Please check our other blog

Due to still being very busy. I am just updating our other blog at

http://alegria1976.wordpress.com/

so please look there until further notice. However, if the post there seems old, it may be wise to look here on this Blog.

Janet visits with other tourists while we are in Roswell, NM.



Thanks,
Dave & Janet

We are indeed finally on the road!

Some have asked, "Did you make it? Are your finally on the road?"

Yes, we sure did. But have been pretty busy with seeing friends, driving and trying to set up a doctor's appointment for Janet's 3 month routine check up. A simple exam and two standard blood tests, but it seems to be hard to do.

You probably do not want to hear our full sermon on "We do NOT have the best health care system in the World." You have already formed your own opinion. So, I'll just point out that various independent authorities agree that Americans pay overall, for health insurance, entitlements, fees, and everything that it takes for health care for our Nation, the most by far, per person, of any country on the planet. But that America's population is LESS healthy than more than 70 other countries and America's health care system is worse than over 30 other countries.

We have some great doctors and cool technology that often we invented, but we have an army of parasites pumping our wallets dry to "give" us substandard health care. The doctors and medical staff have usually been great, with some glaring exceptions. But the paper pushers and bean counters are usually awful, and there seem to be 50 of those for every health care person. If you think I am wrong, please look into it. If you don't look at the propaganda generated by the many Trillion $$$ industry, I am sure that you will agree with us.

OK, back to why that comes up right now. Janet could not get the only Gynecological Oncologist on her AARP Medicare Advantage from Secure Horizons to see her and his staff suggested several other doctors who "were surely on the same insurance" but were not. That took a week to work out, partially because none of these offices answer their phones. You get to leave them a message and wait days, and then they refuse to even look at the appointment book until you fax them about 40 pages of medical records.

Why not just say up front, "The doctor does not have any openings until blah, blah." Or, "Sorry but we don't have that insurance plan."

So, we will research further ahead, like Tucson, etc and see what we can do. Otherwise we will see a doctor in Seattle.

We will probably leave Dallas Thursday the 28^th for Midland and the Panhandle. Since thing happen to delay us, it is hard to give the folks that we are about to visit much warning and they have their own unexpected things happening. But, we will keep doing the best we can and see as many as we can.

Yesterday, at Taco Bell this Hot Sauce message appeared. Janet said that she'd seen it before, but it was new to me and very appropriate.

Dave & Janet

On The Road Again!

I have had a lot of trouble with counting chickens before they are hatched lately. I will spare you the details, but many times in the last month we thought that we were leaving Houston and beginning our road trip "in a couple of days" or even "tomorrow is the day!". Do you know the words to "Hotel California"?

’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

That concept has been often mentioned for the last month.
Well, at this instant we think that today is the day and we are waiting for the last load of laundry to dry.

Most of the disappointments involved our 2000 Dodge Caravan that I inherited from my mom. She kept it in a garage and rarely drove it, so it is in better than average condition. It just turned 70,000 real miles, not 170,000 or 270,000 and a lot of those we put on it since arriving in Houston in April 2010.
The most recent car problem was


1) annual safety inspection that when we drove away from the dealer, we had a "check engine" light. The free reading of the car's computer was not very useful. But, the light went away.         And then came back.       And then went away.    And so on.

2) routine oil change and ask about "check engine" light. $695 later the light is out, but there is a large puddle of oil under the car in the parking lot.

3) Back to the dealer. They need to keep the car for several days, but we were to leave the next AM and only had enough food in the motel room for that. Prognosis was a week to fix. We had to rent a car (and were shafted on the fees) to get our groceries. We drove our little roller skate to the motel to get the things we needed for shopping. As we got into the roller skate to go shopping, we were talking about the lyrics:

You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

Then, exactly like in a movie, when the car started, the radio began playing the first notes of Hotel California! We laughed a lot and perhaps a few tears, not of joy. We need some 'grins'.

4) $1,028 later and a new oil pan, the drip seems gone, and we have hope (again).

So, I am writing this at the motel and we have not actually left, BUT I will remove it from the blog if disaster strikes again.

Wish us luck. The song that we prefer is "On The Road Again" by Willie Nelson. A friend also sent us a link to it online. We hope to be hearing it soon.

Dave & Hairy

Our plans July 6

We have not posted for a while, because we are not sure when we will
begin our road trip. We are thinking San Antonio, Austin, Dallas,
Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, AZ, CA, OR, WA, BC.

