Category: Orphans

 Who Dat?

 What more might I really say after the thrilling overtime win the Saints foist upon the Vikings. Well, perhaps Garrett Harley’s 40-yard field goal was a bit thrilling. The Zebras stopping what seemed like every play after the OT began was getting tedious.

 I must admit though, a TV shot of where Hartley was and where he would have to kick the ball made me believe that this thing wasn’t going to work. It seemed like he had to boot the thing for miles! I really didn’t want to watch. I didn’t want to but did and I couldn’t even tell it went through because for some reason my reception on the local Fox channel here in Beaumont, Texas, sucks. It probably is the fault of the cable provider, the always helpful Time-Warner.

 But the Zebras lifted their hands upward toward the heavens. And the Ain’ts were no longer the Aint’s they had been for the better part of 40-something years. They were the NFC Champions!

 Poor Old Man Favre. I really don’t know what to make of that dude. I want to like him but he seems as if he teeters on the edge of macho drama queen. He sure got his a** waxed yesterday. He should have been totally rested after the game considering the number of times that dude got knocked down. But there isn’t too many like him. Many are cold but few are frozen. That is except for Peyton.

 Manning just needed the time to figure it all out. That was what that first half was about. And I needed to do my taxes anyway. After I figured out how to get back into the tax program I’ve used for the last four years, it didn’t take long at all and got a decent refund — perhaps in as little as a week — to boot. I was finished by the start of the second half of Colts vs. Jets.

 Oh and Sanchez. He had a nice ride as a rookie. Now he has to start playing some NFL-style football. Like I could carry his shoulder pads. Or for any other pro football player for that matter. But everyone can be a Monday-morning quarterback, no matter what time of day it might really be.

 Peyton Manning. There is no football player anywhere like him as far as I know. He will be the deciding factor come kickoff for the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks. That is, following an afternoon filled with your standards Super Bowl hype. Yes, I wish Peyton the best but wish Drew Brees the mo’ better.

 In the end, I will root for my next door neighbors in Nawlins. They have something to cheer about a long time coming.

Normally, I’m not a big fan of Politico.

The MSM-ish, all-the-politics-all-the-time Web product once occupied a place on my blogroll when I was using Blogspot. But I tired of their cable news-like approach to political reporting. That approach is basically summed up in one word: drama. If there is no drama, create some. Plus political gossip is found there more often than not. I don’t like that. But that’s just me, the old-time newspaper guy who had to count headlines and paste-up pages in the early days of his career. I’m certain there are those print guys much older, or who started before me, who really are the old-timers. I’m just being half-ass facetious.***

With all that blather I speak of Politico because there is a very good article on it today which cites reasons the Republican Party isn’t as well off as many believe it to be. Politico founder and executive editor Jim VandeHei and writer James Hohmann report that a few unexpected victories, including that most recently of nude model Scott Brown who took the Kennedy Senate seat, have the GOP riding high.

But while some Republicans lick their chops at the prospect at taking over Congress in November, other GOP-ers are saying not so fast.

VandeHei and Hohmann point out that the poll numbers show what everyone including Republicans should know, that the public is not crazy about the Grand Old Party. The speculation mentioned in this article gives the GOP an outside chance at re-taking the Senate and a fatter chance at ruling the House. The article also correctly points that this is January and November will be in November.

Republican leaders say part of their problem is getting their agenda out there. Other party leaders fret that the GOP lacks a brand. Meanwhile, party minority whip Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia wrings his hands over a lack of diversity among candidates.

Other formidable problems also puzzle the GOP elite. The public likes President Barack Obama, for one, and, correctly, feel like he inherited a big financial mess from Gee Dubya Bush. Money, or lack thereof, is perhaps the biggest problem facing Republicans, according to VandeHei and Hohmann. We’re talking campaign cash and not a Washington bailout.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Republicans to overcome is not mentioned in the article, as informative as it is. That is the party has a big case of see no evil, hear no evil, fear no evil.

For instance, the perceived agenda problem. What agenda are they talking about? I suppose if they had an agenda other than being super-obstructionist, then that would be a problem. They have no problem promoting their agenda if it is attacking everything done by the Democrats.

And as for lacking a brand, why the GOP has unfortunately branded themselves already as the Obstructionist-Pig-headed-Bassackwards-Reactionary party. Cantor does see the forest for the trees at least for the diversity problem. But — and perhaps fate is involved here — everything the Republicans do turns to feces. The same can be said of their diversity hire program. I give you exhibit A, Republican party chairman Michael Steele.

The GOP needs money yet they always seem to find some spare change lying around. However, the whole animus towards Republicans today is based on the fact that most folks who are not Republicans and even many Republicans themselves think the party and its leaders — whomever they are — stinks to high heaven.

The Politico article is a great read and will only take up a few minutes of your time. I think whether you are Republican, Democrat or Save the Bluenose Rat partisans you will find something instructive on what the GOP looks like at the moment. If you are a Republican you might come down off your high from winning in Massachusetts a few moments, but that could be a good thing to think about which way your party is headed. If you are a Democrat you might be a bit encouraged, but not too much.

