Saturday, I shot the video below of most of the action that’s been going on in our yard—plant-wise. It has received a reasonable amount of hits already on YouTube, suggesting this is a popular subject. It is meant largely to bring my friends, relatives, and colleagues up to date on my latest efforts in the yard/flower beds.
Tag: PD (Page 10 of 60)
Sunday’s WSJ’s Exchange Section had an article by Jason Zweig titled ” What to Do Now That Tariff’s have Decimated Your 401 (k).” He wrote in part, “Intense uncertainty automatically triggers fear and stress in the human brain, infusing our bodies with the ancient fight-or-flight response that is essential to survival. Fear fixates our attention on the negative, makes us acutely sensitive to social signals, impedes our working memory and impairs our ability to think flexibly.
An event unprecedented in most investors’ lifetimes, like Trump’s barrage of tariffs, intensifies our fear and stress.”
If nothing else, the Military and certainly combat require clear thinking without great latitude for mistakes. We are taught and must quickly learn to make life-dependent decisions quickly, with a paucity of definitive information. Such thinking prepares those with a military background to face life’s many decision points with a much different mindset and emotional preparedness.
This applies to me personally in view of what is presently taking place in the stock market and in my approach to dialysis.
Regarding the market, yes, we’re down, but I have faith in the market and its history and instead of crying in my root beer (I don’t imbibe), I’m buying in the down market. Regarding dialysis, I recognize there are and will be ups and downs, people and equipment will malfunction, but in the end, regardless of all the great support we have, when crunch time comes, and it will, it is up to us, the patients, to step up.
Saturday evening, during my usual setup of my Fresenius-provided Cycler, it froze up for the third time in less than two weeks. Knowing how the game is played with Fresenius support, I once again phoned “Support.” Although on the second call, we went through calibrating the screen with a promise that should it happen again, the Cycler would be replaced, The third support person told me that “they” had to run a screen calibration again and should that fail, the Cycler would be replaced. This is obviously not in sync with what I had been previously informed, but is not out of the ordinary for Fresenius. It appears that they can and do make up rules on the fly.
After the second screen calibration, the system, as it has in the past, came up and got me through the night. Now, I can expect a call from Fresenius Corporate inquiring if I was able to complete my dialysis treatment.
I thought readers should know about this and be forwarned should it happen to you.
Apply the following to facing dialysis challenges:
When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it’s vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!
Black may be the clouds about you
And your future may seem grim,
But don’t let your nerve desert you;
Keep yourself in fighting trim.
If the worst is bound to happen,
Spite of all that you can do,
Running from it will not save you,
See it through!
Our back patio has a thornless rose in bloom (please see the embedded video below). Got me to thinking about the phrase “a rose by any other name.”
The phrase “a rose by any other name” originates from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. In this context, Juliet argues that a name is irrelevant to the essence of a person or thing. The implication is that the qualities or characteristics of something remain unchanged, regardless of the label it carries.
This applies directly to those of us on dialysis. It is very very easy to fall prey to letting dialysis define you. Yes, we are on dialysis, but we are lots more than that. We have families and responsibilities, and some of us, enjoy a full life outside of dialysis. For me, it is at best and worse an inconvenience that we must learn to live with. It does not bind or define us. It provides and supports our life and lifestyle(s).
And below is a short video about our thornless rose plus plus:
As promised Friday, here is the video taken on 3/20/2025, of recent work, plantings, and growth in our backyard. Enjoy!
Back in the day, when I was in high school, I attended frequent weekly dances where we either slow danced or did some form of what was then (1954-1956) the boogie woogie. All of us had our moves, some better than others. I was at the lower end of the dance spectrum due to lack of practice. For don’t you see, my mother was an avid Seventh Day Adventist and their faith, frowned on such activities especially those held between sundown on Friday and sundown on Saturday. Since the biggest open dance was held on Friday night at the YMCA, I was by default deprived of this form of enjoyment. So this leads me to today’s story, a dance called “Walk of Life” that is really neat by Sven Otten.