Well, we hope to get out in the next day or two, but are delayed
waiting for some places that we are sending things, to get back to us.
We have some vintage Inuit/Eskimo carved ivory, to send to an auction
house and some historical Air Ship info that is waiting for the museum
to answer us.

But, it will be soon. Watch this space.

Now, will the rest all fit in the van????

Dave & Janet

Our friends on 'Tomboy' in the South Pacific

We met Tom & Janis on Tomboy in the Gulf of California back in about
1983. They had a smaller Tomboy then. They bought their present
Alajuela 33 'Tomboy' in the 1980's also and have cruised a lot on her,
but this is their first South Pacific Trip. They left Mexico this
Spring for the Marquesas, Tuamotus and are recently at Tahiti. They
recently posted photos on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63269583@N06/

With a few exceptions, the newest are the first ones that you see.
Leaving Mexico is at the far end. The numbers, like 4-16 are the
dates. Click on a photo if you want it bigger.

Janet, Dave, Mike, Olga and Brad were there in 1978 aboard Alegria and
it looks much the same.... BEAUTIFUL!

Dave & Janet

Nice web article about Turkey

I don't always agree with Huffington Post. Heck, I don't always agree
with any website. But, I really like this nice piece about Turkey.

And I would add to the "Cradle of Civilization" part that MUCH older
ruins of civilization were found in Turkey. Try 13,000 years before
present.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

But be sure to read this

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronen-paldi/10-surprising-facts-about-turkey_b_863035.html

Dave & Janet

Janet is Fuzzy now.

Hi!

Sorry to make some of you wait so long, but we are really busy and
there have not been many clearly defined changes to report. We are
both doing well.

Janet is clearly Fuzzy now. Think Marine Corp Boot Camp haircut
without the tattoos. Her eye lashes are coming back and even the
eyebrows are starting to be more than 5'oclock shadows. This is all
much too slow to suit her, but what else in new?

Dave is really feeling the pressure to get the remaining important
items sold or sent to good homes. For example, Dave's dad was also
interested in Lighter Than Air (LTA). Not the Hindenburg, but more
intelligent designs like the ZMC-2. This was greatly stimulated when
he met and became close friends with Ralph Upson, one of the major
pioneers of LTA. It was like knowing one of the Wright Brothers.

Ralph gave my dad a large roll of blueprints for the ZMC-12, yes 12,
not 2. (This is what Google is for, right?) and a thick packet of 8.5
x 11 papers, and two plates (like dinner plates, with beautiful glazed
paintings of important pre-1700 balloon flights) that were made in
about 1710 and were prizes Ralph had won in balloon racing.

Most of you that don't just say, "So what?" will say, "How can you
RACE unpowered balloons?"

Well, few can. Janet & I went on a hot air balloon ride in Central
Turkey. I already knew how, from my dad and Ralph, but even I was
amazed at how our balloonist was able to cause us to fly over to a
miniature Grand Canyon and descend into it and even deliberately get
so close to the walls that we could and did touch them with our hands.
All was done with a balloon that he can ONLY make go up or down or
stay the same. Only!

Basically, the idea is that the wind at different layers is usually
going in different directions. The Balloonist must know which way
these layers are going in advance and put the balloon in the correct
layer for the correct amount of time to get the desired result.
Hopefully, you see that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Like
saying that I am going to invent from scratch a 300 miles per hour
Ferrari, because I was just told that when I burn something, it causes
the air to expand.

If none of that makes any sense, don't feel bad, There is no quiz and
it won;t be on the Final Exam.

And, I need to get back to being busy,

Dave & Janet

Selling Dave's Folks personal items

I just noticed that 2 weeks has gone by without an update. FYI: That
usually means not much to report. Of course, it could mean that we are
working flat out on some sort of disaster, so I will try to not go
toooo long between messages, if I can just remember to do them.

Apr 20, Janet had her "Final Exam" with her Oncologist. She did great!
Of course she always wants to do better. To get a lower CA-125, to
have her hair already long, black & curly. She always lusted after her
Toni Doll's hair. I mean, her dog had hair like that. Why not her.

This lust for "If I only had blah blah, then I'd be happy." is wide
spread. It drives commerce, at least in America.

Well, she has a case of it. Who doesn't?

Dave continues to have rottweiler duty with the medical bills. One
example of many: The skilled nursing facility that Dave's mom was in
wants $500.00 more, but Dave can find no mention of why that is a
legitimate charge in the rules of his mom's insurance "Evidence of
Coverage". He asked the Insurance Company and they had no idea either,
so they are thinking about it and promised to get back to him within
30 days with an answer.

