It's 23° and snowing in Lawrenceburg, TN. This is my fifth winter here and I've seen some interesting weather, including snow, but this one could dump a bit.
I remember Steph's and my first big snow in the Grand Tetons. I made a snowman out by the mailbox, on our little subdivision street, off Ski Hill Road. We were the new couple on this very spread out block, and were the first house you came to as you entered.
Just for the fun of it, I stuck a stick, facing upward, into the snowman's lower belly and packed a snow sculpture around it, in the shape of something very hard and erect. The Horny Snowman was born!
I wish I could give a rational reason for that, I do know, as that first Winter sunk in, we hadn't made any friends in the subdivision. I think I was just giving the place a friendly fuck you.
Ahhh, Sunday evening in the South, in January. The snow totals are projected to be seven inches or more tonight.
Back where I come from, we talked in feet, not inches. I know what driving a public bus in the dead of a high mountain Idaho winter is like. I did it for a decade.
That experience now tells me to just stay off the road and let it thaw. Put that strip club down in Huntsville visit off for a bit.
I have determined that I have an addictive disposition. Right now I'm suffering through a bout of Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter munchies. The kitchen knife lays poised to dive into the jar, on a paper towel, in my kitchen.
In fact, that's been my main exercise, back and forth for another scoop, each time swearing it was my last.
And I have not communicated with anyone all day. No calls, no text, no email, no human interaction. I have power and heat, I'm secure, and I'm thankful for what I have left in life. Let it snow...
I'm using this old hammer for breaking up ice in the bag in my freezer compartment. It's been in my life for quite a while now, with no memory of how it arrived.
It's not like my grand-fathers hammers, which are probably at least a hundred years old, this one is different.
It's heavy, with a big solid white hammer head of unknown material, designed to deliver a softer, spread out blow. Handmade holes at the bottom, with wrapped braided threads at the tip.
Riley and Jess's new baby Taleigh is beautiful, and it looks like red hair is emerging to match her sister Ariella's.
It's headless chicken time, here in Tennessee. The weather people are warning about possible snow in some places this weekend, that may reach a couple of inches!
I moved here after spending twelve years in high altitude Idaho snow country.
My landlord just sent me a text to make sure I keep my faucets running when it drops below 32. We ran our faucets when the TV weather station in Idaho Falls said we should, and it was way below freezing.
Our Winter temps often got down to -40°. The faucets were defiantly running but Teton Valley would just shut down.
Schools would closed, and I drove a bus that had a bunch of kids on board throughout the day, so I stayed home.
Leave a skeleton crew at the grocery store, a gas station open, and the Valley would just wait for everything to warm up.
When snow is piled high against the house, and around the hot tub out on the deck, you hunker down at -40°.
But not with two inches of snow and temps in the twenties and thirties...
I took the CD of my Liver Ultrasound over to Daniels last night and saved the contents to a thumb drive. I looked at the files this morning and there was no viewer software for the DICOM image file format included. Which means it's totally unusable to a layman. Only people in the Medical profession have the software to view these images.
Unless you're a computer genius like me, who can track down a Dicom viewer package and install it on my Windows 11 laptop.
Bingo, there were 37 images to do with as I wanted. I could have converted them all to .jpg, but the viewer app had an export to video function, so I created one.
The resulting video had my confidential info on the front and back, and it flew through the 37 images in three seconds. So, I popped it into my video editor, stripped off the personal data, and stretched it out:
The video turned out great. You can see the title of the organ, force it's way into the upper left, as each one slides into view.
Here is the good doctor Douglas White's diagnosis as a result of seeing these images.
• Pancreas is unremarkable.
• Gallbladder is normal.
• Common Bile Duct is good.
• Right Kidney has mild diffuse renal cortical thinning without hydronephrosos or nephrolithiasis.
Bottom line, he stated that I have diffuse fatty infiltration of the liver, otherwise unremarkable.
Sometimes you have to dive deeper when all they say is "You have a fatty liver, so now fuck off, that's all you get to know".
I've been thinking about my priorities lately, and they've come down to a few things. In order of importance: Family, friends, freedom, my mancave, physical and vehicle mobility, ice with vodka and water, a little smoke, and some hot sex before I die.
Beyond that, I'm just doing my best to keep moving forward, with a positive attitude and love in my heart.
It's a healthy process, to think about, and honestly rate, your priorities!
One of my goals today has been to pay god's blessings upon me, forward.
As I headed into the discount smoke shop for ice, I saw a man drop a sheet of paper into the parking lot, in the wind. He managed to secure it with his foot, but couldn't bend over to pick it up.
I walked over and picked the paper up and placed it into the stack of papers within his arms. He said it's rough being 57, and I told him I'm 77.
Then he said something that blew my mind: "I know you are, I think you're amazing"!
He looked familiar, was this another person I've helped out around here, that I can't remember, or a friend of one I have. Whatever, it was a great encounter!
I realized that I didn't pay my $10 copay the last time I was at my little strip mall medical clinic. The front desk girl was busy and I just spaced and left.
I went in there this morning to pay my bill, but the girl said there is nothing due. I told her that's just what happened at Pat's Cafe, where my order info vanished before I could pay, and I got a free breakfast.
She smiled and said "maybe you're blessed, pay it forward" and I told her I do that as much as I can.
Then, being on a roll, I drove up to the hospital to get copies of my liver ultrasound images. Once I navigated through a couple of folks in the main building, I ended up down in Records at the back of the Hospital.
I filled out a couple pages of info, let her scan my ID, we chatted about Florida beaches, and then she handed me a CD.
I don't own a CD reader anymore, but I could run up to Walmart and get one for twenty bucks. Or better, Daniel's got one for his laptop, I'll just borrow his tonight, for this one-off event.
I wonder who my blog audience is anymore. Turns out, a lot of people have been reading my posts, but I have no idea wether they're friends or family, or just folks who I've given my site name to, and they decided to stick around.
This blog has been firmly embedded in the Google search structure for more than five years. It's secure, trusted, no ads, no cookies, no spyware and no comments wanted, just a place where an old man rattles on to the world about his daily survival, and what he thinks about this amazing experiance called life. New followers may very well be coming from Google.
It's interesting to think that OldManJim has a following, maybe I should be more careful about what I write.
Nahh...
The best time I've ever spent here in my Southern Tennessee small place, was when the dark rental vehicle turned on to our street and I said "they're here".
Suddenly, a flood of family came rushing out the doors, into my space and into my arms. My son Riley, wife Jessica, baby Ariella, and Taleigh in the belly. Grand-daughter Shelby and her dog Zinny.
I had barbecue waiting in the center of my mancave. They all got to experience my life here, and like I said, the best day. I even took them on a back road cruise up to the Park and back through the Square.
Then we all headed North for our amazing Nashville adventure.
I've lived in many places in my life, and I've learned a truth. You either love it, hate it, or endure it. If you love a place, you lovingly hold onto it. If you hate a place, you fight desperately to escape it.
To endure a place is to accept the level of security it offers, at a price you can afford.
Maybe there's another level, where the three emotions can come together, and thrive. I think that's where I'm at right now.
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