Month: January 2014

 

As I walked out on the porch this morning, in route to the trash bin, the sun was again shining even though was 29° with the wind blowing from the south. A south wind means warmer weather. As I was taking the trash to the trash bin I looked over at my victory red Chevy Silverado 1500 Z 71 pickup truck. I bought this truck in 2011; it was the very first time I did not buy a vehicle with all the bells and whistles.

When I bought this truck it had cloth seats. I usually buy vehicles with leather seats. The seats are not heated or cooled. The seats came in a dull black and gray color. So to jazz it up a little bit I bought some seat covers that match the color of the truck and they look like leather. To my surprise they look great and each time I go to valet parking I get a great comment from the valet about the seats. I added some matching running boards and I bought a folding Tonto cover for the back bed. Just recently I replaced the tonto cover and bought a camper shell that was painted to match the color of the truck. The truck colors are basically victory red with black trim. The interior of the truck looks almost brand-new. It’s a crew cab I don’t think there’s been a dozen times somebody’s has rode in the backseat,

As my family knows I love the buy new vehicles. There were times I owned a vehicle for less than a year and I would buy another new vehicle. Sometimes I would use the excuse that I wanted all my vehicles to be under warranty. The reality is that most new vehicles really don’t need a warranty as they are new. It is the five-year-old vehicle that starts showing problems and that is when you need a warranty. But now that I am retired I really cannot afford to buy new vehicle every year. My Chevy truck is a 2012 and it still has low mileage. That does not stop me from looking at the new truck lines that are out. My wife even looked at Ford Flux because her sister just bought one. I find myself looking through the finances and trying to find a way to justify buying a new vehicle.

While doing this I washed and waxed my Chevy truck. I used a turtle wax product on the tires. This was right before my wife went to Houston to visit her sister. During her visit I again started looking at the different truck models and their prices. When my wife got home from our trip she parked the truck on the driveway in front of the house. It is parked where I can see it while in the blog room looking out through the window. And each time I do that the truck looks great. If I were to sell it now I would have seller’s remorse. I think this happens a lot with people. Right before they go to sell something they clean it up or fix it up to look the best it can. It is usually after that effort that a person really starts thinking that the item for sale looks great. Usually after putting it up for sale someone else sees a good-looking item such as a truck and negotiates the price. As then the item leaves or you watch the truck drive away you start feeling the seller’s remorse.

I’ve had the same experience in selling houses. I think we sometimes forget is about all the things that you have done additionally to the truck or the house. For example when you buy a new house you usually put in the sprinkler system to make it look nice. I put a lot of time and effort into the front landscaping of some of my homes. Landscaping does not come cheap nor does the cost of keeping it up. Let’s say you buy a house that’s been occupied before. You will usually change something out in the house. Maybe it’s just the carpeting or the flooring or something in the kitchen. You’ll discover the things that no longer work well and you will replace them with new and updated items. If it’s a vehicle you will also make changes to the vehicle. Many people buy new wheel rims and tires. Or they will update the interior and in my case by camper shell, running boards and seat covers. You usually don’t get your money back for what you spent to add onto a vehicle or a house when you sell it. So in the excitement of possibly getting a new house or vehicle you tend to forget about all the money, time and effort you put into the old one. I watch a lot of TV shows on the Velosity channel. Basically it’s a TV channel for car guys and gals. Some of the shows are about companies that buy cars, repair them and sell them. Many of the people buying these cars are trying to bring back a piece of their history. They had owned the car before and now they would spend a lot of money to relive the feeling of owning that old car again. I know in retrospect there are several cars I wish I would have not sold. For example, my 1965 Mustang convertible that I owned for almost 30 years, and then sold or more recently my 2002 Harley-Davidson Ford F1 50. These vehicles were paid for and they looked great. But I got swept up and the excitement of the hunt and purchase of a new vehicle.

This brings me back to my thought of the day. Do I really want to sell my truck? It looks great and has no defects and is as functional now is the day I bought it. I know that I cannot afford to keep this vehicle and buy another one. So as I’m writing this blog, I’m looking out my window at my beautiful red Chevy Silverado and for now I made the decision to just keep on driving the truck, I don’t think I want to sell it now.

Pops

 

As I looked out on my front porch this morning, that’s right looked out not walked out on. IT is 19° without any wind chill factor being considered. So I grab my coffee cup filled with coffee and went into the blog room. I actually call it the dog and blog room. While the weather so cold I’ve made it capable for the big dogs to walk through the doggie door from the cold outside, through the garage into a warm air-conditioned room. I have a TV in the room with a small electric fireplace which is a heater. Also in the room are a large comfortable chair and my desk with my computer on. I’m able to look through a window to a view of my front porch and the forest around it.

For the first time in my adult life I did not watch the president’s State of the Union speech. I knew that in the morning there will be several reviews of his speech and I would highlight the individual important parts of his speech. I do not like watching the circus show of one party standing up to applaud the president with the other just sitting there. This is not done by each individual senator or congressman. They stand or sit strictly along party lines. It wasn’t so much that I do not appreciate the president or that I am concerned about what he has planned for the future. It knowing that the Congress of the United States will probably waste another couple years fighting amongst them regardless of what the president wants, the current Congress seems to be relentless in standing their ground on almost any issue. Rather than compromising on a few issues to keep the country running, they continue to act like neighbors who hate the neighbors. My biggest disappointment is with the grand old party, the Republicans. I have for almost all my adult life considered myself a Republican and I usually voted for those people from the Republican Party. In the last 20 years I’ve made some exceptions and tried to look more intensely at the candidate rather than blindly follow the Republican Party. Not all the choices were good but it seemed during those years both sides of the House and Senate would find a way to compromise and get things done. Yes, there are winners and there are losers if you look at the individual elected members and their positions. But in the last decade it is I, a citizen United States, who is the loser. When the Congress cannot agree to keep things going it affects all of America and its allies. I would consider myself middle-class and therefore usually voted for a more conservative representative.

If I was to look at one of the things that is made this Congress and an ineffective and non-developing government agency it would be the rise of the Tea Party. I must admit when I first heard of the Tea Party I had visions of the battles of our founding fathers. I took a good look at the candidates and as a candidate most seem to be reasonable people. Once they got elected they became so rigid in their positions that they have absolutely brought the Congress of the United States to a standstill. I consider the Tea Party to equal the word filibuster. The tea party, unlike our founding fathers, seems to be so rigid and their views that there is no room for cooperation or compromise. Our founding fathers embraced compromise to make it possible for the country to grow. If you look back at some of the old editorials, you will see that some of the same disputes existed about the country. But back then the country was more important than one single view and there was compromise to keep the country going forward.

