Why The War on Cancer has Fallen Short

I have been working on my boat recently.  It is not a very big boat (14 ft.), but, is of sufficient size to get me out to a good fishing place and back.  I bought it from a good friend (thanks Dick), who gave me a really good deal.  He and his wife are selling their home on the water and moving close to their daughter in North Carolina.   Anyway, I decided to make some changes to it and those changes are underway.  Fall is almost here, so the prime  fishing time, for me, is past.  Thusly, I can take my time with the changes and  enjoy the project.  You know, like, getting close to the boat, so it won’t leave me stranded in the middle of the bay or something.

Last May I bought a used lawn vacuum from a listing in our local paper’s classified section.  I planned on using it during the fall to collect all the leaves that accumulate in our backyard.  I pulled it out of our shed the other day, planning on putting it through it paces to see how well it picks up the leaves, pine straw, etc, but the darn thing would not crank.  The flywheel was stuck.  Nothing left to do but take it apart and locate the problem.  An hour or so later the problem was resolved and I was happily sucking up our leaves and pine straw for disposal.  Strange, I don’t remember studying yard equipment repair in college.  As a side note, many years ago I worked with a fellow (Frank Fullman) who, when asked how he knew something, always replied, “I studied it in collage (ko-lage)â€.  Of course, Frank never attended college, but I have been guilty of using that line very often, ie:  I studied yard in kolage, or I studied boats in kolage, anyway, you get the idea.  It always brings a smile to Jerilyn’s face.  I guess that is why I do it.

I recently read an article in Newsweek (Sep 15, 2008) titled:  Why The War on Cancer Has Fallen Short, by Sharon Begley.  If you are at all interested in this subject you will find out a lot in her article.  President Nixon declared war on cancer in 1971 and very little progress has been made in finding a cure, or preventing it.  The mortality rate from cancer has only dropped 7% since 1971.  This is truly a must read if you are someone you love is fighting this dreadful disease.  The article can be found here:  http://www.newsweek.com/id/157548/page/1

We have been busily preparing for some repair work in our home.  We have cracks in the drywall on our ceilings and walls due to our house settling.  We had about 30 anchors install several years ago and, it seems, the settling has stopped.  A contractor is scheduled to be here Wednesday (9/24) to start the work.  After he finishes a fellow will start painting the ceilings.  Almost all the walls have wallpaper on them, so we haven’t decided what to do about those yet.  We may remove the wallpaper and paint them.   The Decider, no not George Bush, hasn’t decided yet.  Anyway, turmoil will prevail in our little hut for quite awhile.  Jerilyn dislikes any type of disruption, so this is taking quite a toll on her.   I am comfortable with a mess, so I’m not bothered too much.  I think that bothers her also.  At my age I try to keep frettin’ to a minimum.

I recently thatched the yard, with Jerilyn’s help, and put out grass seed with starter fertilizer.   We had a fair amount of slow rain afterward and I assumed the grass seed was well on it’s way to popping up.  Naw!  Here it is two weeks later and the results have been very disappointing.   The seed I put on the lawn between my neighbor and I, who has a sprinkler system, is doing marvelously well.  I reseeded some of the bare places yesterday and made a promise to do a better job of watering.  I always try to to keep my promises.

I hope you’re enjoying whatever season it is in your part of the world.  Thanks for reading my weekly missive.

You can find my blog at:   http://tommyhale.blogspot.com/  or my pictures at:  http://bipolar66.smugmug.com

“Paradise is here or nowhere: You must take your joy with you, or you will never find it.” ….O.S. Marden