View allAll Photos Tagged *
Shark attack at Davidson's surf break in Kekaha, Kauai.
It happened after sunset on Oct. 9th, 2017.
According to the so-called "experts", there have "only" been TEN FATAL shark attacks in Hawaii since 1980. Here's a list of those fatal attacks. (note asterisk * indicates fatal attack confirmed by so-called experts).
5/24/81 - Roger Garletts - Haena, Kauai - Scuba diving
4/20/86 - Levi Chandler - Kalihiwai Point, Kauai - shore fishing
4/15/87 - Daniel Kennedy - Kailua-Kona - swimming
4/15/88 - Avery Goo - Powerboat overturned, Waihe'e, Maui
1/8/89 - Ken Ahlstrand - Wailua, Kauai - swimming with 3 others when he disappeared. Lower part of body found 6 days later, x-rays revealed teeth marks in femur & tibia
10/14/89 - Ray Mehl - Kahe point, Oahu - scuba diving
2/17/90 - Roy Tanaka - Mokapu, Kaneohe Marine Base - scuba spearfishing
11/19/91 - Suk Kyu (Steve) Park - Maliko Point, Maui - washed into ocean while shore fishing
11/26/91 - Martha Morrell - Olowalu, Maui - swimming *
2/19/92 - Bryan Adona - Leftovers, near Waimea Bay, Oahu - body boarding
11/4/92 - Aaron Romento - Keaau Beach Park, Oahu - body boarding
12/1/93 - Daniel McMoyler - Waipio, Hawaii - surfing
1/31/94 - Jim Broach - Velzyland - surfing - body parts seen but not recovered.
4/28/96 - Wayne Leong - Lobster diving lost near Laie Point, Oahu. Wetsuit remnants showed evidence of attack by large tiger shark.
7/14/96 - Trimurti Day - disappeared while jumping off rocks after midnight at Nakalele Point, Maui. Shark bitten remains found later.
3/18/1999 - Nahid Davoodabai - offshore south-east Maui - kayaking
4/4/04 - Courtney Marcher - Velzyland - surfing
4/7/04 - William McInnis - Kahana, Maui - surfing *
2/23/06 - Anthony Moore - Makena, Maui - free diving
8/30/08 - Kameron Brown - McKenzie Beach Park , Pahoa - cliff jumping / swimming (Great White Shark)
4/11/09 - Paolo Dominici - Kona - spearfishing
8/14/13 - Jana Lutteropp - Makena, Maui - snorkeling *
12/2/13 - Patrick Briney - offshore Makena, Maui - kayak fishing *
4/29/15 - Margaret Cruse - Kanahena cove / Ahihi, Makena, Maui - snorkeling *
9/17/15 - Loren "Jamie" Salis - Upolu Point - night spearfishing
10/14/16 - Joshua Goodwin - Hana, Maui - missing while spearfishing
5/25/2019 - Dr. Thomas Smiley - Kaanapali Shores, Maui, tourist swimming*
6/23/2019 - Vladimir Sukhoparov 58, of Cincinnati Ohio goes missing while swimming offshore Wailua beach, Kauai. East swell was minimal and waters were calm but very murky due to several days of rain. A helicopter searched exhaustively for 3-days before search was called off. The guy looked fit for his age. No mention of shark in news, but c'mon, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what likely occurred.
7/23/19 - Fathi Twalib 34, Queens Pond area of Polihale beach Kauai. Entered ocean at 7:30 P.M. and disappeared after ducking under a small wave near shore. Next morning a very large tiger shark was filmed by drone swimming just 30 yards offshore beach in line with missing man's truck.
10/4/2019 - Alan Delatorre 45, Kailua-Kona, failed to return from a night spear fishing venture. Hawaiʻi Fire Department divers recovered clothes and diving equipment in the waters near the buoy that were identified as belonging to Delatorre. They indicated the damage to the clothing to be attributed to sharks.
7/31/2020 - William "Scott" Stanga, 52, of Hana, Maui disappeared while spearfishing alone at Ku'au Bay beach below Mama's Fish House in Paia during the late afternoon.
12/8/2020 - surfer Robin Warren 56, Honolua Bay, Maui. 17-inch wide bite taken out of surfboard also made severe wound to his left side buttock and upper thigh. Victim was listed as stable after surgery but died the next day.*
6/20/2021 - Nelson Kupenes, 47, disappeared while spearfishing alone during the late afternoon / evening at Glass beach near 'Ele'ele, Kauai. KFD rescue divers recovered his dive float, weight belt, and two spear guns just 25-30 yards offshore. I heard that some body parts were also recovered but that was not in the news reports.
9/14/2021 - 67 year old woman from California disappeared while snorkeling on a dive tour at Molokini Islet offshore of south Maui. The conditions were choppy but she vanished without anyone seeing what happened. All the tour boats present searched for her as did the Coast Guard.
12/14/2021 - Tourist man from Wisconsin age 62, last seen swimming off south point at Chang's Beach fronting Makena Surf Resort. Rescue divers had to quickly exit search area when a large tiger shark appeared. The swimmer's dive mask, snorkel, and one swim fin were subsequently found.
3/7/2022 - Huy Nguyen, 44, disappeared at dusk (7 PM) at Rock Quarry Beach in Kilauea, Kauai. The U.S. Coast Guard said Nguyen had been surfing before handing off his board to his son, saying he was going to swim to shore. A dead humpback whale had washed into the shallow reef area just off the beach prior (Dec. 2021) at the surf spot Pila'a which is just a half mile from Rock Quarry. An oil slick has been visible from atop Pila'a cliff ever since.
12/8/2022 - Kristine Allen from Bellingham, Washington State, 60, was snorkeling 50-75 yards offshore Keawakapu beach in Kihei with her husband Blake when they encountered a large tiger shark. Reportedly he fought off the shark as it made several passes. He managed to swim ashore but his wife vanished during the incident and was never seen again. Her mask & snorkel were recovered where she was last seen. One report mentioned that a piece of her blue bathing suit washed ashore. A 10-12 foot tiger shark was observed in the same area the following morning. *
12/30/2023 - Jason Carter age 39 of Haiku, Maui died of injuries sustained in a shark attack while surfing at Pa'ia Bay on the north-east side of the island. *
06/23/2024 - Tamayo Perry, renown Pipeline surfer and C&C Honolulu Lifeguard is killed likely by a tiger shark while surfing at Goat Island, Malaekahana on Oahu's east side. He sustained multiple bites and lost an arm and a leg. *
9/23/2025 - Bryson Higashi, 44, last seen solo spearfishing at Waikoko's in Hanalei Bay. Shredded camouflage blue diver wetsuit material discovered washed ashore a couple days after.
1/28/2026 - Matthew Kaimana Packard-Asai, 19, of Kapaa - swept into the ocean while shore fishing along rocky coastline at Kahili beach / Rock Quarry in Kilauea. Female companion was also swept into the ocean and suffered a laceration to her leg. She was rescued shortly thereafter but Matthew Kaimana Packard-Asai disappeared from view. On Saturday January 31, 2026 his shark devoured remains were found in the vicinity.
These 41 fatalities may not have had the multiple eye-witnesses that the eight "expert-confirmed" attacks did, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what a shark chewed and regurgitated wetsuit or surf shorts implies. Nor does drowning in a tiger shark's jaws as it takes a victim underwater invalidate the fact that death and subsequent consumption was due to a shark attack (ie. Anthony Moore at Makena, Maui 2006). Likewise, does anyone really think Bryan Adona (whose body was never found) died from some other cause when a large tiger shark was seen within a few yards of where he was when he went missing and a huge shark bite taken out of his body-board was subsequently discovered?
* indicates fatal attack confirmed by so-called experts
wizardofbaum.blogspot.com/2011/05/history-of-reported-fat...
The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water Festa sparkle Stella – Android & iOS apps – Freehttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bandainamcoent.asteriskwar&hl=enhttps://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/xue-zhan-dou-shiasutarisukufesuta/id1119950352&l=en
The...
jp-apps-dl.net/2016/07/22/the-asterisk-war-the-academy-ci...
There's not much to be said that hasn't already been said about this retailer.
**< Two asterisks by location confirms that it also had a Kmart Food store at one time.
Milwaukee Area Locations:
* Brookfield (now Sendik's Fine Foods)
** Cudahy (Kmart store still open; the Kmart Food store is now a Sears Outlet)
* Greenfield (closed; was a Halloween Express store for a short time)
* Hales Corners (now a Pick 'n Save supermarket)
* Menomonee Falls (now a Piggly Wiggly supermarket)
* Milwaukee I (now a Pick 'n Save supermarket)
* Milwaukee II (converted into the UMOS Center strip mall featuring Chuck E. Cheese's, a DMV service center, the southeast branch of the Milwaukee Job Center, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation)
** Wauwatosa (main Kmart store now an At Home store; former Kmart Food store is now a Sears Outlet)
* Waukesha (now Xperience Fitness and Dollar Tree)
STORY PART BETWEEN ROWS OF ASTERISKS
********************************************************************
This is the only quilt that I ever received in exactly these circumstances. I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma and my Grandmother was in bed for naps, often, and talking about wanting to have the Lord take her, nearly every night. She was about 86 at that time, and some of her relatives, my cousins, were talking about racing each other with a U-Haul to see who would be first, when she died, to get her belongings they wanted. (Incidentally she went to a foreign country, and lived several more years). In my grandmother's bedroom were two twin or smaller beds with lovely pink themed patchwork quilts. I love pink and I thought they were beautiful. But I didn't have any plans to inherit them, although I would have liked to. My grandmother had a lot of grandchildren, and I didn't expect to get anything at all, to be honest. Later on, one of my cousins called me at my place, and said that I had taken those pink quilts and that they were already promised to her and my other cousin. She insisted I give them back and they would trade me for one that wasn't as nice, but I could have it. I replied that I would take the one they didn't want, but I never got the two pink ones. I wasn't lying. I never did find out who actually did have them, but I got the "ugly duckling" quilt. I liked patchwork quilts, and didn't have very many at the time; so I was glad to get it.
I didn't think it was very pretty, nor very well made. And it wasn't well planned or organized with the materials the maker had. Some of the squares were just not well matched, or else they were kind of unattractive. Overall, though, I actually used it on my bed sometimes, especially when I lived in a rustic home where the people before me had left homemade furniture. It looked nice with that. So I accepted 99% of it, but there was one square I just didn't like. It didn't seem to belong at all. It wasn't really ugly like some of the browns and faded greens, and colors that clashed. In fact it was kind of a pleasant yellow, but it was the only plain yellow square on the whole quilt, and it didn't match anything. It just stood out, I truly did not like it at all. I even thought of trying to sew something else on top of it. I'd accept everything else on the quilt, except that one plain yellow square.
One evening I came home late, and in my absence my children had gotten frightened. Our Irish Setter, 110 pound wonderful dog, was normally not allowed in the house. There was a big porch and huge yard, and even a gorgeous river for him, but not in the house. I came in the house, and instead of in their own beds, my kids were in MY bed, with Reilly sitting straight up between them, guarding them. It was a charming and beautiful sight, and I really couldn't be angry with any of it. They were all three on the quilt. So I liked the quilt better than I had before. The lone yellow square that didn't seem to belong, still bugged me though. That was about 34 years ago.
As the years went by, I either bought or was given more quilts, and this one didn't get used as often, but I still have it. In the last few years, I have experienced a sea change on some things. I now enjoy the unique yellow square. When I used the quilt, particularly when I was either sick or recovering from my two different surgeries for total knee replacements, I actually pulled the quilt up to my neck, and then looked all around and had fun spotting the yellow square. I didn't really rest until I found it, not that is was that difficult to find, as it really did stand out.
It amazes me how I could change in this way. I wonder what other changes I will be more willing to not only accept, but to embrace, in the future because of this very small one.
************************************************************************
I'm putting this same basic story with the quilt picture right before it, but that quilt doesn't have as much to the story as this one.
I'm putting this in both my "The Tulsa, Oklahoma Years" album and my "The Springfield, Lane County, Oregon Years Beginning October 2015" album because I got the quilt in Tulsa, Oklahoma in about 1979, but I took the pictures and wrote the story just recently in Springfield, Oregon. My albums are set up so whether things actually happened in the home I lived in at the time, or whether I took a trip somewhere else, but lived in that place when I took the trip. Departure from and arrival back to a certain home gets the location of that home, whether I visited another State for awhile, or went to a waterfall 100 miles away. I do that because it is easier for me to recall where I lived at the time I took certain pictures than it is to catalog every separate occasion or incident that I photographed. There now, that should be clear as a Texas River.
(DSCN9578Quilt1oddsquareSOOCbordinitflickr041216)
(1561closeupflowerycanecurve&handleresaminitblkborder)
A longer true story than my usual ones is below the row of asterisks.
*************************************************************************
FALL OCCURRED IN THE SPRING
That’s right; fall occurred in the spring of 2012. Not the kind of fall like a beautiful autumn, but the kind of fall like Humpty Dumpty. The “splat” type of fall, which must have been painful for him. Mine was surely painful for me.
Let me digress a bit. I already have severe arthritis in both of my knees. I was very close to having the Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant refer me to the Orthopedist for knee replacements. The assistant had already seen me for seven to nine visits or so, and a series of Orthovisc® shots, which did not help me. I understand they are a great help to some people, but I wasn‘t one of them. He told me something I was completely unaware of. He said my teeth were bad, which is true. I have upper dentures and only one real tooth in my mouth. The bottom teeth except the one I just mentioned are all rotted away. They didn’t rot completely away; there are still parts of them in and below the gum line. He said they would all have to be surgically extracted before I could have knee replacements done. I asked him, “What do my teeth have to do with my knees?” He said infection can easily set in the rotten teeth and go to the knee or cause problems with my heart, major problems like death. Thus the reader can understand how I arrived at the title for my photo set about my hospital stay…The Knee Bone’s Connected to the Jaw Bone, Huh?
I have been walking around with very painful knees for quite awhile now, and I cannot afford the $1,600 to $2,000 to have my teeth surgically extracted. I already paid a dentist $180 for an appointment and a Panaray® X-Ray, over a year ago, just thinking it would be nice to finally get some lower dentures too. I never did get them. He split town, taking or disposing of his equipment and his files and x-rays. That $180 is long gone for me. I cannot recover the old x-ray. Even if I did recover it, some new dentist would probably say it was out of date.
Medicare, which I am on, will pay for the two knee replacements, but here is the rub. They will not pay for dental. I have been in a surgical limbo with all the free pain I can stand.
That is the background information probably needed for this little story to be understood. There will be some OMG moments and some laughter. If it were a TV show, they would probably advertise, “You’ll Laugh; You’ll Cry; You’ll Sell Your Chickens; You’ll Call Your Congressman, and You’ll No Doubt Charge Your Cell Phone!”
That brings us to Thursday the 15th of March, 2012. (Beware the Ides of March). My daughter called to see if I could and would watch Rose all day Friday the 16th , as she had forgotten that she had signed up to be chaperone for her daughter, Anna Leigh’s, school field trip. It was going to be quite a bit out of town, the other direction from where I live. It was to be a special day. I wanted to be their hero; so I said sure. Some of you have seen Rose, the Hungarian Vizsla puppy among my photos. Rose is beautiful and young, and strong, and undisciplined and should probably be named Wild Rose. I love her, but she is a major handful. I had already watched her for 8 days while they went on a trip out of state, got one day off and then volunteered to do Friday the 16th.
