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Author Topic: Broken Mirror....  (Read 22047 times)

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Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Broken Mirror....
« on: October 11, 2011, 03:39:35 pm »
I took these yesterday....this is what I've been doing all summer:

The big tree tree on the left is the Cottonwood, going right  I think is called Tree of Heaven.....though I won't lay any money down on that: and then the Pcan tree I carved out of a wall of vines....

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/7642/194063324676019140.jpg

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9733/194063324837963432.gif

I've been practicing my hedge clipping styles on any bush or hedge I come across....

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7623/194063325524599018.gif

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7251/194063325632110458.gif

slowly but surely I'm inching my way to the middle...

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/5381/194063325777189732.gif

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/3169/194063325886757811.gif

I was aiming upward, but didn't get high enough to get the broken branch that is caught in another branch and has been 'hanging' there since the tornado...
I think these perfect holes are the work of a woodpecker:

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4135/194063326532206457.gif

poor, pooor, cottonwood....I think it has been hurt..

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2733/194063326823773225.gif

Yard Art: I took some stumps and artistically arranged them in the corner...too bad there is so much shade that you probably can't see my creation:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/893/194063327021807068.gif

Slowly, oh so  slowly the Bermuda grass that I'm supposed to now be allergic to grows:

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/1921/194063327371978237.gif


The corner behind the cottonwood:

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/88/194063327437471711.gif

Neighbors 'cheese'...the circle is a trailer that is FULL and they have caravaned with four vehicles loaded and it STILL looks the same...to me:

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2077/194063327954020789.gif


I have really got to learn how to work with the sun...or...this shot could be considered a perfect example of shadow and light by an amateur photographer  :)

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9076/194063328120648486.gif

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4999/194063328543387880.gif

This 'forked' beauty with the two balls is a hackberry tree that is growing under the power lines so....it gets 'special' attention..from me...(can you say..Dr Seuss?)

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4681/194063328752544866.gif

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/8643/194063329039620781.gif

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5958/194063329373067896.gif



Another patch of bermuda grass...slowly slowly it grows....the neighbors yard is quite clean...thanks to me and the backed up sewer is at the side of the garage and runs toward the white crepe myrtle which has been in FULL bloom for a solid three months since I cut the wall of vines that were choking it to death....

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7906/194063329513094532.gif

AND...in the front yard at the end of the porch is my patch of St Augustine that is sending runners out to the middle of the yard...ever...so...slowly....
In the jungle and along the edges of our  'new territory' are buried/half buried paving stones, rocks, and ceramic tile and rusted 'things'...as I uncover them, I am slowly getting practice at making a walk way...or something...

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4798/1940633300257003.gif

and I have a lovely tan on my face and arms and left leg...the leg with the blood clot has it's own shade.... I have two litre bottles of water that I empty and sweat out and I have my Alavert and my inhalers....I'm coping....
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2011, 01:31:48 pm »
Hi Ron
Nice to see you are still alive and well.  What happenend with the disability...you got it right?

Joel
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2011, 05:11:25 pm »
Yes, Joel, so I haven't only been gardening all summer.  8)





I did get my disablility. ...and my back pay. ..just as I had to put Katie in a nursing home. She had been in the hospital with cellulitis and septus(sp?) and was just plain delirious and not well....at all.

She is doing much better now, though she is still there, but we have a physical therapist working with her as she lost all strength in her legs and to come home she has to be able to transfer to her chair.

I haven't seen her this week as there is a Flu epidemic running rampant through the nursing home and all family members have been strongly advised to stay home.

We can communicate though through Facebook/email/internet as Mom bought her a laptop. So she is not totally cut off from the world.

Of course, when she went to the nursing home, her SSI followed, so I have been paying the rent, all utilities, and her credit card bills...which... are substantial...

.especially for one who has been confined to the house. >:(  (her sons enter into that storyline, which just makes me sick every time I think on it.)