I believe that the Democrats share some of the blame. The Democrats are the same liberal group of people. In my adult life I have not seen much of a change in what they’re trying to do. In the beginning it looked like they were trying to give everyone the American dream without those people even trying to earn it. Like the song says, “money for nothing”. During the past the Republican Party and the Democratic Party eventually work together to keep the country going forward. There’ve always been doomsday people elected into office who constantly predict the end of the United States. McCarthy swore that the doom of the United States would come from the Communist party. He was wrong. Tea Party elected officials seemed only to be listening to a small group of fanatics who would rather stop the progress of this country rather than compromise and keeps the country going into the future. Like the president stated in his address, let’s quit trying to re-battle the Obama care issue. For those that did not go for it, you lost. So let’s get on to the next battle maybe you will win and maybe you will lose. But to keep revisiting something that has already happened as if you can take it back is counterproductive.

I am not sure who or what I will vote for in the upcoming elections. In the past I would’ve probably looked only to the conservative Republican Party. But I found that since the injection of the Tea Party into the Republican Party there is no going forward into the future. So I will look at the individual that I am voting for and their capability to fight for their beliefs and still be able to compromise the necessary. I like many of you are married and in marriage there is compromise. And with compromise there is a long lasting loving marriage.

Not to reuse a phrase that brought the Democratic president in the power, but is time for change. Don’t vote for the person who is been setting in that elected chair for the last four years and allowed the Congress to grind to a halt. Elected officials have been in office a long time appearing to think they have powers that the common man does not understand. But newly elected officials still seem to try and listen to the people who elected them and they seem more likely to work with other elected officials. The only exception to that rule so far has been the Tea Party elected officials. So, when deciding on who to vote for take a hard look. If it is the same old previously elected official, then rethink it. Let’s put some new people into Congress. They will probably take a little longer to get things going as they are new to their job. But the bottom line is that they are going to make things go forward.

Don’t reelect but rethink and then vote.

Pops

 

As I walked out on the porch this morning, holding the coffee cup with both hands, I was greeted by bright sunshine and 29° weather. The songbirds on the property were really busy at the birdfeeder as I went to the kitchen to get something to eat. I drank my coffee and thought back on yesterday’s adventure with my old Ford truck.

I had finished working on my old Ford truck; I had put a new water pump in it. That was an adventure in itself. As I took off the water pump I found a small thumb sized hole in the timing chain belt cover. To replace that cover I would had to have taken apart most of the upper part of the engine. Something that I am not prepared to do. I noticed around the hole on the cover there was sufficient room for me to repair the hole by cutting a new piece of aluminum just a little bit bigger than the hole and gluing it. I did some research on the kind of adhesive I would need to make the new piece of aluminum adhere to the original aluminum cover. I found a product called SteelStick. It is rather odd looking as it comes in a see-through cylinder. The product looks more like Play Doe than any adhesive I have use before. The product reminded me of some type Tootsie Roll product. It is about 6 inches long with an outer coating of a light gray material and the center, like a tootsie pop, was a dark gray color. The ideal is to cut off the size of piece you need and then roll it around so that the two different colored pieces mesh together into a single color form. I cut a piece of aluminum so that it would cover the whole with an inch or so on each side to allow the adhesive to hold. After doing this I put on a new water pump, which also involved taking the air-conditioning pump and the power steering, off the engine  After putting everything back on I was feeling pretty proud of myself to accomplish this goal. But I remembered that it was a good practice to replace the thermostat each time you replace the water pump. That seemed to be a pretty simple task; the thermostat housing is in the front of the engine and on the top of the engine. All I had to do was to loosen the hose clamp and take thehose off of the water thermostat housing. And then all I had to do was to loosen and take out the two bolts. The first bolt came off just fine, but as soon as I put pressure on the second bolt it snapped off right at the head. After a few choice words and going from feeling proud to being cursed I developed a plan to get the broken bolt out. Believe it or not it took several days for me to work on that bolt. I ended up taking the front fan off the engine and the fan cover. I bought some special left-handed drill bits and a few new extractors in an effort to get the boat out. I drilled through the bolt and twisting the extractor inside the new hole. The extractor took hold but after a short time it stripped out the remaining metal of the bolt. So it was back to the drill and drilled out as much of the old bolt as possible. Then I went in search of a self- tapping bolt to replace the old one. And I found one but it was about 3 inches too long. As it was the only self- tapping bolt of the right size that I had, I decided to use it anyway. I just slipped on an oversized nut and three compression washers. And as odd as that may have looked, I was able to put the thermostat housing back on the engine and with a little extra pressure there were no leaks and I was ready to put the water hose back on. In all this action I had taken off all of the water hoses to make sure that they did not need replacing. After putting all the hoses back on, I put the timing belt back on. I started the truck and waited to see if there is anything leaking out of the engine compartment. To my delight there was nothing to report from the bottom of the truck. I let the truck run for about 15 min. and check it again. There was still nothing gripping from the bottom of the truck.