Most of our time recently is spent trying to sell Dave's Folks
personal items that were not really garage sale sorts of things.
Mostly we are using eBay. The items currently for sale are shown here.

http://shop.ebay.com/dave-on-alegria/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

Please frequently check that link. It changes.

We are challenged by the esoteric nature of some of these items.
Dave's dad, John Heath, was, most of his life, a BIG frog in a very
small pond. He tried to get people to appreciate the extensive
knowledge of the Arctic Peoples. Mostly as it pertained to kayaks, but
they obviously knew many other things.

I use Arctic Peoples as while we used to lump them all into "Eskimos"
which some say should now be Inuit, they were several ethnic groups,
and I am told that many of the Alaskan groups still prefer to be
called Eskimo. Most agree that the Arctic Peoples that we used to call
Eskimo were NOT what we used to call Indians, even though their lands
adjoined. Often the 'Eskimo' and the 'Indian' were enemies.

We all pretty much agree that 'Indians' is a dumb name for the people
of hundreds of nations that inhabited the New World. A Public
Relations artifact of Columbus (who's real name might have been Colon)
pitching his 'discovery' of a New World for the Europeans to rape and
pillage. But in no way related to India.

I am NOT an authority at all, but I was told that Europeans were being
guided further north with 'Indian' allies and when they first saw a
new to them and clearly 'different' people in the distance, they asked
their guides, "What do you call those people?" They were told a
pejorative. Some have said that Eskimo means "disgusting, barely
humans, that eat raw meat". Well, if you Google > Eskimo wiki < you
will see that that was probably a made up story. Sort of like the
viral emails that are nearly all nonsense, with just enough truthful
sounding stuff to make your eyes get big and forward it to all of your
friends. (Thank goodness for Snopes.)

Anyway we are trying to find homes for weird things like a large
library of spell binding books like these:
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland Vol. XVII 1912
Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology - Smithsonian Institution
The Ammassalik Eskimo
Ethnography of the Egedesminde District with Aspects of the General
Culture of West Greenland
Watkin's Last Expedition
Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology -
Smithsonian Institution
La Civilisation du Phoque
Qaannamik Pinnguaatit
Instruction in Kayak Building

And some more ordinary dishes and hats and stuff.

But, if we want to be done in about 30 days, something needs to
change. One might be for Dave to not write long blog posts. <grin>

It has been said that "Dave doesn't know any Short Stories."

More info about john Heath at
https://alegria1976.wordpress.com/davids-father-john-heath/

Or explore the upper right hand part of our WordPress blog.

Clowning Around 1

I sent this email about the perils of chemo 8 minutes ago, but it has not arrived on our blog, so I will try again.
>>>>>>>
A friend of ours sent Janet some clown noses and as part of her last day, a chemo friend and Janet tried them out. When the chemo nurse was out of the room, they put them on and called out, "Could you come back in? Janet's nose is turning red!"

Actually, getting red in the face is a common danger of this type of chemo if it is administered too fast.

However, in this emergency, a good time was had by all.

Clowning Around 2

There is supposed to be some text, but it is lost in HyperSpace.

Clowning Around

A friend of ours sent Janet some clown noses and as part of her last
day, a chemo friend and Janet tried them out. When the chemo nurse was
out of the room, they put them on and called out, "Could you come back
in? Janet's nose is turning red!"

Actually, getting red in the face is a common danger of this type of
chemo if it is administered too fast.

However, in this emergency, a good time was had by all.

The LAST chemo!

I am again, in a room down the hall as Janet has her chemo. The difference is that this is THE LAST chemo!!

Now the annoying side effects will begin to disappear. Getting her hair back is just one goal of many.

We are both well and looking forward to new adventures. Watch this space. Thanks again for your prayers, good vibes, affirmations, etc.

Please keep 'em coming.

I can hear frequent laughter coming from "The Chemo Chicks".

Dave & Janet

Happy Birthday Alegria!

37 years ago today, on April first 1974 an infant Alegria came out of the mold at Blue Water Boats, out in the woods near Seattle. She was then moved to our backyard where we changed her from a bare hull (no deck or anything inside at all, just a skin from the gunwales down) to an almost finished boat. She was put in the water for the first time July 1976.

She is patiently awaiting our return in Finike, Turkey.

Janet just had her last "Carbo & Taxol chemo". Only two more Taxol chemos to go, but the best news on that front was her CA-125, a test for Ovarian Cancer that began at 563 last year and is now 5! Anything less than 35 is "normal" as other things going on in the body can raise CA-125. It is not a precise measure of only ovarian cancer, but her oncologist says that in his extensive experience that people with 5 or less do not have recurrences of cancer! So her being told that she is in remission three weeks ago, has been underlined and writ in BOLD.