Speaking of my nephews, Daniel is still here, doing the odd job here and there to keep himself in cigarettes as I refuse to buy or pay for them. (and I took Katie's Discover card from him  >:(  after I discovered he had it...and was using it..)

His diligent waiting around for his inheritance is finally coming to fruition and I fully expect him to be out of the house by Christmas.

...all that glitters...



Aunt Mary (who we called Aunt Dude) died and has left her estate to the boys. Robert was named the executor of the estate.

Well, he executed his sanity right out the door. After impatiently waiting for their fair share, Dewayne and Daniel found out that he had bought a 16 acre estate in Wise County (between here and Dallas) and has been living the life of Riley.

Dewayne got a lawyer and they sued their brother, and had their  'day in court' in their pursuit of life, liberty, and Financial Freedom..

Robert and his lawyer want to have a meeting to 'make things right'...but ...to their way of thinking..'right' being Daniel and Dewayne going home with their share of the 'Dude Estate'....which, they have to have an investigation to find just how much it was....

It seems that Robert ..*.lied*... and told them it was @500 thousand, well...according to the attorneys...it was like triple that....so...I am really shocked at all this as I would have NEVER thought of him as doing anything like this...

Katie is beside herself and I had to interject my influence and brought some sanity to the twins thinking on it so Robert won't be charged with a felony and sent to prison....(he IS their older brother, and they would have to have had that on them forever)

I lamblasted Daniel for his behavior and compared him to his father who did nothing with his life but wait around for rich relatives to die so he could have the fruits of their labors....that they shouldn't be acting this way over money they didn't do any thing to earn other than the fact that they were related to the deceased.

I must have got through to him as he has been doing more odd jobs.... ::)

(hopefully Daniel won't get a wad of money, and in his elation of getting his hard unearned money have his brain fall out and then while doing his victory dance he steps on it..)

After my say... I have left them to it....I am really ashamed of them....

but... life goes on...I am now on a new adventure...



MEDICARE...Parts A & B...

I have Humana...and I just moved all my prescriptions over to one pharmacy. I did that yesterday right after getting a flu shot and having my blood drawn (which, my blood stopped flowing in the middle of it and I now have a knot on my hand and it hurts down to my wrist) ...

Leaving the pharmacy, I was maneuvering the parking garage when I reached down for the 'stamped' parking ticket and couldn't find it. I pulled into an empty spot and went through all the paper work in my med bag and under the seats, and in the cracks of the seats and in my pockets and then walked the garage back to my original parking...

which now had another car with a mother retrieving her baby from the car seat in the back and I was crouching looking under the car and then reassuring her that I wasn't some kind of creep and that I was only looking for a lost ticket...

Finally I walked to the booth with the large prominently displayed sign in the window...

"LOST OR NO TICKETS...$5.00.....NO EXCEPTIONS"

I threw myself on her mercy and she held up a ticket with the words...'lost ticket'...someone had found it and turned it in....

I was exhausted, so I went home and went to sleep for 3 hours...





"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2011, 11:19:24 am »
Money does strange things to people.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2011, 04:42:53 am »
Money does strange things to people.

ain't it the truth? ..and people do strange things without money....





It seems that the older I get, the more I find out that I don't know...

In my quest to clear that 'jungle'..I have just about destroyed worn out every lawn tool I own....

*Chain saw...the chain came off and I can't get it back on

*Three weed eaters...

*Four hedge clippers...two are electric..

*two lawn mowers which, according to the internet..if I take the blade off and sharpen it, and then 'balance' it ...it won't vibrate so hard that my hands and arms are tingling....which.. I won't ever mention 'that' to my doctor again as she had a fit...

.apparently when you have neuropathy you're not supposed to 'vibrate' yourself...

So I had never heard of a lawn mower blade balancer and when I looked it up and saw it's picture...I realized that I had never seen one either...not in all my 58 years have I ever seen one of these in any garage or used by anyone that I've ever known....

