What did you do today? 2016 version

[Nemo2]

- the caption reads "A room full of new toys and I want to play with the orange!"

We were with, among others, the 20 month old twin girls......one of them got enthralled by a couple drink coasters......we should have splurged and picked up an empty cardboard box!

 

[Souschef]

Angel Flight

Flew a 66 year old leukemia patient and his daughter to UCLA for treatment. The information I got was that he spoke Farsi (Persian), so I had ordered a Farsi phrase book in case we needed to communicate.
This was the last flight for this year. We made 21 Angel Flights and 3 Pilots & Paws flights.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Started yesterday and today finished and ordered a 40-page photo book of pictures that I took on Christmas day. I ordered eight copies for various families and relatives. These are easy to lay out in Lightroom (photo software) and I had held on to a 40% off coupon that Blurb had sent about two months ago.

This is about the sixth or so photo book I've done of family events and they are always warmly received. And it's kind of a fun & relaxing thing to do.

This is one of the photos - the caption reads "A room full of new toys and I want to play with the orange!"

Adorable. What a nice gift for the families, too.

 

[Ronstar]

Started yesterday and today finished and ordered a 40-page photo book of pictures that I took on Christmas day. I ordered eight copies for various families and relatives. These are easy to lay out in Lightroom (photo software) and I had held on to a 40% off coupon that Blurb had sent about two months ago.

This is about the sixth or so photo book I've done of family events and they are always warmly received. And it's kind of a fun & relaxing thing to do.

This is one of the photos - the caption reads "A room full of new toys and I want to play with the orange!"

Great idea. I created a video and passed it out, but my MIL doesn't have a computer. I think I'll get her a book.

 

[Hermit]

Last week I made a deal with the guy that delivered my rental propane tank. This is for my house which is under construction. He had one for sale and I agreed to buy it. He brought the one I bought out Friday, but forgot to put any propane in it. I had been running the furnace on the rental tank he took back with him. The new tank had just a wee bit in it, so the furnace fired up and ran ok. I turned on an electric space heater and left to spend Christmas with DD and her husband. I got back yesterday and the furnace was off, the tank empty was still fairly warm. I plugged in another space heater. All I am trying to do is make sure the basement floor does not freeze because there is probably water under it which could cause the concrete floor to heave. In the mean time, the furnace guy hooked up a thermal switch that was set to 65 degrees. The basement was quite warm when the furnace ran. Well, today the gas people made a special trip out and filled the tank. I had ordered an old fashioned thermostat that I can set at 50 degrees from Amazon and it arrived today and I got it hooked up. I should now be set for a reasonable temperature for the rest of the winter.

 

[EastWest Gal]

We are doing the decluttering. I went to local antique mall to look at the feasibility of selling our more valuable pieces. I think I would rather sell the stuff myself on eBay, after the junk I saw they were trying to sell.

 

[Walt34]

Met with the plastic surgeon who is going to operate on me Jan. 18th.

Backstory: In early December I found a small raised black dot, about the size of a dulled pencil tip on the back of my right upper arm, surrounded by some red skin about the size of a dime. The only way to see it was look in a mirror. My first thought when I saw it was "I need to get this looked at!" and made the appointment with the dermatologist the same day, and got one for Dec. 15th. He said it was probably a keratosis which I've had before but carved out a good-sized dimple (about 1/2") and sent it to a lab. Two days before Christmas they called back and said it was malignant melanoma. Well, that's certainly a bummer!

So apparently the initial treatment is to start carving away skin at the site until the lab reports that there is no melanoma in the samples being sent back. They also check lymph nodes to see if it has spread there. And I have an appointment with an oncologist at the end of January so apparently there will be follow-ups there as well.

While this is certainly not good news, it is hardly a death sentence. I know several people who have dealt with it and are still around 20-30 years later. Key, of course, is has it spread and if so how far? And that I don't know yet so I am cautiously optimistic.

What a way to start off the new year.

 

[REWahoo]

Damn, Walt. That's a real bummer. Hope they are satisfied with a thin, very short slice of bacon and don't decide they need a pork chop! My FIL lost the top half of his left ear the same way. He lasted another 25 years until a stroke got him at age 90.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Sounds like you caught it early, Walt. Good thoughts going out to you.

 

[MichaelB]

Walt, let's hope this is one visit and out. Best wishes for an uneventful and speedy recovery.

 

[Moemg]

Walt , I hope they found it early and all you need is piece taken out .

 

[braumeister]

My mom had the same thing on her nose. Removed and never came back. She died of something completely different many years later.

Best of luck.

 

[Nemo2]

Best of luck Walt!

 

[Walt34]

Thanks all for the kind words and shared successes of others. It does help.

 

[Ronstar]

Best wishes for getting it all out easily, Walt!

 

[aja8888]

Best wishes for a quick resolution Walt. Sounds like you caught it early.

 

[JohnnTexas]

Best wishes Walt. I had this same procedure done for a spot on my face just under my left eye. They only had to cut it once and got it all out. I was lucky. The hole was quite large (just a bit smaller than the size of a dime) but the doc did an excellent job and it healed well and today you can't tell anything was ever done. My prayers are with you.

 

[NW-Bound]

Walt, I think you found it early enough, so the prognosis should be excellent.

... a small raised black dot, about the size of a dulled pencil tip on the back of my right upper arm, surrounded by some red skin about the size of a dime. The only way to see it was look in a mirror...

I guess the thing to watch for with any mole is the "red skin" surrounding it.

It is not visible without a mirror, but were you able to feel its presence? Or was it your wife who alerted you to it?

 

[Hermit]

Walt, great early catch. Hope everything turns out as great. Keep us posted.

 

[Sue J]

Flew a 66 year old leukemia patient and his daughter to UCLA for treatment. The information I got was that he spoke Farsi (Persian), so I had ordered a Farsi phrase book in case we needed to communicate.
This was the last flight for this year. We made 21 Angel Flights and 3 Pilots & Paws flights.

What a wonderful thing to be doing in retirement. You get to do something you enjoy and you get to help people and animals when they need it. Humanity thanks you.

 

[Gumby]

I smoked a turkey for Christmas. Today the young wife made 8 pints of broth with the carcass and I canned it.

 

[Nemo2]

Today the young wife made 8 pints of broth with the carcass and I canned it.

Right now I have the carcass in the slow cooker making stock that'll be ready tomorrow morning......then, a turkey stew.

 

[Walt34]

It is not visible without a mirror, but were you able to feel its presence? Or was it your wife who alerted you to it?

I could feel it, that's why I looked in the mirror to see what it was. But I'd never seen anything like that before and the black dot was what made me call the dermatologist ASAP. It didn't look like a mole, but more like a small pimple, only black in color.

 

[Jwerth]

Just finished home brewing a 5 gallon batch of IPA beer to get me through the Winter. (My favorite retirement hobby!)

 

[ls99]

Went figure skating. Seems a lot of kids are out of school and were deposited at the rink by their parents. As I was getting off the ice, several skating moms asked if I was an instructor.

I thanked them for the impression and explained that no, I am not. And that I am a self taught skater.