Posted inHealth Humor

My annual Medicare wellness visit had its humorous side

Just to give you young'uns (meaning, anybody under 65) a preview of what you have to look forward to, here's some glimpses of how my annual Medicare Wellness Visit went today.  First off, this really isn't a physical exam. My primary care doctor did some perfunctory checking around -- listened to my heart to make sure it was beating, looked in my mouth to see if I had any teeth left, that sort of thing -- but a bigger part of the visit was a nurse asking me a bunch of questions before the doctor came in to the exam…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

“Mingling of the Tribes” effort could help to heal divisiveness in Salem

I don't know if this is a great idea, a crazy idea, a great crazy idea, or some other variety of idea (such as, worthless). I just keep envisioning the notion of a citywide Mingling of the Tribes effort here in Salem that would bring people together in these divisive times to better understand our differences and foster respectful communication, while having fun in the process -- without trying to force agreements. Back in March I took my first blog post crack at this idea in "Salem should have an annual political roast: 'A Mingling of the Tribes.'" Nationally, politics is…
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Posted inHome life Retirement community

Our retirement community conundrum continues

Channelling Kermit the Frog a bit, "It's not that easy being green growing old." My wife and I are in our late sixties. We've been trying to figure out where we should live for quite a while, certainly since I wrote "I'm 65. Where's my 'Aging Hippie' retirement community?" back in 2013. (For all my posts on this subject, including this one, scroll through this blog's Retirement Community category,) We've toured five retirement or continuing care communities in the Northwest, four in Oregon, one in Washington: Hillside in McMinnville; Panorama in Lacey, Washington; Touchmark in Bend; Mary's Woods in Lake…
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Posted inHome life

I love my Allbirds shoes. They make my feet smile.

I'm a man who adores lightweight comfortable shoes. Being a 69 year old man, I also need my shoes to be supportive. Not in a psychological sense, but as in arch-support.  My newfound shoe love is called Allbirds.  They're made of wool. I'm unsure why they aren't called Allsheep. The "Our Story" page on the Allbirds website talks a lot about merino wool, and mentions sheep, but there's nothing about birds, except for this about the founders (isn't "bird" Australian slang for "woman"?: After careers in professional sport and biotech, our wives brought us together. We bonded over birds and…
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Posted inHealth Living with a catheter

Here’s how I feel about my atonic, underactive, neurogenic, screwed-up bladder

Regarding the title of this blog post, in two words, IT SUCKS. Big time.  Before I elaborate on this, let me address what I tell myself, and what my wife tells me: there are many worse health problems.  For sure. Aside from not being able to pee properly without the aid of self-catheterization -- not fun, but better than getting kidney failure from a backed-up bladder -- I'm basically a pretty damn healthy 69 year old guy.  I wouldn't trade my bladder problem for, say, cancer, heart disease, or loss of a limb. And I've no doubt that people with…
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Posted inSalem

Breaking news about Salem “Watergate” scandal

YES, SALEM, OREGON HAS ITS OWN "WATERGATE" SCANDAL. City staff aren't adequately watering downtown hanging baskets. So says my informant, who would go nameless if I didn't say it was Carole Smith, a downtown business owner and resident. I have broken this story in hopes that a Floral Pulitzer Prize will be mine. (Well, mine and Carole's.) Click below to view our exposé. Be warned: some of the photos are graphic, showing horribly mistreated vegetation.
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Posted inEntertainment Health Living with a catheter

Five observations about Ed Asner’s show, “A Man and His Prostate”

Last night my wife and I saw Ed Asner perform "A Man and His Prostate" at the Elsinore Theatre here in Salem, Oregon.   It's an entertaining reading by Asner of what a different Ed, Ed Weinberger, wrote concerning what he went through after he collapsed while on a vacation in Italy. Since I'm not going to describe the show in much detail, you can read a review to learn about it.  What I want to do is share five observations of A Man and His Prostate based on my personal experience of being also a man, with a prostate,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Hey, Congress, don’t take away my state and local tax deductions

These days the Republicans in Congress and the White House are adept at doing stuff that irritates my sense of fairness. But usually it doesn't directly affect me. Or at least, not much. For example, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act upset me because of the horrendous impact this would have on millions of people who have insurance through Obamacare. Yet since I'm on Medicare, repeal wouldn't have meant much to me personally. The tax reform efforts that are making their way through the House and Senate committees are different, though. One thing that grabs my attention is the…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

Next Fall is a great Enlightened Theatrics play. Go see it!

Main point of this review: There's five days left to see Enlightened Theatrics' current production, the play Next Fall. Get your tickets. Now. The last shows are Wednesday-Sunday, November 8-12. My wife and I loved Next Fall -- one of the most enjoyable plays we've ever seen. There's even a two-for-one ticket offer that likely still holds: Next Fall is about a gay couple who bicker, argue, make up, break apart, drive each other crazy, help each other be sane, cry, laugh, and otherwise display all the strengths and weaknesses of every other long-term committed couple, homosexual, heterosexual, whateversexual. Having…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

More misguided cougar and wolf hysteria strikes Oregon

Oh, my! Lock the doors and keep the children inside! A cougar may have killed a house cat in Seaside, Oregon. So all student activities at Seaside Elementary School were moved indoors.  Which is ridiculous, because while cougars may kill cats (so will dogs, of course, and much more often), a cougar has never killed a human in Oregon.  As I said in "Danger warning! -- people and dogs sighted in Salem park," what Seaside school authorities really should be concerned about are adult men and family dogs roaming around near the playground. I've done some research to quantify the…
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