So, I'm going to go find one...(they range in price from $5.00 (it sits on the floor like a pile of metal poop) - or one that hangs on the wall for $200.00 ?!!? Really ??  wtheck?

 I'm going to go for the 5 dollar one.
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2011, 02:48:54 pm »
Far be it for me to criticize....but
1.  Whats that strapping young man with no job doing? He should help with the lawn.
2. Where is the local handyman who fixes this sort of thing......?  I suppose he now works for walmart or something.
In any case dont hurt yourself being all butch and stuff.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2011, 07:20:50 am »

pumpkin patch...




Far be it for me to criticize....but
1.  Whats that strapping young man with no job doing? He should help with the lawn.
2. Where is the local handyman who fixes this sort of thing......?  I suppose he now works for walmart or something.
In any case dont hurt yourself being all butch and stuff.

re:
 1. He's playing XBox 360 while waiting for his inheritance....he has absolutely NO desire to do anything else...If I do have a tirade, he does a pitiful half-ass jpb that I have to go behind him and redo...

 2. I can't find a handyman that I trust...I see trucks driving around or in parking lots with signs on them advertising their specialties....but when I see the drivers, I hesitate as they don't appear to be as qualified as their advert...
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline Theyer

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,701
  • Current ambition. Walk the Dog .
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2011, 03:07:33 am »
Ron
Make sure you protect yourself from the soap opera that those lads create.I am sorry , it must be exasperating in the extreme.
take good care
Michael
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

Offline AndyArrow

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,197
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2011, 12:43:43 am »
Ron --

I don't know how you keep your sanity also if you're bored now that fall is here I have lots of leaves you can rake.  ;)

Hugs & Stuff,
AA
It is not the arrival that matters.  It is the journey along the way. -- Michel Montaigne

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2011, 01:08:13 pm »
bats....




oh rats....my leaf blower, my preciousss... has stopped working... >:(

Andy, do you fertilize? ...cause, we could just run them over with the mower so the lawn has a nice warm blanikie for the winter and then fertilizer in the spring....

...sound good?  It's worked for me for years....I'm just not a raker... :(

Guess what?

Can't guess? ok, I'll tell you...

I was shopping for a bicycle so I could have something for exercise during the winter months and Daniel came home with a Total Gym 1500 that one of his buddies gave him....

I have it set up and after reading the instructions...I hopefully will lose my next 30lbs before Christmas...maybe even Thanksgiving...

I need to go to that side of the closet with clothes that haven't seen daylight in years and they probably need to either go to the cleaners or I am going to have to re-introduce myself to the ironing board and my new, Oreck steam iron that is still in the box that I got for free with my Oreck vacumn...

I even still have cans of spray starch on the laundry room shelves...I wonder if they expire?


edited because I don't use spell check until after I hit post
« Last Edit: October 23, 2011, 01:34:43 pm by rondrond »
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2011, 05:18:41 pm »
Wow.
Thats an inspiration for me.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2011, 12:03:54 pm »

weighing in...




I figured out how to sit on the sliding bench seat and grab the handles...

oooh....

I did the front sit bicep curls.....oooh

I sat sideways and pulled with one arm for arms and chest...(gotta lose these tits and get pecs)

oooahooohhhh...
I laid on my back and pulled myself up...

ooh...o///#$%...ppht.....

I laid on stomach and pulled for my triceps...

oohp....hmm...not too bad...

on my back again to do the 'Iron Cross'...
HA..wha? #@$. uumph..#$;;;   ooohaaaahhwhoooee......nooooo..

I rolled off to the floor....

after a few minutes, I grabbed a chair and worked my way off the floor....


can't wait for my next session....
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #12 on: October 25, 2011, 03:23:02 pm »
How do you feel today?

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2011, 03:30:56 pm »
I....hurt... in a few places I didn't know I had...or more likely had forgotten about. ::)

..not a bad ouch hurt, but the kind that says that something is working, hopefully that metabolism burning thing I've read so much about.... 8)...