Dave and everything else are doing well and we need to go run errands, so I will spare you more text.

Happy Alegria's Birthday!

Selling John Heath's personal items

I am selling some of my father, John Heath's kayak related things online.

My father was John Heath (1923-2003) who, for nearly 50 years, did a
lot to make people aware of the amazing knowledge and technology of
various Arctic kayaks from Alaska to Greenland. If you are not
familiar with John Heath, here is my version of his biography at this
link:

https://alegria1976.wordpress.com/davids-father-john-heath/

Or look in the right column of the WordPress blog.

I will be selling many things of his, paddles, native art, John's
drawings and more over the next few weeks. Please frequently check
this next link. It changes. I have eBay items shown here.
http://shop.ebay.com/dave-on-alegria/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

I will run the eBay auctions for at least 7 days, so checking that
link twice a week will let you be sure to not miss anything.

At the moment, the ivory carvings and other art objects seem like they
will sell better on a Native Art auction sit, but I am still
researching that. Suggestions welcome.

I will be adding more as time goes on.

Janet has 3 chemos to go and is still doing great.

Dave & Janet

Good news from D&J. Bad news from Japan.

It has been a while since I updated and so here is a summary.

First Janet has only 4 chemo treatments to go. Yeah!!! But, the best news is that her oncologist has declared her to be in remission!

Now don’t take her off your prayer list, good thoughts, joss sticks, candles, prayer wheel or whatever you prefer. All positive energy is still much appreciated.

One of the tests for ovarian cancer is the “CA-125”. Lower is better. “Normal” is less than 35. When first diagnosed, Janet was 563. Some patients are much higher.

Each month her CA-125 was less than half the month before, and on March 7^th it was 8! Great news! Can she get it to 4 on the 28^th? That would be nice, but even 8 is wonderful.

So, Janet is getting great ‘grades’ and feeling very good. Thanks for the prayers, etc.

Dave is feeling fine also, but busy with keeping the medical insurance bills correct and selling some remaining items from his folks on eBay. You can see the eBay items here.

Dave’s father was John Heath, who, among other things was a World Authority on Arctic Kayaks. Here is more info about him.

The earthquake & tsunami

I assume that everyone knows about the troubles in Northern Japan. We send them our prayers, etc and cannot imagine what the affected zones are like. Janet & I feel their pain better than most. We were in the Mexico City 1985, 8.2 earthquake and for two days after, we were walking through rubble, trying to find a way to get word our families. Our hotel stayed up, but many, many near us collapsed into piles of rubble. Over 10,000 known dead. But, no tidal wave or radiation. Mexico City was terrible, but a piece of cake compared to the worst parts of Japan.

9.0 is nearly 10 times stronger than 8.2. And it is more complicated than that. How long it lasts, the kind of motion (vertical, horizontal, etc), and lots of things may be important in how much damage occurs. Mexico City is mostly built on a gigantic peat bog. Think, bowl of Jello. Our hotel shook so violently for about 45 seconds that it was hard to stand up.

Let’s just say that there are many factors for earthquake damage. And then they had a series of tsunamis and now radiation. We hope that all will join us in doing what you do to help them.

As most of you know, Pacific Rim earthquakes often cause tsunamis that affect much of the Pacific. You’ve seen the videos, but here is part of a letter from some cruising friends on the West Coast of Mexico. Tom & Janis Bell on TOMBOY.

>>>>>>>>>>
Subject: March 15 La Cruz, near Puerto Vallarta
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:04:49 +0000

Greetings everyone,

All is fine on Tomboy after the effects of the Japan Tsunami.  Fri the 11^th, I was up before 5am to do work on the internet.   As the sun rose I was finishing up contacts with the Agent in Tahiti to complete arrangement & payment for their assistance for check in-out and bond waiver.  Then a cruiser at the dock told us about the huge Japan earthquake/tsunami threat here.  Wow, what a shock.  The VHF radio net was intense with info at 8am.  The waves or ?? affects were due here near noon.  We decided to take Tomboy out into the bay for the day, as did about ½ the boats in this marina and the other 3 in Pt. Vallarta to be on the safe side.