So now feeling a little more confident I drove the truck around the property a couple times and check for leaks. Yeah, still no leaks. So by the afternoon I decided to take it out on a test drive. I took off and drove about 3 miles. I thought maybe I should turn around and go back to the house and check the engine. About that time I came up on some road work being done on the road so I was unable to turn around at that point. Feeling pretty secure I kept driving. Then about two more miles down the road, I watched the engine temperature gauge quickly spike up from cold to hot. I immediately pulled over, pop the hood and look down to see a lot of water pouring out of the bottom of the radiator where the radiator hose had been connected. To my embarrassment I did not tighten that last clamp around that hose. And so with the pressure of the engine running it just popped off. All I needed to put the hose back on was to tighten the clamp with a flathead screwdriver. It was then that my embarrassment really took hold. I left the house on a test run with this truck without taking any my tools. So I scrambled to look around for something I could use to tighten the water hose clamp. While I was doing this I was pulled over on the side of the road with the hood of my truck up. During that time I had several people pullover and asked me, “do you need some help”? There I was on an old country road, broken down and several people took the time to pullover and asked me if I needed some help. That was a wonderful feeling. I asked each one of them if they had a flathead screwdriver with them. No one did, but one good guy said he would be back soon with a flathead screwdriver. I continued to look around the truck and I found a dime. It occurred to me that a dime or penny usually was the same width as the clamp screw in the clamp. So I took the dime and did the best I could to tighten the clamp. This is not easy as there is very little leverage to be used in a dime. While waiting for the first guy, a second guy pulled over and asked if I needed help. I said yes and asked if he had a screwdriver to his truck? He did not but he spent sometime on the side of the road talking to me about his truck. It was while I was talking to the second driver, the first guy drove by and must’ve thought that the second driver had helped me. So the first driver just kept on going. I then decided to try to make a slow drive back to my house. I had a container of water in the back of the truck so I ported some water back into the radiator and decided to take my chances. I made a U-turn and drove about 2 miles when I noticed that the water temperature gauge was starting to rise again. I pulled over on the side of the road and opened the hood. There was no more leaking of the water and so now I thought of I just got a little more water and I would be fine. So I looked around and just like in some country movie, I found an elderly man sitting on his front porch in a beat up old chair. I grabbed my container and walked across the road and asking if I could get some water. Without hesitation the man got up and grabbed my container. He went inside his house to fill it up. I looked around at what was an old home with a good bit of clutter on it. The man came back and gave me the water and I left thanking him over and over. I put the water into the truck radiator and I made it home. Upon getting home I immediately put together a bag of tools and put them in the truck.

All in all this was a pretty cool adventure. First of all, for people to pullover on the side of the road and asked me if I needed help was something, Iam just not used to that. Working and living in Los Angeles it is very rare that anyone does on a pullover on the side of the road to help you. So in this adventure there was several people kind enough to offer me help. And on the way home to run across this elderly gentleman sitting on his porch was almost like living in a movie. His voice was raspy and his clothes were well worn with his front porch was full of old chairs. But this kind man without hesitation supplied me with some water so I could get home. I think all in all I was a pretty cool adventure.

So my thought of the day is to be sure to look around as you travel and if you see someone in need; ask them,” do you need some help”? Even if you do not have the equipment or the capability to help that person, that is still a very good deed anyway. It made me feel good and made me feel thankful to live in the area I live.

Pops

 As I walked out on the porch this morning I was greeted by the beautiful sunshine. The sunshine burst through the trees and lightly touched my face to help warm it up. Why because it’s cold again. I’m told the Jetstream has come out of Canada again and I can expect another three days of temperatures in the 30s.

I am sure that there are many people who live north of my home who would gladly have the temperatures in the 30s versus their subzero weather. But the deal is I live in the South because I like the warm weather. So let an old man complained a little bit about the cold air. If that is all I have to complain about I should probably just grin and bear it. I used to joke that if it keeps getting this cold I would have to move south. Well it won’t be long before it is spring I will forget about the cold weather and love where I am at.

Yesterday I watched the news and the weather was overcast so I was feeling a little sad. You would think by now that if my day started off overcast I would not watch the news. And so later that night I watched the Grammy awards. I used to work in Los Angeles which includes Hollywood during all the award shows. The good thing about having an award ceremony in your town is that it creates a whole lot of money. I got to see the beautiful people walking down the red carpet displaying their charisma and their wealth. The real effect is that these people spend a ton of money to look the way they do and arrived the way they do. It is outrageous what they will pay just to be brought in a limousine. It is even more outrageous what a non-celebrity will pay to arrive in front of the award ceremonies location in a limousine. The pricey restaurants are full of patrons paying top dollar for their meal. The local governments get the money from the taxes they receive during this time. After many years of being around the ceremonies such as the Grammys I find myself totally unaware of the people that are mentioned as nominees or award winners. For example, the duo from France that dressed up like robots.

I do not have a clue what they sing or how they sound. But they were treated with much excitement while arriving at the awards and while receiving awards. I used to be amazed at all the people that would line the red carpet and scream and yell at the people as they arrive. Where do they  get these maniacs? They are from the local community. There are people who have not missed a red carpet in many years. And they know how they’re supposed to act, crazy. It doesn’t take long to look at all the beautiful people and also notice the people they arrive with. You know their significant other or their son or daughter. Sometimes it looks more like a beauty and the beast contest. And even as I was working around the event it was easy to get swept up in the excitement of the moment. Sometimes after the event I would feel like less of a person. Even though the celebrities are people like anyone else, except they have a lot of money to enhance their lifestyle. I know, while I work the Hollywood area every now and then I would go to a celebrities house just to find out I have the same problems that everyone does.

So after listening to all the news and watching this elaborate event I needed to feel grounded and better about things. So I went out next to the shop and started to cut and chop wood. I cannot really imagine how life was for those frontiersmen who crossed this great country and lived off the land. But I’m pretty sure part of that experience included cutting and chopping wood. I admire the spirit of the frontiersmen and so it felt good to go out and chop some wood. There’s a reason for cutting and chopping of the wood. The weather is about to get cold again and after getting last month’s electric bill I know that I need to use more wood for heating the house. It helps when the weather is nice so that cutting and chopping the wood is not done in rain or snow. I turned on some music and then selected the type of wood I was going to cut and chop. I am fortunate that live on the tree farm and there are many trees that were already down on the ground when I got here. I simply collect them up, cut off the branches and then moves in next to the shop. I stacked the logs into different categories. One is softwood or pine and the other is hard word or oak. I get out my trusty chainsaw and start cutting off different links of the log. Longer links for the fireplace inside the house and real thin pieces for the small wood burning stove in the shop. For a long time I had to use an axe to chop the pieces into the right sizes. Then my wife bought me a log splitter last week and so now it is a whole lot easier splitting the wood. There is the occasional piece that has a knot in it that I use the axe on. So the atmosphere that I’m working in is wonderful. The actions that I’m taking are necessary. And the finished product looks pretty good.

So my thought for today is if you want to feel good go chop some wood. If you do not have the capability of chopping wood then go out and do something physical. Go out and breathe the air, shovel the snow or just pick up the stuff in the yard. If your big-city dweller, then go out and help someone. Help them shovel off the snow, move a piece of furniture. If you want to feel good get out and get active.

Pops

 

As I walked out of my porch this morning looking for the sun, I found the day started off being overcast which usually puts me in a sad mood. The good news is that it’s going to be warm again today; I can stay outside and work. After a short time I went back into the house and watched Sunday Morning on CBS.