I do have a higher respect for this machine than any other I have used...whoah.
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline AndyArrow

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,197
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2011, 11:17:24 pm »
Damn!  I'll have to mow the leaves myself.  :(

Good luck working out with the Total Gym.  I ate my way through the summer and now have to start back up at the gym.
It is not the arrival that matters.  It is the journey along the way. -- Michel Montaigne

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2011, 01:02:29 am »
Damn!  I'll have to mow the leaves myself.  :(

Good luck working out with the Total Gym.  I ate my way through the summer and now have to start back up at the gym.


I suppose I could come over and help push the mower, certainly the two of us ca0n get it across the yard...


...wait a minute...

I'm suddenly picturing your house and I don't remember seeing any trees in your yard.... ???
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2011, 06:27:14 pm »

weighing in....




It has now been @week since Total Gym Inception began.....I have lost 2 more lbs but what's even better is that my belly is flattening and I have more definition in my arms, chest, back and shoulders.

I did get a horrific report from the dietician. DrG had my blood drawn to test for allergies after my latest asthma episode in her office..I thought she was going to release me to the hospital...

I have always answered the question "are you allergic to anything?"

"just hay fever and cottownwood"

well, DrG is looking at this report and she looks at me and...

I am allergic to:

wheat, egg whites, corn, milk, pecan, oak, cottonwood, bermuda grass, pig grass, peanuts, walnuts, codfish, soybean, shrimp, scallop, clam, sesame seed, cat dander, dog dander, cockroaches  ::), maple, elm, ragweed,  (who isn't?), nettle, @12 other items that don't even sound like they belong in the dictionary..).D. Pteronyssinus, D. Farinak Ige are two for ex)

I looked at her and with mucho suspicion in my voice, I said
"I've eaten these foods and been around these items all my life and have NEVER had a problem"

"you have been allergic to all these all your life, you just didn't know it and it has been accumulating through the years until now...you have asthma/COPD" ...O.O

"bull, you just want me to lose weight"

"the allergic reaction to these foods is what is preventing you from losing weight and is a part of your weight gain"

"mama"







"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline AndyArrow

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,197
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #17 on: November 04, 2011, 11:20:23 pm »
There are trees you just couldn't seem then in the picture.  ;)

If you've been eating oak, cottonwood, pig grass, and cockroaches you deserve allergies!!!
It is not the arrival that matters.  It is the journey along the way. -- Michel Montaigne

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #18 on: November 05, 2011, 10:47:42 am »
Thats a very impressive list of allergies.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #19 on: November 05, 2011, 04:21:15 pm »
Thats a very impressive list of allergies.



I'm finding it hard to digest...(pun intended)
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #20 on: November 06, 2011, 12:08:05 pm »
Dont get me wrong...I think you should take good care of yourself...that first.
However, in my case I dont want to know about no allergies, cause I already have enough. The hay fever and pllen allergies are the worst.  I also have some dust allergies, etc.
When our cat started sneezing, and I thought "Oh my god he has allergies"...we took him to the vet and were told it'd cost 750.00 dollars to test him.  At that pont, I decided he and I could just sneeze along together.  So, 10 years later, he's still sneezing.  And so am I.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #21 on: November 06, 2011, 01:26:39 pm »


time is money....




one clock down....eight to go...

..at least the computer and phones are automatic systematic.... ::)


Dont get me wrong...I think you should take good care of yourself...that first.
However, in my case I dont want to know about no allergies, cause I already have enough. The hay fever and pllen allergies are the worst.  I also have some dust allergies, etc.
When our cat started sneezing, and I thought "Oh my god he has allergies"...we took him to the vet and were told it'd cost 750.00 dollars to test him.  At that pont, I decided he and I could just sneeze along together.  So, 10 years later, he's still sneezing.  And so am I.

