This was not an Adventure!

Kind of funny how you can go months, or maybe years, without a memorable mishap.  I just had my adventure  as you can read below, and my wife just had hers!

She has been sewing all her life and enjoys doing alterations for her friends.  She’s outstanding at her trade and she receives joy from her different sewing machines.

So, she’s altering a dress when a snag occurred and is trying to rectify the situation when she accidentally engages the foot pedal.  Her hand is in the wrong place and the needle goes into her fingernail and all the way through her finger! 

I’m in my studio editing a photo that I had just taken, when I hear this blood curdling scream.  I rush to her sewing room where she had just pulled out the needle, but in her panic some of it broke off in her finger.  We go to the kitchen where we both try to extract it with tweezers, but to no avail. 

It’s off to the nearest urgent care facility about 10 minutes away where we spend the next two hours.  X-rays were taken, but the end result is the Doctor says she should be seen by a hand surgeon as he thinks the needle is stuck in the bone.

Next stop Banner Boswell Hospital Emergency room where they are expecting us.  We carried in information from the Urgent Care Doctor and the X-rays.   It’s amazing how crowded emergency rooms are today, but even with her pain and anticipation of what was next, we both realized how lucky we are compared to others with lots worse conditions.

First a person who takes your vitals, then back to the waiting room.  When you’re called in you follow another person down a very long hallway to your room.  We were lucky #33.  Another person comes in to ask a bunch of questions, then a nurse to take more vitals.  Finally we see a Doctor who assesses the situation,  and he leaves.  Time goes by when he returns and administers Novocain shots.  Minutes vanish and he returns again to extract the needle.  It didn’t take long for a sigh of relief and a big smile to appear on her face.

We leave the hospital, pick up a prescription for an antibiotic, and get home at 10 pm.  Seemed like a long time and it was since the incident happened at three o’clock, and now it was time for a glass of wine!

Life is good, but you never know when the unexpected may happen!

Everyone Loves an Adventure…Maybe!

We love to camp, and since it’s so hot in Phoenix during the summer we camp a couple hours North in Arizona’s high country.  The temperatures there are always 25-30 degrees cooler than in the Valley.

On a recent trip we camped with several other couples and after four days everyone had to return to Phoenix for work including my wife.  I decided to stay up there in the wilderness by myself, baby sitting our campers until everyone returned a few days later.

One afternoon I went for a ride on our all terrain vehicle (RZR ATV) and rode many off road trails.  This probably isn’t the smartest thing to do by yourself, but it was daylight, I had plenty of gas, water, and other supplies in case of any trouble.

At one point I decided the drive to Long Lake which was about 22 miles from our campsite.  I got about half way there, but made the decision to return, get the truck and make the trip, timing it so to get some sundown photos of the lake.

For some unknown reason, maybe intuition, I made sure I was well supplied.  Threw in a blanket, a case of water, a sandwich, an energy bar, flashlight, my 38 pistol, and of course my camera equipment.

So about 5pm, off I went heading Northbound on Forest Road 211 (Long Lake Road).  I felt more secure in the truck and it was an easy ride for the first 12 miles.  Pretty soon the road became narrower and rocky and about 4 miles South of Long Lake the road became one lane and very muddy.  Before entering the mud I could see tracks where at least one other vehicle had travelled recently and figured if they made it so could I.

That was a mistake because once in the mud I was committed.  No turning back.  I had brand new tires but they were city tires and certainly not made for a muddy trail.  It was very slow going slip sliding all over the place, and at one point I thought I was going to end up in a pond next to the road.  The truck quickly became a master painting of mud!  This couple of miles was a little exhausting, but finally hit solid ground and made it to the Lake.  It was now about 6 pm as I swung around in the driver’s seat to dismount the truck and take a couple of photos.  My foot hit the muddy rail and off I went to the ground wounding my right arm in the process.

The skin is torn off and it’s bleeding at a good rate.  In the  truck we had some McDonald’s napkins.  I pulled the skin flaps back over the wound and covered with the napkins.  To keep them from falling off I wrapped a cell phone charging cord around and tied a knot with my left hand and my teeth.

I’m not the least bit interested in taking photos now, just want to get back to camp.  I drive away from the lake, but I don’t want to drive back the way I came fearing getting stuck in the mud.  I picked up my phone and asked google for an alternate route.  She took me down the same road but only for a few blocks then told me to turn left on forest road 69.  The site ahead was a relief, a dry decent looking reddish colored road.  After a short time she told me to make a hard right turn on forest service road 69B.  Now my trust is solely in the hands of a strange, but soothing voice, and I complied.

It wasn’t long before realizing this was the second mistake of the trip as it’s now nothing but a skinny ATV trail in the middle of nowhere!  The GPS is telling me that Route 87 is some 8 miles ahead, but it’s now 6:30pm and I’m now thinking of approaching darkness.  The trail is rough, the truck is bouncing on rocks and small boulders.  At one point I have to cross a creek with a foot of flowing water.  With 4 wheel drive engaged I cross safely and am now climbing a steep rocky hill.  Once on top I’m in a clearing with a canyon on my left and a meadow on the right.

I  stop, take some deep breaths, drink some water, take a bite of the energy bar, but waste no time in continuing on what seems like a path to nowhere.  Creeping through hills and valleys and at another plateau I stop and don’t see the trail anymore.  Is this it?  I reconcile myself to the idea that I might have to spend the night.  The comforting thought was that I’m secure in the truck with plenty of supplies.