Rose isn’t housebroken yet; so I took her out several times to encourage her to go outside. I was alone as far as other humans, and my daughter and granddaughter were about 60 miles away, on a school bus and then museum field trip. I live about 60 miles the other way from their home. It had been raining off and on and the ground and grass and driveway and mud were all pretty wet. My other trips outside with Rose that morning had been fine. I only had a thin shirt on, no extra shirt or jacket. I did not think I would be out in the yard very long.
Rose pulled on the leash too exuberantly, as she does often (she is five and a half months old, and has had puppy obedience training, but is in dire need of more of it). I slipped on a muddy and grassy slope. My right leg went out in front of me, and I fell on my rear end. My left leg folded underneath my thigh and toward my rear, and my weight, which is a lot, crunched it. It was bent backward way further than a knee is supposed to bend. I screamed bloody murder. I was afraid to even try to get up, as I thought I had probably torn a ligament or two.
Rose thought it was play time and was all over me. There was not a thing in sight that would give me any leverage to hold me up or to help me get up. I sat and I pondered what to do. My daughter and Anna Leigh would not be home for nearly 6 more hours. I thought, well I’ll just call 911 (the emergency number where we live). Wrong! No cell phone with me. It was inside their house, being charged up; ironically so it would be ready when I needed it.
I tried yelling for help. Nothing! A neighbor about a half an acre away, was mowing, and every time the mower cut off, I tried screaming for help. He must have had headphones on or something. Cars would drive by on the road way down the driveway, and I would yell, but no one had their windows down on that day. Did you know that when you have upper dentures and no lower ones, and you yell really hard, that it blows the upper dentures right out of your mouth? When I tried to hang onto them to keep them in my mouth, I was unable to cry out very loudly. I just thought I would throw that little trivia in. I didn’t know until that day.
I knew I couldn’t make it back in the house. There were too many upward slopes and an exposed aggregate patio and a few stairs. The front of the house was even worse, as it had more stairs. I looked down the driveway and saw a vehicle which had some metal protrusions, on the order of spare tire holder or something like that. I decided to try to scoot on my rear down to that metal thing. I thought perhaps it would give me leverage to get up. Rose thought that it was great fun to romp on and around me.
I thought the four chickens would be afraid to come around Rose. No, they are not very intelligent. They came right up to me and Rose and started pecking on me. I had never been pecked on my chickens before, and there I was on the ground with no help and Rose alternating between trying to attack the chickens and trying to play with me. Rose’s playfulness sort of resembles an attack, anyway. I scooted faster, much faster.
There was a light rain, but it was getting a little heavier. There was also a dusting of snow mixed with the rain. I was wondering how long it would take to get Exposure. I was wondering about Shock also. Can a person who has Exposure or Shock know that they have it? Ominous looking clouds were blowing quickly toward me. It was 1:30 P. M. when I fell. I didn’t have my phone, but I had my watch.
I scooted methodically toward the vehicle closest to me. I think it was about 100 feet. I got to it, and thought if worse came to worse with the weather, I could roll under the back of it. I did not relish thought of cold dark ground and spiders, but thought it might be better to risk them than the weather. I saw some wide strapping tape on the spare tire, which was loose. I didn’t want to risk hoisting myself up on the spare and its frame, as it was quite loose. But I took the tape and wrapped it around the metal thing that was separate from the spare tire things, and made it softer for my arm to lean on. I tried to prop myself up. No use; I fell back down. Not enough leverage. I put Rose’s leash handle on the trailer hitch. I didn’t want to just let her run free and maybe get hit by a car.
I tried again to get up and made it to both knees. It hurt so badly I went back down again. I noticed the license plate on the vehicle renewed on the ninth month of 2011. That said 911. I thought, “Oh yeah right, you inanimate license plate. Go ahead and taunt me! You know I can’t call 911.” I got a chuckle out of my own joke, and gave myself a figurative pat on the back for being resourceful about trying to get up.
I tried again. I got on both knees but the right one was in gravel that really hurt. Then I thought which knee should I put forward and which one should I try to rise on. I tried one, and it didn’t seem as if it would work so I tried the other way. That wasn’t the right way either. Finally I tried the first way again. I told myself on the count of three I would stand up, even if it hurt excruciatingly, I would scream but I would still get up. False start! Down again! I tried again and got up. I was standing!
Now was the problem of how to go anywhere, not knowing if my left knee would buckle at any time. I thought I had to try. I spotted my own truck further down the driveway, and decided to try to make it to it. I walked between two vehicles very carefully and slowly and got to my truck. I unlocked it with the remote key which I had in my pocket. After 11 years of driving it, the seat is pretty well conformed to me; so I didn’t have to bend my knees to sit down in it. I just leaned into the seat and put my relatively good right leg in. It was painful to bend my left knee to get it in the truck, but I did. Rose was still tied to a trailer hitch further back in the yard, but she was safe.
I looked at my watch. It was 3:30 P. M. It took me two hours to stand up and to get to some degree of safety and warmth. I could drive, as my truck is automatic. I drove down the road to a house that Anna had pointed out was where a schoolmate lived. I thought I could ask them to go in my daughter’s house and get my cell phone for me. There was a very large barking dog in the driveway, and no sign of humans, and the mother of the schoolmate has never even met me. I decided to go back to Jennifer’s home.
I found a cane in my truck that a charity, a different one than the one later in my story, had given me a few months ago. It is not a very sturdy one, but better than nothing. I did not use it on a regular basis. I used the hook end of it to fetch a large stick lying near the driveway (larger than a normal hiking stick). I pulled it to me, and stood back up out of the truck and used the big stick and the cane and balanced against two vehicles, and decided to try to get back in the house. I did. I got in the recliner and pulled a blanket up over me and slept until they got home.
After they got home, we all decided to go to the nearest Emergency room. It was a Friday night by then, and no normal doctor’s hours. We went to one closest to them, but it was still about 27 miles or so. They checked me out and did an x-ray. I told the Physician’s assistant nurse type lady about my knee history. She was fun and nice and caring and a little bit of a comedienne. She said that my left knee was really “ratty” looking on the x-ray. I laughed, because I’m sure it was. I have just never, in all my doctor visits ever had a nurse refer to one of my body parts as “ratty”. I suspect it is not a medical term. They said I sprained my knee, and gave me some medical records to take up to the emergency room (or my doctor) closer to where I live, seventeen miles from my home, the other direction from Jen & Anna. I wanted to be closer to the doctors and hospital that I know. I was given a prescription similar to Vicodin. Someone kindly pointed out that Walgreen’s was visible about a block away and their drive-thru was open. At that point I was still getting around by hobbling and by leaning on Jennifer. So I sat in a chair and she and Anna and Rose drove over to Walgreen’s . It seems as if it took a long time for them get the prescription filled.
While I was sitting there waiting, a employee came out to the lobby with clipboard in hand and asked if I were the lady with an injured knee. I replied that I was. She said, OK, come with me and we’ll have you see a triage. I thought it odd that I had already been seen and now they wanted to start all over again. I told her I had already been seen and x-rayed and all. It turned out there was another lady in the waiting room with an injured knee. It probably would have blown the Physician’s Assistant’s mind if I had played dumb and gone through everything again, and then told her when she looked shocked, “I’m coming through again; and this time don’t call my knee “ratty! Funny to imagine, but not a good idea.
Finally, my daughter and granddaughter returned to the hospital waiting room. Jennifer had forgotten her checkbook. So back they went and then it turned out, Jennifer couldn’t sign for my prescription, and she didn‘t have my insurance information. Thus, we all drove back over there. I was in line ahead of Jen‘s car. I told the pharmacist that my window did not go down well on the driver’s side, and I could not reach the pills in the drawer. So I would give him paperwork and cards he needed, but to please leave the pills themselves in the slide-out drawer. I said my daughter was right behind me and her window worked; and she would pick them up with my permission. Walgreen’s closed at 10 P. M. and it was about 9:57 P. M. Finally she got the pain pills in the drawer, but when we got out of Walgreen’s I flagged her down to stop and be sure to give me the pills to have with me before we forgot. Jennifer got them and handed them over to me. We laughed about how, at that time of night, it looked for the entire world like some sort of illegal drug deal.
We tried to go out for dinner, and the restaurant we chose put the closed sign in their front window as we were approaching. That always makes one feel so welcome, not!
Saturday, I rested, and then Sunday they took me to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. I had called my normal doctor, and he was out of the country (probably on some Doctors without Borders type thing). He participates in many good will efforts. The doctor filling in for him said to go to the Emergency Room. So I did, and they did an MRI, and I had torn the meniscus in my left knee. I ended up in the hospital for 8 days. No surgery was done to repair anything, because of the dental situation. But I got a walker, and some really nice nurses and physical therapy. I saw all kinds of doctors, and Home Health care people, and Senior and Disabled specialists. They must have taken my blood pressure 100 times, it seems. They always seem surprised that it is very good.
Anna Leigh, who is seven years old, threw a coin in the Hospital Fountain and made good wishes for me. She is such a sweetie. My daughter helped to clean up my place so when I went home the walker would fit through the rooms. I don’t know what I do without Jen and Anna. The first few days out of the hospital, I taught Anna how to play Monopoly, and she and Jennifer and I also did puzzles. There were some quality family moments. At one point I was eating a chip or cracker of some kind with my right hand, and trying to place a puzzle piece with my left hand. I got absentminded and stuck the puzzle piece in my mouth. I realized what I had done because the food tasted like cardboard. I took it out of my mouth. Anna about went into hysterics over it. I was laughing too. Anna’s Daddy called Jen about that time, and wanted to know what the laughter was all about. Anna wrote a note to show her Mom so her Mom could tell her Dad what happened. She spelled it phonetically, as she is only in first grade. I think she does really well, but Jen and I cracked up over how much Anna was laughing and over what she wrote. She wrote, “My grandmuther ate a pussel pees.” It looked substantially nastier than it was. Jen and I were cracking up about the note. Anna thought we were still laughing about the event itself, not the note. In any case, we all had some great belly laughs. Since the belly bone is no doubt connected to the brain bone and the knee bone, I think it was very healthy for us.
At first a physical therapist helped me in the hospital with a walker and with some small steps. After a few days, I could roam around the hallways on my own with the walker. At that point I took my camera. As I was practicing with my walker I took a number of pictures. I tried very hard to only shoot artsy type things and nothing about any patients or doctors that would invade their privacy. I had a bulletin board in my room just about me. I wrote “Exemplary Patient Award” on the comments. I wanted to see if it would make the nurses laugh. I thought it was funny to give myself an award. I enjoy making people laugh. I was curious if they would erase it, but it was still there when I was discharged.
I graduated from the walker to a cane yesterday. A home health physical therapist came to see how I was doing, and brought me a very colorful cane. I like it. It suits me, and it is brand new. There is a charity in my area called Love, Inc. I don’t know if it is just local or nationwide. Anyway, they gave him the cane to bring to me. Really super! Of course, I need to take a photo of it, and add it to this set. I’ll probably do that in the daylight.
I am still in surgical limbo, but a charity is going to come out and install grab bars on my shower, and still another charity will build up my recliner (which I sleep in) with a platform so it will be easier to get in and out of. It was suggested that I donate enough to cover the cost of the supplies but not the labor. I will probably make a donation, but I haven’t decided how much yet. I’m going to call my Congressman to see if something can be done about covering some dental procedures. I know him personally. He collects vintage cars, and has at least one Dodge and well over 10 Buicks. When I had a hubcap store, he would drop by and buy hubcaps for some of them. We would chat about politics, and automobiles, and high rent, etc. He probably won‘t be able to help, but I feel I have to try. Not just for me, but for a multitude of people.
I’ll close with a quote, although I don’t know who said it, “Be True to your Teeth and they will Never be False to You.” and “That is the Tooth, the whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth.”
A recent thread at Asterisk (this is APOD's discussion forum) got me looking at this beautiful object and the data in Hubble's archive. I noticed there was a very intimate look at the center of this starburst galaxy featuring many bright, young stars comprising super star clusters and decided to process it, making sure not to over brighten the star clusters so that as many details would remain preserved as possible.
In the center is Cluster A, which is actually two clusters which are called A1 and A2. At lower left, the next brightest cluster is called Cluster B. To the upper right is Cluster C, which is somewhat enshrouded in nebula.
Other star clusters are also visible as dimmer, soft yellow blobs which almost look like elliptical galaxies because it's very hard to make out any individual members. I'm not sure what kind of star clusters those are. To me they look a lot like small globular clusters. One may be tempted to conclude that we are seeing the life cycle of globular clusters in some kind of holy grail moment, but something tells me that if that were the case it would have made headlines somewhere. Our knowledge about the formation of globular clusters is murky at best. Does NGC 1569 offer any insights?
This image is possible thanks to the following HST proposal:
Starburst Galaxies and Their Population of Super Star Clusters
Red: HST_10885_06_ACS_WFC_F658N_sci
Green: HST_9300_02_ACS_HRC_F555W_sci
Blue: HST_9300_02_ACS_HRC_F330W_sci
North is NOT up. It is 18.4° clockwise from up.
Invitation to join our new group “Star Trek Forever” No Limits on uploads!
www.flickr.com/groups/2601080@N25/
Star Trek: Asterisk "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Written by Steve Beaudry
Release Date: November 26, 1986
Written by: Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Review
Deep in the outer reaches of space, a monstrous space probe passes by the USS Saratoga and knocks its power out on the way to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, a Klingon ambassador accuses Kirk of murdering a ship full of Klingons in his quest to exterminate the Klingon race with the Genesis probe (that thing will just not go away). The Federation president says that Kirk will face nine violations of Starfleet regulations, the crew of the Enterprise has been stuck on Vulcan for three months, and on top of all that, a computer is trying to find out how Spock feels. There's nowhere to go from here but up.
Well, in The Search for Spock, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stole a starship, blew it up, visited a forbidden planet, and apparently six other naughty things, so now they're getting ready to go back to Earth on their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey and face the music. There's just one hitch in this plan: the probe. It has now reached earth, shut down main power to... everything... and caused a huge weather phenomenon that blocked out the sun. So, basically, humanity has however long it'll take for Earth to freeze from lack of sunlight to tell this thing to move out of the way.
"When this is over, I'm quitting Starfleet and starting a gumbo restaurant."
In their Klingon ship, Kirk and the crew approach Earth and pick up a distress call from the president with the manly gray beard saying that Earth is under attack, so they pick up the probe's transmissions and analyze it. Since the transmission appears to be directed at the oceans, Kirk has Uhura compensate for the density of the water. When the audio effects are all in, the probe's transmission ends up sounding a lot like whale song; specifically, the extinct humpback whale. There's only one way they can get a humpback whale to answer the probe: The Guardian of Forev-... er... wait, no, the highly dangerous and tricky slingshot time warp maneuver. So there are two ways. We'll go with the dangerous one for now.
When they arrive in 1986, they confirm the date by testing the pollution in the air. Then they go into cloak and land in the middle of a park in San Francisco. After scaring off a couple of trash guys, the crew sets out to downtown. Their mission: 1) find humpback whales 2) get them on board the Klingon ship 3) fix the ship's dilithium crystals so they can go home. They split up to achieve their separate goals. Spock and Kirk go for the whales, Bones and Scotty go to build a proper tank, Uhura and Chekov find some nuclear power to fix the crystals.
Spock would like to take this opportunity to learn karate.
Spock and Kirk easily find some whales after they see an advertisement for the local whale institute where they meet George, Gracie and Dr. Gillian Taylor. George and Gracie are the whales and Gillian is the nice lady who knows everything about them. So Spock and Kirk get to know about the whales in their own unique way: Spock mind melds with Gracie and Kirk seduces Gillian. Meanwhile, Bones and Scotty are having a time of their own getting some plexiglass to make a whale tank. Luckily, they have an ace up their sleeves. They meet with a guy who deals in plexiglass and trade the secret formula for transparent aluminum in exchange for their required plexiglass. Also, Sulu learns how to drive a helicopter so they can lift all that plexiglass to the ship.
