I peeked in, but it was getting dark and the window was tinted, so it would not have worked to take a photo even if my brains had been slammed around and I had remembered.

Margie is coughing a lot, too. And so is Caleb. I think a lot of people are coughing a lot all over the world right now. I hope Kalib escapes. 

I did take a couple of pictures yesterday that weren't worth much and that I ignored so I could give the whole post to Kalib and the trains.

This is one of them.

And here is another - Raven and the Talkeetna Mountains. After all that warm weather, it had cooled down to -3 F (-19.4 C). Not cold, but a big relief just the same. Today it warmed up a bit but thankfully stayed well below freezing.

I might just make my next post in Hawaii, where it will be warm even if it is the coldest day of the winter. That will be good. I will want it to be warm. It is supposed to be warm in Hawaii.

We do not leave until Thursday, but I have a lot to do between now and then, so I think I am just going to let this blog sit idle until I get off the plane. I will drop into Facebook once a day to say "happy birthday" to whoever's birthday it is and to see if anybody has left me any messages, but other than that, I am going to stay away. 

In fact, except to do a little research here and there and emails, I am just going to stay off the net.

I love it, but it is a time killer.

I don't mean to be rude. I just can't let the net take too much of my time.

Comments

[Nancy]

Take good care and get well soon -- all of you!

I know how hard it is to no longer do the things we want to do. My biggest problem right now is I can no longer put on socks, and I must wear slip-on shoes because it is too difficult to tie shoes (and this in the middle of cold weather below zero and snow, so I must remain inside until the snow has been shoveled.) In the scheme of things, I am still independent, living in my own home, taking care of myself, and still able to drive -- so much to be grateful for.

Enjoy Hawaii for the rest of us!

[KatzKids]

I hope both you & Margie are feeling much better before you take off for Hawaii. It's been a time for lolling on the sand & watching the crazy waves, not so much for surfing. Waves are high, erratic, choppy & not safe for swimming or surfing unless you're a professional, even then, not so much. It is beautiful & warm, & always enchanting. Have a fantastic trip & take care.

[Mrs Gunka]

Aloha Bill! Have a wonderful trip. We went to Hawaii for a wedding too. At President Obama's school! In 1989. Wonder if he was even old enough to be there then. It was very hot! But it sure warmed up my frozen bones. I can still taste the iced tea with a big long spear of fresh pineapple in it. It was better than a cup of coffee in a cowboy mug!!! May the bride and groom have a long, wonderful life together. Don't forget the sun screen! Aloha!