I have wondered if I hadn't had the blood clot in 2007 if I would be alive today as I hadn't been to a  doctor in over ten years before that and probably wouldn't have as I just 'manned up'  and rode out any fevers or coughs before...
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline Theyer

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #22 on: November 07, 2011, 06:19:29 am »






I have wondered if I hadn't had the blood clot in 2007 if I would be alive today as I hadn't been to a  doctor in over ten years before that and probably wouldn't have as I just 'manned up'  and rode out any fevers or coughs before...

Its a possibly,alongside many other not quite so jolly, Get back on the gym thing my friend and look forward.
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

Offline rondrond

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #23 on: November 09, 2011, 06:12:50 pm »

apple harvest....




This is going to be the strangest Thanksgiving in my memory....

The leaves are still on the trees and green...no colors...
the grass is green...
the flowers are still blooming...

If I was Rip Van Winkle Sleeping  Beauty, and just woke up, I would swear that it was Spring and not Autumn....

weighing in....



I haven't lost weight this week, but I have lost inches..after my shower yesterday, I was putting on my favorite lounging shorts, and...they fell to the floor.....

,,it didn't register in my mind that I was pulling them back up until I had to pull them up again and then...

...Eureka....my waist shrunk..I love you Chuck Norris.....then...it was a good 45 minutes of trying to undo that knot on the drawstring...

ouch, my fingertips are sore...
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline rondrond

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #24 on: December 01, 2011, 12:02:45 am »


weighing in...





Considering I celebrated Thanksgiving by thankfully eating anything I didn't have to cook...I gained 6 lbs., but then  lost 3...so I'm still on track.

I'm getting confused with this Medicare and the Extra Help...I haven't had to pay anything at the pharmacy, nor for labs. They weren't asking for a copay at the Dr visits, but then I got a bill, which, was over the Holiday, so I couldn't get through to anybody.

Then, on Monday, I got a statement showing Medicare deductions and now I don't owe anything again.??

I guess dragging my feet came in handy this go round.

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline Theyer

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #25 on: December 07, 2011, 04:50:41 pm »
Miss P was sent a cheque for $36000 , to do with his drugs.
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

Offline rondrond

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2011, 03:28:03 am »
Miss P was sent a cheque for $36000 , to do with his drugs.

I would cash it and the trap would snap on me....




I am running a dialog in my mind where I am talking myself out of going to this biopsy on the 19th....the wonder steroid antibiotic they gave me has done its job and after 6 months, the wound has healed....therefore..

I must be cured.

I have almost got out the tree and pulled out the lights..I am the only house on the street in darkness..
but just the thought of the basement, and it has gotten so cold lately...I must have been a bear in a past life as I just feel like hibernating....

I have the Coumadin Clinic in the AM and don't even want to go to that...I'm not even taking Coumadin anymore, as Medicare won't pay for it, so I am now taking Warfarin....

"it's the same thing"

"then why does it have a different name and price?"

They also wont' pay for Lyrica, so went through that withdrawal so I could go back to Gabapentin...



"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline aztecan

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2011, 10:05:22 am »
Hey Ron,

Its a bitch when your insurance balks at paying for meds or services.

Now, put on your brave face and trod on down to the basement, tis the season.

HUGS,

Mark

Who thinks staying busy is always best.

"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline bear60

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2011, 04:44:24 pm »
I hear you Ron. Kurt and I are talking about going to Chinatown for Christmas dinner.  He has a hernia and doesnt want to cook.
But,.....I think we'll have a tree, because if we dont its an admission of defeat.

Good luck. Merry Christmas.
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline leatherman

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2011, 05:31:09 pm »
But,.....I think we'll have a tree, because if we dont its an admission of defeat.
exactly! I almost didn't put up a tree the year after Randy died. But when a friend heard about that, she brought over a live one the week before Christmas. Although my heart wasn't in it, I threw a couple strands of white lights on it and called it "Christmas" because I know Randy wouldn't have wanted to have ruined my holiday.

