Lily and I took a nap late this afternoon, so now the gang and I are watching HGTV, and I thought you all would like a picture of the greatest dog ever:
I may have overfed her tonight. Life will go on.
I made a command decision tonight. I think I am going to go ahead and finally get the surgery on my shoulder that I have been putting off for three years. It’s the shoulder that was reconstructed near a decade ago when Lily and I had our incident, and it has been bothering me for about five years. Several years ago I went in and they looked at it and said I needed to have work done and had bone spurs, but I didn’t want to deal with it because it would mean another hospital visit, another surgery, several months of being in a sling and all the other crap, rehab, etc. But I’m just tired of being in pain. Think I will see if I can get it done in January when there isn’t anything to do outside.
I hate getting old.
dmsilev
As the saying goes, it beats the alternative.
Luthe
Has it really been ten years since the Icecapades starring Lily and John? It seems like yesterday. Or that could just be me wishing we were back in the Obama years…
opiejeanne
She is such a sweetie. I just love her.
Getting old isn’t all bad.
CaseyL
But oh: the telling of the tale was a classic, John. A classic. One of your best, and I still want a published collection of BJ’s Greatest Hits.
Yes: have the surgery now, because the shoulder’s not going to get better on its own, nor will the surgery be any easier to bear the longer you wait, and why live in pain if you don’t have to? You have a great community of people in Bethany who would be happy to check in on you while you recover/rehab. And if any Jackals live near you, ditto.
PS: She is perfect. A perfect ladydog.
NotMax
“Brother, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”
Suzanne
There are days that I fantasize about going and living by myself in a condo, because it would be clean. Because I do not purchase scads of clutter or leave my shit all over the place. I often feel like I could deal with anything life threw at me if I could just have a clean fucking house.
I want to go buy a bunch of clothes but I also want to lose five more pounds first.
Gemina13
Oh, hey, Lily. :D There’s the sweet girl. She looks wonderful.
Definitely get the surgery now. Pain will age you and ruin your quality of life – and it only gets worse.
Mart
Good luck John. I try to put off ortho surgeries forever if possible as they are such a wild card on success rates. Have not had one work out well in long term in awhile. Thinking maybe with your track record get it done before, you know, the ice man cometh.
MomSense
A high school classmate, who was a very good friend, died of a massive heart attack last week. She has been living out of the country so I haven’t seen her in quite a few years. So many memories.
She was so happy and really enjoying life. I feel for her husband and kids. They’ve been through such a shock and now sadness.
Go get your shoulder fixed, Cole. Life is too short to suffer.
M. Bouffant
You don’t know the half of it. Wait until your eyebrows start migrating to your eyelids.
Gravenstone
@M. Bouffant: I made the unpleasant observation that once upon a time when I saw hair in my peripheral vision, it was my bangs. Now, it’s my eyebrows as the bangs are but a distant memory.
Mnemosyne
Speaking of orthopedic surgeries, I’m 5 days post-surgical and feelin’ fine. I was able to stop the opiates by the Sunday after a Friday surgery and switch to OTC Aleve on the same schedule. There apparently was also an option for me to take Celebrex instead of the opiate if it made me too sick, so that’s something to discuss with your doctor if you don’t want to have to have opiates in the house at all.
My knee is a little peeved with me because I went out for about 4 hours today to see various medical people, but I’ve had my knee up for a few hours and iced it a bit, so it’s starting to grumble less.
KSinMA
Having a shoulder that hurts can sure make you feel old, but it’s the pain talking, not the age. Good luck with the surgery!
Major Major Major Major
I Am Part of the Police Department Inside This Bank Robbery
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: glad to hear it!
NotMax
So after the NYT thing, what’s delaying announcement of the reinstatement of tariff on newsprint, only this time at 10,000%?
gene108
@opiejeanne:
Bleh….rather stay young forever if it was possible…
Sister Golden Bear
Good luck with the surgery, as others have said, life is too short to be living in pain. And Lily looks lovely.
@Mnemosyne: Glad to hear you’re doing well.
J R in WV
@Major Major Major Major:
OMG that’s wonderful! A perfect spoof of the crooks and bent bastids running (trying to run) the White House / AMerican government while stealing all they can pack out.
