ONE HALF OVER OR ONE HALF TO GO

2009 is half over.  the world is in a turmoil in most any place that you want to look.  N Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, – There is always Sudan.

The economic collapse as affected so many people.

On a personal level, Mary has had to be hospitalized because of blocking of the bile duct.  The Gastroenterologist was able to insert a plastic stent into the bile duct and get it past the area of obstruction.  It was threaded through the lumen of the metal stent which had been inserted previously.  This relieved the pressure on the bile system of the liver and thus also helped the pressure into the pancreas.  The plastic stent can be removed and replaced as needed whereas the metal on she has can not be removed.  The tumor has increased in size.    They will continue to be watched.  Her blood chemistry and blood count has gradually returned to normal.  She is Puny and has been getting some physical therapy to try to get her strength built up.

Mary was in the new part of the ;hospital and it is very nice. they are almost to a paperless record keeping with computers everywhere. It will be interesting to see what develops with the so called medical reform.

Hope this finds everything goinG well with all of you—sending our very best wishes

       HAF  AKA  HAPPY DOC

SPRING2/SUMMER

School is about to be out, and Summer is beginning.  We have not had the bad storms here in Salina that have plagued some part of the country.  We are supposed to have temps into the 80’s this week.  I am trying out a new program for writing a blog.  It may make writing it easier and anyway it will give more variation in format etc.  It is worth trying to see how it works  it is “windows live writer”   Also, I am trying to learn how to use SKYPE  the audio, video, text communication program.  It has good quality of sound and also the video is good.  I noted that Oprah uses it in her program so I thought if it was good enough for her I might try it. 

Mary had a CAT scan this AM  to see how things are going.  We will find the results later in the week.

Cleo in her favorite pose—Cleo’s advice “just be –don’t do”

will close and post and see how this works.

HAF  AKA   HAPPYDOC

SPRINGTIME

Hi All
I have been egligent in keeping up with my blog. It is not April and sprinttime is beginning. However there have been storms around and snow in The West. Lynn in Denver had snow and rain at the same time. We have had a little rain we have had a little rain. The last of March we had the most snow that we have had all winter!! At least living as we do I do not have to shovel it. The flowering trees have bloomed and most of them have already lost the blooms. However, the redbuds are now coming out. Spring is welcome--nice to see all of the blooming plants in the stores and Nursery outlets. I may get a pansy plant just to have a bloom in the apartment.
We have had some short visits from family which were greatly appreciated. John and Gail cam dow from Rochester MN for couple of days. Gail got me on Facebook the social communication program. We have set up a Scrabble game and are playing long distance. Gail is ahead in points. My niece Carol is an avid facebooker. We also had a visit with our grand-daughter, Lisa with her husband Mike and two bows Taylor and Zakry. Taylor has his 2 degree black belt in Karate and is active in some other forms of mmartial arts Zack is into 4H and raising Rabbits. I am truly impressed with the school program that Mike and Lisa are in. Not all of the public schools are poor. They are using computers in the class rooms. Lisa has her class blogging and they have contact with a school in Gerany ane exchange blogs on the cultre and school program. Lisa is also connected with teachers in New Zealand.
I have hooked my laptop computer to my TV with is a 23 inch monitor. Also, I am in the process of getting wired with the tele-video program SKYPE. It also can be used just as a text or Instant messaging. At the present I am just at the beginning of the learning curve but will get there. I have not twitted yet! Have any of you!! Twitter appears to be a popular program.
Mary's test for Normotensive hydrocephalous turned out negative. which in a way is too bad as there is help with a shunt for that. We are continuing to continue on. Some days are better than others. We enjoy some of the programs that they have here at Drury Place. Saturday they had a really good program--a lady at the piano and she could really play and including all different genres of music. I need to play more just for fun. Our neighbor here has a Roland piano in his apartment and he enjoys playing it. I put my Technics piano out in the great room for a program some time back and have never brought it back. -- the space has been taken overe with computer stuff!
Hope that this finds all of you healthy and I am sure that you are following the happenings of the government etc. HANG IN THERE!! I will try to be more promt with my postings.
HAF AKA HAPPY DOC

