TOTALLY RANDOM POST II
- Thread starter minds_I
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Torsion bar suspension was a bit cruel for comfort but amazing for handling. My uncle had a his & her pair of white Ghias. My mother won a small lottery in 1970 and she flew us to LA for a visit. We drove down to Ensenada for an overnight and coming through the border on our return, the only place Customs checked was the 'smuggler's box' in the passenger foot well.
Three Berries
Active member
First new car I bought was 1975 TR7. Good thing it was top end limited by rpm to 110 mph. Great handling car. I have a Hyundai Genesis Coupe now and it will go just about anywhere you have the balls to put. Speedo goes past 160 mph.driving a great handling little car (or motorcycle) on curvy roads during nice weather is one of life's finer pleasures. had a Triumph TR-4A and a VW Karmann Ghia when much younger. miss them badly, even with the Triumphs shaky brakes and the Ghia's propensity to burst into flames upon starting...
experienced
Active member
Oh well, thanks for all that!Prognosis is more or less the same, as far as I know.
With fairly recent scans totalling $8,000, and my not being willing to accept the mediocrity that suffices for 'treatment' for the specific stage and type of cancer I have, I grew tired of being the method by which Doctors and medical techs put their kids through upper-class universities, pay for boats, cars, and vacations, etc. "Find another dependent sucker, still captured by fear and realization of mortality".
Figured I could skip the going-nowhere-fast nonsense, and buy my OWN vacations and toys
.
Haven't eaten any THC-A extract or made any since running out close to 3 months ago, +/- Also ceased the vegan diet; next person offers me tofu stir-fry may be surprised by a violent reaction. A year and a half of that was enough, and I was still losing slowly to the battle. May as well enjoy what we have, right?
Doing my supplements, to include Avmacol extra-strength, lycopene 20mg, and others, along with green tea; an accepted anti-androgen of light-weight value, per the American Cancer Association; 2-3 bags/day.
Mostly eating a fairly healthy diet, but giving lots of slack that's required for enjoyment of life.
1-2 alcoholic beverages a day, with some focus on balancing carbohydrate values. Similar with diet.
Planning and prepping for another remote trip to the Wrangell-St. Elias Range/Nat'l Park & Preserve, to the remote lakes I ice-fish there for lake trout and burbot each year in March, with my older son planning to go, though I'm concerned about his arranging his finances sufficiently to take a week+ off to go with me, despite my wife and I paying for the trip, including grub, beer, tequila, transport, bait, snowmachines, fuel, motel for a night on the way there and on the way back, parking at the road when we head off into the mountains, and the bit to the cabin owner while we're in the bush for most of a week..
Dogs are great (the newer German Shepherd female makes me laugh and smile a lot). The 22-year-old poodle seems lost in a parallel universe, staring at walls part of the day, but still runs when outside, like he's a pup again. The aging Norwegian Elkhound shows some signs of depression since my younger son abandoned her in his James Dean impersonation and related departure. (He's supposedly fixing my freighter snowmachine that coded out recently; signs of some reconciliation via non-emotional, non-communicative actions?).
Snow is too much, though markedly less than last year this time, without the 'frizzle' that fucked everything up last year (though there's still time), and the remote lakes, 300 miles away, where we're headed to in the next couple months, are apt to have troublesome amounts of overflow on them (already do in some cases; the ones that aren't mostly wind-blown) due to their snowloads.
Country's considering war with too many other nations, but considering my own circumstances, it holds a bit less shock value, really. People sleeping in the proverbial or literal beds they make, and all of that stuff.
Might get more serious about dealing with the cancer if/when it progresses further, and someone sends me to Seattle for a PETscan (BIG $$), but at this point, I'm in the beginning of a new calendar year with the health insurance co., with the need to pay off yet another fresh deductibe, and my wife surprised me after a recent mechanical issue with my primary 'newer' freighter snowmachine, spontaneously telling me one morning to "just buy a new one." (Yes, I was shocked!!). A LOT of money these days; more than I've spent on most motor vehicles I've owned.
The deductible for questionable 'care' or 'treatment' provides more opportunity to pay lots of money for more or less nothing tangible, to frequently-disingenuous, often disconnected yuppies; the Docs & cohorts. Or to buy something that will maintain its resale value after I pass on, and which takes me and mine to special places we spent good times through the years, recreating those good times. So I bought the machine. Let the white coats eat cake.
There you have it; another fairly detailed novella.