Ever since, no matter what, I've figured I can at least put up a little tree to remember the season and participate in the good vibes of the holiday. To not do so seems like it would let the badness, the darkness, the despair win - and I'm not having any of that.  ;)

I hope you guys can get a bit of the Christmas spirit and enjoy the holidays with a tree and some twinkly lights.  :-*
leatherman (aka Michael)

We were standing all alone
You were leaning in to speak to me
Acting like a mover shaker
Dancing to Madonna then you kissed me
And I think about it all the time
- Darren Hayes, "Chained to You"

Offline rondrond

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #30 on: December 11, 2011, 12:31:11 pm »
I had a HORRIBLE Friday.../I was to go to the Coumadin Clinic, so was in the shower...

I forgot to turn on the fan so the humidity was tremendous,...I had an asthma attack, winding up in pulling the shower curtain down, which, I had to put back up twice during my shower as the walls were now too slick as there was water everywhere...

..my blood pressure went tot he roof, I became very anxious, and started to sweat,.. and sweat..and sweat...I HATE it when I can't stop sweating...

I had to go outside in 38 degree weather and sit on the porch just to get dry...

Afterwards I got a haircut as I had been hacking on it for three weeks, and it wasn't working anymore..

I called upon the little known Christmas Genie....




..she didn't appear :(

So, I took a hydrocodone (from a carefully hoarded supply for just such emergencies)  hauled outthe tree to the living room...

Got my 'lil red dolly and hauled out the decoration boxes from the basement...and just outdid myself IMHO



Still have to do the outside, but that is easy peasy compared to the tree...
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #31 on: December 11, 2011, 12:37:18 pm »

But,.....I think we'll have a tree, because if we dont its an admission of defeat.

Good luck. Merry Christmas.

I always admit  defeat every Christmas, why you ask , cause it saves me a ton of money, that Id rather not spend  ;D
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline Jeff G

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #32 on: December 11, 2011, 01:03:40 pm »
That's a great looking tree Ron . I wont be putting one up . I live alone and cant really justify the expense , I spend more time in my comfy bedroom than the living room so it seems like a lot of work , not to mention I would have to buy the decorations too since I left them all in California when I moved back here . 
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Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #33 on: December 11, 2011, 01:30:03 pm »
That's a great looking tree Ron . I wont be putting one up . I live alone and cant really justify the expense

Don't feel bad Jeff, I live with my BF, and in the last 18yrs. we've NEVER put up any, we aren't as sophisticated as most of you queers, and we really don't want the added expense w/ the the Gas & Electric bill @ the end of the month, we bob & I do is cook, eat, and get DRUNK  :D
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline bear60

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #34 on: December 11, 2011, 02:42:23 pm »
Well, if NOT having a tree is part of your routine...then there is no defeat.  But Kurt, when we first got together, insisted that we put up a Christmas tree. I had just lost my partner, Paul, and had no interest in Christmas anything....especially a tree.  But Kurt, being the pushy bottom boy that he is, prevailed.  Since then we have had a tree every year that we've been together.  This will be 17.  The year Kurt had his knee replacement and was so sore, he didnt have the energy for putting up a tree, so he said, "Lets skip it this year".  I said "That would be admitting defeat, so we ARE going to have a tree".
That's the story behind having a tree.
Yesterday we went to Homo Depo and bought a 29.95 6ft spruce.  Its in the living room now, waiting its decorations.  Kurt has an Eagles game to watch this afternoon, but maybe this evening we'll do some decorating.  He has the ornaments from when he was a kid.  Lots of 1950's memories for him.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2011, 12:29:33 pm by bear60 »
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #35 on: December 11, 2011, 03:10:46 pm »
I'm way to Ghetto and five and dime for most of you queers, most of you probably wouldn't even like me much, if you were to meet me in person, and I'd only like you, if ya'll were nice, if you weren't, then NO, I wouldn't  :D
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline Jeff G

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #36 on: December 11, 2011, 03:11:04 pm »
and we really don't want the added expense w/ the the Gas & Electric bill @ the end of the month

You have a gas Christmas tree ? Do you have to kick start it to get the lights to come on  ;) .  
HIV 101 - Basics
HIV 101
You can read more about Transmission and Risks here:
HIV Transmission and Risks
You can read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
You can read more about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read more about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
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PEP and PrEP

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #37 on: December 11, 2011, 03:18:27 pm »
You have a gas Christmas tree ? Do you have to kick start it to get the lights to come on  ;) .  