As for as the Independents and Bluenose Rat lovers, well you can take what you will from it. All in all, the piece is one Politico could use more of instead of the gossip and faux drama that too often fills up the site.

***In reality I shouldn’t be so hard on Politico. VandeHei is a longtime journalist who covered the White House and other political matters for The Washington Post as well as other distinguished newspapers. The site is doing something new and I give them a B for effort. But I give them a D for overall content for the reasons to which I alluded.

Whenever one is handed a medical diagnosis such as Type II diabetes — even if one is skeptical of the diagnosis — such a revelation is usually somewhat significant in the medical partition of one’s life. But whenever the doctor says: “But there’s more … ” One says: “Shoot ’em low sheriff, he’s riding my Shetland pony!” Or something like it.

Yesterday I got more than I bargained for at the primary doc, actually a physician’s assistant, or a “doc-lite” if you will. She went over the MRI results from my test on Tuesday and it wasn’t all that pleasant as medical news goes.

Before the MRI results though, the PA pronounced me as diabetic, as if to answer the question that has floated around my Department of Veterans Affairs caregivers and me: “Am I diabetic or am I just fat?”

So that news  involves a whole lifestyle change including diet, exercise (which shall be dicey as you will see) and sticking your self with a pin and testing your blood.

Now, the MRI news. I have suffered from neuropathy for the better part of eight months, perhaps longer. The symptoms have included severe foot pain in both feet including that which feels like someone is sticking a nail in your foot, as well as numbness and just plain hurting feet. Simultaneously, I have also suffered from lower back pain, a sharp pain that shoots down my right butt cheek (It’s those damn Republicans!) and a shooting pain in my right leg when sitting or driving too long.

Diabetes is one of the major causes of neuropathy. There are hundreds of causes it seems. Since the VA often deals in what one might call “quantity medicine,” I was concerned about receiving a diagnosis of diabetes because it was the easiest. I am the most overweight I have ever been in my life. My blood sugar has risen but some doctors have said it was on the cusp of diabetes. Thus, I got a diabetes diagnosis complete with a meter to measure my blood sugar and all the little accessories.

But the MRI found two other possible reasons for my leg and foot pain. For one I have what the PA described as a “tumor” — non-malignant — and as a “fat deposit” that is causing some stenosis, or encroachment, on my lumbar spine.

Secondly, the MRI discovered what is suspected as a relatively rare condition caused “anachroiditis.” This sounds, of course, like something having to do with a spider although that word is “arachnid.”

Anachroiditis is the inflammation of the two innermost layers surrounding the spinal cord and often expands to the nerve roots. This can cause scarring or adhesion of the nerves. The kicker is there is no cure for this condition. So I guess the punter is that it also is progressive and can lead to paralysis and death. It’s difficult enough to look at one the many pages I have been reading on the Internet about my new found rare and incurable malady. This is a disease described as both “dreadful” and “insidious.” To read what I have written is even more a chore.

The causes also are many: Anything from lumbar puncture or chemicals from a spinal injection to trauma to viral or bacterial infections. The possible complications are numerous as well. It doesn’t sound like it is or might be a whole lot of fun.

I still have to see my neurologist at the VA next week and I suppose we might go over the limited treatment options. One, perhaps, might be surgery to remove the mass and continued use of Lyrica which has seemed to help my feet pain somewhat. Surgery for arachnoiditis is almost zero likely since surgical procedures have not been very successful in treating the condition.

I will be the first to tell you my future right now looks scary as I — so my friend Terri Jo put it — “travel the undiscovered country of ill health.” But I will do my best to keep active, keep upbeat, keep moving those limbs, keep upright on the ground and keep on truckin’. And I don’t know what effect, if any my condition will have on my work including freelancing, but I will keep on pounding out this thing — eight feet deep — for better or worse as long as I am able.

So there.

This morning I took the shuttle to the VA hospital for my multiple appointments. I don’t know who thought up booking me for three appointments when one of those was a MRI. But it all worked out somehow.

An 84-year-old Marine sat next to me on the ride over. He seemed kind of lonesome, as to be expected, since he lives by himself. His wife died several years ago and his children are scattered around the country. The fellow was, I believe he said, a veteran of Saipan, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima during World War II. It’s hard to imagine going through and — moreover, living through — one of those battles, much less three.

I know that if he had wanted to talk about those battles he would have. He did mention the unit citations his outfit received during the war and talked about how he would sell the cigarettes that came in his rations to other GIs because he didn’t smoke. We mostly talked about less martial things though. We spoke of gas prices. He said he could remember gas wars during the late 40s with stations selling regular for 19-20 cents per gallon. We both remarked at how strange it is that we have the highest average gas prices in Texas right now when we are surrounded by refineries. We also talked about movies and just common everyday matters.

The funniest thing this old Marine told me was something I had not heard but is evidently true. He said that during a visit several years ago to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum the visitors were informed that the wax figure of President Bill Clinton had its zipper sewn shut. The reason was that every time the museum personnel went by the Clinton figure they would find that someone had passed by the mannequin and unzipped his pants.

Sometimes it is great to hear of the war exploits of our older heroes. Other times it is just as rewarding talking to these fellows and listening to their take on the normal affairs of man — and presidents.