| Week One: |
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| Sadly, I didn't put up any
update last month. Not because I was sick or gone or anything; but
because not much really happened. No rallies, no vacation, no big
projects. I should probably be thankful for the rather dull Summer
after the last two - the one when Jim passed away and the one when
my relationship with Joyce (my ex-OhioMom) went to hell in a hand
basket. However, I'm really kind of sad because the boredom comes
from no longer having Jim with me to do projects, vacations,
adventures, or mystery trips. |
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| I have a few new friends
down here (even met up online with an old school mate who's still in
the area); but everyone was busy with their own lives. I've been
blessed to have not had this problem too much of my life; but I
forgot how bad it sucks to be single! |
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| But before this turns into
some sad blog entry, or you think I just wasted away all of July, I
do have an update for last month. Just click here,
July 2010, and check
out the pictures from the poor garden beat up by the heat, and read
how I beat the heat. |
| New Site
Changes |
I have made a couple new
changes to the site as we move into August
The picture below to the left is a screenshot of what the site menu
looks like. On the right is a listing of the new changes I have
added to the site to make it easier to see my current lab work
results and a |
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To open the menu, simply click the button at the upper
left marked OPEN |
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This CHART icon now leads directly to the pages that
discuss my health and HIV lab numbers |
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This icon of TWO RINGS links to the story I use through
the Speakers Bureau of my ASO, Catawba Care. By telling my
tale through the story of my two partners, represented
by two rings, I hope fewer people will get infected with
HIV, and that more people will get treatment in time. |
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Week Two: |
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| We All Wish
This Was Our Vacation |
Ever wish you could take a
vacation where the water was as blue as the sky?
Well my youngest
brother and his family got to do just that when they took a vacation
to Cancun. |
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Look how the pool, the
ocean, and the sky are all lovely shades of blue. |
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| Jon, Lisa, Jonathan, Jenny
and Jackson sure look like they are having a great time! |
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Hmmm? It looks like some
members of the family are having TOO much fun! |
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Dad (my youngest brother Jon) takes
some time out from his vacation to rest. |
Project
Connect
A Catawba Care Health Fair Event |
| With the start of school
just around the corner, several health fairs will be in the area
over the next few weeks as August ends. My ASO (AIDS Service
Organization) Catawba Care is planning on testing and exhibitioning
at several of these events. I have volunteered to help at several of
them. |
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| Saturday (8/14/10) we set
up a booth at "Project Connect", which was held at the 1st Assembly
of God Church Rec Center on Edwards St. in Rock Hill. I passed out
pamphlets and told quite a number of people about the services that
Catawba Care offers. Several people also inquired about the
volunteer opportunities available. Although our staff members didn't
have the opportunity to test many people, thankfully we didn't see
any positive results today. |
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| Later in the month, I'll
be manning the booth at an event at the Duke Energy Nuclear Power
Plant, a convocation event at Winthrop College in Rock Hill, and
finally at a "Healthy Hometown" event in the county seat city of
York. |
| Around the
Yard part 1 |
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The heat and lack of rain during the
length of summer is really doing a number on my garden. Although
I've been pulling the dead stuff off and watering every day we don't
get any rain, everything is shriveling up and turning yellow. I'm
still getting a few tomatoes and too many cucumbers; but I'm hoping
the 3 or 4 red bell peppers make it. |
| The pear tree is very heavily laden
with fruit, and I'm surprised that no other branches have broken.
I've been picking up the fruits that have fallen (and usually aren't
any good) and throwing those off into the woods, so that they don't
attract a swarm of bees to my side of the house. |
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MouseOver CloseUp |
I found this guy hanging out in the
woods
where I was tossing the pears.
I left him a big juicy chunk and he ate it all up. |
Even though I squash the palmetto bugs
every chance I get, and wouldn't dream of going outside without
spraying myself down with mosquito spray, there is one bug that I
don't bug with and allow to live - the spiders. Although I despise
running into and through their webs, those spiders eat up all the
"bad" bugs, so spiders are my friends.
One of my bigger friends, the writing spider, has quite a big web
spun between the shrubs in the side yard. |
MouseOver CloseUp |
| Riding the
Rails |
Since the Summer of 1985,
when Randy and I first visited Ohio and visited Kings Island on our
way back to NC, I have gone to an amusement park every Summer. We
alternated years going to either Kings Island in Cincinnati or Cedar
Point in Sandusky.