I watch Sunday Morning on CBS because it exposes me to such things as the arts and nature that I probably would not take time to enjoy. Each week they find a way to present a story about an issue or a person that is usually presented in a positive way. The programming has style and grace to it and for an hour and a half on Sunday morning; I will watch and sometimes enjoy some of the topics that are presented. For example, I do not enjoy most of the arts that are old and outdated. The ballet and the opera are two of the performing arts that I find are so out of date that I usually do not care to be involved in their performances. However, the Sunday Morning TV show does a good job at showing some of the personal sides of the performers and they usually give a good history of the art itself. This week they did a story on the aging rapper who I knew as Snoop Dogg. To begin I’m not a fan of rap music, usually because of the language and the violence mentioned in the rapper’s lyrics. Certainly, Snoop or Snoop Dogg as he was known in the beginning of the emergence of rap music. He represented to me the worst side of the human being. His actions glorify gang activity and violence, his language was obscene and his message was antisocial. He openly used drugs then and still does now. But it seems that if you live long enough, no matter how you got the world’s attention, you want to become respected. In the story that I watched, most of the story was about the person Snoop has become. It focused on his work with children; he formed a football league for small children in the depressed areas of the city. It showed him singing to the president and his wife along with all the other respected people at the Kennedy Center.

I’ve seen this before where someone who started out in getting the world’s attention by being outrageous and antisocial grew older and now wants to become a respectable person. They want that group of people who they seemed to have hated now to become their friends. There was nothing admirable about Snoop Dogg’s beginnings or messages. Even on today’s show he did not deny the violent nature of his beginnings. But now that he is been married for 20 years and has a number of children plus he is getting older, he wants everybody to like him as a good respectable person. He still uses narcotics while writing and producing his songs. That it is supposed to be overshadowed by his work with children. Seriously, it looks like a no matter how bad or notorious you were you can throw the word children into anything that you do your past to be forgiven. Lately there has been a lot of news coverage about a very young singer named Bieber. He started out on to be the all American good kid. And just like many young people who have a lot of fame and money he is temporarily, I hope, gone to the dark side. This could be the kind of person that I could forgive for some of the actions that he is living out in his young age. That is if he can turn around his life. On the other hand, not that anyone should really care, there’s no way that I’m going to accept Snoop as a good person and someone to be admired. It has been said; live by the sword, die by the sword. Live like a thug or gangster and be a thug or a gangster. Also in the news was the arrest of some very old original gangsters or Mafia Good fellows. They seem to live a long life and I’m sure their families see them in a positive light. Usually because they spend a lot of money on whatever they like, whether it’s her family or a neighborhood. This is also part of the formula that is used to get respect. Throw a lot of money at the people and they will respect you. This morning story did not make me mad or give me really upset. It brought me to another thought in life. If you live long enough no matter what your history you can turn things around and get respect from the people around you. My thoughts run up and down the ladder on this issue. I do believe that you can forgive people for their actions, but I don’t think you should forget their actions. You give them respect just because now they’re getting old they want to be looked at in a good light from society around them? Now I don’t think so. I think you learn to tolerate them. I think you should allow them to start doing good things and you should acknowledge their efforts. But I don’t think you should give them respect. If they were to totally reject their past actions asked for forgiveness that is another thing. But many of those famous people do not ask for forgiveness for their prior actions. They would say that’s what got them to the point that they can spend money and do good things in today’s world. I guess by being invited to the Kennedy Center is a way of showing respect from society. And I think as long as that respect for Snoop comes from his artistic invention of rap music, I understand. But as a person or someone to be admired, I can’t do that.

I do not want to go out and persecute Snoop or the other celebrities like him. I like the rest of America and the world will tolerate their odd behaviors because of the contribution to their art. Art is something that others can enjoy without endorsing the personal life of the artist. So when I see such artists on Sunday Morning I look at the contribution to their art and if I can, try to enjoy it. I still have no enjoyment listening to rap music. That does not mean others cannot enjoy it.

So my thought on this Sunday morning is about respect. And it appears to me that no matter how notorious you were or antisocial you were, if you live long enough with the help of money and the use of the word children you could make a run at being respected.

Pops

 

As I walked on the porch this morning, my coffee cup in hand, I was once again was greeted by bright sunlight and cold temperatures. There was no wind this morning to push the cold air. It was like being in a large museum, it was quiet and it was regal. I took a little longer on the porch this morning and just took in the beauty of the woods. The front porch is my place to go to start the day and create the thoughts that I share in this blog.

I spent most of yesterday in my shop working on my old Ford truck. While I was building a chicken coup I, with the help of my son, moved my truck outside the shop so I could do all the woodwork for the chicken coop. With my wife off visiting her sister for several days, I found myself in a position to work on the truck again. But with the temperatures starting off in the 20s and not making it much over 45 each day I realize I needed to get the truck back into the shop. So with a little bit of thought I was able to first pull and then push the big old truck back to my shop by using my tractor. It was a very slow process as I had to first align the front wheels of the truck into the direction that I wanted to go. If you’ve ever done that before you’ll know that if you’re going to make a strong turn the steering wheel will start to correct itself into a straighter path when pulled or pushed. So every few feet I would stop and get off the tractor and get into the truck to adjust the steering wheel. I probably did this about 20 times. Eventually, I pushed the truck into the shop without running into the shop doors or running into anything inside the shop. Once inside the shop I put some wood into my little wood-burning stove and warmed the shop up enough for me to work on the truck. I knew that in repairing my truck I would have to use either some gasket making material or some adhesive. Both of these products require the temperature to be at least over 40°. And even at 40° they are slow to cure and they did not seem to fully cure at that temperature. So it took a little while for the stove to warm up the shop enough for me to start working on the truck.

I mention all of this because the thought of the day it that it is nice to have a place to go to and work on my truck. Just like it was nice to have a place to go to on like my front porch, to view the woods and create the thought of the day. In the many homes that I’ve lived at, there’s always been a place to go to for the many things that I was interested in. For example each home had a garage, a place to go to and put my tools. A place to go to and work on my projects plus park my vehicles. Most of my homes had a swimming pool with a backyard. The swimming pools give me a place to entertain myself and others. And the backyard was for the barbecues and the pets (when they were not in the house). Most of my life has been set in a city environment. I lived near a lot of stores and restaurants. Obviously, the restaurants were a placed to go to and eat.  Some were very entertaining. Up to now I live near some sort of home improvement store. At first I lived near a Lowe’s and then a Home Depot. Each month my wife would go over our budget and mention the amount of times I spent money at the home improvement stores. The store was a place to go to for the many materials I needed to finish all the projects that I started. I would be remiss if I did not mention that the location of my homes, all had some attribute to them. Some were located near work. Some were a place to go to and raise a family. And some were a place to go to and retire. When I moved to Texas from California the first house was a place to go to and fish a lot. And some of my homes were a place to go to and work on my vehicles and projects, usually a small building or a large garage.