Edit: I left out the acute bleeding gastritis (we're mostly friends now), fairly significant gall stones that haven't made much of their presence known lately, odd (notably different) tissue in the deeper, left-hand side of my throat that showed up in an expensive CTscan, for which the Rx drugs they gave me seem to make it worse not better, a couple hernias (size small; matched, one on the left and one on the right sides of my lower abdominal/pelvic area), and a number of other indicators that the Cosmos figures I've been on terra firma past my 'best-by date.'
We're all headed in the same direction; I simply got the benefit of an advance 'telegram' notifying me to hurry up and have some more fun while I still can.
Yes, I admire your attitude. Sorry to hear about the gastritis. My guts is playing up at present and the discomfort can be quite debilitating. Makes me grumpy at people who don't deserve it.
A kidney removal costs A$20,000 here. (Dunno what prostate removal costs. The surgeon actually touted for business when he asked if I 'd like my swollen prostate removed. I said nope. Only need to get up once maybe twice thru the night.) But I 'm glad the kidney was taken out. Got a new lease of life. Untold energy for a couple of years but now I 've turned into an old fart again. Still orgasmic though which is amazing.
Hope you have a good time in the Wilderness ... !
moose eater
Well-known member
The endoscopy assessing the acute bleeding gastritis came back with 'possibly pre-cancerous cells' in the stomach, per the pathology report, so that's another expensive question mark that cost a few thousand dollars for my insurance co. and I to learn that 'maybe' bit of non-conclusive news.
The cancer procedure Spring of 2021, removing the prostate and 27 lymph glands for pathology to assess, leaving me with nearly lethal post-op circumstances, was well over $100,000 cumulatively once the dust settled, but they spent at least 50% more than that, and likely that much again (probably about $200,000 USD total) on the 7 post-op infections and hematoma.
Looking forward to the remote lakes in the mountains. Whether my older son follows through and goes as planned, or if I do it solo again. Less friction but more work if I go alone, but also an absence of family time for what ever time remains.
New snowmobile's here now, and I need to put about 300 miles on it to break it in properly. Realized they gave it to me without an owner's manual that it was supposed to come with, and I still need to install a tunnel protector, carbide screws in the track, and wide ski skins for flotation.
Having fun often ends up requiring work.
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Three Berries
Active member
Found under the back seat?
Three Berries
Active member
Three Berries
Active member
I have three dead ash trees all broke off high and hung up.
"avoid moose and cliffs. do not ride on rotten ice or on rivers without company in case of "oh SHIT!"
Three Berries
Active member
No bridges across the Amazon river.
moose eater
Well-known member
My wife brought home a cheap bag of salmon patties made from pink salmon.
I don't eat pink salmon, being a bit of a salmon snob. Though these don't smell too bad in the microwave.. Admittedly they smell a lot, and VERY fishy. I'll circle back to that in a moment..
The German Shepherd is fond of red balls, and has them ranked according to which is her favorite. I think many canines are color blind to one extent or another, as some assert bears are, as well. Red stands out a bit for some. Maybe. Seems to, anyway.
To get the GSD to come back to her while the pup's off-leash, on a regular basis, out on our property, they have something similar to a book exchange. The pup brings back one red ball and leaves it near my wife, then my wife tosses out another different red ball.
But now the pup has become so attached to the very tough red Kong ball I brought home the other day, that she barely pays any attention to the other one(s). Often leaving them in the snow some place, that we have to find later on.
That's where the pink salmon patties come in.
When my wife is ready to stop playing, but the Shepherd wants to continue, a small fragment of really odiferous salmon patty nearly guarantees the pup will come to the door and back inside.
I suspected that one day I'd find a use for pink salmon.
I don't eat pink salmon, being a bit of a salmon snob. Though these don't smell too bad in the microwave.. Admittedly they smell a lot, and VERY fishy. I'll circle back to that in a moment..
The German Shepherd is fond of red balls, and has them ranked according to which is her favorite. I think many canines are color blind to one extent or another, as some assert bears are, as well. Red stands out a bit for some. Maybe. Seems to, anyway.
To get the GSD to come back to her while the pup's off-leash, on a regular basis, out on our property, they have something similar to a book exchange. The pup brings back one red ball and leaves it near my wife, then my wife tosses out another different red ball.
But now the pup has become so attached to the very tough red Kong ball I brought home the other day, that she barely pays any attention to the other one(s). Often leaving them in the snow some place, that we have to find later on.
That's where the pink salmon patties come in.
When my wife is ready to stop playing, but the Shepherd wants to continue, a small fragment of really odiferous salmon patty nearly guarantees the pup will come to the door and back inside.
I suspected that one day I'd find a use for pink salmon.