Things are just about set to go; Kirk is ready to pick up the whales, the plexiglass is ready to be delivered, everything is running smoothly until Chekov screws things up. He finds the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier, and, with Uhura's help, steals some of its nuclear power. Well, the officers on board sense the power drain and go looking for him. He hands the power device over to Uhura who beams up to the Klingon ship. But there's not enough transporter power to get Chekov, too, and he's captured. After escaping by attempting and failing to stun his captors, he runs and jumps off a high platform and hospitalizes himself.
It's possible they just got too high.
Chekov arrives at Mercy Hospital, so now they have to go save him before taking off. But to make matters worse, Gillian decided she wants to help, so she wandered off into the park and ran into the cloaked ship. So they beam her aboard, explain a few things, and then run off to save Chekov. With Gillian's help, they sneak into the hospital and pretend to be doctors. Chekov, a suspected Russian spy, is being kept under guard, but Bones easily tricks them into believing they have an emergency. He has a bit of a fight with the attending surgeon and then Kirk locks the surgeon and his team in a small room. Bones heals Chekov, and they leave. The guards give chase once they see that Chekov is being kidnapped, but they beam up in the elevator and make a clean getaway.
Ok, so, Chekov is safe, the tank is built, the dilithium crystals are fixed, all they need now are the whales. Kirk gets their tracking frequency from Gillian and says his goodbyes. She can't, after all, go to the future with them. Right? Weellll... as soon as he starts transporting aboard the ship, Gillian hops on him and comes with. She's staying whether Kirk likes it or not. With Gillian aboard, they set out to find George and Gracie. They find them right in front of a whaling ship. Still cloaked, they head right over to them and just hover for a bit while the whaling ship takes aim. And then... the decloakening.
Klingons on the port bow, captain!
Successfully having scared off the whalers, Scotty beams up George and Gracie and they make their way to the future. In a great evolution of Spock's revived character, he makes his "best guess" with the calculations for time warp, and they head out. Back in the future, they crash into San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the crew abandons ship, Kirk releases the whales out of the cargo bay and into the ocean. Once they're out, Kirk joins his crew as the whales start talking to the probe. After a delightful reunion and conversation with its good buddies, George and Gracie, the Probe turns around, says "thank you!" and leaves the Sol system in peace. The day is saved! So, now it's time for Kirk to stand trial.
Oh, right, yeah, this was the whole reason they were coming back to Earth, wasn't it? The crew of the Enterprise all stand in front of the president to be judged. Because for some reason the president is the judge in the future. Ready to be taken out of Starfleet forever, they all, including Spock who "stands with his shipmates", they all hear the charges brought to them. And then the president says he's getting rid of all of them in light of them saving the entire Earth, and all. The only charge that sticks, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Kirk and because of it, he is reduced in rank to Captain. Which is basically like grounding a nerd to his room with the Internet still on. And not only that, it wouldn't be Star Trek and Kirk wouldn't be Captain without the proper ship. They head out to the shipyard and find the brand spankin' new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The only proper ship for them to go and "see what's out there."
Overall Thoughts
This had been my absolute favorite Star Trek movie for the longest time until my tastes matured and I learned to like The Wrath of Kahn just slightly better. I love a good comedy sci-fi, especially when that comedy sci-fi involves time travel! Every good Star Trek series needs a comedy relief. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was that for The Original Series and this movie is that for the movie series. And, in fact, this movie was so monstrously successful, that it was almost entirely responsible for green-lighting The Next Generation. Picard would take command almost a year after this movie was released and Trek would never be the same.
Invitation to join our new group “Star Trek Forever” No Limits on uploads!
www.flickr.com/groups/2601080@N25/
Star Trek: Asterisk "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Written by Steve Beaudry
Release Date: November 26, 1986
Written by: Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Review
Deep in the outer reaches of space, a monstrous space probe passes by the USS Saratoga and knocks its power out on the way to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, a Klingon ambassador accuses Kirk of murdering a ship full of Klingons in his quest to exterminate the Klingon race with the Genesis probe (that thing will just not go away). The Federation president says that Kirk will face nine violations of Starfleet regulations, the crew of the Enterprise has been stuck on Vulcan for three months, and on top of all that, a computer is trying to find out how Spock feels. There's nowhere to go from here but up.
Well, in The Search for Spock, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stole a starship, blew it up, visited a forbidden planet, and apparently six other naughty things, so now they're getting ready to go back to Earth on their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey and face the music. There's just one hitch in this plan: the probe. It has now reached earth, shut down main power to... everything... and caused a huge weather phenomenon that blocked out the sun. So, basically, humanity has however long it'll take for Earth to freeze from lack of sunlight to tell this thing to move out of the way.
"When this is over, I'm quitting Starfleet and starting a gumbo restaurant."
In their Klingon ship, Kirk and the crew approach Earth and pick up a distress call from the president with the manly gray beard saying that Earth is under attack, so they pick up the probe's transmissions and analyze it. Since the transmission appears to be directed at the oceans, Kirk has Uhura compensate for the density of the water. When the audio effects are all in, the probe's transmission ends up sounding a lot like whale song; specifically, the extinct humpback whale. There's only one way they can get a humpback whale to answer the probe: The Guardian of Forev-... er... wait, no, the highly dangerous and tricky slingshot time warp maneuver. So there are two ways. We'll go with the dangerous one for now.
When they arrive in 1986, they confirm the date by testing the pollution in the air. Then they go into cloak and land in the middle of a park in San Francisco. After scaring off a couple of trash guys, the crew sets out to downtown. Their mission: 1) find humpback whales 2) get them on board the Klingon ship 3) fix the ship's dilithium crystals so they can go home. They split up to achieve their separate goals. Spock and Kirk go for the whales, Bones and Scotty go to build a proper tank, Uhura and Chekov find some nuclear power to fix the crystals.
Spock would like to take this opportunity to learn karate.
Spock and Kirk easily find some whales after they see an advertisement for the local whale institute where they meet George, Gracie and Dr. Gillian Taylor. George and Gracie are the whales and Gillian is the nice lady who knows everything about them. So Spock and Kirk get to know about the whales in their own unique way: Spock mind melds with Gracie and Kirk seduces Gillian. Meanwhile, Bones and Scotty are having a time of their own getting some plexiglass to make a whale tank. Luckily, they have an ace up their sleeves. They meet with a guy who deals in plexiglass and trade the secret formula for transparent aluminum in exchange for their required plexiglass. Also, Sulu learns how to drive a helicopter so they can lift all that plexiglass to the ship.
Things are just about set to go; Kirk is ready to pick up the whales, the plexiglass is ready to be delivered, everything is running smoothly until Chekov screws things up. He finds the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier, and, with Uhura's help, steals some of its nuclear power. Well, the officers on board sense the power drain and go looking for him. He hands the power device over to Uhura who beams up to the Klingon ship. But there's not enough transporter power to get Chekov, too, and he's captured. After escaping by attempting and failing to stun his captors, he runs and jumps off a high platform and hospitalizes himself.
It's possible they just got too high.
Chekov arrives at Mercy Hospital, so now they have to go save him before taking off. But to make matters worse, Gillian decided she wants to help, so she wandered off into the park and ran into the cloaked ship. So they beam her aboard, explain a few things, and then run off to save Chekov. With Gillian's help, they sneak into the hospital and pretend to be doctors. Chekov, a suspected Russian spy, is being kept under guard, but Bones easily tricks them into believing they have an emergency. He has a bit of a fight with the attending surgeon and then Kirk locks the surgeon and his team in a small room. Bones heals Chekov, and they leave. The guards give chase once they see that Chekov is being kidnapped, but they beam up in the elevator and make a clean getaway.
Ok, so, Chekov is safe, the tank is built, the dilithium crystals are fixed, all they need now are the whales. Kirk gets their tracking frequency from Gillian and says his goodbyes. She can't, after all, go to the future with them. Right? Weellll... as soon as he starts transporting aboard the ship, Gillian hops on him and comes with. She's staying whether Kirk likes it or not. With Gillian aboard, they set out to find George and Gracie. They find them right in front of a whaling ship. Still cloaked, they head right over to them and just hover for a bit while the whaling ship takes aim. And then... the decloakening.
Klingons on the port bow, captain!
Successfully having scared off the whalers, Scotty beams up George and Gracie and they make their way to the future. In a great evolution of Spock's revived character, he makes his "best guess" with the calculations for time warp, and they head out. Back in the future, they crash into San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the crew abandons ship, Kirk releases the whales out of the cargo bay and into the ocean. Once they're out, Kirk joins his crew as the whales start talking to the probe. After a delightful reunion and conversation with its good buddies, George and Gracie, the Probe turns around, says "thank you!" and leaves the Sol system in peace. The day is saved! So, now it's time for Kirk to stand trial.
Oh, right, yeah, this was the whole reason they were coming back to Earth, wasn't it? The crew of the Enterprise all stand in front of the president to be judged. Because for some reason the president is the judge in the future. Ready to be taken out of Starfleet forever, they all, including Spock who "stands with his shipmates", they all hear the charges brought to them. And then the president says he's getting rid of all of them in light of them saving the entire Earth, and all. The only charge that sticks, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Kirk and because of it, he is reduced in rank to Captain. Which is basically like grounding a nerd to his room with the Internet still on. And not only that, it wouldn't be Star Trek and Kirk wouldn't be Captain without the proper ship. They head out to the shipyard and find the brand spankin' new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The only proper ship for them to go and "see what's out there."
Overall Thoughts
This had been my absolute favorite Star Trek movie for the longest time until my tastes matured and I learned to like The Wrath of Kahn just slightly better. I love a good comedy sci-fi, especially when that comedy sci-fi involves time travel! Every good Star Trek series needs a comedy relief. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was that for The Original Series and this movie is that for the movie series. And, in fact, this movie was so monstrously successful, that it was almost entirely responsible for green-lighting The Next Generation. Picard would take command almost a year after this movie was released and Trek would never be the same.
Invitation to join our new group “Star Trek Forever” No Limits on uploads!
www.flickr.com/groups/2601080@N25/
Star Trek: Asterisk "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Written by Steve Beaudry
Release Date: November 26, 1986
Written by: Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Review
Deep in the outer reaches of space, a monstrous space probe passes by the USS Saratoga and knocks its power out on the way to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, a Klingon ambassador accuses Kirk of murdering a ship full of Klingons in his quest to exterminate the Klingon race with the Genesis probe (that thing will just not go away). The Federation president says that Kirk will face nine violations of Starfleet regulations, the crew of the Enterprise has been stuck on Vulcan for three months, and on top of all that, a computer is trying to find out how Spock feels. There's nowhere to go from here but up.
Well, in The Search for Spock, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stole a starship, blew it up, visited a forbidden planet, and apparently six other naughty things, so now they're getting ready to go back to Earth on their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey and face the music. There's just one hitch in this plan: the probe. It has now reached earth, shut down main power to... everything... and caused a huge weather phenomenon that blocked out the sun. So, basically, humanity has however long it'll take for Earth to freeze from lack of sunlight to tell this thing to move out of the way.
"When this is over, I'm quitting Starfleet and starting a gumbo restaurant."
In their Klingon ship, Kirk and the crew approach Earth and pick up a distress call from the president with the manly gray beard saying that Earth is under attack, so they pick up the probe's transmissions and analyze it. Since the transmission appears to be directed at the oceans, Kirk has Uhura compensate for the density of the water. When the audio effects are all in, the probe's transmission ends up sounding a lot like whale song; specifically, the extinct humpback whale. There's only one way they can get a humpback whale to answer the probe: The Guardian of Forev-... er... wait, no, the highly dangerous and tricky slingshot time warp maneuver. So there are two ways. We'll go with the dangerous one for now.
When they arrive in 1986, they confirm the date by testing the pollution in the air. Then they go into cloak and land in the middle of a park in San Francisco. After scaring off a couple of trash guys, the crew sets out to downtown. Their mission: 1) find humpback whales 2) get them on board the Klingon ship 3) fix the ship's dilithium crystals so they can go home. They split up to achieve their separate goals. Spock and Kirk go for the whales, Bones and Scotty go to build a proper tank, Uhura and Chekov find some nuclear power to fix the crystals.
Spock would like to take this opportunity to learn karate.
Spock and Kirk easily find some whales after they see an advertisement for the local whale institute where they meet George, Gracie and Dr. Gillian Taylor. George and Gracie are the whales and Gillian is the nice lady who knows everything about them. So Spock and Kirk get to know about the whales in their own unique way: Spock mind melds with Gracie and Kirk seduces Gillian. Meanwhile, Bones and Scotty are having a time of their own getting some plexiglass to make a whale tank. Luckily, they have an ace up their sleeves. They meet with a guy who deals in plexiglass and trade the secret formula for transparent aluminum in exchange for their required plexiglass. Also, Sulu learns how to drive a helicopter so they can lift all that plexiglass to the ship.
Things are just about set to go; Kirk is ready to pick up the whales, the plexiglass is ready to be delivered, everything is running smoothly until Chekov screws things up. He finds the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier, and, with Uhura's help, steals some of its nuclear power. Well, the officers on board sense the power drain and go looking for him. He hands the power device over to Uhura who beams up to the Klingon ship. But there's not enough transporter power to get Chekov, too, and he's captured. After escaping by attempting and failing to stun his captors, he runs and jumps off a high platform and hospitalizes himself.
It's possible they just got too high.
Chekov arrives at Mercy Hospital, so now they have to go save him before taking off. But to make matters worse, Gillian decided she wants to help, so she wandered off into the park and ran into the cloaked ship. So they beam her aboard, explain a few things, and then run off to save Chekov. With Gillian's help, they sneak into the hospital and pretend to be doctors. Chekov, a suspected Russian spy, is being kept under guard, but Bones easily tricks them into believing they have an emergency. He has a bit of a fight with the attending surgeon and then Kirk locks the surgeon and his team in a small room. Bones heals Chekov, and they leave. The guards give chase once they see that Chekov is being kidnapped, but they beam up in the elevator and make a clean getaway.
Ok, so, Chekov is safe, the tank is built, the dilithium crystals are fixed, all they need now are the whales. Kirk gets their tracking frequency from Gillian and says his goodbyes. She can't, after all, go to the future with them. Right? Weellll... as soon as he starts transporting aboard the ship, Gillian hops on him and comes with. She's staying whether Kirk likes it or not. With Gillian aboard, they set out to find George and Gracie. They find them right in front of a whaling ship. Still cloaked, they head right over to them and just hover for a bit while the whaling ship takes aim. And then... the decloakening.
Klingons on the port bow, captain!
Successfully having scared off the whalers, Scotty beams up George and Gracie and they make their way to the future. In a great evolution of Spock's revived character, he makes his "best guess" with the calculations for time warp, and they head out. Back in the future, they crash into San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the crew abandons ship, Kirk releases the whales out of the cargo bay and into the ocean. Once they're out, Kirk joins his crew as the whales start talking to the probe. After a delightful reunion and conversation with its good buddies, George and Gracie, the Probe turns around, says "thank you!" and leaves the Sol system in peace. The day is saved! So, now it's time for Kirk to stand trial.