This is the first time I’ve had a place to go to that was large enough to call a shop. Besides the obvious place to store items and tools, it is large enough to place two vehicles inside. Now that I have a tractor I can put the tractor inside and still have room for that old Ford pickup truck. After a short time I started storing the shop with personal items and items just for fun. For example in most my recent homes I had a place to put all of my certificates, diplomas and personal work items. For years I called it the “me wall”. By the time you’re my age you probably have collected a large number of appreciation letters, certifications and diplomas. On the “me wall” were pictures of me from my Vietnam days through my career with the Los Angeles Police Department. There were other places in the house to put  pictures including those of my wife, my children and my family members. But it seems each time I moved I ended up boxing most of those appreciation letters, certificates and diplomas. The “me wall” got smaller until it only had enough room in the garage to put of the items. It didn’t take long before I needed the space in the garage for shelving and all of the “me wall” items were put back in boxes and stored away. Now I have some room in my shop for about a dozen of those me items to be displayed. As the shop is a metal building I had to attach some wood boards and panels and the highest areas of the shop to hang items. These areas are too high for any shelving. So now it is nice to have a place to hang my certificates and diplomas along with a couple of pictures.

In the shop I also put a small bar area along with the refrigerator to put my beer in. Up on the wall behind the bar is a neon light and under it a small plaque the states that “the man cave is open”. Below that is a picture of a very old Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Along that “me wall” in my shop I display several Harley-Davidson related items including two matching motorcycle helmets that was previously worn by my wife and I. If I had a Harley-Davidson motorcycle today it would have a placed in the shop. The shop is big enough for all kinds of equipment including a welder, a pressure washer and of course the traditional table saw. There’s enough space near the little wood-burning stove to place an old recliner and a small TV tray table. And every once in a while my wife will come out and join me in the shop at the end of the day and we will turn on some music and set down by the fire to visit.

The shop has become a place to go to for a multitude of reasons. And therefore I really appreciate the shop and the fact that I can go there and get lost into a project, that does not spill off into the house. This used to happen when the garage that I worked in was connected to the house. Of course the woods themselves are a place to go to enjoy nature, take a walk and meditate on the many issues in my mind.

Everyone needs a place to go to for all the different reasons you can imagine. Even if it’s just a particular room in your house or sitting in an old car parked in the yard, you need a place to go to.

Go to your place and be happy.

Pops

 

 

As I walked out on the front porch this morning, with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the sun was shining through the trees but the temperature was still in the 20°. I enjoyed a few minutes of looking around the house and hoping that the sun would soon warm the air around it. And so, as my routine goes, I went back inside the house and watched the news. Once again there was a news story about something that I like being bad for me.

It seems to me that if you wait long enough some university or some company will put out a study that would tell you that whatever it is you like, is bad for you. This last news article was about the brown coloring in the sodas I drink. The article makes reference to a study that shows that the chemicals used for the coloring could be harmful to human beings if taken in a large enough quantity. I can remember at one time there is a study done about eggs and how they would be bad for me or milk and how it was bad for me. We have survived on water from the streams or water from the tap for many years and now we either filter our water or buy bottled water. I think that we keep over thinking about protecting ourselves from every possible problem that could arise from what we eat, drink and breathe. I am reminded of the bubble boy who had no immune system had to live inside a sterile environment for his life. My thought is if we keep on limiting ourselves to what we eat drink and breathe, predicated on a study of the possibility that it might be bad for us, the future of mankind will have to survive in a sterile environment.

There are many foreign countries where the environment (what they eat, what they drink and the air they breathe is far from being safe) I wonder how do they survive? Of course the answer is simple. The human being has survived from its very beginnings by adapting to the environment. And as challenges arose the human being adjusted its ability to survive. I thought of a good example just in my lifetime. Something as simple as going on vacation to Mexico became a concern. Before the trip I was warned not to drink water. If I did so I would end up with dysentery and become very sick. Well the people of Mexico seem to drink that water and survive very well. They do not become so protected from the environment that their bodies do not adjust. I also thought of when I was in Vietnam and was given the same warning about the water. But after a while, especially when the little pills the Army gave you ran out, one can slowly introduced itself to that area’s water. And within a month or so you drink the local water and not get sick. There are places on this earth that seems so toxic and dangerous I wonder how anything survives. But there is life on every part of this planet.

 I mentioned earlier the study that warned me about eating eggs. Some years later another study came out contradicting the last study to say they were good for you. The same goes for milk. If I wait long enough someone will do a study that will contradict the study that was done today. Usually the problem with a study is; who did the study, who sponsored the study and how sophisticated was the methodology used in the study. If any of you has ever taken a statistics class you found out that reading the results of a study can go several ways. And it is not beyond the people doing the study to make sure that the study results appear positive for the person or company sponsoring the study.

I lived and worked in Los Angeles for over 25 years. It was during that time that the smog issue was at its highest. Every day as I drove down through the valley to the city I was able to look at the orange/brown cloud that covered the city. Today, on the news, you can see cities in China with the same smog problem. Do the people who live in these areas abandon the areas because of the air? No, they find ways to survive; eventually their bodies will find a way to handle the air. They will continue to prosper and to grow.

So why do we in the USA worry so much about the things we eat, drink and breathe? Well first of all, each one of these studies found some way to mention the word cancer. So far, as I know, there is no cure for cancer. I am a cancer survivor and when I heard that I had cancer my thoughts were that I was going to die soon. Even though I knew my cancer was very survivable. You put the word cancer on anything and you start to worry. I believe that the bigger goal of all the research is to help the human race and in a having a quality life. I know that recently there have been more studies about how long the average life may last. And of course I’m glad to see the probable lifespan of my generation continue to grow. But I also do not want to live forever with the poor quality of life. I do not want be put in that bubble so that nothing can get to me. I would rather enjoy life. And that means I’m going to eat, drink and breathe things that are always good for me. I will use my own judgment on what I consume. I refuse to live in constant fear of the environment around me. My thought is that the environment will always change, not always for the good. And I believe this that the human being will always change to answer the next threat.