Sven Otten, born in 1988, is a German dancer and web video producer who gained international recognition through his YouTube channel1. He became famous for his unique dance style, which he calls “Neoswing,” a combination of swing elements and modern dance moves12.
Otten’s journey to fame began in December 2012 when he published his first YouTube video1. His second video, featuring him dancing to Parov Stelar’s “All Night,” became his breakthrough hit, amassing around 50 million views14. What makes Otten’s story remarkable is that he learned to dance by watching YouTube tutorials in his room.34
Otten made his first TV appearance on “Got to Dance” in 2015 and has since been featured in several TV commercials1. He has become particularly popular in Italy, where he is known as “il ballerino de la TIM” for his role as a brand ambassador3.
Otten’s YouTube channel, where he is known as JustSomeMotion (JSM), has continued to grow. He created a Dance-Academy on his channel to teach his style to others35.
Beyond his success in Germany and Italy, Otten has also gained popularity in Brazil as an ambassador for Telecom Brasil and has been making waves in the United States3.
Sven Otten’s unique blend of dance styles, combining elements of UK House Shuffle, Electro Dance (Tektonik), and Charleston, has inspired many imitators worldwide23. His success story serves as an inspiring example of how passion, combined with the power of social media, can lead to a successful career in dance and entertainment.
Catch his moves in the video below – and enjoy!
I’ve been busy working on the trellis in our backyard. See below for what it looks like in a finished form. Yes, 86-year-old dialysis patients can achieve goals involving work.
As I have previously blogged about, we now have a two-year-old, 86-pound Golden Retriever as a central part of our household. He is worth his weight in gold as a pal and companion to both of us in this time of heart and dialysis perturbations. My wife tells me that when I leave, he (Dickens), lays down by the back door where I exited until my return. At breakfast, he lies on the floor beside me, ever so gently touching, until I finish breakfast. When I’m setting up the Liberty Cycler for my night’s dialysis treatment, he sits by the bed across from the machine until I have completed the setup. At night when we are watching TV, he often places himself equal distance between my wife and I while stretched out to his almost six-foot length. As I write this he initially supervised my setting up to write the blog and often ensconces himself in the footwell of our antique roll-top desk behind me. He is physically and emotionally supportive for both me and my wife – and anyone entering our home. He has no enemies, human or animal.
I recently ran across the poem below, which is applicable to how Dickens behaves:
Alone I sit by the door,
Ears perked up, eyes on the floor.
The day drifts slowly, passing by,
I watch the shadows, hear a sigh.
The house is quiet, still and bare,
But I can sense you in the air.
Each creak and rustle makes me leap,
In hopes your footsteps break my sleep.
The sun sinks low, the light grows dim,
Yet still I wait, my patience slim.
For when you come, the world’s made right,
In your embrace, the dark turns bright.
So here I’ll stay, with wagging tail,
And dreams of you in every trail.
For in your love, my heart finds home,
No longer do I wait alone.
When I went to bed last night, it was 18F; when I got up, rather late, it was 12F. There were a few snow flurries, but from what I can see and read about, there are not many icy roads. The power is staying up, so we’re cosy in our home.
While being weather-shut in, so to speak, my wife and I are planning what vines we are going to plant to take advantage of our new trellis system in the backyard. We’ve decided to plant some purple wisteria and vining roses as a starting point. We’re trying to source such plants now.
I inserted the weather forecast for the near future for where we live so you can see that starting next Monday, I will be moving the few tomatoes and zucks plants that I started indoors to their summer resting places. Starting Saturday and probably into Sunday I will be working on finishing the trellis system. Yesterday when it was brisk outside I heated our single garage where my saws are set up and made as many 45 angle cuts in the lattice strips for the trellis so I’m ready to buggie when the weather breaks.
Stay warm if you’re in a temperature warp like we are here in North Texas.