Sadly the only years I missed out were the last two. |
Cedar Point - The Amazement Park |
| Unlike after when Randy
passed away and my friends were able to take me to one of the
coaster parks, after Jim passed away in 2008, my friends were too
busy, homelessness was too close, and my life was in chaos. My
"friend" Sean
couldn't keep a job, so I wasn't able to take him and I to the
amusement park to repay him for the helping out so much with Jim at
the last. I don't feel bad at all though about not honoring this
last request Jim had. I tried to give Sean a home instead; but since
he still couldn't get and hold a job 4 months later, he lost out on
the trip to the park and the invitation to live in my home. |
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The following Summer of 2009, I didn't make it to any amusement
parks either. Sadly that was the Summer that my 20+ year
relationship with one of my best friends, a woman I had
affectionately called my "OhioMom", feel apart when I realized I was
doing all the work of being a friend while she was doing little and
reaping the benefits. Oddly enough, it was the reversal of normal
roles, when her daughter went to the amusement park and I tended the
grill at the July 4th cookout that precipitated the ending of my
friendship with that family. Of course, that lead to the downfall of
my relationship with her son, who was my roommate at the time. That
Summer finding a new home before I became homeless was more
important that riding the coasters. |
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View from the SkyTower |
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Now that I'm back in the Carolinas,
it's Summer, and my life is much more stable, it was time to get to
an amusement park again - especially when I only live about 3 miles
away from an amusement park!
(Although it used to be a Paramount park, like Kings Island in Ohio,
Carowinds is now another Cedar Fair park, the parent company of
Cedar Point.)
The yellow arrow in this picture (while riding the Intimidator)
marks about where my house is just on the other side of the street.
Hmm. I live near Carowinds Park and my
road is Caroland. Think there's a
connection? ROFL |
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| The largest, fastest roller coaster at
Cedar Point is the "Millennium Force" At 310 feet high, it reaches
speeds of 93mph and is 6,595 feet long. |
Carowinds' "Intimidator" is 232 feet high and reaches speeds of 80
mph and is 5,316 feet long. |
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MouseOver Us for CloseUps
in our Souvenir Ride Picture
That's Jacob and Melody in the back, and mikie and Jon in the front |
| Going to the park with my youngest
brother (Jon), his wife (Lisa), their daughter (Jenny) and her
friend (Melody), and their youngest son (Jackson) and his friend
(Jacob), we had a wonderful time.
Although the day was hot and sweltery, it was also partly overcast
making the day a bit more bearable. The large thunderhead that
circled the park (and eventually poured down over in downtown
Charlotte) must have been the reason for the light crowd. Being able
to walk right up through the lines and get on the rides, we rode all
the coasters several times. That gave us plenty of time to spend in
the water park (Boomerang Bay) sliding through the water pipes and
going down on rafts. |
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All-in-all, it was a great
trip to the park and we all had a great time.
I'm hoping to get back to the park in a few months (in October) for
their Halloween make-over into "Scarowinds". |
| Around the
Yard part 2 |
| I can't remember what this plant is
that my friend Bill gave me; but it's obviously a happy camper. It's
been putting out a bunch of the squiggly hanging white flowers for
over two weeks now. |
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Though the "butterfly
bush" I planted in early Spring didn't grow much,
it still grew enough this year to put forth some flowers. |
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Still no flowers from the hollyhocks
and since there still aren't any stalks, I don't expect to see any
flowers this years. However, they are definitely well-rooted and
growing well, and next year we should see blooms. |
| The garden itself is winding down and
starting to look pretty bad. I should probably tackle it soon and
start ripping the dying plants out and tossing them in my compost
pile. |
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Wow! While the cantaloupes
I planted turned into cucumbers, it seems that one of the plants
really was a cantaloupe plant! WooHoo! I've got two small melons
growing, so hopefully they'll grow up nice and juicy for me. |
| Ghoulish
Reading |
| Although I don't have HBO,
I've been hearing all the buzz about their vampire show, "True
Blood". Thanks to the internet, I was able to view the past couple
of seasons, and I got hooked on the adventures of Sookie the barmaid
and her boyfriend Bill the Vampire. The shows are great with a blend
of blood, gore, sex, nudity, comedy, drama and mystery. |
The TV series is actually
loosely based on a series of books, the "Southern Vampire Mysteries"
or the "Sookie Stackhouse Novels", by Charlaine Harris. The local
library only had a few of the 10 novels; but my sister-in-law (Lisa,
the wife of my youngest brother, Jon) has the whole collection
("Dead Until Dark", "Living Dead in Dallas", "Club Dead", "Dead to
the World", "Dead as a Doornail", "Definitely Dead", "All Together
Dead", "From Dead to Worse", "Dead and Gone", "Dead in the Family"),
which she shared with me.