Thanks for the link/copy!
J R in WV
John…
I injured both shoulders in a car accident, and with over work on personal construction projects. Plus pretty severe osteoarthritis, so all the cartilage was gone, it was bone on bone. Lots of pain killers while the surgeon waited until they were both completely shot, and I was ready to face the work. All he does is joint replacements, so he’s good at it.
So I have had both shoulder joints replaced in the past 6 years or so. Still not what they were, I still have some tendonitis, but that bone on bone pain is gone, and they both work OK. I try to avoid heavy lifting sorts of work, tho. I would rather not do this again.
Pretty serious pain killers post-op, but I didn’t have much trouble quitting. I did have to taper off slowly over 3 or 4 days, with the advice of a good friend who is an RN with trauma experience, friends are one of our most valuable things! Enjoy the beach!! Sent us pictures!!!!
Mnemosyne
@Sister Golden Bear:
I finally thought of a car-related metaphor related to myself! I had a fan belt replaced while you were getting a full body rebuild. ?
Also, I would like to share your webpage with a smallish Facebook group I belong to, but I want to explain what it is and get your permission first. Can you send me a Gmail at mnemosyne dot muse? I may not have time to check that email until tomorrow, so no rush.
WaterGirl
That’s one of the best Lily photos ever. We get to see her beautiful face full on, with her eyes looking into our souls. What a treasure Lily is.
There seems to be something in my eyes. Both of them.
westyny
Sweet girl . . . And yes, getting old sucks, except I find there’s a bit more money than there was when I was young, and senior discounts. Meantime . . . knees . . . and other things. }:- [
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: Wow, that’s really good. A bit rambling in the very middle, but it starts out great and ends really well.
Well done!
Major Major Major Major
A stats prof ran (some sort of) textual analysis comparing the op-ed to the tweet corpus of various high-ranking officials. Here are their results.
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne: It’s blog, so it’s public anyway, but thanks for asking.
https://www.danceswithgender.com/
BTW, I still emailed you as well. I’m part of another group on the Book of Face that you might be interested in.
Calouste
I’m wondering whether the constitutional crisis that the op-ed writer refers to is not as much the invoking of the 25th Amendment Section 4 in itself, but that to invoke it, the VP and the majority of the cabinet would basically declare the President insane, but that only 1/3 of either the House or the Senate, votes that the shitgibbon most likely has, is needed to reinstate him. And then we end up with a President that the majority of the cabinet and possibly Congress thinks is insane, but still hangs onto power. That would indeed be a crisis. Of course that would mean admitting that more than half the GOP in Congress is nuts, something the op-ed writer doesn’t seem ready to do.
Sister Golden Bear
@Mnemosyne: BTW, I’m also on the Book of Face (different nym), and I’m happy to do Q&A with your group, if they’re interested.
joel hanes
I hate getting old.
Poptartacus
Getting old sucks
60 is not the new 40
Let us pray
Dear lord please let President Harris give Medicare to all
So I can fucking retire already
Amen
opiejeanne
@Suzanne: I am going to my 50th HS reunion later this month, and oh, I need to lose another 5 pounds. and I need to shop for something to wear. My HS boyfriend is going to be there, and I haven’t seen him in nearly 50 years.
Also, I want to look like I did when I was a teenager.
Dammit.
opiejeanne
@Major Major Major Major: Brilliant.
pluky
@Major Major Major Major: pardon me while I recover from one of the best nerdgasms I’ve had in ages.
Skepticat
@CaseyL: Exactly what CaseyL said. Good luck, and please give the lovely Lily a few extra scritches for all of us.
Aurona
As a northwesterner, pain medication can be gotten at a pot shop. If you have access from, say friends or neighbors going to a shop in a legal state, get CBD products (possibly with some THC), either salve, cream, edible candies or smoke. It really helps and is our go-to instead of a continuation of opioids from the doctor or hospital. Opioids are okay for a few days, but a cream or salve that really works and doesn’t have opioids is better. Outside of that, Lily looks look beautiful and her coat looks really healthy!