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Three Berries
Active member
This is an unbelievable creature: the glass octopus. Only the eyes, optical nerve and digestive tract are opaque. The glass octopus is still elusive and can barely be photographed. Here, an underwater robot filmed him freely flying through the deep waters of the central Pacific Ocean.
moose eater
Well-known member
I just ordered parts for an older well-maintained, high mileage Toyota of mine from an OEM parts wholesaler on the East Coast that I've routinely done a fair bit of business with, after a local shop did shit work, and then tried to get an outrageous amount of money to finalize repairs on it, fibbing about the parts needed (some of which were brand new and already replaced), up-selling, and doing sub-par work in the first place.. Not to mention the insult of them lying about the sequence in time in which my vehicle had been to another shop, accusing me of being the dishonest one in the dialogue, despite my offering to show invoices that proved my assertions.
They didn't want to see my proof and told me so.. I guess they failed to note how long I've lived in this State, and specifically, this area, how many people I know, and the impact of word-of-mouth on business. Especially in light of the fact that they're now running ads on tv; a sign that things aren't right at their business, especially in consideration of how long they've been in business. Ignorance and poor quality outcomes kill.
Their bid for the remainder of the work (2 aspects or types of jobs) was well over $2,500.. after I caught them fibbing and 'up-selling', and the piece of the job (one of 2 remaining efforts) that I ordered OEM Toyota factory parts for from the East Coast today, with the work now being done by an older, small-scale, fairly trustworthy shop here that permits me to bring in my own OEM parts (I'm a stickler for OEM factory parts when I can be), ends up being a contrast of a finished price on the one of two jobs of about $700 versus $1,600 or so. More than enough savings to help pay for our trip to the mountains this year. In fact, the savings in just this ONE job pays for nearly 100% of the trip!!
And I'm replacing more related, integral parts in the one job than the shit shop was intending to replace, for FAR less jing!!
Apparently there's a number of shops these days (the majority, literally) that don't hesitate to buy after-market parts, apply the OEM parts retail price to those parts, and then literally double that price, somehow believing that's not outright theft. News flash; it -is- outright theft, misrepresentation and more.
And once a person applies the unnecessary nonsense of routine up-selling, I guess some of these buggers figure it's our mission in life to put their kids through Harvard, and send them on 2 vacations a year to Mazatlan. Fuck them.
They didn't want to see my proof and told me so.. I guess they failed to note how long I've lived in this State, and specifically, this area, how many people I know, and the impact of word-of-mouth on business. Especially in light of the fact that they're now running ads on tv; a sign that things aren't right at their business, especially in consideration of how long they've been in business. Ignorance and poor quality outcomes kill.
Their bid for the remainder of the work (2 aspects or types of jobs) was well over $2,500.. after I caught them fibbing and 'up-selling', and the piece of the job (one of 2 remaining efforts) that I ordered OEM Toyota factory parts for from the East Coast today, with the work now being done by an older, small-scale, fairly trustworthy shop here that permits me to bring in my own OEM parts (I'm a stickler for OEM factory parts when I can be), ends up being a contrast of a finished price on the one of two jobs of about $700 versus $1,600 or so. More than enough savings to help pay for our trip to the mountains this year. In fact, the savings in just this ONE job pays for nearly 100% of the trip!!
And I'm replacing more related, integral parts in the one job than the shit shop was intending to replace, for FAR less jing!!
Apparently there's a number of shops these days (the majority, literally) that don't hesitate to buy after-market parts, apply the OEM parts retail price to those parts, and then literally double that price, somehow believing that's not outright theft. News flash; it -is- outright theft, misrepresentation and more.
And once a person applies the unnecessary nonsense of routine up-selling, I guess some of these buggers figure it's our mission in life to put their kids through Harvard, and send them on 2 vacations a year to Mazatlan. Fuck them.
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moose eater
Well-known member
Watched "Lock Up" with mom after dinner last night. Documentary show about people in prison. Been to jail/court few times back when I was younger, I have an idea how bad it sucks for people in prison and jail. I think these shows helped me not shoplift or commit any other non-marijuana crimes. I have been on my toes since I was sent to Youth Forestry Camp run by DYS in Brewster, MA at 15. If you don't do a good job you get sent to DYS custody. 1 poor dude didn't make it and flipped out and cried. I graduated and was then done with juvenile probation and suspended sentences. Eventually had my juvenile record sealed. Have to do the same with my adult record.
Youth Forestry Camp man...shit was tough and I was the only white dude but we did it.
Youth Forestry Camp man...shit was tough and I was the only white dude but we did it.