Oh, right, yeah, this was the whole reason they were coming back to Earth, wasn't it? The crew of the Enterprise all stand in front of the president to be judged. Because for some reason the president is the judge in the future. Ready to be taken out of Starfleet forever, they all, including Spock who "stands with his shipmates", they all hear the charges brought to them. And then the president says he's getting rid of all of them in light of them saving the entire Earth, and all. The only charge that sticks, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Kirk and because of it, he is reduced in rank to Captain. Which is basically like grounding a nerd to his room with the Internet still on. And not only that, it wouldn't be Star Trek and Kirk wouldn't be Captain without the proper ship. They head out to the shipyard and find the brand spankin' new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The only proper ship for them to go and "see what's out there."
Overall Thoughts
This had been my absolute favorite Star Trek movie for the longest time until my tastes matured and I learned to like The Wrath of Kahn just slightly better. I love a good comedy sci-fi, especially when that comedy sci-fi involves time travel! Every good Star Trek series needs a comedy relief. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was that for The Original Series and this movie is that for the movie series. And, in fact, this movie was so monstrously successful, that it was almost entirely responsible for green-lighting The Next Generation. Picard would take command almost a year after this movie was released and Trek would never be the same.
It is true! I only know him by first name. He was from the Kiwanis Club of Corvallis (Oregon) and is an active volunteer installing grab bars in showers and tubs. He also installs wheelchair ramps, although I don't need one at this time. He was a very nice man, and the Kiwanis program is just wonderful. He said it was OK to take his picture, because I told him I photographically document nearly everything in my life that I can. Then I asked him for permission.
This is really going to make me feel more safe and balanced when I use the shower.
A longer true story than my usual ones is below the row of asterisks.
*************************************************************************
FALL OCCURRED IN THE SPRING
That’s right; fall occurred in the spring of 2012. Not the kind of fall like a beautiful autumn, but the kind of fall like Humpty Dumpty. The “splat” type of fall, which must have been painful for him. Mine was surely painful for me.
Let me digress a bit. I already have severe arthritis in both of my knees. I was very close to having the Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant refer me to the Orthopedist for knee replacements. The assistant had already seen me for seven to nine visits or so, and a series of Orthovisc® shots, which did not help me. I understand they are a great help to some people, but I wasn‘t one of them. He told me something I was completely unaware of. He said my teeth were bad, which is true. I have upper dentures and only one real tooth in my mouth. The bottom teeth except the one I just mentioned are all rotted away. They didn’t rot completely away; there are still parts of them in and below the gum line. He said they would all have to be surgically extracted before I could have knee replacements done. I asked him, “What do my teeth have to do with my knees?” He said infection can easily set in the rotten teeth and go to the knee or cause problems with my heart, major problems like death. Thus the reader can understand how I arrived at the title for my photo set about my hospital stay…The Knee Bone’s Connected to the Jaw Bone, Huh?
I have been walking around with very painful knees for quite awhile now, and I cannot afford the $1,600 to $2,000 to have my teeth surgically extracted. I already paid a dentist $180 for an appointment and a Panaray® X-Ray, over a year ago, just thinking it would be nice to finally get some lower dentures too. I never did get them. He split town, taking or disposing of his equipment and his files and x-rays. That $180 is long gone for me. I cannot even recover that old x-ray. Even if I did recover it, some new dentist would probably say it was out of date.
Medicare, which I am on, will pay for the two knee replacements, but here is the rub. They will not pay for dental. I have been in a surgical limbo with all the free pain I can stand.
That is the background information probably needed for this little story to be understood. There will be some OMG moments and some laughter. If it were a TV show, they would probably advertise, “You’ll Laugh; You’ll Cry; You’ll Sell Your Chickens; You’ll Call Your Congressman, and You’ll No Doubt Charge Your Cell Phone!”
That brings us to Thursday the 15th of March, 2012. (Beware the Ides of March). My daughter called to see if I could and would watch Rose all day Friday the 16th , as she had forgotten that she had signed up to be chaperone for her daughter, Anna Leigh’s, school field trip. It was going to be quite a bit out of town, the other direction from where I live. It was to be a special day. I wanted to be their hero; so I said sure. Some of you have seen Rose, the Hungarian Vizsla puppy among my photos. Rose is beautiful and young, and strong, and undisciplined and should probably be named Wild Rose. I love her, but she is a major handful. I had already watched her for 8 days while they went on a trip out of state, got one day off and then volunteered to do Friday the 16th.
Rose isn’t housebroken yet; so I took her out several times to encourage her to go outside. I was alone as far as other humans, and my daughter and granddaughter were about 60 miles away, on a school bus and then museum field trip. I live about 60 miles the other way from their home. It had been raining off and on and the ground and grass and driveway and mud were all pretty wet. My other trips outside with Rose that morning had been fine. I only had a thin shirt on, no extra shirt or jacket. I did not think I would be out in the yard very long.
Rose pulled on the leash too exuberantly, as she does often (she is five and a half months old, and has had puppy obedience training, but is in dire need of more of it). I slipped on a muddy and grassy slope. My right leg went out in front of me, and I fell on my rear end. My left leg folded underneath my thigh and toward my rear, and my weight, which is a lot, crunched it. It was bent backward way further than a knee is supposed to bend. I screamed bloody murder. I was afraid to even try to get up, as I thought I had probably torn a ligament or two.
Rose thought it was play time and was all over me. There was not a thing in sight that would give me any leverage to hold me up or to help me get up. I sat and I pondered what to do. My daughter and Anna Leigh would not be home for nearly 6 more hours. I thought, well I’ll just call 911 (the emergency number where we live). Wrong! No cell phone with me. It was inside their house, being charged up; ironically so it would be ready when I needed it.
I tried yelling for help. Nothing! A neighbor about a half an acre away, was mowing, and every time the mower cut off, I tried screaming for help. He must have had headphones on or something. Cars would drive by on the road way down the driveway, and I would yell, but no one had their windows down on that day. Did you know that when you have upper dentures and no lower ones, and you yell really hard, that it blows the upper dentures right out of your mouth? When I tried to hang onto them to keep them in my mouth, I was unable to cry out very loudly. I just thought I would throw that little trivia in. I didn’t know until that day.
I knew I couldn’t make it back in the house. There were too many upward slopes and an exposed aggregate patio and a few stairs. The front of the house was even worse, as it had more stairs. I looked down the driveway and saw a vehicle which had some metal protrusions, on the order of spare tire holder or something like that. I decided to try to scoot on my rear down to that metal thing. I thought perhaps it would give me leverage to get up. Rose thought that it was great fun to romp on and around me.
I thought the four chickens would be afraid to come around Rose. No, they are not very intelligent. They came right up to me and Rose and started pecking on me. I had never been pecked on my chickens before, and there I was on the ground with no help and Rose alternating between trying to attack the chickens and trying to play with me. Rose’s playfulness sort of resembles an attack, anyway. I scooted faster, much faster.
There was a light rain, but it was getting a little heavier. There was also a dusting of snow mixed with the rain. I was wondering how long it would take to get Exposure. I was wondering about Shock also. Can a person who has Exposure or Shock know that they have it? Ominous looking clouds were blowing quickly toward me. It was 1:30 P. M. when I fell. I didn’t have my phone, but I had my watch.
I scooted methodically toward the vehicle closest to me. I think it was about 100 feet. I got to it, and thought if worse came to worse with the weather, I could roll under the back of it. I did not relish thought of cold dark ground and spiders, but thought it might be better to risk them than the weather. I saw some wide strapping tape on the spare tire, which was loose. I didn’t want to risk hoisting myself up on the spare and its frame, as it was quite loose. But I took the tape and wrapped it around the metal thing that was separate from the spare tire things, and made it softer for my arm to lean on. I tried to prop myself up. No use; I fell back down. Not enough leverage. I put Rose’s leash handle on the trailer hitch. I didn’t want to just let her run free and maybe get hit by a car.
I tried again to get up and made it to both knees. It hurt so badly I went back down again. I noticed the license plate on the vehicle renewed on the ninth month of 2011. That said 911. I thought, “Oh yeah right, you inanimate license plate. Go ahead and taunt me! You know I can’t call 911.” I got a chuckle out of my own joke, and gave myself a figurative pat on the back for being resourceful about trying to get up.
I tried again. I got on both knees but the right one was in gravel that really hurt. Then I thought which knee should I put forward and which one should I try to rise on. I tried one, and it didn’t seem as if it would work so I tried the other way. That wasn’t the right way either. Finally I tried the first way again. I told myself on the count of three I would stand up, even if it hurt excruciatingly, I would scream but I would still get up. False start! Down again! I tried again and got up. I was standing!
Now was the problem of how to go anywhere, not knowing if my left knee would buckle at any time. I thought I had to try. I spotted my own truck further down the driveway, and decided to try to make it to it. I walked between two vehicles very carefully and slowly and got to my truck. I unlocked it with the remote key which I had in my pocket. After 11 years of driving it, the seat is pretty well conformed to me; so I didn’t have to bend my knees to sit down in it. I just leaned into the seat and put my relatively good right leg in. It was painful to bend my left knee to get it in the truck, but I did. Rose was still tied to a trailer hitch further back in the yard, but she was safe.
I looked at my watch. It was 3:30 P. M. It took me two hours to stand up and to get to some degree of safety and warmth. I could drive, as my truck is automatic. I drove down the road to a house that Anna had pointed out was where a schoolmate lived. I thought I could ask them to go in my daughter’s house and get my cell phone for me. There was a very large barking dog in the driveway, and no sign of humans, and the mother of the schoolmate has never even met me. I decided to go back to Jennifer’s home.
I found a cane in my truck that a charity, a different one than the one later in my story, had given me a few months ago. It is not a very sturdy one, but better than nothing. I did not use it on a regular basis. I used the hook end of it to fetch a large stick lying near the driveway (larger than a normal hiking stick). I pulled it to me, and stood back up out of the truck and used the big stick and the cane and balanced against two vehicles, and decided to try to get back in the house. I did. I got in the recliner and pulled a blanket up over me and slept until they got home.
After they got home, we all decided to go to the nearest Emergency room. It was a Friday night by then, and no normal doctor’s hours. We went to one closest to them, but it was still about 27 miles or so. They checked me out and did an x-ray. I told the Physician’s assistant nurse type lady about my knee history. She was fun and nice and caring and a little bit of a comedienne. She said that my left knee was really “ratty” looking on the x-ray. I laughed, because I’m sure it was. I have just never, in all my doctor visits ever had a nurse refer to one of my body parts as “ratty”. I suspect it is not a medical term. They said I sprained my knee, and gave me some medical records to take up to the emergency room (or my doctor) closer to where I live, seventeen miles from my home, the other direction from Jen & Anna. I wanted to be closer to the doctors and hospital that I know. I was given a prescription similar to Vicodin. Someone kindly pointed out that Walgreen’s was visible about a block away and their drive-thru was open. At that point I was still getting around by hobbling and by leaning on Jennifer. So I sat in a chair and she and Anna and Rose drove over to Walgreen’s . It seems as if it took a long time for them get the prescription filled.
While I was sitting there waiting, a employee came out to the lobby with clipboard in hand and asked if I were the lady with an injured knee. I replied that I was. She said, OK, come with me and we’ll have you see a triage. I thought it odd that I had already been seen and now they wanted to start all over again. I told her I had already been seen and x-rayed and all. It turned out there was another lady in the waiting room with an injured knee. It probably would have blown the Physician’s Assistant’s mind if I had played dumb and gone through everything again, and then told her when she looked shocked, “I’m coming through again; and this time don’t call my knee “ratty! Funny to imagine, but not a good idea.
Finally, my daughter and granddaughter returned to the hospital waiting room. Jennifer had forgotten her checkbook. So back they went and then it turned out, Jennifer couldn’t sign for my prescription, and she didn‘t have my insurance information. Thus, we all drove back over there. I was in line ahead of Jen‘s car. I told the pharmacist that my window did not go down well on the driver’s side, and I could not reach the pills in the drawer. So I would give him paperwork and cards he needed, but to please leave the pills themselves in the slide-out drawer. I said my daughter was right behind me and her window worked; and she would pick them up with my permission. Walgreen’s closed at 10 P. M. and it was about 9:57 P. M. Finally she got the pain pills in the drawer, but when we got out of Walgreen’s I flagged her down to stop and be sure to give me the pills to have with me before we forgot. Jennifer got them and handed them over to me. We laughed about how, at that time of night, it looked for the entire world like some sort of illegal drug deal.
We tried to go out for dinner, and the restaurant we chose put the closed sign in their front window as we were approaching. That always makes one feel so welcome, not!
Saturday, I rested, and then Sunday they took me to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. I had called my normal doctor, and he was out of the country (probably on some Doctors without Borders type thing). He participates in many good will efforts. The doctor filling in for him said to go to the Emergency Room. So I did, and they did an MRI, and I had torn the meniscus in my left knee. I ended up in the hospital for 8 days. No surgery was done to repair anything, because of the dental situation. But I got a walker, and some really nice nurses and physical therapy. I saw all kinds of doctors, and Home Health care people, and Senior and Disabled specialists. They must have taken my blood pressure 100 times, it seems. They always seem surprised that it is very good.
Anna Leigh, who is seven years old, threw a coin in the Hospital Fountain and made good wishes for me. She is such a sweetie. My daughter helped to clean up my place so when I went home the walker would fit through the rooms. I don’t know what I do without Jen and Anna. The first few days out of the hospital, I taught Anna how to play Monopoly, and she and Jennifer and I also did puzzles. There were some quality family moments. At one point I was eating a chip or cracker of some kind with my right hand, and trying to place a puzzle piece with my left hand. I got absentminded and stuck the puzzle piece in my mouth. I realized what I had done because the food tasted like cardboard. I took it out of my mouth. Anna about went into hysterics over it. I was laughing too. Anna’s Daddy called Jen about that time, and wanted to know what the laughter was all about. Anna wrote a note to show her Mom so her Mom could tell her Dad what happened. She spelled it phonetically, as she is only in first grade. I think she does really well, but Jen and I cracked up over how much Anna was laughing and over what she wrote. She wrote, “My grandmuther ate a pussel pees.” It looked substantially nastier than it was. Jen and I were cracking up about the note. Anna thought we were still laughing about the event itself, not the note. In any case, we all had some great belly laughs. Since the belly bone is no doubt connected to the brain bone and the knee bone, I think it was very healthy for us.
At first a physical therapist helped me in the hospital with a walker and with some small steps. After a few days, I could roam around the hallways on my own with the walker. At that point I took my camera. As I was practicing with my walker I took a number of pictures. I tried very hard to only shoot artsy type things and nothing about any patients or doctors that would invade their privacy. I had a bulletin board in my room just about me. I wrote “Exemplary Patient Award” on the comments. I wanted to see if it would make the nurses laugh. I thought it was funny to give myself an award. I enjoy making people laugh. I was curious if they would erase it, but it was still there when I was discharged.
I graduated from the walker to a cane yesterday. A home health physical therapist came to see how I was doing, and brought me a very colorful cane. I like it. It suits me, and it is brand new. There is a charity in my area called Love, Inc. I don’t know if it is just local or nationwide. Anyway, they gave him the cane to bring to me. Really super! Of course, I need to take a photo of it, and add it to this set. I’ll probably do that in the daylight.
I am still in surgical limbo, but a charity is going to come out and install grab bars on my shower, and still another charity will build up my recliner (which I sleep in) with a platform so it will be easier to get in and out of. It was suggested that I donate enough to cover the cost of the supplies but not the labor. I will probably make a donation, but I haven’t decided how much yet. I’m going to call my Congressman to see if something can be done about covering some dental procedures. I know him personally. He collects vintage cars, and has at least one Dodge and well over 10 Buicks. When I had a hubcap store, he would drop by and buy hubcaps for some of them. We would chat about politics, and automobiles, and high rent, etc. He probably won‘t be able to help, but I feel I have to try. Not just for me, but for a multitude of people.