The VHF channel 22 was full of land based info updates concerning Japan, and USA/MX coastal info all day. Near 1pm the marinas were reporting sudden continuous fast 1 ft rises-quick falls (all in less than 8 min) in the water based on the docks going up and down the pilings.  That steadily increased to 2 ft then 3- 4 and 5 ft+  increases /drops in that 8-10 min rapid water shift—major surge in and out of the marinas (all closed- huge currents in and out with the flushing action).  Out in the bay over 300 sail & power boats enjoyed a beautiful day with no obvious wave action.  It was expected to last about 3-4 hrs.  About 4pm many headed to shore expecting to go back to the dock.  In reality that surge was still at its peak exposing shore/rocks then pushing up to record high areas on the beach/ in the marinas which were totally unsafe to enter. The port captains closed all the marinas for entry.  As a result off La Cruz and up this side of the bay where the best anchoring is located all those 300+ boats anchored for the night.  We were off the Marina amid over 150 boats I counted early Sat am . It had been a calm night and everyone was courteous and orderly amid the stress filled day.

In new ultra modern Marina La Cruz that long intense surge weakened the end slips of the long mega yacht size dock #7 just inside the entry where the wild inflow/outflow was the strongest.  Sat morning (10am) when we returned to the marina there were workers dealing with the broken long end main finger (main support) and 2 interior fingers--only the massive double pilings for them were intact--$$ and difficult repair.  All the boats on that dock were relocated.   It was probably good that so many boats had left.  The other 3 marinas are located farther inside from the sea entry and reported NO damage to docks nor boats.  Yet all the entry channels had changed with all the shifting sand in the constant powerful currents.   It surprised everyone that that Tsunami ocean energy affected this bay well over 12 hrs. Boats in bays south reported similar fast rise/fall of coastal water all day also without significant damage. (Nothing like Santa Cruz or Crescent City, Calif.)

Tomboy now has full water tanks, fuel, produce, plenty of food/spares/charts and more.  We pick up laundry at noon and will spend the day getting ready for sea, cleaning up our computers, checking weather and enjoying walks in town.  Tomorrow 3/16 is our planned exit.  We are hoping for a NW wind push from the next pacific front to help us leave MX.  Five other boats from this area plan to head to the So Pacific this week.  Last night we listened for the 1st time to the Puddle Jump SSB net (0200 Zulu time- 7pm AZ) on 81  upper side band.  This is a check in net (roll call) for boats heading to the So Pacific to give location/ sea conditions.   6 boats that left last week checked in and we will join that roll call soon.  Future passage news will come via Emily. We are ready to start the next chapter of this adventure.    Janis and Tom

>>>>>>>>>

Everybody stay safe and happy and we will do the same.

Dave & Janet

A very nice article about Finike

Our boat, Alegria, is patiently waiting for our return in Finike. A
small, very friendly city on the south coast of Turkey. Google it.

This nice article, written for one of the English language Turkish
Newspapers appeared June of 2010, but this is the first that we have
seen it. One of the very nice boat agents in Finike just pointed it
out to us. His name is UMIT GOLGECI and he helps boaters from all over
the world, get things done in a (wonderful) foreign land.

It is a nice article and the English is excellent. Remember that it is
in a Turkish paper.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-multinational-neighborhood-of-finike-the-marinasouth-cover--2010-06-09

Janet and Dave continue to do well. We hope that you do too. Janet has
6 more treatments left and it is hard to imagine getting all of the
other things done that we need to, to be ready to go at the end of
that time.

Thing continue to be pretty good

I could feel people wondering when I would get around to an update, so...

A common email or phone question is

> Hope everything is progressing well for you Janet.

We are both doing very well thanks. It is Wednesday, so Janet is
getting chemo as I write this. There are typically several ladies as
patients and often some friends of theirs in the chemo room. Just 3
patients and one friend today. I am down the hall in an empty
examining room with a small desk, chair, electricity and reasonable
WiFi for free, writing this.

When Janet started this last Fall, the ladies were typically quiet and
perhaps sometimes not very happy as some types of chemo make some feel
bad or sleepy, or even vomiting, etc like a bad sea sickness. Janet
likes to chat them up and she can usually get them laughing and
carrying on. Having a great time, much like 'Ladies' coffee morning'
at some marinas we have visited.

Today is no exception and periodically great bursts of laughter come
rolling down the hall to my tiny 'office'.

Some website coined the phrase, 'the Chemo Chicks'.

Janet is very glad that so far the side effects for her have been very
mild and manageable. This can change, so it pays to not get cocky, but
she only has 7 more (out of 18 total) after today. So, our fingers are
crossed that her (our) luck will continue.