No Jeff, what I meant was those bills tend to be higher during the Winter, I've never heard of a gas Christmas tree, what a concept  :D
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline Theyer

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #38 on: December 11, 2011, 05:23:11 pm »
I am sure that Dickens had a gas Christmas tree and Dennis you must realize the sophistication involved in five and dime. Sometimes there is a tree , sometimes not. I do have a reputation for buying the raggidy tree , there is something about the tree ignored , because off some fault alone at the end off the selling day day , all the perfect ones bought , its very sad.

Also its cheaper and if the hand off gay has blessed you with imagination it can  be transformed.

So my LTS friends buy the cheap raggidy tree and make it beautiful.
 
Michael/theyer
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #39 on: December 12, 2011, 09:30:54 am »
Joel honey, bob & I don't have that type of queer relationship, for us there's no Top or Bottom, were both the same age, make the same amount , and have the same views, the only real difference is, were a discordant couple,  if we wanna do a Top we do, if we wanna do a bottom we do, nothing is set-in-stone with us, ain't nothing effeminate or pretentious about us, were not those kinda queers  ;)
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline leatherman

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #40 on: December 12, 2011, 11:01:52 am »
@Ron, that's an awesome tree! ;D It puts to shame the little 2.5ft thing I set up here at mom's.

@Joel, Randy and I had the tradition of going out Thanksgiving night, getting drunk as a skunk then coming home to put up the tree. One year we didn't go out, and we thought the tree looked like sh*t, so we went out drinking the next night, came home, undecorated and re-decorated, and it looked beautiful for another year. LOL

Although I do find putting on some Christmas tunes and putting up the tree all by myself to be a rather lonely tradition now, just like WAD, it makes me feel a little closer to my guys because it gives me a moment to really think about them. Although I don't get drunk anymore, and I don't put any Star Trek ornaments up, I think about Randy and Jim while I decorate and all the wonderful Christmas times I was blessed to be so in love. :-* Although teh AIDS has taken a lot away from me, it sure can't take away my happy memories ;) .....

.... well unless of course AIDS brings me dementia one day :D; but then I guess I won't know that I can't remember those great Christmas memories, so that'll be alright too. ROFLMAO  :D

I've enjoyed hearing everyone's Christmas tree stories/traditions and reasons for having or not having one. Thanks for sharing, y'all. :-* Merry Christmas to you y'all since it sure doesn't matter whether you have a tree or not. ;)
leatherman (aka Michael)

We were standing all alone
You were leaning in to speak to me
Acting like a mover shaker
Dancing to Madonna then you kissed me
And I think about it all the time
- Darren Hayes, "Chained to You"

Offline rondrond

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #41 on: December 12, 2011, 01:22:48 pm »

nobody does it like Mom....




Joel, that is so funny...."pushy bottom boy".....every body needs a good push now and then....

If I hadn't spent 69.99 (on sale) at Garden Ridge 12 years ago, I wouldn't have this tree either....one advantage of artificial....

I remember one year when the twins were 14 and I was short of monies from the unexpected pleasure of having two boys under my wing...(or my boa)....

..the upstairs neighbors were having a row and yelling divorce and ...whoosh, he threw their tree ornaments and all in the dumpster.

I at least waited for sunset before I retrieved it....unforutnately, it was flocked and I mean WAS...it didn'ttake too kindly to being chinked in the trash,  but I shook it off enough so that it looked lightly dusted...