I’ll close with a quote, although I don’t know who said it, “Be True to your Teeth and they will Never be False to You.” and “That is the Tooth, the whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth.”
(1568barrettputgrabbarsinmyshower4me)
arrived : December 21, 2016
arrived : December 21, 2016
the workroom received all 22 colour of the Asterisks collection. Full Metre, Half Metre and Fat Quarter bundles are available while they last.
Invitation to join our new group “Star Trek Forever” No Limits on uploads!
www.flickr.com/groups/2601080@N25/
Star Trek: Asterisk "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Written by Steve Beaudry
Release Date: November 26, 1986
Written by: Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Review
Deep in the outer reaches of space, a monstrous space probe passes by the USS Saratoga and knocks its power out on the way to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, a Klingon ambassador accuses Kirk of murdering a ship full of Klingons in his quest to exterminate the Klingon race with the Genesis probe (that thing will just not go away). The Federation president says that Kirk will face nine violations of Starfleet regulations, the crew of the Enterprise has been stuck on Vulcan for three months, and on top of all that, a computer is trying to find out how Spock feels. There's nowhere to go from here but up.
Well, in The Search for Spock, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stole a starship, blew it up, visited a forbidden planet, and apparently six other naughty things, so now they're getting ready to go back to Earth on their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey and face the music. There's just one hitch in this plan: the probe. It has now reached earth, shut down main power to... everything... and caused a huge weather phenomenon that blocked out the sun. So, basically, humanity has however long it'll take for Earth to freeze from lack of sunlight to tell this thing to move out of the way.
"When this is over, I'm quitting Starfleet and starting a gumbo restaurant."
In their Klingon ship, Kirk and the crew approach Earth and pick up a distress call from the president with the manly gray beard saying that Earth is under attack, so they pick up the probe's transmissions and analyze it. Since the transmission appears to be directed at the oceans, Kirk has Uhura compensate for the density of the water. When the audio effects are all in, the probe's transmission ends up sounding a lot like whale song; specifically, the extinct humpback whale. There's only one way they can get a humpback whale to answer the probe: The Guardian of Forev-... er... wait, no, the highly dangerous and tricky slingshot time warp maneuver. So there are two ways. We'll go with the dangerous one for now.
When they arrive in 1986, they confirm the date by testing the pollution in the air. Then they go into cloak and land in the middle of a park in San Francisco. After scaring off a couple of trash guys, the crew sets out to downtown. Their mission: 1) find humpback whales 2) get them on board the Klingon ship 3) fix the ship's dilithium crystals so they can go home. They split up to achieve their separate goals. Spock and Kirk go for the whales, Bones and Scotty go to build a proper tank, Uhura and Chekov find some nuclear power to fix the crystals.
Spock would like to take this opportunity to learn karate.
Spock and Kirk easily find some whales after they see an advertisement for the local whale institute where they meet George, Gracie and Dr. Gillian Taylor. George and Gracie are the whales and Gillian is the nice lady who knows everything about them. So Spock and Kirk get to know about the whales in their own unique way: Spock mind melds with Gracie and Kirk seduces Gillian. Meanwhile, Bones and Scotty are having a time of their own getting some plexiglass to make a whale tank. Luckily, they have an ace up their sleeves. They meet with a guy who deals in plexiglass and trade the secret formula for transparent aluminum in exchange for their required plexiglass. Also, Sulu learns how to drive a helicopter so they can lift all that plexiglass to the ship.
Things are just about set to go; Kirk is ready to pick up the whales, the plexiglass is ready to be delivered, everything is running smoothly until Chekov screws things up. He finds the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier, and, with Uhura's help, steals some of its nuclear power. Well, the officers on board sense the power drain and go looking for him. He hands the power device over to Uhura who beams up to the Klingon ship. But there's not enough transporter power to get Chekov, too, and he's captured. After escaping by attempting and failing to stun his captors, he runs and jumps off a high platform and hospitalizes himself.
It's possible they just got too high.
Chekov arrives at Mercy Hospital, so now they have to go save him before taking off. But to make matters worse, Gillian decided she wants to help, so she wandered off into the park and ran into the cloaked ship. So they beam her aboard, explain a few things, and then run off to save Chekov. With Gillian's help, they sneak into the hospital and pretend to be doctors. Chekov, a suspected Russian spy, is being kept under guard, but Bones easily tricks them into believing they have an emergency. He has a bit of a fight with the attending surgeon and then Kirk locks the surgeon and his team in a small room. Bones heals Chekov, and they leave. The guards give chase once they see that Chekov is being kidnapped, but they beam up in the elevator and make a clean getaway.
Ok, so, Chekov is safe, the tank is built, the dilithium crystals are fixed, all they need now are the whales. Kirk gets their tracking frequency from Gillian and says his goodbyes. She can't, after all, go to the future with them. Right? Weellll... as soon as he starts transporting aboard the ship, Gillian hops on him and comes with. She's staying whether Kirk likes it or not. With Gillian aboard, they set out to find George and Gracie. They find them right in front of a whaling ship. Still cloaked, they head right over to them and just hover for a bit while the whaling ship takes aim. And then... the decloakening.
Klingons on the port bow, captain!
Successfully having scared off the whalers, Scotty beams up George and Gracie and they make their way to the future. In a great evolution of Spock's revived character, he makes his "best guess" with the calculations for time warp, and they head out. Back in the future, they crash into San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the crew abandons ship, Kirk releases the whales out of the cargo bay and into the ocean. Once they're out, Kirk joins his crew as the whales start talking to the probe. After a delightful reunion and conversation with its good buddies, George and Gracie, the Probe turns around, says "thank you!" and leaves the Sol system in peace. The day is saved! So, now it's time for Kirk to stand trial.
Oh, right, yeah, this was the whole reason they were coming back to Earth, wasn't it? The crew of the Enterprise all stand in front of the president to be judged. Because for some reason the president is the judge in the future. Ready to be taken out of Starfleet forever, they all, including Spock who "stands with his shipmates", they all hear the charges brought to them. And then the president says he's getting rid of all of them in light of them saving the entire Earth, and all. The only charge that sticks, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Kirk and because of it, he is reduced in rank to Captain. Which is basically like grounding a nerd to his room with the Internet still on. And not only that, it wouldn't be Star Trek and Kirk wouldn't be Captain without the proper ship. They head out to the shipyard and find the brand spankin' new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The only proper ship for them to go and "see what's out there."
Overall Thoughts
This had been my absolute favorite Star Trek movie for the longest time until my tastes matured and I learned to like The Wrath of Kahn just slightly better. I love a good comedy sci-fi, especially when that comedy sci-fi involves time travel! Every good Star Trek series needs a comedy relief. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was that for The Original Series and this movie is that for the movie series. And, in fact, this movie was so monstrously successful, that it was almost entirely responsible for green-lighting The Next Generation. Picard would take command almost a year after this movie was released and Trek would never be the same.
This picture was taken in late afternoon. Check out the Thunder Booomer Sunset about four or five hours later. It looks out this same direction toward Green Peak. I'll post a shot or two as soon as I can. I'm on dial-up and it takes forever. This cane is mentioned in my fairly long (for a change) true story. It is down below the row of asterisks.
(1565flowerycanegreenpeakbackgroundresaminit)
**************************************************************************
FALL OCCURRED IN THE SPRING
That’s right; fall occurred in the spring of 2012. Not the kind of fall like a beautiful autumn, but the kind of fall like Humpty Dumpty. The “splat” type of fall, which must have been painful for him. Mine was surely painful for me.
Let me digress a bit. I already have severe arthritis in both of my knees. I was very close to having the Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant refer me to the Orthopedist for knee replacements. The assistant had already seen me for seven to nine visits or so, and a series of Orthovisc® shots, which did not help me. I understand they are a great help to some people, but I wasn‘t one of them. He told me something I was completely unaware of. He said my teeth were bad, which is true. I have upper dentures and only one real tooth in my mouth. The bottom teeth except the one I just mentioned are all rotted away. They didn’t rot completely away; there are still parts of them in and below the gum line. He said they would all have to be surgically extracted before I could have knee replacements done. I asked him, “What do my teeth have to do with my knees?” He said infection can easily set in the rotten teeth and go to the knee or cause problems with my heart, major problems like death. Thus the reader can understand how I arrived at the title for my photo set about my hospital stay…The Knee Bone’s Connected to the Jaw Bone, Huh?
I have been walking around with very painful knees for quite awhile now, and I cannot afford the $1,600 to $2,000 to have my teeth surgically extracted. I already paid a dentist $180 for an appointment and a Panaray® X-Ray, over a year ago, just thinking it would be nice to finally get some lower dentures too. I never did get them. He split town, taking or disposing of his equipment and his files and x-rays. That $180 is long gone for me. I cannot recover the old x-ray. Even if I did recover it, some new dentist would probably say it was out of date.
Medicare, which I am on, will pay for the two knee replacements, but here is the rub. They will not pay for dental. I have been in a surgical limbo with all the free pain I can stand.
That is the background information probably needed for this little story to be understood. There will be some OMG moments and some laughter. If it were a TV show, they would probably advertise, “You’ll Laugh; You’ll Cry; You’ll Sell Your Chickens; You’ll Call Your Congressman, and You’ll No Doubt Charge Your Cell Phone!”
That brings us to Thursday the 15th of March, 2012. (Beware the Ides of March). My daughter called to see if I could and would watch Rose all day Friday the 16th , as she had forgotten that she had signed up to be chaperone for her daughter, Anna Leigh’s, school field trip. It was going to be quite a bit out of town, the other direction from where I live. It was to be a special day. I wanted to be their hero; so I said sure. Some of you have seen Rose, the Hungarian Vizsla puppy among my photos. Rose is beautiful and young, and strong, and undisciplined and should probably be named Wild Rose. I love her, but she is a major handful. I had already watched her for 8 days while they went on a trip out of state, got one day off and then volunteered to do Friday the 16th.
Rose isn’t housebroken yet; so I took her out several times to encourage her to go outside. I was alone as far as other humans, and my daughter and granddaughter were about 60 miles away, on a school bus and then museum field trip. I live about 60 miles the other way from their home. It had been raining off and on and the ground and grass and driveway and mud were all pretty wet. My other trips outside with Rose that morning had been fine. I only had a thin shirt on, no extra shirt or jacket. I did not think I would be out in the yard very long.
Rose pulled on the leash too exuberantly, as she does often (she is five and a half months old, and has had puppy obedience training, but is in dire need of more of it). I slipped on a muddy and grassy slope. My right leg went out in front of me, and I fell on my rear end. My left leg folded underneath my thigh and toward my rear, and my weight, which is a lot, crunched it. It was bent backward way further than a knee is supposed to bend. I screamed bloody murder. I was afraid to even try to get up, as I thought I had probably torn a ligament or two.
Rose thought it was play time and was all over me. There was not a thing in sight that would give me any leverage to hold me up or to help me get up. I sat and I pondered what to do. My daughter and Anna Leigh would not be home for nearly 6 more hours. I thought, well I’ll just call 911 (the emergency number where we live). Wrong! No cell phone with me. It was inside their house, being charged up; ironically so it would be ready when I needed it.
I tried yelling for help. Nothing! A neighbor about a half an acre away, was mowing, and every time the mower cut off, I tried screaming for help. He must have had headphones on or something. Cars would drive by on the road way down the driveway, and I would yell, but no one had their windows down on that day. Did you know that when you have upper dentures and no lower ones, and you yell really hard, that it blows the upper dentures right out of your mouth? When I tried to hand onto them to keep them in my mouth, I was unable to cry out very loudly. I just thought I would throw that little trivia in. I didn’t know until that day.
I knew I couldn’t make it back in the house. There were too many upward slopes and an exposed aggregate patio and a few stairs. The front of the house was even worse, as it had more stairs. I looked down the driveway and saw a vehicle which had some metal protrusions, on the order of spare tire holder or something like that. I decided to try to scoot on my rear down to that metal thing. I thought perhaps it would give me leverage to get up. Rose thought that it was great fun to romp on and around me.
I thought the four chickens would be afraid to come around Rose. No, they are not very intelligent. They came right up to me and Rose and started pecking on me. I had never been pecked on my chickens before, and there I was on the ground with no help and Rose alternating between trying to attack the chickens and trying to play with me. Rose’s playfulness sort of resembles an attack, anyway. I scooted faster, much faster.
There was a light rain, but it was getting a little heavier. There was also a dusting of snow mixed with the rain. I was wondering how long it would take to get Exposure. I was wondering about Shock also. Can a person who has Exposure or Shock know that they have it? Ominous looking clouds were blowing quickly toward me. It was 1:30 P. M. when I fell. I didn’t have my phone, but I had my watch.
I scooted methodically toward the vehicle closest to me. I think it was about 100 feet. I got to it, and thought if worse came to worse with the weather, I could roll under the back of it. I did not relish thought of cold dark ground and spiders, but thought it might be better to risk them than the weather. I saw some wide strapping tape on the spare tire, which was loose. I didn’t want to risk hoisting myself up on the spare and its frame, as it was quite loose. But I took the tape and wrapped it around the metal thing that was separate from the spare tire things, and made it softer for my arm to lean on. I tried to prop myself up. No use; I fell back down. Not enough leverage. I put Rose’s leash handle on the trailer hitch. I didn’t want to just let her run free and maybe get hit by a car.
I tried again to get up and made it to both knees. It hurt so badly I went back down again. I noticed the license plate on the vehicle renewed on the ninth month of 2011. That said 911. I thought, “Oh yeah right, you inanimate license plate. Go ahead and taunt me! You know I can’t call 911.” I got a chuckle out of my own joke, and gave myself a figurative pat on the back for being resourceful about trying to get up.
I tried again. I got on both knees but the right one was in gravel that really hurt. Then I thought which knee should I put forward and which one should I try to rise on. I tried one, and it didn’t seem as if it would work so I tried the other way. That wasn’t the right way either. Finally I tried the first way again. I told myself on the count of three I would stand up, even if it hurt excruciatingly, I would scream but I would still get up. False start! Down again! I tried again and got up. I was standing!
Now was the problem of how to go anywhere, not knowing if my left knee would buckle at any time. I thought I had to try. I spotted my own truck further down the driveway, and decided to try to make it to it. I walked between two vehicles very carefully and slowly and got to my truck. I unlocked it with the remote key which I had in my pocket. After 11 years of driving it, the seat is pretty well conformed to me; so I didn’t have to bend my knees to sit down in it. I just leaned into the seat and put my relatively good right leg in. It was painful to bend my left knee to get it in the truck, but I did. Rose was still tied to a trailer hitch further back in the yard, but she was safe.
I looked at my watch. It was 3:30 P. M. It took me two hours to stand up and to get to some degree of safety and warmth. I could drive, as my truck is automatic. I drove down the road to a house that Anna had pointed out was where a schoolmate lived. I thought I could ask them to go in my daughter’s house and get my cell phone for me. There was a very large barking dog in the driveway, and no sign of humans, and the mother of the schoolmate has never even met me. I decided to go back to Jennifer’s home.
I found a cane in my truck that a charity, a different one than the one later in my story, had given me a few months ago. It is not a very sturdy one, but better than nothing. I did not use it on a regular basis. I used the hook end of it to fetch a large stick lying near the driveway (larger than a normal hiking stick). I pulled it to me, and stood back up out of the truck and used the big stick and the cane and balanced against two vehicles, and decided to try to get back in the house. I did. I got in the recliner and pulled a blanket up over me and slept until they got home.