Our stolen phone was replaced later that week for just the activation
fee. For people that seldom need a phone (I may already know the only
three on the planet) we have really enjoyed

http://www.consumercellular.com/

My mom wanted a phone only to be able to call AAA (for the
non-Americans that is a company that provides aid to stranded
motorists for a reasonable fee). ConsumerCellular's basic plan for
members of AAA or AARP (for retired people) was $10.00/month and they
give you a basic flip phone for free. The use AT&T's network and have
many fancier phones for the rest of you. Minutes are $0.25/min, which
if there are few or none, is quite nice.

I think the $35, one time, activation is the only other fee, but it
was over a year ago.

AND if you are getting close to 40 minutes for the month on the pay
for minutes plan, which will add $10.00 to the bill, they notify you
that you might want to change to a higher plan. $20/mo gives you 250
minutes free and $30 gives you 500, etc. (With the usual hidden fees,
this works out to $24.44 or $35.53 for me depending on which plan.)

If you are on the $20 or whatever plan and you can see that a cheaper
plan is better for you this month, you can change to the best plan for
you right up to last days. This is new to me. My prior cell phone
plans loved to LOCK YOU IN to the most expensive plan that they could,
and sock it to you if ran over.

If there is anyone considering getting a ConsumerCellular plan, if you
say that I recommended you, we BOTH get $10 off, so ask me before you
do it. Or at least get approval from the sales person. They have been
very helpful to us. The support people have all been on the same
continent and English is their native language AND they know what they
are talking about! Also, rare nowadays.

Security dangers

I will probably write more about Internet and WiFi security in another
post but here is a start. The final straw was seeing several articles
on both nerdy and boating websites about these dangers. There is new
free software that makes it easier for even idiots to steal you
passwords, bank info and emails and I am trying to learn to be safer
as we use Internet and WiFi a LOT. If you are way ahead of me, please
get in touch.

So far I have switched to Mozilla Firefox with the 'HTTPS Everywhere'
Add-on and Astrill VPN with 40% discount from ActiveCaptain. See
below.

As I said, we use WiFi a lot and for banks and things that could be
disastrous if hacked. And I seem to be getting similar warnings from
many sources, so we are trying the offer mentioned in a link below for
a discounted version of Astrill. Many other sites seem to like
Astrill. But so far I have had a lot of trouble with it. I will try to
remember later to mention if I love Astrill or hate it after I have
some time with it.

ActiveCaptain has negotiated a special rate with two preferred Virtual
Private Network (VPN) suppliers. These VPN services allow you to surf
safer by encrypting everything from inside your computer through the
WiFi, the Cyber Cafe, all the way to a distant server in another city
that can be far far away. This makes WiFi much safer and if you are in
Turkey or on a blocked WiFi network that blocks certain sites, this
circumvents that blocking.

And, when we were in Spain, but I wanted to buy a US anti-virus
software they would only let me buy it through the Spanish branch of
their company, in Spanish and at a higher price. This VPN would have
let me buy from the US, since it would appear that I was in the US.

I also want to look at weather forecasts, but some pages were not open
to me because I was not inside the USA.

Confused? Read the links below and Google around to learn more. But,
beware fly by night companies!

You need to sign on to Active Captain to obtain the discounted rates
negotiated by them.

https://www.activecaptain.com/newsletters/2010-11-17.php
https://www.activecaptain.com/newsletters/2010-12-15.php
https://www.activecaptain.com/newsletters/2011-01-05.php
http://www.vpnsp.com/astrill.html

Janet's done, so I will close.

Dave & Janet

Our Cell Phone

We just discovered that our cell phone was lost or stolen Feb 3 and we
have turned it off because someone has been making calls on it. If you
were trying to reach us, you will need to use our motel number
713-895-2900 extension 9165 until we can replace the cell phone and
get a new number.
This is very frustrating, but fortunately not a lot of money is at
stake. It could be worse.
Dave

Moving Day & Blackouts

For several days we were wearing Tee Shirts and running the air conditioner, but today Houston and much of the USA is having unusually cold weather. Today is Wednesday, February 02, 2011. It is 23F (-6C) at 917AM, which they are not ready for, so they have "rolling brown outs" which in this case means that they turn the electricity off for several hours in different parts of Houston. Our electricity and phone and Internet at the motel went off at 730AM and so we went to the Hospital where Janet is supposed to have Chemo at 1030AM. Hopefully the Hospital is exempt from optional power outages.

 

Yes, I realize that hospitals have generators for emergencies, but we assume that they only supply critical needs, not a doctor's office.

 

In any case, at least for the moment, there is power and hot food in the Cafeteria.

