chinavet

Kicked out of my hotel for renovations today. Doing a movie double header: Hitchcock and Anna Karenina. Saw Killing Them Softly already. Wait for the DVD but good flick if you like slow motion photography of bullets tunneling through people's heads. Think Pulp Fiction...

Ran into the seniors from the nursing home nearby again. They get shuttled somewhere every Friday. Last week it was the movies. They try to whisper, but being hard of hearing it sounds more like an announcement at a Cubs game. --"It's the blind man with that cute dog" --""Oh quiet Myrna!! I'm sure he's not deaf too!"

Worked out the Gander conundrum. There is a former high jump All American who visits his girlfriend here who loves Gander. He's biding time while on a liver transplant waiting list. He's very kind. He will stay in my room and he and the staff here will take Gander to my regular haunts--even to the movies... The Caribou coffee staff says they will snap pics of Gander and post them on Instagram whenever he comes in. Beats a kennel or a trip in the baggage hold into the mainland. Will have...

I'm at the VA dentist. I've been here about 5 times. Receptionist adores Gander and calls him by name. She has to ask me who I am w Rey time. Lol.

So I wake up ready to cuss out the construction crew. It turns out the sawing is Gander... http://soundcloud.com/lonnie-hodge/sounds-from-wednesday-night/s-84ASJ

This is what Yeats would call reconciliation of opposites: Delicious Pain ;-) Note to self. (Enchilada soup will find all the raw spots still not healed in your mouth. )

Solid food...

That confusing moment when you find $100 bucks in your pants pocket. Do I celebrate or go online and take an early Alzheimer's quiz??

Kind of dumbfounded: Was at Caribou an accountant and his son trumped in and took two of the 6-7 comfy chairs by the fireplace and ate from their home Tupperware and drank from McDonald's cups. They always prop their feet on the furniture. At the forest preserve watched a guy who had been parked in the handicapped spot walk perfectly well to a trash can to unload a sack of 20 pounds of garbage. He drove a caddie. At the tiny deli, where I had lunch with my Israeli friend, the waitress reme...

Talking to a man who started and then sold a chain of video stores as a teen. He has been staying at my hotel for a year as he builds a new home. He did not go to college but has the best eclectic knowledge base of anyone I've ever met. We talk about everything from theoretical physics to literature... He was telling me about his WWII vet dad who was severely injured as a soldier fighting for Britain ( he was Scottish )... When his father became a US citizen our VA covered his ongoing care fo...

I took Gander to meet the doctor who signed my paperwork for Freedom Service Dogs last year. I wanted him to see his handiwork. I also took hand crafted gifts from China to all my docs and a brick of Pu'er tea for my primary care team. I was careful to stay within gifting monetary limits at the VA. I think we forget sometimes to show appreciation for the good care professionals do while we are quick to complain. I'm living in a different body and possess a different outlook than I did last...

I've been outed: I went to the patient advocate office today with a concern. The guy there, Tom, is amazing. I last met with him 2 years ago about a serious issue. He corrected the problem in less than 10 minutes. Today he asked me if I was on social media a lot. I said yes. He asked if I was the Veteran Traveler and I said yes. He said he recognized Gander. He said he follows my streams. I'm glad I'm overwhelmingly positive. Outed..

Might be feeling well enough for a movie. Generally, any condition short of a coma usually means a movie is an ok part of the treatment plan. The Silver Linings Playbook looks good. Gander is bored senseless. He's been throwing and fetching balls himself I'm my room. It's a guilt thing I'm sure. And it's working.

I would have been incredibly productive today--had I been conscious. Did stumble to the forest preserve to toss a ball for my buddy for a short bit. You gotta have priorities.

I haven't done pain pills in decades. Took a tiny dose of Vicodin. How did Gregory House do surgery on this? I can't figure out how to work the buttons on my shirt. Made the mistake of taking it just as I left the ER. It is normally a 20 minute drive without the worm holes.

Today was National Day of Listening. Ask Great Questions. Share Great Stories. People after my own heart ;-) http://nationaldayoflistening.org/

Had to go to the ER today. Sutures caused lesions on my tongue that became infected. Pain doubled. Can't eat. I want to amputate it. I'm mentally in a wonderful place. Need my body to catch up. Went to the Naval Base. Nice hospital these active duty guys have here...

Looks like another day with no solid foods. Had one of those mild fevers where you afraid to move because every slight turn evokes a shiver. Boston Market in the fridge though, sans what the mutt had... Drove to the drug store and passed Wall-mart and Best Buy. The Great Wallmart was packed with employees but few people. A line was forming at Best Buy at 7 and was 1/2 mile long by 10. Way too cold. A throaty Chicago wind was warning people to go home... Brr. Good day for soup and TV....

Give a gifted filmmaker Carte Blanche to visually translate a magical novel about what saves us and you get a wonderful thanksgiving movie: Life of Pi Really beautiful. Gander watched most of it as well fascinated by the animals. Just left Boston Market ( packed) carrying a real pie for the other displaces residents where I live. Thanksgiving can be a little lonely.

There is not enough space on the whole of Facebook list all I'm thankful for this year. The short list?: -I know great love -I am grateful everyday for the new addition to my life: Gander -Caring wonderful friends here that I'm slowly embracing IRL. -Renewed health. It's good to be alive again. And you?

Off to the VA. Just got the quote to ship Gander from HK to LZ. $2700....USD And he has to fly in the baggage hold to LZ. Surely there is a provision for service dogs. Checking.

Got my biopsy back. It was a neurofibroma ( a tumor on a nerve: that's why it was painful) and was benign! Tomorrow at 7 AM ( gotta leave at 5): a new kind of bone graft to repair damage done by a Chinese dentist. Thursday: mashed potatoes and gravy through a straw. Lol Actually, I'll be at Life of Pi if I can function.

"There are two sides in war: the living and the dead" Earon Human Davis

Quiet ... Oh, how precious quiet is...

3:27. Seems the visiting construction workers had an altercation. I woke to yelling and serious sounding death threats. This had been such a quiet place here in the burbs. Blood all over the entrance floor. It is a terrible remodeling job. I hate red.