Getting the books on a
Wednesday night by the following Tuesday night (6 days), I had read
all 10 books! |
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| I also read a Star Trek
book ("Collision Course") and started a new series of books ("The
Tales of Alvin Maker") by science fiction writer Orson Scott Card by
reading the first three books. Now I have another re-made classic,
"Jane Slayre" - the re-vamped (pardon the pun) classic with zombies,
werewolves and vampires. |
|
Mal-Adjusted |
| In an attempt to see what
can be done about the pain in my shoulder, my clinic has started
sending me to a chiropractor. Although this doctor explained that being
"adjusted" might not be a miracle cure, I have seen some results
after just a few sessions. Having screwed up my back from shoveling
wet snow in years past, there were some issues with my lower back.
After just a couple adjustments, things have gotten back into place
and have stayed there. I have noticed less stress in my lower back
and a wider range of motion with my legs. |
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| However, my shoulder is
still messed up and I find that I'm taking a vicodin or two a day to
keep the pain away. That would all be fine except now my whole right
arm and hand have gotten that feeling you get when your arm has
"fallen asleep" and just about woken up. So it's a little numb and a
lot tingle-y, which is bothersome as that is my dominant arm. I'll
continue with the chiropractor for a while and see if things
improve. My next regular doctor's appointment isn't until early Nov,
so I'll know by then whether to talk to him about other options. |
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Week Three: |
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Duke Energy
A Catawba Care Health Fair Event |
| The second time I set up a
health fair booth this month for my ASO (Catawba Care) was at the local nuclear
power plant |
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| As a quick aside, I should tell you
that there are some changes in the work for Catawba Care Coalition.
First will be a name change; but it's not a big change. They'll be
dropping the "Coalition" and just be known as "Catawba Care" which
works nicely with their web address of
http://catawbacare.org. |
| The
other change will be a big one though! They'll be moving to a new
location! The clinic purchased their own building, and renovations
are under way. Although they had hoped to be moving into the new
building at the start of August, it looks like they'll finally get
there by the first of October. |
(this is the agency's pix. As soon as I get by the new building or
when they have an Open House, I'll be sure to get a lot of pictures
to show you) |
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| Thursday (8/19/10), we set
up a booth at the Duke Energy United Way Campaign, which was held at
the Catawba Nuclear Station, located on Lake Wylie in York County,
South Carolina. Unlike other events, this was held with people who
were United Way Donors and potential volunteers. As United Way had
provided a luncheon for the Duke Energy donors, the event was held
in an auditorium - food serving tables were at the front, dining
tables were set up throughout the main part of the room, and vendor
tables for the United Way organizations were set at the back of the
room by the entrance. Duke Energy employees were able to see the
organizations that were being benefited by their donations and to
interact with representatives from those organizations (ie they got
to talk to me!) |
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| I spoke in depth with
nearly a dozen people, discussing the ADAP funding issues, the
services that Catawba Care offers to the community (education and
prevention programs) and to it's nearly 450 clients (medical care
and counseling), the upcoming move for Catawba Care to it's own
building, along with the number of people on the SC ADAP waiting
list and the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases within our state. |
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There were two serving areas and the
meal consisted of potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, hamburgers,
hotdogs, and ALL the fixings, along with drinks and desserts.