We redecorated it and it was beautiful and well, the price was right...."Merry Christmas and a Happy Divorce"...

I had it made,  like Kurt must have as Larry (my love for ten years and who still haunts my memories as though it was sometimes only yesterday) worshiped me and I pretty much got what I wanted when I wanted it...But I made it worth his while....

One year I wasn't so lucky...the year I bought a 9ft Noble Fir...It was HUGE and beautiful and flocked and expensive ..not what Larry had meant when he said go get what I wanted and he would pay for half.....

He walked out in a fit when I told him 45 dollars...and he started to give me 20 and I said, no, your half is 45, the tree was 90 dollars...what a night that was.....


« Last Edit: December 12, 2011, 01:24:32 pm by rondrond »
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline bear60

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #42 on: December 14, 2011, 12:49:48 pm »
Flocked?  If its not pink and flocked does it count?  90 dollars for a tree seems within normal parameters.  He must have been a penny pincher.

Has anyone commented on the changes in the forum window?
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

Offline aztecan

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #43 on: December 14, 2011, 02:35:35 pm »
I have a 4-foot Yule tree I used this year.

I have four trees, but didn't feel like putting up the big ones.

I did put up some outdoor lights, but not as many as last year. I couldn't get the lights off the eaves of the house until March because of all the damn snow and ice last winter.

I will now spend my time baking biscochitos, making halupki and posole', and ignoring the rest of the hubbub.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline Miss Philicia

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #44 on: December 14, 2011, 02:48:43 pm »
And why, pray tell, does a single man need four Christmas trees?
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #45 on: December 14, 2011, 03:27:50 pm »
I have a 4-foot Yule tree I used this year.

I have four trees, but didn't feel like putting up the big ones.

I did put up some outdoor lights, but not as many as last year. I couldn't get the lights off the eaves of the house until March because of all the damn snow and ice last winter.

I will now spend my time baking biscochitos, making halupki and posole', and ignoring the rest of the hubbub.

HUGS,

Mark

Mark I wished I lived closer to you, sounds like you need some help around and with your place, it's tough to live alone especially when you don't have the time to do anything, I'd really enjoy the company ya know, there isn't a lot of older gay men here in ABQ, and both Bob & I really miss that...  ;)
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline aztecan

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #46 on: December 14, 2011, 07:56:54 pm »
And why, pray tell, does a single man need four Christmas trees?

Well, I have the 4-foot one, a 6-foot one my sister gave me (she bought a new one and thought mine was too small), a 5-foot one that came with lights attached - which burned for one season and now won't light, and a vintage 1960's silver aluminum tree, which is actually my favorite.

I am weeding out the chaff, though. Anyone need a half-dozen strings of C-9 lights?

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline aztecan

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #47 on: December 14, 2011, 08:00:58 pm »
Mark I wished I lived closer to you, sounds like you need some help around and with your place, it's tough to live alone especially when you don't have the time to do anything, I'd really enjoy the company ya know, there isn't a lot of older gay men here in ABQ, and both Bob & I really miss that...  ;)

I know what you mean Dennis. It would be nice to live closer.

Perhaps when I come down your way one of these days we can barbecue or something.

HUGS,

Mark
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline denb45

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #48 on: December 14, 2011, 08:07:40 pm »
I know what you mean Dennis. It would be nice to live closer.

Perhaps when I come down your way one of these days we can barbecue or something.

HUGS,

Mark

 :) yeah you know us older queers need each others company, there just aren't many of us left anymore, it's such a young man's game now-a-days, and that kinda makes me sad  :'(
« Last Edit: December 14, 2011, 08:09:13 pm by denb45 »
"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Offline Miss Philicia

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Re: Broken Mirror....
« Reply #49 on: December 14, 2011, 11:33:37 pm »
and a vintage 1960's silver aluminum tree, which is actually my favorite.

Now you know you better get that one put up and show me a lovely picture of it.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

 


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