When I look at all the Third World countries (I’m not sure how we actually started calling them Third World) and the environments they live in. They do not seem to have a problem with surviving and even living well. Their population seems to grow and their education seems to me at least at par with the USA. The populations of India and China are still growing, even though a large part of each of their population lives in rural areas and with harsh environmental conditions.

So my thought for today is that no matter what the environment throws at us as a species we will survive. I’m hopeful that someday there will be a cure for cancer. But I refuse to live my life worrying that every piece of food, drink or the air I breathe will take my life. Eventually I will pass on, but I refuse to live in fear due to the studies they go in and out of style.

Pops

 

As I walked out on the porch this morning, with a cup of hot coffee in hand, I was again greeted by 20° weather with the prospect of the temperature getting into the upper 50s today. I didn’t stay out long and went back inside and began watching the news. I was reminded of the interview on CBS a Bill Gates. Mr. Gates was there to promote his new book that talked about the world, hungry, children death rate and some myths that exist. One of the myths that were talked about was foreign aid. Mr. Gates and his wife give a lot of money to help other people and not only here in the United States but all over of the world. Mr. Gates spoke about how foreign aid does make a difference. I believe he was speaking about his and other wealthy Americans effort’s to help other nations with such issues as child death rate and hunger. Of course when I hear the term foreign aid I think of all the money that this country sends to other countries. Some of those countries still hate Americans and much of the money sent is misused by the current government that receives it. I am not a fan of sending foreign aid to a country I would prefer to see the United States of America fall in disgrace rather than to be appreciative of the act of receiving. But rather than get all upset again about the wasted millions, I think we should spent money here, at home, on such issues as health care, job creation, infrastructure and resource development.

For some reason today I thought of an incident that happened several weeks ago that to my surprise I took part in. I had gone to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk and while waiting in line to check out I observed a woman in front of me who appeared to be a grandmother at the store with her grandchild. While they were waiting to check out the grandmother seem to be giving the grandchild advice about shopping at the store. The grandchild was young enough to seem to appreciate the information and appeared to be very close to the grandmother. As they got to the checkout register the amount of their purchase was $3.47. The grandmother had been so involved in talking to her grandchild she had not realized that the small amount of money she had in her purse was not enough to cover the cost of the item. At first she started digging through her purse and fumbled around until she found about 2 1/2 dollars with a change. Finally, the grandmother realized she didn’t have enough change and she went to get out her credit card. It was at this point I remembered reading an article about, “passing it on”. As I understood it this is where people either in front of other people in line or behind them inline, would out of nowhere would pay for the other person’s meal or product. When I first saw this I have to admit I thought it sounded a little crazy. But all of a sudden I felt the urge to engage in the practice of “pass it on”. So I told the cashier that I would take care paying for the product. At first grandmother looked at me as if I was crazy and said, “what”. I quickly told her of the practice of “pass it on”. I didn’t want her to think that I was some kind of pervert, so I quickly again explained the process of “pass it on to both her and the cashier. The grandmother’s look went from and inquisitive look and she began to smile. She looked at her granddaughter and then looked back at me and said, thank you so much. I told her it was no problem and made me feel good more than anything else. The grandmother then with a smile said, “That deserves a hug”. That threw me off guard because normally I do not like anyone touching me. But before I could say anything that grandma gave me a quick hug and turned to her granddaughter and said, “say thanks to the nice man and then she left with her granddaughter. The cashier then looked at me and said, “that was a really nice thing you just did”. I then went to the explanation of what “pass it on” was again and how it made me feel good as much as anything else. I also said that was only $3.47 and had it been $30.47 I’m pretty sure I would’ve made the gesture. I know this is off of what I originally started talking about, foreign aid. But this is a form of helping someone else. This person did not ask for the help, or even look my way for help. It was just something that came over me. Ever since I read the article I wondered why someone would do such an act. It didn’t take long for me to answer that question, is this made me feel good.

I am sure for the people like Mr. Gates, it is one of the reasons he believe in foreign aid in giving to others is from the sheer pleasure they receive from giving it. I also know that there are a lot of people out there who do not have the money to give away. I also know that a lot of people give to charitable organizations and churches for the same reason that it makes them feel good. But I like the “pass it on” experience because I got to be there to watch the reaction of the person receiving the aid. There was a total surprise on grandma’s part and I was totally surprised myself for my part. I do not think that I’m turning into a “liberal” like the dentist called me. The grandma in this story seem perfectly capable of paying her own bill. But because she was having trouble finding her money and to me seemed a little embarrassed by not having a change in her purse, I felt it was the right thing to do.

So far that is my only experience with “pass it on”. And I don’t know when that’ll happen again but I do know that without much thought it was an immediate response that made me feel good. It surprised the grandma, the grandchild, the cashier and me.

So, “pass it on”.

Pops

 

As I walked out on the porch this morning, with my coffee in hand, I was greeted by some cool temperatures but the promise of a warm afternoon. I started to review what I was going to do today and for some reason I was reminded of a cruise ship member I meet on a 7 day cruise. It seems that each time he asked a question about what we (my wife and I) were going to do and we hesitated in answering, he would make a suggestion and he would say “why not”. And ever since that cruise when I started to ask myself if I wanted to do something I would think “why not”.

As I grew up and work hard, I did so realizing that someday I would retire. And then as the retirement age came and I tried several times to retire, I found myself going back to work. Then due to some health issues I did retire several years ago. I asked myself, what will I do now? Like most seniors I worked hard to get to the point that I could retire from having a job and going to work each day. But then once I was retired I felt guilty about not going to work each day. I began my retirement but taking on small projects and effectively going to work each day. It didn’t take long before I started thinking of other ways to spend my time. While growing up and working hard for many years, I had some preconceived ideas of retirement. Basically it was supposed to be as if I was on vacation. During the years I worked I found ways to work smarter and faster. I carried some of those practices into my retirement. So even though I was working on projects I found myself with more spare time. After several years I realize that there’s a possibility that I could still be active for several more decades. I think many seniors have already reached the goal of retirement have to start thinking about reinventing themselves. It is not unusual to hear about a senior who is taken on another career. Or that senior starts dedicating their time to an issue that is near to the heart, like pet rescue our helping other in battling cancer.