The vendor reps (ie ME again!) got to eat too! |
| A DJ was on hand, playing music
throughout the event. There were a few speakers too. The United Way
Director thanked the employees for an $8,700 donation from a golfing
event, while another United Way leader gave a very inspirational,
motivational speech that brought the house down. Door prizes and a
silent auction rounded out the event. |
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I passed out pamphlets about the
agency, red ribbons, Catawba Care labeled pens, business cards with
our new address, and even 5 Safer-Sex Packets (pre-packaged bundles
of free condoms). Several people had attended the ASO's fund-raining
event (Denim 'n' Dazzle) and commented on how much they had enjoyed
attending and helping. I had a good talk with one lady whose son, in
Tallahassee FL works in an ASO prevention office. He had told her
about the similar health fair booth which they set up down there,
and since she had never gotten to see the work her son does, she was
very glad to see ours to know what an ASO health fair display looked
like. |
| Although visiting the
power plant reminded me how I'm living in one of the outlying blast
zones (I learned that back in Dec. when Duke Energy send us a
calendar - which listed the escape routes from the area in
event of an emergency!), best of all, there weren't any
explosions at the nuclear plant and I didn't leave there
glowing-in-the-dark |
| Around the
Yard part 3 |
| Well, it is the end of
August, and it has been hot and dry, so I guess it's that time of
year. Today, I spent some time cleaning up my garden and throwing
out the plants that were dying. |
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While the peppers and a
squash plant were still doing ok, the tomato plants were shot;
so I
cleared them out and the lattice I had them tied up to. |
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| There's one remaining
sunflower plant, so along with pulling up the rest of them, I
removed the cucumber plants and their rack. Since the one zucchini
is still growing like mad, I left it alone - for the time being. |
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While the morning glories are still blooming a little bit, the vines
are starting to dry up, so it was time for me to start collecting
morning glory seeds so I'll have some to plant next year. |
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My little palm tree, on the other hand, has loved the heat of this
summer and has tripled in size and foliage in the year that I've
been living in SC. |
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Goodness! Things do grow fast down here. I just trimmed up
this rose bush and weaved the branches into the trellis just a month
ago, and now it needs to be done again. |
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Week Four: |
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Winthrop
University 125th Convocation
A Catawba Care Health Fair Event |
| Monday (8/23/10) we set
up a booth on the Winthrop College Campus (located in Rock Hill,
SC) during their 125th Convocation celebration,. The students
got filled by barbecued chicken and potato salad, while the lawn
was filled with vendors from throughout the area like radio
stations, the ROTC, and United Way sponsored agencies - like
Catawba Care! |
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We had some
confusion with our display board and pamphlets ;
but with Catawba Care just a few blocks, I quickly went back to
the office and grabbed pamphlets, the other display board and a
bucketful of our "Safer-Sex Packets".
(Thanks for helping me get all that stuff together, Lane! )
We passed out a handful or two of various pamphlets and all the
packets (several dozen) of condoms that I had brought over.
Hopefully we did some good in letting the student body know
about our services; and hopefully those condoms will help
Winthrop students stay HIV-negative! |
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| A special shout-out to
our new volunteer, Jeanne, for helping Ruth and I out at the
Winthrop Convocation. I sure enjoyed working with you ladies! |
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| Oh! Before I forget -
thanks to my case manager, Christine, for stopping by to visit
our booth on the Winthrop lawn. Seeing a friendly face you know
in a crowd that size is always a pleasant experience. |
| Around the
Yard part 4 |
| Remember the picture I posted last
month of the bug with "eyes" on it's exterior? Well, one of my good
Ohio friends (Thanks Angie!) found out what it was! (Yes, although I'm gone from
there, I'm not forgotten.) This bug is "Alnus Oculatas" or the Eyed Elater
Click Beetle |
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York, SC
Summerfest
A Catawba Care Health Fair Event |
| For a final event this
month, on Saturday (8/28/10) we set up a booth at SummerFest, an
event held in downtown York, South Carolina. Once again, we were
partnered up with Piedmont Medical and our booth was part of their
"Healthy Hometown" section. We passed out quite a few pamphlets and
condom packets, while explaining to a number of people about the
services that Catawba Care offers. Hopefully, several people will
follow through next week and stop in for a free HIV test. Several
other people inquired about having our education program presented
at their church/organization, and we were even offered a chance to
attend another event next month. |
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| Looking up and down the
street, you can see all the vendors set up by Piedmont Medical. |
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| I put a couple additions
into the display this time. I made up a sign for the front of the
table (to make us a bit more noticeable) and some smaller signs for
the table (explaining the types of pamphlets, "free candy", "free
pens - take one please", and of course, "free condoms"!). |
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Relieving two new
volunteers, I manned the booth during the last few (hot and sunny)
hours of the day. As with the other events this month, I really
enjoyed my time telling people about our agency and our services, in
addition to telling others about the need, not only for our agency's
medical services; but also for our prevention and education programs
to hopefully help in stemming the rising HIV rate in our state.
A special Welcome and Thanks to our new volunteers Heather and
Melody. Both ladies seemed to have had a nice time working their
shift and I hope to have the chance to speak and work with them
again. Good Luck at future events and Thanks again Ladies for giving
up part of your Saturday afternoon to help with a cause near and
dear to my heart! |
May 1, 2010 |
Aug 28, 2010 |
| Oh! Lookie there! When I
started out working these health fair booths back at the first of
Summer, I was wearing just a plain red t-shirt (since the agency
liked to have us all color-coordinated in red) that I picked up at
Good Will. Last week though, the agency director gave me an actual
Catawba Care t-shirt! So now I look official! WooHoo! |
| Around the
Yard part 5 |
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| Last October, I
transplanted about half a dozen Rose of Sharon plants over to my
side of the yard. They were still looking good in April (as you can
see in the picture above), and growing well. A few of them have just
put out some blooms. |
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| I finally went down
to Chester the other day and visited my friend Bill whom I hadn't since in a while.