 

Yesterday, we rented a tiny storage room and moved the remaining items from my mom's apartment. At 3PM we will have the inspection and turn the keys in.

 

Janet & Dave both continue to feel great.

 

Several people have asked if they can subscribe to the blog that they prefer and get emails telling them when something gets updated.

 

I have not tried it, but, I believe so. Look around for the "Follow" button at the lower right on this link for blogspot.

http://alegria1976.blogspot.com/

 

And I think that for WordPress that you can subscribe here

http://alegria1976.wordpress.com/feed/

 

Let me know how it works. Thanks for asking about it. I may have learned something.

 

Dave & Janet

PS: The chemo started on schedule. Yea! Only 10 more after this one.

Estate Sale

Janet is doing very well now. She had the first of the final 12 chemo treatments last Wed. the 26th. (Dave is well also.)

We have been busy with our usual busy lives and getting ready for the Estate Sale at my mother's apartment for weeks and then we had the sale Fri, Sat and today, Sunday. Today is the last day and I have a moment to post to the websites.

Not much more to report. All of the trying to understand, and usually correct errors in, the Insurance company bills, is continuing, but the chemo treatments are all the same, so, we hope that soon we will have the bugs out of that and they will not need so much time.

Cheers,

Dave & Janet

Janet is home from the hospital!

You may wonder if this is an old email or what is going on.

Well, briefly, Sunday, Jan 9, Janet had a stomach ache after eating. This has been common since surgery, but this one was worse and kept her from sleeping.

The ever-perceptive Dave slept soundly until 2AM before asking if she was OK. From 2AM on there were many phone calls to the '24 hr nurse line' from her health insurance company.

Somehow we thought that meant that we could talk with a nurse any time, night or day. However, the typically 60 minute waits for them to return my call made us repeatedly wonder if the '24 hour' part referred to how soon they would call back. Americans are familiar with the now shortened message when they call an important phone number and need urgent tech support, etc.

It used to say, "Your call is very important to us, so we went to Walmart and bought this cheap answering machine so we don't need to be bothered." But, that did not seem to go over well, so they shortened it to, "Your call is very important to us. Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed."

But back to Janet, her oncologist, who we called at 6AM saw her at 10AM and said no worries. You may have a Small Bowel Obstruction. (That is an obstruction of the Small Bowel, not a Small Obstruction of the Bowel.) Just wait and it will usually go away.

Does this remind you of the song about "put the lime in the coconut" where she wakes up her doctor and he tells her, "Put the lime in the coconut, and call me in the mo-o-ornin' "?
http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/coconut.htm

Anyway, she was to keep suffering and not worry unless she vomited or got a fever.

We went home and she was able to sleep at times, but about 6PM she flew out of bed and ran to the porcelain throne with projectile vomiting. Next stop the Emergency Room.

This makes about 6 or 8 times since Sept that Dave has been there with Jessie or Janet. Have you ever heard the term "Munchhausen by proxy"? They don't seem to have heard it at this ER. We are now on first name basis with the staff.

They did various things and put a tube down her nose and pumped her stomach to relieve the pressure, and reduce the struggle to the bowel. That was something that she won't soon forget. And the tube stayed there, in her nose until Thursday. Not fun. At about 5AM on Tue, they admitted Janet to the hospital.

We both were pretty tired and Dave went home and got some much needed sleep. 3 hours in 48 is no fun.

But, the Happy Ending is, Janet came home about 1030PM Thursday and we slept in to 830AM Fri. A record for us in recent months. The photo is when Janet had just had the stomach tube removed Thursday morning and was told that she could order 'full liquids'. Yummy things like cream of wheat, and grits, cream soups, etc. A big improvement over 'nothing by mouth' and later 'clear liquids' like apple juice.

At 11AM Friday, she still feels wonderful and is gently eating 'normal food'.

Sad news about Jessie

I have some very sad news about my mom, Jessie Heath. At 530 this morning, Tuesday, January 04, 2011, we got the call from the Hospice nurse that Jessie had passed away.

 

We are very sorry that she is not still among us as the Jessie that we knew and love, but her last month has not been very good and Janet and I think that she is much happier now. We will be dealing with things today and for some time to come.

 

Per Jessie's wishes, there will not be a funeral or memorial service. She wanted to be cremated and her ashes sprinkled in several of her favorite places in Texas and the Pacific Northwest. This does not preclude her friends from remembering her. Do what YOU think best. You know you better than anyone.