I used to really enjoy going fishing and so I have moved close to several lakes. But I do not find myself going fishing very often. Instead I started off in another path. While I was looking for a company to pave a road leading into my house I ran across an interesting man. I decided to do a little research about that man on the Internet. I found that he was on the board of an organization that encourages tree farms. I went to that organization’s website and found that a state certified tree farm does more than harvest trees. They also encourage landowners to protect the forest for wildlife and recreation. When I read the information I thought that a tree farm was an interesting concept. And then I thought, but I’m from the city, what do I know about trees? As then for some reason I thought of that cruise ship employee. And the words “why not” came into my mind. I had nothing to lose by trying to become a certified tree farmer. Certainly the land qualified as it is all forest. And so I contacted a local forest ranger and began the process to achieve certification. To my amazement I received a certification last year. As my son said, who would’ve ever thought that pops would move out of the city and become a tree farmer?

I also decided to learn how to weld. I have always wanted to learn how to weld but didn’t seem to have the time to learn. Now once again I heard the words, “why not”. And so again I went to the Internet and watch some videos. Soon after I bought a small welder and tried to weld two pieces steel together. I did not do such a good job. I knew that three of my sons had some experience of welding taught to them by their stepfather. So I thought of calling them to teach me how to weld, again I heard the words, ”why not”. And so my son came out and gave me a crash course in welding. He also said the best thing you can do is to practice. So now when I come across a broken piece of machinery I try to weld the back together. Why not, if that doesn’t work then I will take it to a professional.

When I retired I reviewed my car situation, it became apparent to me that I did not need two new vehicles. So I sold my Hummer and kept the Chevy pickup truck. With my wife leaving every couple months to visit her family for a week, I saw the need for me to have a vehicle while she was gone. So I searched the neighborhood and bought an old 1991 Ford pickup truck. It didn’t take long for me to realize there was an oil leak coming from the engine. So initially, I thought of taking the truck to a mechanic and having it fixed. But then again I wondered it with my limited education about fixing it myself.  Again I thought, “why not”. My thought was if I tried and failed then I would take it to a mechanic. And so I began to work on the engine. I found the source of the leak, a small hole in the timing chain cover. I found an adhesive that would work on metal and was able to repair the hole. Then when I put everything back together, I change the water pump and then went to change the thermostat. Taking the thermostat out involves removing two bolts while taking out the bolts the head of one of the bolts broke off. I tried several methods to grab ahold of the rusted bolt and force it out. Once that didn’t happen I again thought of taking it to professional. But I heard again a small voice telling me to learn how to take out the bolt, “why not”.

I mention these several situations about trying some new things. Many of us seniors have lived with a planned life and now find that they are searching for new things. Maybe it’s time that we say, “why not”. Some seniors, who had an interesting career, write a book. And many seniors whose life wasn’t so global also think of writing a book. Some seniors decided to move to a nicer climate while others find themselves living with their children. Some seniors dedicate their time to charitable organizations. While others take time to travel around the world or just their country. There is so much to see and it seems that each place has its own interesting history. Some seniors look back to their heritage and find some interesting characters along the way. Some seniors decided to live alone after their significant other has passed away after years of being together. Some seniors decided to find someone and that living alone is not for them and so they find a new significant other. Some seniors decide to start taking some risk like jumping out of a plane or riding a surf board. Some even can afford some new hot rod vehicles, boats. They find the thrill of driving so fast that it makes them feel young again. Many of us have played it fairly safe in our lives. And now that we may have the money and time we look out to those things that we’ve always wanted to do.

My thought is, “why not”. What are we waiting for? As I’ve heard it said there’s no time like the present to get started. I believe that if you survive this long, no matter what you pick you probably won’t go overboard and hurt yourself. You will still use caution and think things out before they happen. But now is the time for you to fulfill your dreams, “why not”.

 

Pops

 

As I walked past my porch this morning I was in a hurry to get on the road to see an oral surgeon. After visiting a dentist yesterday it was determined that I needed to have a tooth extracted. There was a cavity that had started underneath the gold cap that was on a back tooth. Let me begin with the first with the visit to the dentist and then with a visit to the oral surgeon.

For the last several days I have experienced a toothache. It was bad enough that I knew I had to go to a dentist. My history of going to a dentist has not always been a good memory for me. The very first dentist that I ever went to was when I was a teenager. I busted one of my front teeth during a diving event and I went to a dentist in the small town of Speedway Indiana. This is back in the 1960s and just getting an x-ray was painful. I can remember the first time I saw the large needle that the dentist used to numb my front teeth. He had to shoot the area five or six times. Each time he stuck the needle into my gum I felt enough pain to make me arch up in the chair and grip the handles of the chair in a sort of death grip. I had to visit the dentist three times. After the first time, I lived in fear of the upcoming dentist appointments. The next dentist I saw was when I was in the U.S. Army. My family history of bad teeth was passed on to me. I saw the Army dentist about six times. Once again the equipment that was being used was probably from the 1940s. It was incredibly painful each time I went to the dentist but I was reminded by the dentist that I should act like a man and not be so fearful. I think I was in my 30s when I went to the dentist again. This time I had to have two root canals. I still remember the dentist sitting up with me in the chair using small files to file away into the root of my teeth. Each time I visited that dentist it brought tears to my eyes. Fortunately, when I was in my 50s I was able to afford a dentist that had all the up-to-date modern devices. I no longer had to suffer the pain of biting down on the steel rod which held a small square piece of that seemed to cut into the interior lining of my mouth for an x-ray. Up until yesterday, the last dentist I saw was in The Woodlands Texas. His offices were clean and neat. The examining room and the chair were new and the x-ray caused me no pain. The dentist was thorough yet quick and he seemed to have a great personality, as did all his staff. Someone in the office staff called me the day after I was at the dentist just to make sure I was doing all right. So I’ve gone from a dentist with antiquated machines to a modern office and a modern dentist. I went from total fear of the dentist to being relaxed when I had to visit the dentist.