I remembered to ask about this plant and found out that it is the "night blooming
cereus". Also known as the lunar flower, moon flower or luna
flower. Although I read that they bloom just on one or two nights of
the year, typically around May 30; mine seem to have been blooming a
lot more than that. I'll try to go out one of these night before
going to sleep to get some pix of the flowers in bloom. |
| This is NOT a picture of my plant; but
this is how the flower looks in boom. I've been checking the last
two nights but the buds (as seen in the pictures above) still
haven't opened up yet. Since I don't go to sleep till 2am or later,
I'm sure I'll check these flowers any night now. |
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| Going
Forward and Looking Backward |
| Thus ends my first year
back home in the Carolinas. |
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| I can hardly believe that
it's been almost a full year since I moved back home on Sept 9th of
last year. What a dramatic, and unexpected, change in my life this
move proved to be. Though I definitely enjoy being back down
South, back with my family, and even pretty settled in, I must say
that I dearly miss my friends up North, and quite frankly the life I
used to have. |
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| Part of my feelings come
because my move was just so unexpected that I hadn't had time to
adjust to the notion of moving before the move was upon me - not to
mention the move was precipitated by the loss of a very long
friendship. Some of the
sadness left over from moving is because of all the dear friends I
left behind, along with 25 years of memories. I've spoken with many
of you and though most of us never visited quite as often as we
wished, it's disheartening to realize that you're not just on the
other side of town or less than an hour's drive away. |
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| Of course, most of my
sadness comes from losing Jim, and leaving him and Randy behind.
Even this many months later, Jim's death weighs heavily upon my
heart. Every moment spent as a volunteer working the health fair
booths is a moment dedicated to the memories of Randy and Jim.
Every day in South Carolina, is a day I'm here because Jim passed
away. |
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Eerily just before I woke
the other day, Jim was in my dreams. Disjointed as dreams can be,
what I could remember was that Jim was alive yet terribly ill as he
was in those final days. While I was walking and talking with one
friend, Jim was at the house of another of our friends. In the
dream, I was ashamed and upset to think that Jim was in that
condition and that I hadn't checked on him in several days. Jerking
awake to rush off to do my duty as Jim's caregiver, I realized that
I had only been dreaming. I had to tell myself to calm down, I
wasn't shirking any responsibilities - because Jim was no longer
alive and my duties had already been fulfilled. With my heart still
pounding, I burst into tears as the enormity of my loss once again
slammed into my mind, jarring me fully awake. What a "Good Morning",
huh? |
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| Though I had many hard
times (but who doesn't?)
living in Ohio, I had so many friends and found so much love,
is it any wonder that I'm still saddened to no longer be living
there? |
| Going
Forward and Looking Forward |
| After this first year back
down South, I am pleased to say that I'm fairly settled in and
finally feeling
like I'm at home. It took a while to get everything to come
together; but all my finances and health care issues have been
transferred and taken care of down here now. I've been able to spend
time with my family. I've begun to have regular, daily routines in
the new home where the boyz and I are living. I've been busy making
a new life for myself and things are good. |
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Of course, it sure helps that I've
moved to someplace where I can lie around the pool for 6 months out
of the year, rather than worrying about snowstorms and blizzards -
even if the people do talk with a funny accent down here. |
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| While it's not exactly the
life I envisioned (even just a few years ago) that I'd be living,
I'm very glad to still be living this life. As I often tell people,
it's takes hard work and patience to get things to change. I believe
that I have been putting in a lot of hard work into changing my
life. I've pulled myself up
from that place of despair where I was after being pushed into leaving Ohio
without my Jim and without my friends. Thankfully, I've had
help from my Mom, my family, my friends back in Ohio, my friends
here in the Carolinas, the people from and the opportunities at
Catawba Care, and even people I know from online (who offered me
support during those dark days when Jim was ill and still offer
support to me today). Thanks to a lot of people, I have kept working
hard, pressing forward, and things are looking much better. |
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| So now, after my first year back in
the Carolinas, I'm looking forward to what the next year will hold
for me. With my health so much better than
it's been in decades, I have enjoyed donating my time towards, not
only helping the clinic that treats me, but helping with their
community outreach to prevent others from being affected by this
virus and the illness it causes. I hope to use the love, support and
encouragement that so many of you have given to me through the last
few years to continue reaching out to others. I want every person
that I can help from being infected with HIV and every person
infected that can be treated to be a testament to how y'all helped
me and a monument to our memories of Randy and Jim. |
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