 

Please no flowers at all. Our only request is that whenever you think of her, that you thank her for all of the great times that you had together and see her on her best day, because that is what Janet and Dave do. This should make you smile, not sad.

 

If you are compelled to make an offering, some places that she really wanted to help, and has helped, are:

 

Manna Thrift Store

1806 W 43rd Street

Houston, TX 77018-3006

 

Phone:     (713) 686-6440

 

and any place or person that helps animals, such as CAP in west Houston:

 

http://www.cap4pets.org/support-us

 

and the cat sanctuary that Jessie visited with us in Rome:

 

http://www.romancats.com/index_eng.php

 

There are people helping, and needing help, all over the world. Generally, if you are watching for such things, you will learn where they are near you.

 

But, again, we are not asking that you donate to any one or anything. Jessie's wish, and ours it that the most important thing is that people be loving, caring and kind to each other and to the critters that surround us. Hugs, kind words and courtesy to everyone, including a little petting to our non-human friends are the most valuable offerings. Actually, many humans like and deserve a little petting once in a while, too. But, use good judgment in the workplace.

 

Don't you wonder about those that seem to just toss coins in a pot and, feeling good about how noble they are, continue to be, shall we say, 'less than caring' to everyone and everything.

 

Isn't it better that everyone work on trying to be a great 'Citizen of the Planet Earth'. This is not 'an obligation' or a sacrifice. Please do like you always do, being the best you can with every breath because you ENJOY it! That does the most good and, since it is fun, you will do it more often.

 

In the Emergency Room that Jessie visited many times this Fall, there is a sign that says:

 

"How other people treat you is their Karma. How you respond to it is yours"

 

Obvious, but too often forgotten. Gently remind them. That is the best gift.

 

Janet and Dave are very well and will write more later. This will be another busy day.

Jessie’s New Year’s Eve

We are sorry to say that Jessie's 'up and downs' continue to have a generally downward trend. To us, the very worst part of the last month is how many times, and for how many hours, they have let Jessie be in pain. For various 'reasons' and excuses and screw ups. I could write a really vicious and long, itemized and documented piece about how I feel about that, but I am trying to be upbeat and encourage prayers and positive thoughts, so I will not do that right now.

If some of you don't know us very well, you may get the wrong idea about how I (Dave) feel about this whole thing.

I do not want my mother to die. I thought that she had several more enjoyable years left. We are all going to die. I am old enough to have had many friends and relatives die in the last few years. There are different opinions on this, but mine is that it is an essential part of life. Getting mad or irrational about it only hurts you. Like getting mad that Thursday ends, or 2010 ends. Happy New Year, by the way.

Janet and I feel strongly that we should try very hard to NOT dwell on the loss of a loved one. But, rather remember all the wonderful moments that they caused in our lives or that we shared with them. They gave us so many nice memories, and in the case of a parent, life itself. They would want us to always be happy, not sad when we think of them. We have been truly blessed to have known them. It is like the question, "Is the glass half empty or half full." This glass is very full and we have been literally blessed.

Janet & I also, are certain that Death is not actually 'the end' of everything, just some things. We love the poem "A PARABLE OF IMMORTALITY" by Henry Van Dyke, Born 1852, Died 1933. He was a 19th Century clergyman, educator, poet, religious writer, and United States Minister to the Netherlands.

It is easily found on the web. Try this link:
http://storiesforspeakers.blogspot.com/2008/10/parable-of-immortality-by-henry-van.html

We can usually choose many things about how we live our lives and I thought that I could be an advocate for my mom while she was in the hospital. I did all that I could and will continue to. It is frightening to think what would have happened if I had NOT been there. Don't get me started on "the Greatest Healthcare System in the World." A nice knee jerk reaction that some of our friends have, but blindly rooting for the Home Team is a bad idea in this case.

This is getting too long. Most of you are well aware that 'Dave doesn't know any short stories.'

With the approval of every doctor involved, we put Jessie into Hospice. The hope is that she will finally have adequate pain management. We are not killing her. Some surprisingly large percentage of people recover while in Hospice. I believe that while we cannot choose when we will die, we can sometimes choose what percentage of Nightmare is involved.

This is completely in keeping with many long, thoughtful discussions with Jessie, Janet & Dave when my father, John Heath died in 2003 and other times. It is also expressed in various legal documents that Jessie had drawn up years ago. I suggest that you learn what your state or Country allows and get your views in writing before it is too late.

Janet is still doing great and Dave is too, except for the frustration.

We will continue to update as things happen. Thanks again for your prayers and wonderful wishes every time you think of us.