Well two days ago I had to contact my insurance company in California and asked about dentist in my local area of Texas that would except my insurance. I found one about 15 miles away and when I called his office I was able to get an appointment the next day. His office was in a small town near where I lived. My appointment was at 1 PM and so I arrived there at about 15 min. early. It seems that in a small town everyone closes shop for the lunch hour. So I walked up and tried to open the door and of course it was locked. So I walked back to my truck and waited for the office to open. Let me give you a visual of the office. It was on a small side street near the county courthouse with one parking spot in front of the house and three more behind. The house looked to have been built in the 1940s, beside the steps that led to the front door there were two ramps on each side. While I was waiting, I noticed another man, who looked about 30 years old who was also waiting for the office open. Soon the door open and a 65-year old looking old man, dressed in scrubs, invited the young man me inside his office area. The office area appeared to be the old living room. There were a lot of certifications and notices on the walls of the waiting area. One of them mentioned that the dentist did not want you to yell at him or be loud and to realize that he was a dentist and deserve the respect and cooperation of his patients. Another sheet of paper stated that there was no standing on the chairs, being aloud or being disruptive in his office. There were other papers on the wall obviously printed by his local computer which gave the same warnings in Spanish. The Dentist introduced himself as the dentist and stated that his office personnel will be there soon. Then he asked both me and the other patient on how we felt about Obama? He also went on to ask what we thought about the different appointments the president had made. Both I and the other patient tried to look busy filling out the forms and I tried to answer his questions without actually answering his questions. I mean this is the dentist. Do I want to piss him off before he works on my teeth? After filling out the forms the Dentist quickly review them as his staff began to take over the duties of signing both of us in. Once he found out that I was a retired police officer, he started lambasting me again with questions like; why do people drive some crazy in Los Angeles. Or that he had heard of a woman on T V who lived in California in federal housing and receiving welfare, who when interviewed thought it was crazy that anybody would work for money when you could use the government. The dentist wanted to know what we thought of that. He would walk back to the examining rooms for couple minutes and then he would turn around and walk back to the waiting room and asked more questions. He looked at me and asked.” where were you in 1967?” I answered that I attending Indiana University and that was the year that I join the Army. Then he abruptly stated, do you know what the SDS is? I replied yes. Then he asked, do know who Patty Hearst is? I answered yes. Then he said she was part of the SDS. I said no and that I thought she was part of the SLA. He turned a huff and said they are the same thing. Then he walked back to the examining rooms again as his assistance continued to have me fill out forms. Then he came walking back to the waiting room again as I was talking to the assistant and said aloud voice. “O’ is that the liberal “(referring to me)? At this point I went back to technique that I used when talking to mentally ill people and just laughed and said “ yeah I am the commie pinko fag. The dentist asked a few more interrogation type questions. I then stated that it has been a long time since I have answered some many question and not been in a court room. It was time for him to go back to the examining room and work on the other patient. During that time I looked at the assistant and the assistant quietly asked me not to answer any more of his questions while he is working on me. She said that the dentist loses focus and doesn’t seem to do such a great job when he is excited. By this time My gut is telling me to just turn around walk out the office. In that instant, the assistant called me back to the x-ray room. In this room was an old dental chair with a little side table connected to it that use to hold some of the air tools and the spittoon used during the Dennis visit. As I looked at that attach table I noticed there were some rust spots on it. I thought to myself, I am hoping that the dentist would not work on me here. A minute later the dentist called me back to his examining room which appeared to have a more updated chair and other devices (no rust). I would guess they were only 20 years old. While talking to me he pointed to a rear room visible from the examining room and asked me if I knew what kind of refrigerator that was in the other room? I did not and he mentioned that that refrigerator was as old as this house, which is built in the 1940s. Luckily all that this dentist did was review my x-rays and tell me that I needed to have that tooth extracted. During the time he was being a dentist he seemed calm.He mentioned that he could do the extraction there and asked me to go to the waiting room so we could discuss my options. While in the waiting room I spoke to the assistant and told her that I’d never had a tooth pulled before. I’ve spoken to others who do not give me such a great story about the extraction. She told me she would let the dentist know of my concerns. The dentist called me back again and showed me the two small x-rays and pointed out the cavity. He explained that the gum line had receded and the root bone was not very dense. Therefore he believed the course of action was an extraction. He also said that his assistant told him about my fears of the extraction. He said it would not bother him if I wanted to go to an oral surgeon where they could use an anesthetic to help me through the process. He then walked me out to the front waiting room and restated that he would be happy to perform the extraction and that would cost a lot less than an oral surgeon and the use of an anesthetic. He told me to go back home and talk to my wife and then call him with my decision. He would be glad to refer me to an oral surgeon.

Once I got home I relayed the story to my wife. Her first response was to get the oral surgeon. She had had tooth extractions before and it was horrible. Then we both laughed as I related the story about the dentist and all his questions. I told my wife that this was the first time any person had called me a liberal. So I contacted my insurance company and ask if I needed that dentist to refer me to an oral surgeon or could I find one on my own? They told me I could find one on my own and so I contacted the insurance company again. I found an oral surgeon in Longview Texas, about an hour for my house, that except in my insurance.  I called his office and was delighted to hear that they had an opening for me to see the oral surgeon at 8: 20 in the morning.

So as I stated before, I got up early and walk out of the house and got into my truck. It took me about an hour to find his office. This time instead of looking at a fairly rundown 1940 office/ converted house, the oral surgeon’s office was in a modern complex and appeared to be just a few years old. When I walked inside the waiting area was large and modern with a few other patients sitting in the room. This was what I was hoping for. A modern clean and what appeared to be efficient office. It was about 10 minute before I was taken back into the examining room. The first stop was at the x-ray machine. There were no metal holders or no little metal pieces to put my mouth that cause pain. I did not even have to sit down. I stood up and they had me put a very soft piece of plastic that front of my mouth while resting my chin on a holder. The x-ray machine circled around me and within seconds and without pain there was a full x-ray of every tooth in my mouth. I was then led back to a very modern examining room where there was a small TV screen that already had the x-ray of all the teeth in my mouth on the screen. The oral surgeon walked in and he appeared to be very professional. He quickly reviewed the x-ray and confirmed that I wanted an extraction. He said this will be an easy operation and should take about 10 min. He informed me about being sedated and made sure that I would have someone come with me to drive me home. I was then led to another office where they totaled up what the cost for the extraction. Although it appeared to be a good amount of money I was happy that it wasn’t more. When I had earlier discussed the visit to the dentist with my wife and two of my sons, they all said it is worth the money to be sedated. Each of them had had an extraction and highly recommended being sedated.

And so on Monday at 3 PM I will have the extraction. I feel comfortable about the oral surgeon and his facility. So in just a couple days I’ve gone through being exposed to the dentist that seem to just step out of the 1950s and was very outspoken about his prejudiced. Then like stepping into a time warp I was talking to an oral surgeon who was modern and his office well-equipped. This eased my fear about the tooth extraction.

I believe there are a lot of people like me who have had some bad experiences with the dentist. My thought is listen to your gut and to look around for a modern Dentist and pay the price.

Pops