After they got home, we all decided to go to the nearest Emergency room. It was a Friday night by then, and no normal doctor’s hours. We went to one closest to them, but it was still about 27 miles or so. They checked me out and did an x-ray. I told the Physician’s assistant nurse type lady about my knee history. She was fun and nice and caring and a little bit of a comedienne. She said that my left knee was really “ratty” looking on the x-ray. I laughed, because I’m sure it was. I have just never, in all my doctor visits ever had a nurse refer to one of my body parts as “ratty”. I suspect it is not a medical term. They said I sprained my knee, and gave me some medical records to take up to the emergency room (or my doctor) closer to where I live, seventeen miles from my home, the other direction from Jen & Anna. I wanted to be closer to the doctors and hospital that I know. I was given a prescription similar to Vicodin. Someone kindly pointed out that Walgreen’s was visible about a block away and their drive-thru was open. At that point I was still getting around by hobbling and by leaning on Jennifer. So I sat in a chair and she and Anna and Rose drove over to Walgreen’s . It seems as if it took a long time for them get the prescription filled.
While I was sitting there waiting, a employee came out to the lobby with clipboard in hand and asked if I were the lady with an injured knee. I replied that I was. She said, OK, come with me and we’ll have you see a triage. I thought it odd that I had already been seen and now they wanted to start all over again. I told her I had already been seen and x-rayed and all. It turned out there was another lady in the waiting room with an injured knee. It probably would have blown the Physician’s Assistant’s mind if I had played dumb and gone through everything again, and then told her when she looked shocked, “I’m coming through again; and this time don’t call my knee “ratty! Funny to imagine, but not a good idea.
Finally, my daughter and granddaughter returned to the hospital waiting room. Jennifer had forgotten her checkbook. So back they went and then it turned out, Jennifer couldn’t sign for my prescription, and she didn‘t have my insurance information. Thus, we all drove back over there. I was in line ahead of Jen‘s car. I told the pharmacist that my window did not go down well on the driver’s side, and I could not reach the pills in the drawer. So I would give him paperwork and cards he needed, but to please leave the pills themselves in the slide-out drawer. I said my daughter was right behind me and her window worked; and she would pick them up with my permission. Walgreen’s closed at 10 P. M. and it was about 9:57 P. M. Finally she got the pain pills in the drawer, but when we got out of Walgreen’s I flagged her down to stop and be sure to give me the pills to have with me before we forgot. Jennifer got them and handed them over to me. We laughed about how, at that time of night, it looked for the entire world like some sort of illegal drug deal.
We tried to go out for dinner, and the restaurant we chose put the closed sign in their front window as we were approaching. That always makes one feel so welcome, not!
Saturday, I rested, and then Sunday they took me to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. I had called my normal doctor, and he was out of the country (probably on some Doctors without Borders type thing). He participates in many good will efforts. The doctor filling in for him said to go to the Emergency Room. So I did, and they did an MRI, and I had torn the meniscus in my left knee. I ended up in the hospital for 8 days. No surgery was done to repair anything, because of the dental situation. But I got a walker, and some really nice nurses and physical therapy. I saw all kinds of doctors, and Home Health care people, and Senior and Disabled specialists. They must have taken my blood pressure 100 times, it seems. They always seem surprised that it is very good.
Anna Leigh, who is seven years old, threw a coin in the Hospital Fountain and made good wishes for me. She is such a sweetie. My daughter helped to clean up my place so when I went home the walker would fit through the rooms. I don’t know what I do without Jen and Anna. The first few days out of the hospital, I taught Anna how to play Monopoly, and she and Jennifer and I also did puzzles. There were some quality family moments. At one point I was eating a chip or cracker of some kind with my right hand, and trying to place a puzzle piece with my left hand. I got absentminded and stuck the puzzle piece in my mouth. I realized what I had done because the food tasted like cardboard. I took it out of my mouth. Anna about went into hysterics over it. I was laughing too. Anna’s Daddy called Jen about that time, and wanted to know what the laughter was all about. Anna wrote a note to show her Mom so her Mom could tell her Dad what happened. She spelled it phonetically, as she is only in first grade. I think she does really well, but Jen and I cracked up over how much Anna was laughing and over what she wrote. She wrote, “My grandmuther ate a pussel pees.” It looked substantially nastier than it was. Jen and I were cracking up about the note. Anna thought we were still laughing about the event itself, not the note. In any case, we all had some great belly laughs. Since the belly bone is no doubt connected to the brain bone and the knee bone, I think it was very healthy for us.
At first a physical therapist helped me in the hospital with a walker and with some small steps. After a few days, I could roam around the hallways on my own with the walker. At that point I took my camera. As I was practicing with my walker I took a number of pictures. I tried very hard to only shoot artsy type things and nothing about any patients or doctors that would invade their privacy. I had a bulletin board in my room just about me. I wrote “Exemplary Patient Award” on the comments. I wanted to see if it would make the nurses laugh. I thought it was funny to give myself an award. I enjoy making people laugh. I was curious if they would erase it, but it was still there when I was discharged.
I graduated from the walker to a cane yesterday. A home health physical therapist came to see how I was doing, and brought me a very colorful cane. I like it. It suits me, and it is brand new. There is a charity in my area called Love, Inc. I don’t know if it is just local or nationwide. Anyway, they gave him the cane to bring to me. Really super! Of course, I need to take a photo of it, and add it to this set. I’ll probably do that in the daylight.
I am still in surgical limbo, but a charity is going to come out and install grab bars on my shower, and still another charity will build up my recliner (which I sleep in) with a platform so it will be easier to get in and out of. It was suggested that I donate enough to cover the cost of the supplies but not the labor. I will probably make a donation, but I haven’t decided how much yet. I’m going to call my Congressman to see if something can be done about covering some dental procedures. I know him personally. He collects vintage cars, and has at least one Dodge and well over 10 Buicks. When I had a hubcap store, he would drop by and buy hubcaps for some of them. We would chat about politics, and automobiles, and high rent, etc. He probably won‘t be able to help, but I feel I have to try. Not just for me, but for a multitude of people.
I’ll close with a quote, although I don’t know who said it, “Be True to your Teeth and they will Never be False to You.” and “That is the Tooth, the whole Tooth, and Nothing but the Tooth.”
This list below is of people we believe to have died as a result of the influenza pandemic & are buried in this area.
Images that we may have for these people have been arranged in plot order, e.g. lowest numbered row 1st, with odd numbered plots on the right hand side of the row & even numbered plots on the left.
Those that have an asterisk at the end of their names do not currently have an image.
Alternatively, this link will take you to our alphabetical listing of all known deaths, where you will be able to click on the green link to take you directly to the person you are seeking.
discoverwaikumetecemetery.blogspot.com/p/influenza-victim...
Adams: Maud – Row 9, Plot 96
Alexander: James (Jim) – Row 9, Plot 116
Aro: Merenia – Row 9, Plot 102
Ashby: Stanley – Row 8, Plot 75
Atkinson: Mavis – Row 4, Plot 6
Bell: Bella Mary – Row 8, Plot 35
Blake: Mary Ann – Row 8, Plot 15
Blucher: Victoria May – Row 9, Plot 95
Booth: Frederick Charles – Row 8, Plot 39
Boyd: Ernest Hugh – Row 7, Plot 78
Brokenshire: Ernest George – Row 9, Plot 31
Brown-Crossan: Ross John – Row 9, Plot 7
Broxton: Kitty – Row 9, Plot 35
Broxton: William Henry – Row 9, Plot 35
Bruce: James Lawrence – Row 9, Plot 80
Bunting: Ernest Harold – Row 8, Plot 81
Burns: Peter – Row 7, Plot 62
Burrows: George – Row 8, Plot 83
Bygrave: George – Row 8, Plot 47
Cahill: Ellen – Row 9, Plot 60 *
Carlaw: Arthur James – Row 7, Plot 2
Carter: William – Row 9, Plot 84
Chamberlain: William Thomas – Row 8, Plot 72
Chapman: Edith Eliza – Row 7, Plot 10
Chapman: Francis Hay – Row 9, Plot 123
Clark: Maud Ellen – Row 7, Plot 73
Clarke: Charles Pickering – Row 9, Plot 91
Colner: John – Row 9, Plot 132
Copeland: Edgar – Row 8, Plot 8
Copeland: Euphemia (Phoebe) – Row 8, Plot 8
Crossman: William Henry – Row 8, Plot 32
Dashwood: John Henry – Row 8, Plot 28
Davoren: John Lucius – Row 7, Plot 69
de Jongh: Lewis – Row 9, Plot 67
Dickey: Florence Sadie – Row 9, Plot 115
Erbach: Frederick – Row 4, Plot 49
Fitzmorris: Norah Adelaide – Row 9, Plot 39
Fly: Annie – Row 9, Plot 134
Foreman: Thomas – Row 7, Plot 18
Foster: Charlotte Grace – Row 7, Plot 70
Grant: Gertrude (May) May – Row 8, Plot 19
Green: Rosie May – Row 9, Plot 40
Grice Ida – Row 9, Plot 75
Griffiths: Elsie May – Row 8, Plot 36
Hack: Henry – Row 8, Plot 76
Hart: William – Row 9, Plot 135
Hatley: Ernest – Row 9, Plot 71
Hill: Agnes – Row 7, Plot 25
Hill: Alfred James – Row 7, Plot 21
Hollis: Gertrude Linda – Row 8, Plot 88 *
Holt: Gerald Joseph – Row 8, Plot 100
Horr: Maud Ngan – Row 9, Plot 56
Horsfall: Clifton Ernest – Row 9, Plot 55
Howarth: Harold – Row 1, Plot 6a
Howell: Charles Baugh – Row 8, Plot 23
Hutchinson: Thomas – Row 9, Plot 98
Jay: William Robert – Row 9, Plot 44
Johnston: Reginald Henry – Row 4, Plot 7
Jones: Arthur Harold – Row 8, Plot 107
Just: Edith – Row 8, Plot 64
Kearns: Elizabeth – Row 11a, Plot 33
Kellett: James Maurice – Row 8, Plot 130 *
Kettelsen or Kettlesen: Julius – Row 8, Plot 51
Kitson: Elizabeth – Row 9, Plot 24
Kleine: Caroline May – Row 9, Plot 119
Lauder: Norman (John) Keith – Row 8, Plot 9
Lawrence: Emma – Row 8, Plot 16
Lewis: Elizabeth – Row 7, Plot 74
Lydon: John – Row 8, Plot 91
Mahoney: Thomas – Row 5, Plot 53
Manning: Robert – Row 8, Plot 48
Mason: George Edward – Row 9, Plot 140
Matahau: Andrew – Row 9, Plot 100
Matatahi: Reti – Row 9, Plot 120
Matthews: Lindley Haxton – Row 8, Plot 56
McGuire: John – Row 8, Plot 7
McKenzie: Maria Florence – Row 9, Plot 105
McLeod: Mona – Row 8, Plot 55
Meade: Charles William – Row 8, Plot 77
Mettam: John Tunnard – Row 8, Plot 3
Millar: George – Row 8, Plot 11
Miller: Elizabeth Hannah – Row 8, Plot 79
Mitchell: George – Row 8, Plot 80
Mitchelson: Flora Jane – Row 8, Plot 54
Mitchelson: Frederick – Row 8, Plot 52
Morrisey: Ada – Row 1, Plot 34a
Muller: Dorothy Theresa – Row 9, Plot 75
Mutu: Female – Row 8, Plot 59
Mutu: John – Row 8, Plot 60
Mutu: Male – Row 8, Plot 60
Mutu: Mohi – Row 8, Plot 59
Mutu: Peria – Row 8, Plot 60
Mutu: Teura – Row 8, Plot 60
Nepia: Hanna – Row 8, Plot 59
Nicholson: Walter Tinsley – Row 8, Plot 4
Norris: Hebe – Row 9, Plot 36
O'Flanagan: Lillian Elizabeth – Row 8, Plot 71
Orr: John Walker – Row 3, Plot 38a
Packem or Packer: Carl – Row 9, Plot 136
Pakenham: Edward William James – Row 9, Plot 59
Paton: Violet – Row 9, Plot 128
Patterson: James – Row 9, Plot 124
Paul: Sarah (Sadie) Jane – Row 8, Plot 27
Peterson: Joan – Row 4, Plot 1
Peterson: Peter, Ship's Captain – Row 9, Plot 48
Pinfold: Albert Jowett – Row 9, Plot 27
Rickman: James George – Row 9, Plot 103
Robson: Samuel – Row 8, Plot 40
Rooke: Richard Raymond – Row 9, Plot 47 *
Sankey: Thomas – Row 8, Plot 62
Skorput: Jure – Row 8, Plot 24
Shields: Ada Alice – Row 8, Plot 92
Smith: Albert Harrison – Row 8, Plot 73
Smith: Fred, Steward – Row 7, Plot 99
Smith: George Gregory – Row 8, Plot 73
Smith: Marjorie – Row 9, Plot 64
Smith: Sydney (Sid) George – Row 8, Plot 74
Songhurst: Martha – Row 8, Plot 95
Spencer: Ann Jane – Row 9, Plot 105
Steele: James Sydney – Row 9, Plot 127
Stevens: Joseph – Row 9, Plot 68
Stewart: David Joseph – Row 9, Plot 131
Stokes: Bertie Henry T. – Row 8, Plot 67 *
Stonex: Albert Edward – Row 8, Plot 20
Tackaberry: Sarah Jane – Row 9, Plot 99
Tants: Michael – Row 9, Plot 52
Taylor: Lydia Kate – Row 8, Plot 104 *
Tennent: Charles Ernest – Row 8, Plot 61
Tennent: Clara Eileen – Row 8, Plot 61
Thompson: Caroline – Row 5, Plot 56
Thompson: Harry Lloyd – Row 8, Plot 84 *
Tonga: Thomas – Row 9, Plot 79
Tristram: Percy John – Row 9, Plot 88 *
Unknown child – Row 9, Plot 108
Unknown man – Row 9, Plot 112
Unknown man – Row 9, Plot 107
Venner: Walter – Row 8, Plot 63
Virtue: Ruth Elizabeth – Row 1, Plot 24
Walker: Charles – Row 8, Plot 68
Williams: Eva Martha – Row 9, Plot 76
Williams: Samuel – Row 8, Plot 12
Wilson: Minnie – Row 8, Plot 31
Wood: Robert (Bob) John – Row 2, Plot 94
Young: Chan – Row 9, Plot 111
More adventures in crocheted crochet. I made the openwork base first, then crocheted motifs in the open spaces. I'm calling the technique interstitch-al crochet. The larger sample is the prototype; the smaller one is worked in finer yarn at a smaller gauge.
So the picture? That's John's feet. Pure, unadulterated color on that shot. Looks fantastic, doesn't it? The rest of him is just as, if not even more, toasted than his feet.
Anyway, before I go into why today was so awesome, let me explain the asterisk first. No, it's not John's sunburn, although that's related to both the asterisk and the awesome.
So in yesterday's post I wrote about how it was the worst day so far of the trip -- death march bike ride, sea urchin in the foot, and something I neglected to mention -- our hostel owner's son (the owner of the original place we were supposed to stay before he overbooked and bumped us up to his mom's place) came by and told us that he and his mom had had a miscommunication, and she'd overbooked, and we needed to go back to his hostel for our last night. Given that they'd given us a discount for our last night on the original rate we'd paid, I wasn't complaining too much, but it still is a hassle to pack up and move for one night.