BLOG

BLOG
title--RECESSION/DEPRESSION
It does not matter whether it is called a recession or a depression the economy is a
mess. Banks have failed, people have lost jobs, the savings and value of assets of
people have been depressed and some severely so. It will take a lot to get things
back on keel. The present situation is a downward spiral. We will survive and find
that we can get along very well with less as we found out in the GREAT DEPRESSION!
We have a new president and it appears that he is getting a good team of advisors
around him and this is the most imporstant thing as one man can not do it all.
We are approaching Springtime. I am ready! We have even had temperatures up to 70
degrees, It is supposed to be 65 today. I think everyone is looking forward to the
blossoming and change--it will raise peoples spirits.
I have been reading DEWEY the library cat. I have it on my kindle. I am still learning how to use the Kindle. There have been several best sellers about pets and animal

MARLEY AND ME and MERLE'S DOOR are a couple of recent books. I have checked
out MERLE'S DOOR from the library.
You will note that I have changed to layout of the blog. The new format is supposed to make it easier to add and move elements etc. It gives something new to play with anyway.
We are still rocking along. Mary is to have some tests this week.
Grandson Zach and Susan returned safely from Isreal. They were glad to get back to the USA.
We were honored a couple of weeks ago when Dien drove his wife and sisters from Dallas to Salina for a couple hour visit. It was good to see and visit with them.It is really an effort for them to make that trip and we felt honored. Dien and Hang -his wifr-live in Sacramento, Nogc lives in Calif, Ly lives in Dallas, Ha lives in Viet Nam and Hoa lives in Thailand. They had all gathered for Bich's funeral. The family is quite remarkable.
I will close this posting and hope that it finds all of you in good health and surviving the trials of the economy.
HAF AKA HAPPY DOC

2009

HI ALL!
2008is now in the past. and 2009 is the future. In about 2 weeks we will have a new president. The election was a historic time and it is good that there is seemingly a momentum of energy to make some needed changes in the governance of the country. President Obama will have to be a multitasker with so many things needing attention--wars, hot spots, economy, energy, unemployment, infrastructure, etc. There will be plenty for the commentators to talk and write about. We will get through all of this as we did with the depression and WW2. After all of the adjustments that we had to make then with everything from victory gardens, ration coupons, making your own soap and many other things. We then developed television, semiconductors, computers, jet engines, internet etc. In the future we will develop nano technology, solar power and other electric generation, hydrogen powered cars and things we have not thought about. An example of creative thinking; In the AMERICAN ASSISTANCE for CAMBODIA program in some of the rural school which do nLot have internet access for their solar powered computers they have developed a "motoman" program. A person and a motorbike (or oxcart) makes a round with a wifi on the back and picks up the saved messages and when he gets back to the base which has a connection the messages are uploaded and incoming ones are collected to be delivered the next day. This is a modern version of the PONY EXPRESSof olden times! www.cambodiaschools.com
On a personal note--We are still rocking along here at Drury Place. The last cat scan showed Mary's pancreatic tumors as being smaller. Grandson Zach and Susan have been in Israel visiting a friend during the between semester break. Bad timing but they should be home Jan 10 or 11. We hope that some solution can be found for the unrest in the middle east.

Le Pham Thi Bich

Many of the readers of this blog did not know Bich but I wish to recognize the extraordinary life of this lady. Bich died the last of December of a heart attack and kidney failure. 33 years ago she and her family entered and enriched our lives. Her life was not easy, (loss of her home, escape from Viet Nam, loss of some of her children, raising her family essentially as a single parent—(her husband was in “re-education camp” for about ten years before he could join her in America--). I can not imagine the anguish she must have felt, but never showed, at times. She was very brave, hard working and loving. We were honored to have known and loved her. The country has been enriched by her life and legacy. I am reminded of the Kansas Motto is appropriate, (in a different context), “TO THE STARS THROUGH DIFFICULTY”. Bich’s star is shining brightly!

We want to wish all a healthy and happy NEW YEAR! ALDEN AND MARY