Anyway, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. This morning, as we were packing up, I realized my camera was nowhere to be found. The reason this is a blessing is because if we hadn't had to pack up, I likely wouldn't have realized this until tomorrow morning, right before we left town (because I couldn't take it on today's activity) and I probably would have made us miss our ferry as we were looking for it.
So anyway, as you can probably guess, massive panic (and tears) ensued. I tried to retrace my steps to where I'd last had it. I knew for sure that I'd had it at the cemetery that we stopped at on our bike ride. I couldn't remember after that, but I thought I might have had it when we went on our second ride before returning the rental bikes. But I COULDN'T REMEMBER. Yesterday was kind of a hot, painful, icky day (with the exception of the lovely swim I had shortly before impaling my foot on a sea urchin.)
We spent an hour looking for it. We went back up to the cemetery (got a ride from the hostel owner this time though.) I even went to two different police stations. Nothing. No one had seen it. I finally resigned myself to my fate -- it was gone, and it was my own damn fault. Now that we'd wasted the entire morning looking for it (well, and moving hostels, which took longer than I thought it would when the hostel owner realized I knew something about computers and wanted tech help... sigh) it was almost noon and we still weren't in a kayak, which was our original plan for today -- to rent a double kayak and a couple of snorkels and go snorkeling.
So on our way to the kayak rental place, we decided to try one last place -- the ice cream shop we'd stopped at at the end of our death ride yesterday, which is right on the main wharf in town. I didn't look here before because I was POSITIVE I had my camera after this... yaay for heat-addled brain creating false memories! I also figured that since the only seating is outside on benches and it's on a main drag, that if I'd left it there, it would be gone anyway.
So we walk into the ice cream place and I go up to the girl behind the counter and tell her in English that I think I might have left a camera there yesterday. She looked at John, and it was like a light went on in her face. She started talking really fast in Croatian, and rushed around the counter to the back corner of the shop. When I caught "kamara" in her monologue, I literally ran after her, and saw it sitting on the shelf in the back. I'm not embarrassed to say that I totally burst into tears, and then she picked it up, and when she turned around, I hugged her. I tried to give her money as a thank-you, but she wouldn't take it, darn it!!! I really wish she would have... I sooooooo owe her, and whoever turned it into her!!! When I took a breath from thanking her, she explained in broken English that the reason she knew I was there for my camera was that she recognized John, because she'd looked through the pictures to see if she could get an idea of who it belonged to... WOW. I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO LUCKY.
So I'm not counting losing my camera as part of today's "best day so far". Neither is having to switch hostels. As far as I'm concerned, both of those events *happened* yesterday, but their resolutions were today. That's fine with me.
Anyway, so now that I had my camera, we went off to the kayak rental place to rent ourselves a kayak. Thankfully they have a storage area for people's purses and other valuables that they didn't want to take with them on kayaks, so I was able to leave my camera there (because it's a 15-minute walk from town to our new hostel and we were already running behind and I didn't want to walk all the way back.) I do have to admit that I was a bit nervous handing over my camera, though... Understandably so!
By the time we got on the water, it was almost noon. I SWEAR we both slathered ourselves with 30SPF sunblock. SLATHERED, I tell you. Oh, and that stuff was supposed to be waterproof.
We paddled for over an hour to get to where we were going, which was a series of little islands off the coast of Korcula. They weren't all that far, but the way the current was going, it was going north, and we were going south, so it was slow going to say the least. (This was nice for the paddle home though, as that took us only 30 minutes!) By the time we got to a nice beach where we decided to stop, John was already starting to get burned.
Oh, because of the camera incident, I didn't bring my $25 eBay wonder camera on the kayak like I'd planned. I figured that if my DSLR was gone, then that and my cameraphone were going to be my only cameras for the rest of the trip, so I didn't want to risk anything happening to it. Probably a good decision, but it meant that I don't have a single picture of the absolutely gorgeous place we went snorkeling. :-( If I did, then I'd have something a bit more scenic than John's sunburnt feet for the picture of the day. :-p
We spent almost four hours where we beached the kayaks. We snorkeled, had lunch, dozed in the sun for a bit to warm up (the water's still a bit cool this time of year) and snorkeled again (well, John didn't snorkel again since it was too cold for him, so he followed me in the kayak while I snorkeled over to another tiny island.)
I think I know what it is I love about snorkeling. I've always wanted to be able to fly (hey, what kid doesn't? I think I just never grew out of it) and snorkeling is like flying right underneath the surface of the sky. I love it so so much.
I have to admit, the snorkeling here doesn't hold a candle to Hawaii. There's no comparison. There's really not a whole lot in the way of underwater flora and fauna, much less that of the colorful variety. But the water is just SO FREAKING BLUE AND CLEAR. I still can't get over it. And there was still a ton of cool stuff to look at (well, as much as I can see anyway without my contacts in... although really, I could see a heck of a lot better underwater than I'd thought I'd be able to!)
Anyway, you'd think that given how much time I spent in the water, I would have been the one to end up roasted (or at least my back, as I was face down in the water most of the time.) But nope... poor John, who was good about reapplying his sunblock (me? reapply mine? ummmm...) and who was only in the water for a bit... the guy's toast. Crispy critter. Gonna be hurting tomorrow. Doesn't even want the sheets to touch him as he's lying in bed. I feel so so so bad for him. His back and chest are only somewhat pink, but his shoulders, face, legs, and feet are fried. Whoops.
Despite alternately freezing and frying, John proclaimed it an awesome day and a good way to wrap up our stay on Korcula. I wholehartedly concur. Asterisk or no asterisk, this has definitely been my favorite day of the trip so far.
Tomorrow we're heading off to Sveti Stefan via ferry to Dubrovnik, bus to Budva (Montenegro! our third country this trip!) and then... well, I'm not sure how we're going to get from Budva to Sveti Stefan, but given that it's only 10km, we'll figure something out. In Sveti Stefan, we're staying with one of my coworkers, whose family lives there and who just got there yesterday from Sacramento. It's another coastal town, so I'm hoping for more snorkeling and sightseeing. I can't wait. :-D
Oh, one final note. Wonder of wonders, we're UNDER BUDGET right now. Not by much, but given that our budget is $50/day/person, and that includes lodging and all of our transportation (well, minus plane tickets and 10 days of train travel, which is all our pass covers) that's pretty darn good. And given that we won't have to pay for lodging for at least the next week (staying with my coworker and then with a friend's sister's friend in Sarajevo) that will either put us more ahead, or give us more money to do some fun stuff in the places we're going. We'll see. Eventually I think I'm going to do a post about money, because even though I know a lot of people feel like it's a taboo subject, when I was planning this trip, I found precious little about realistically budgeting for a trip like this, and I figure it'd be nice to have something that maybe other people can use as a reference if they want to plan their own cheap trip around Europe.
I'm having so much fun. Normally I'd be dreading having to go home right about now (or would already be back, given most of my trips seem to be a week to ten days) but I have six more weeks to look forward to--SWEET!!! :-)
Story part is between the rows of asterisks.
***************************************************************************
One of my little dreams in life was to have my own horse on my own property and be able to ride it when and where and how I wanted. Well, my family and I did a lease option on a home with this barn. When we had it, it was a boring gray. I went to visit the site about 2 months ago, and discovered that whoever lives there now had painted it barn red. I like it much better this way.
I digress;, I was thrilled to have a real barn and to get a horse. I would have been happy with a quarter-horse mix or something like that, but we had new neighbors down the hill maybe 1/4 mile or so, and they raised Arabian horses. The woman there talked me into getting an Arabian horse. I had ridden at horse rental stables in my life, but I was by no means an accomplished rider. By all rights, I should not have started out with an Arabian, especially not one who had been mistreated and was only green-broke. I didn't discover the mistreated part until much later. But the woman was persuasive and had some friends who sold Arabians, and nothing would do but I should let her help me pick one out. I did, and she also said I should come down the hill to her property and she would help me manage some riding and some more training for the horse. It seemed a good idea to do that for awhile before attempting to ride the horse on my own up the hill by my barn etc.
My new horse's name was Silver, although he was mostly white with some dappling of gray. Silver was quite thin, although at the time I wasn't experienced enough to know that. He was nice looking to me. Looking back on a few rare photos I have of him, maybe it was just a perspective distortion, but I looked fatter than he did when I was standing by his side.
I walked him by a lead down the hill and they had a pasture and also a stool I could stand on to get on him. At first I rode around on him very timidly. I was told not to dig my heels in too tightly or suddenly or he would take off. I didn't. I did get him in a canter across the pasture and as we got toward one of the fences that bordered the pasture, I wrongly assumed he would slow down and turn so he didn't run right into it. Well, he didn't slow down and turn. He got right up to the fence and suddenly and very harshly turned right. I went flying. I hurt my head a little bit and got a bruise on my rear end the size of a very large dinner plate. It took months to go away. My mother used to ride horses, probably just one time, but she embellished it to make it sound as if she had a great deal of riding experience. She had told me more than one time in my life that I ever got bucked off of a horse, to get right back on, and not show fear. Otherwise, she said, I would probably never ride again. With her words in mind , I got back on. I rode very cautiously and only for a short time. Then I called it an afternoon and walked Silver back up the hill, and into his nice barn, which he had all to himself. A day or so later I again tried riding him again at the neighbor's fenced pasture. Something else spooked him, and again I got tossed off. Again I got back on; I mean, after all, you gotta remember those lessons from your mother and your neighbor. I was able to have some control over the ride the rest of that afternoon; so a third ride came along, and here is what happened. The neighbor decided we should try to have several riders open the gate ahead and I would be last in the line and go through the opened gate. We would then try riding up a hill on a country road, just a little bit, but with no fences, just to see how Silver would do out of the confines of the pasture, and with hopefully taking cues from other horses that were behaving.
All the other horses and riders went through the gate but me. Silver was balking at the gate, even though it was open. He was acting nervous and scared, and trust me, I was too. He didn't just toss me lightly, he bucked and reared. I stayed on as he jerked pretty hard to the right, but I was way off balance. Then he jerked and bucked violently to his left. I went smashing to the ground, hitting my head, and very scared that his hooves would get me. I remember feeling a slight pain in my right knee, but at the time, I didn't think too much of it. I don't think that I lost consciousness, but really, how would one know if in fact they were out cold. Silver ran off, and I was sitting on the ground. My husband came over and tried to help me up. He wanted to know if I was OK. I said I thought so, but to let me see if I could stand and kind of have a moment to be sure I had my balance. He helped me up, and things seemed OK. I began to take a step, and my right knee went out at a right angle to my right leg. I was not expecting that at all. Once I had gotten up from the dirt, I never dreamed that I could not walk. I screamed bloody murder, at the pain and at the very unexpected moment of being standing on only one leg and falling yet again to the ground. My husband tried to help me up again, and I said NO! I didn't know for sure what had just happened to me, but I knew I didn't want it to happen again. I told him and some of the others that I was afraid to get up. They called an ambulance and I went to the emergency room. It seems that my boot had been caught just a bit in the stirrup when I got bucked off, and I torqued my knee on the way down. Thank God my boot did not get completely stuck, or I would have probably been mincemeat. I tore my anterior cruciate and one other ligament of which I don't recall the name. I had a surgeon lined up to repair the two ligaments, but I had to wait about 8 days for them to feel assured that my concussion was not going to adversely affect my surgery.
I was about 40 years old when this all happened. My surgeon told me at the time not to get him wrong, that he wan't saying that I was old in general, but that for this type of injury, 40 was old. He said I wasn't like some healthy football player who would recover quickly. I had to be on a continuous motion machine in bed, and I only got out of bed to go to the bathroom. Between the ambulance, emergency room visit, referral to a surgeon, getting over the concussion, then the hospitalization/surgery and recovery time at home, it was a long painful ordeal. We had an enormous family room upstairs with a ping pong table, and I could not even go upstairs in the house at all. The whole experience of trying to have my own horse was disappointing.
Silver got sold back to the people we bought him from. Their grown daughter had bragged when I first bought him, about how even though Silver was only green-broke she could take him out in the woods camping for a week or two and be fine. After Silver was back with them, she rode him and he threw her and she cracked several ribs. Karma?
You may have begin to realize that, though I had a horse and a nice barn, and some acres to ride on, I never did actually get my to ride my own horse on my own property where I could ride around freely. I wanted so badly to have fun and to not have some rental stable hand tell me you can't go over there by that beautiful meadow with wildflowers; and you can't break away from the other riders a little bit to go catch the view of the lakes, and you can't let your horse canter, and you can't, you can't, you can't. One time I had rented a horse (and by the way if the horse was calm and gentle, I could ride pretty well). The trail guide noticed that and asked me to take up the rear and keep an eye on a young girl in front of me who had virtually no experience. I did that for him and for her, and had the slowest, most unenjoyable ride ever, eating their dust the whole time, and then paying high hourly prices to do so.
When the lease option period of a year was up, we decided not to buy this place.
THE END
***************************************************************************
(DSCN8677-PineStbarnpaintedredinit)
Mark Richardson being lit up by a light shaft coming through 'The Asterisk Drop'.
The image was taken during a specially arranged visit to the cave during the Buttered Badger Potholing Club Oman Expedition 2012. More information about the expedition including a report can be found at www.butteredbadger.com.
fiverr.com/asterisk_design
logo
logos definition
logo creator
logo design
logo maker free
logo generator
logos definition literature
logos examples
logout
logo generator free
logo design free
logo definition
logo animation
logo app
logo answers
logo apparel
logo art
logo athletic
logo animation after effects
logo artist
logo and stitch
logo archive
a logo design
a logo for you
a logo red
a logo would need
a logo baseball team
a logo sports
a logo maker
a logo with a crown
a logo is not a brand
a logo is an example of
logo builder
logo brands
logo backgrounds
logo by lori goldstein
logo board game
logo builder free
logo bags
logo backdrop
logo banner
logo balloons
b logo car
b logo red
b logo png
b logo hat
b logo ideas
b logo blue
b logo with wings
b logo baseball
b logo sports
b logo belt
logo creator free
logo creation
logo channel
logo crisp
logo colors
logo clothing
logo contest
logo creator online
logo creator app
c logo design
c logo sports
c logo company
c logo images
c logo png
c logo clothing
c logo purse
c logo baseball
c logo brand
c logo red
logo design app
logo design ideas
logo designer online
logo design contest
logo designer near me
logo design inspiration
d logo design
d logos images
d logo png
d logo baseball
d logo brand
d logo shoes
d logo free download
d logo guitar
d logo design ideas
d logo with red arrow
logo examples
logo express
logo eg crossword
logo editor
logo elements
logo embroidery
logo evolution
logo editor free
logo elements new era
logo embroidery machine
e logo design
e logo png
e logo car
e logo name
e logo vector
e logopedia
e logo sunglasses
e logos images
e logo with circle around it
e logo 3d
logo free
logo finder
logo for business
logo facebook
logo font generator
logo factory
logo fails
logo for youtube
logo for sale
f logo brand
f logo clothing
f logo design
f logo fortnite
f logo with star
f logo png
f logo name
f logo free
f logo company
f logo app
logo golf balls
logo garden
logo generator online
logo gifts
logo genie
logo game level 2
g logo design
g logo company
g logo football
g logo ideas
g logo png
g logo belt
g logo vector
g logo google
g logo brand
g logo sports
logo hats
logo history
logo hoodie
logo help
logo house
logo hidden meaning
logo hub
logo hq
logo honda
logo here
h logo brand
h logo belt
h logo png
h logo design
h logo shoes
h logos images
h logo quiz
h logos and names
h logo car
h logo ideas
logo infusion
logo images
logo in spanish
logo icon
logo items
logo instagram
logo ideas 2018
logo identifier
i logo design
i logo png
i logout of facebook
i logo with cereal dot
i logo quiz
i logo on apple watch
ilogo slope mastery project
i logo images
i logo vector
i logo company
logo joy
logo joe's
logo jacket
logo jewelry
logo jet
logo jeans
logo joy reviews
logo joy coupon
logo jordan
logo jpg
j logo design
j logos images
j logo png
j logo vector
j logo wallpaper
j logo hd
j logo photo
j logo se video song
j logo love
j logo free
logo knits
logo koozies
logo kick
logo kindernachrichten
logo kahoot
logo knife
logo knives
logo keychains
logo kit
logo key
k logo design
k logo picture
k logos and names
k logo png
k logo images
k logo car
k logo ideas
k logo company
k logo design free download
k logo brand
logo lounge
logo lockup
logo language
logo lori goldstein
logo logo
logo letters
legoland
logo labels
logo lookup
logo linens
l logo design
l logo car
l logo image
l logo png
l logo vector
l logo free
l logo ideas
l logo wallpaper
l logo car company
logo maker online
logo maker app
logo mockup
logo meaning
logo making
logo maker software
logo maker for youtube
logo mark
m logo bmw
m logo design
m logo golf
m logo hat
m logo png
m logo car
m logo shirt
m logo for m&m
m logo brand
m logo gallery
logo network
logo names
logo nike serena
logo needed
logo name generator
logo nike serena williams
logo needed site craigslist.org
logo napkins
logo n stitch
n logo name
n logo quiz
n logo shoes
n logo black
n logo free
n logo brand
n logo images
n logo black and white
n logo game
n logo car
logo on shirts
logo online
logo outline
logo on hat
logo orbit
logo on qvc
logo of cars
logo overrun golf balls
logo of the world
logo on t shirt
o logo design
o logo red
o logo name
o logo brand
o logo quiz
o logo browser
o logo images
o logo free
o logo ou a logo
o logo png
logo programming
logo pond
logo printing
logo pens
logo png
logo patches
logo products
logo polo shirts
logo pictures
logo projector
p logo design
p logo images
p logo name
p logo hat
p logo png
p logo sports
p logo baseball cap
p logo college
p logo red
p logo gaming
logo quiz answers level 2
logo quiz level 3
logo quiz level 2
logo quiz answers level 3
logo quiz level 4
logo quiz answers level 1
logo qvc
logo quiz level 5
q logo red
q logo blue
q logo vector
q logo name
q logo images
q logo quiz
q logo designs
q logo laptop
q login
q logo free
logo reveal
logo reveal after effects
logo ribbon
logo redesigns
logo rugs
logo rupaul
logo registration
logo root word
logo restaurant
logo red triangle
r logo trademark
r logo design
r logo png
r logo car
r logo with star
r logo vector
r logo transparent
r logo copy and paste
r logo ideas
r logo meaning
logo shirts
logo stickers
logo software
logo stamp
logo size
logo search
logo synonym
logo shapes
logo serena williams
s logo blue
s logo design
s logo hoodie
s logo supreme
s logo hat
s logo hooded sweatshirt
s logo car
s logo png
s logo name
s logo hoodie supreme
logo templates
logo tablecloth
logo transparent background google
logo tournament
logo trends 2018
logo types
logo trademark
logo te pate
logo templates free
t logo car
t logo design
t logo png
t logo images
t logo name
t logo college
t logo social media
t logo boston
t logo for sale
t logo sunglasses
logo up
logo usb
logo umbrella
logo up coupon
logo url
logo usage guidelines
logo usa
logo usb sticks
logo unlimited
logo uniform
u logo design
u logo blue
u logo company
u logo brand name
u logo on food
u logo with bird
u logo with feathers
u logo blue design
u logo 100 pics
u logo png
logo vector
logo variations
logo venture
logo video
logo vans
logo vista
logo vs brand
logo vs icon
logo vl
logo vs logotype
v logo car
v logo design
v logo sunglasses
v logo png
v logo shoes
v logo name
v logo blue
v logo brand
v logo hat
v logo blue and yellow
logo water bottles
logo wear
logo website
logo wallpaper
logo with blue u
logo works
logo with red triangle
logo with crown
logo with mountains
logo wiki
w logo car
w logo tv
w logo design
w logo baseball
w logo free
w logo ideas
w logo sports
w logo vector
w logo blue
w logo app
logo xpress
logo xing
logo xbox
logo xerox
logo xe hơi
logo xfinity channel
logo xing clackamas
logo xero
logo excel
logo x with red line
x logo design
x logo png
x logo brand
x logo vector
x logo bikini
x logo with letters
x logo quiz
x logo ronnie jersey shore
x logo brand name
x logo hat
logo youtube
logo yeti
logo yellow flower
logo yes
logo yellow
logo youtube png
logo yankees
logo yellow crown
logo yoga mat
logo yelp
y logo images
y logo college
y logo png
y logo bag
y logo byu
y logo company
y logo black
y logo 3d
y logo hd
y logo vector
logo zdf
logo zoom
logo zumba
logo zipper pulls
logo zf
logo zoo
logo zz
logo zipper pouch
logo zombies
logo zelda
z logo car
z logo company
z logo brand
z logo shoes
z logo tv brand
z logo vector
z logo car name
z logo images
z logo free
z logo car brand
logo 0ba8
logo 04
logo 007
logo 08
logo 01
logo 0ba0
logo 0ba6
logo 0ba7
logo 0ba0 manual
logo 0ba8 datasheet
0 logo png
0 logo vector
0 logo design
0 logo quiz
logon type 0
login session id 0
log of 0
logo 0 1
0 invalid logon attempts
logo 101
logo 10
logo 100
logo 10/40
logo 10 mg
logo 16
logo 13
logo 100 pics
logo 12/24rce
logo 1759
1 logo 1 brand
1 logo png
1 logo vector
1 logo design
1 logo images
1 logo quiz answers
1&1 login
1 logo quiz level 4
1 logo harley
1 logo jordan
logo 2018
logo 230rc
logo 24
logo 20th century fox
logo 2019
logo 2 promo
logo 20
logo 2048
logo 23
2 logo dallas
2 logos together
2 logos on a business card
2 logo png
2 logo design
2 logo adidas
2 logo concept
2 logo color
logo 2 tone hoodie logan paul
logoist 2
logo 3d
logo 30
logo 3m
logo 3d mockup
logo 3d animation
logo 3d printing
logo 38
logo 365
logo 34
3 logo design
3 logo meaning
3 logo chance
3 logo types
3 logo step and repeat
3 logo png
3 login
3 logo vector
3 logo ki madad karo
3 logo quiz
logo 480
logo 47
logo 49ers
logo 48
logo 4 squares
logo 42
logo 41
logo 44
logo 4 letters
logo 45
4 loko
4 logos wearable
4 logo design
4 logo gear
4 loko drink
4 locos price
4 locos beer
4 loko flavors
4 locos flavors
4 loko gold
logo 550
logo 550sx
logo 500
logo 59 100 pics
logo 5 gallon bucket
logo 58
logo 53
logo 500se
logo 550 manual
logo 550 se
5 logo step and repeat
5 logo design
5 logo png
5 logo ki maut
5 logo vector
5 logo of operating system
5 logos with hidden meanings
5 logos of companies
5 logotypes
5 logo elements
logo 600
logo 690
logo 60
logo 690 nitro
logo 600 sx
logo 63
logo 600 parts
logo 600 manual
logo 600 canopy
logo 600 nitro
6 logos for space force
6 logo design
6 logo quiz
logos 6 download
logo 6 letters
logo 6 nations
logo 6 siemens manual
logos 6 vs 7
logo 6 sigma
logos 6 install
logo 700
logo 7 jerseys
logo 7 clothing
logo 7 hats
logo 700 manual
logo 7 indianapolis
logo 7 jackets
logo 700 xxtreme
logo 700 canopy
7 logo images
7 logo design
7 logo png
7 logo vector
7 logo types
7 logo ki maut
7 logo wallpaper
7 logo quiz
7 logo hats
7 logo clothing
logo 800
logo 89
logo 88
logo 80s
logo 8 web editor
logo 8 starter kit
logo 8 modbus
logo 8 fs4 manual
8 logo design
8 logo vector
8 logo car
logos 8 release date
logo 8 software download
logo 8 admin password
logon type 8
logolounge 8 pdf
logo 8 analog input
logo 8 sd card
logo 99
logo 90 100 pics
logo 96
logo 90
logo 93
logo 999
logo 97
logo 918kiss
logo 94
logo 95
9 logo in system tray
9 logo design
9 logo png
9 logo vector
9 logo quiz
logolounge 9 pdf
logo 9 3/4
logolounge 9
logolounge 9 pdf free download
Sculpt: Little Rebel Tenten head
Body: April Story
Faceup: S.t Victoria (insta)/ Hortus Conclusus (DOA/facebook)
Clothes: by me
Wig: staroblivion (insta)
Invitation to join our new group “Star Trek Forever” No Limits on uploads!
www.flickr.com/groups/2601080@N25/
Star Trek: Asterisk "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"
Written by Steve Beaudry
Release Date: November 26, 1986
Written by: Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
Directed by: Leonard Nimoy
Review
Deep in the outer reaches of space, a monstrous space probe passes by the USS Saratoga and knocks its power out on the way to Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, a Klingon ambassador accuses Kirk of murdering a ship full of Klingons in his quest to exterminate the Klingon race with the Genesis probe (that thing will just not go away). The Federation president says that Kirk will face nine violations of Starfleet regulations, the crew of the Enterprise has been stuck on Vulcan for three months, and on top of all that, a computer is trying to find out how Spock feels. There's nowhere to go from here but up.
Well, in The Search for Spock, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise stole a starship, blew it up, visited a forbidden planet, and apparently six other naughty things, so now they're getting ready to go back to Earth on their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey and face the music. There's just one hitch in this plan: the probe. It has now reached earth, shut down main power to... everything... and caused a huge weather phenomenon that blocked out the sun. So, basically, humanity has however long it'll take for Earth to freeze from lack of sunlight to tell this thing to move out of the way.
"When this is over, I'm quitting Starfleet and starting a gumbo restaurant."
In their Klingon ship, Kirk and the crew approach Earth and pick up a distress call from the president with the manly gray beard saying that Earth is under attack, so they pick up the probe's transmissions and analyze it. Since the transmission appears to be directed at the oceans, Kirk has Uhura compensate for the density of the water. When the audio effects are all in, the probe's transmission ends up sounding a lot like whale song; specifically, the extinct humpback whale. There's only one way they can get a humpback whale to answer the probe: The Guardian of Forev-... er... wait, no, the highly dangerous and tricky slingshot time warp maneuver. So there are two ways. We'll go with the dangerous one for now.
When they arrive in 1986, they confirm the date by testing the pollution in the air. Then they go into cloak and land in the middle of a park in San Francisco. After scaring off a couple of trash guys, the crew sets out to downtown. Their mission: 1) find humpback whales 2) get them on board the Klingon ship 3) fix the ship's dilithium crystals so they can go home. They split up to achieve their separate goals. Spock and Kirk go for the whales, Bones and Scotty go to build a proper tank, Uhura and Chekov find some nuclear power to fix the crystals.
Spock would like to take this opportunity to learn karate.
Spock and Kirk easily find some whales after they see an advertisement for the local whale institute where they meet George, Gracie and Dr. Gillian Taylor. George and Gracie are the whales and Gillian is the nice lady who knows everything about them. So Spock and Kirk get to know about the whales in their own unique way: Spock mind melds with Gracie and Kirk seduces Gillian. Meanwhile, Bones and Scotty are having a time of their own getting some plexiglass to make a whale tank. Luckily, they have an ace up their sleeves. They meet with a guy who deals in plexiglass and trade the secret formula for transparent aluminum in exchange for their required plexiglass. Also, Sulu learns how to drive a helicopter so they can lift all that plexiglass to the ship.
Things are just about set to go; Kirk is ready to pick up the whales, the plexiglass is ready to be delivered, everything is running smoothly until Chekov screws things up. He finds the USS Enterprise, the aircraft carrier, and, with Uhura's help, steals some of its nuclear power. Well, the officers on board sense the power drain and go looking for him. He hands the power device over to Uhura who beams up to the Klingon ship. But there's not enough transporter power to get Chekov, too, and he's captured. After escaping by attempting and failing to stun his captors, he runs and jumps off a high platform and hospitalizes himself.
It's possible they just got too high.
Chekov arrives at Mercy Hospital, so now they have to go save him before taking off. But to make matters worse, Gillian decided she wants to help, so she wandered off into the park and ran into the cloaked ship. So they beam her aboard, explain a few things, and then run off to save Chekov. With Gillian's help, they sneak into the hospital and pretend to be doctors. Chekov, a suspected Russian spy, is being kept under guard, but Bones easily tricks them into believing they have an emergency. He has a bit of a fight with the attending surgeon and then Kirk locks the surgeon and his team in a small room. Bones heals Chekov, and they leave. The guards give chase once they see that Chekov is being kidnapped, but they beam up in the elevator and make a clean getaway.
Ok, so, Chekov is safe, the tank is built, the dilithium crystals are fixed, all they need now are the whales. Kirk gets their tracking frequency from Gillian and says his goodbyes. She can't, after all, go to the future with them. Right? Weellll... as soon as he starts transporting aboard the ship, Gillian hops on him and comes with. She's staying whether Kirk likes it or not. With Gillian aboard, they set out to find George and Gracie. They find them right in front of a whaling ship. Still cloaked, they head right over to them and just hover for a bit while the whaling ship takes aim. And then... the decloakening.
Klingons on the port bow, captain!
Successfully having scared off the whalers, Scotty beams up George and Gracie and they make their way to the future. In a great evolution of Spock's revived character, he makes his "best guess" with the calculations for time warp, and they head out. Back in the future, they crash into San Francisco Bay. While the rest of the crew abandons ship, Kirk releases the whales out of the cargo bay and into the ocean. Once they're out, Kirk joins his crew as the whales start talking to the probe. After a delightful reunion and conversation with its good buddies, George and Gracie, the Probe turns around, says "thank you!" and leaves the Sol system in peace. The day is saved! So, now it's time for Kirk to stand trial.
Oh, right, yeah, this was the whole reason they were coming back to Earth, wasn't it? The crew of the Enterprise all stand in front of the president to be judged. Because for some reason the president is the judge in the future. Ready to be taken out of Starfleet forever, they all, including Spock who "stands with his shipmates", they all hear the charges brought to them. And then the president says he's getting rid of all of them in light of them saving the entire Earth, and all. The only charge that sticks, disobeying a superior officer, is directed solely at Kirk and because of it, he is reduced in rank to Captain. Which is basically like grounding a nerd to his room with the Internet still on. And not only that, it wouldn't be Star Trek and Kirk wouldn't be Captain without the proper ship. They head out to the shipyard and find the brand spankin' new USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. The only proper ship for them to go and "see what's out there."
Overall Thoughts
This had been my absolute favorite Star Trek movie for the longest time until my tastes matured and I learned to like The Wrath of Kahn just slightly better. I love a good comedy sci-fi, especially when that comedy sci-fi involves time travel! Every good Star Trek series needs a comedy relief. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was that for The Original Series and this movie is that for the movie series. And, in fact, this movie was so monstrously successful, that it was almost entirely responsible for green-lighting The Next Generation. Picard would take command almost a year after this movie was released and Trek would never be the same.