I slowly plunge ahead, finding the trail again.  It’s slow going in the rough terrain, and the clock is creeping toward the hour of darkness.  Soon the GPS is telling me that I only have two more miles to go before I drive onto a paved highway.  It’s hard for me to believe that it’s only two miles because where I am is like driving somewhere in Africa.

It’s starting to get dark as I finally reach route 87.  I feel like I’ve been on a roller coaster, my mind is foggy, my arm is painful, and I’ve never been so happy to see a highway in my life!  Now for the laugh of the year.  This soothing female voice soon tells me that in one mile I’ve arrived at my destination.  This point she called home is a pull off on the highway.  I sat there for a moment relieved, amused and soon realize that I’m heading for Winslow, Arizona.  I make a U turn, head South and arrive back at camp after 8 pm.  There is no moon, it’s pitch black and this was a 65 mile big circle adventure from hell!

Back in the camper I try to administer first aid.  The napkins are stuck to the wound and as I pull them off some skin flaps end up in the napkin.  Suck it up buddy, you’re home safe and sound!  Have a drink and relax!  Not having any pads in our first aid kit, I used gauze and tape for the night.  The next day I drove two hours round trip to Wal-Mart in Payson and bought pads.  Of course removing the gauze ripped open the wound again!

A couple days later everyone shows up and one of my friends, a retired fire fighter/EMT, tends to my arm with many applications of Betadine and new dressings.  This was truly a week to remember, considering a couple nights before my ride a heavy thunderstorm ruined our Arizona Cardinal tent.  And that night while texting my wife back in Phoenix, she is sitting in the dark trying to find flashlights and candles because of a three hour power failure.  

Sometimes in life fate plays an important part.  It was ironic that only the day before I sat in our camper and read a National Geographic book on survival.  That book has been in our camper for a couple of years, what made me read it then? It covered dozens of scenarios, and the main thing that I leaned, in any situation, is to stay calm!   That thought resonated the strongest when I thought the trail ended, and I might have have to spend the night in total darkness, somewhere out there……

                                                              (You may click on photos for larger view.)

MEMORIES

Most of us really don’t think about how we look until we get older.  It’s then that we realize how we’ve changed throughout the years, and those years bring back memories!

Here’s what yours truly looked like in the late 50s when I was a disc Jockey on KSTT in Davenport, Iowa during my junior and senior years in high school.

Those were the days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, Richie Valens, Pat Boone, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Paul Anka, Debbie Reynolds, Rickie Nelson, The Diamonds, Johnny Mathis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Patti Page, Fats Domino, The Four Lads, The Ames Brothers, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Guy Mitchell, Doris Day, Dean Martin, The Platters, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Bill Haley & The Comets, The Chordettes, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Teresa Brewer, Vic Damone, Don Cherry, Jerry Vale, The McGuire Sisters, Johnny Cash, Peggy Lee, Frankie Lymon, Nat King Cole, and many more!

Twenty years later from 1977 to 1987 I DJ’d part time on WEMO, East Moline, WQUA & WMRZ in Moline, Illinois.  My last gig on WMRZ was an oldies station and our mascot was a 1957 Gold Chevy.  That was pretty cool!  The really cool thing was we were playing all the music that was popular way back in the 50’s plus all the hits from the 60’s and 70’s.  A lot of that music has never died!

In those later years we listened to Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, Bobby Rydell, Leslie Gore, Frankie Avalon, Dion and the Belmonts, Roy Orbison, The Ventures, The Drifters, Sam Cooke, Marty Robins, Chubby Checker, Conway Twitty, Steve Lawrence, Charlie Rich, Four Tops, Rolling Stones, Temptations, Roger Miller, Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, Jay & The Americans, Tom Jones, Beatles, Supremes, Herman’s Hermits, Marvin Gaye, Gary Lewis, Del Shannon, Simon & Garfunkel, Carpenters, BJ Thomas, Neil Diamond, Jackson 5, Bobby Sherman, John Lennon, Creedence Clearwater, Ann Murray, Chicago, James Taylor, Spinners, Delfonics, Glen Campbell, Aretha Franklin, Guess Who, Stevie Wonder, Tony Orlando, Bread, Frankie Valli, Eagles, Neil Sedaka, Elton John, Captain & Tennile, Barry Manilow, Oliva Newton John, Paul McCartney, America, Michael Martin Murphy, Linda Ronstadt, Barry White, Earth Wind & Fire, 10cc, Styx, Gladys Knight, Orleans, John Denver, Leo Sayer, Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Player, Chic, Meat Loaf, Queen, Billy Joel, Kansas, Rod Stewart, Donna Summer, Abba, Foreigner, O’Jays, Carly Simon, Dolly Parton, Commadores, Kenny Nolan, ELO, Hall & Oats, Jimmy Buffett, KC & The Sunshine Band, Alice Cooper, Kenny Rogers, Pointer Sisters, Supertramp, Barbara Streisand, Village People, Little River Band, Toto, and the list goes on!

Sorry if I missed one of your favorite artists or groups. As you read through the list of artists you remembered their songs, and some of those songs brought back memories.  When, where, and who you were with.  Life is made of memories. 

The radio days are gone for me, but I still listen to all those oldies while working out at our fitness center. 

For the last 15 years I’ve still been behind a microphone giving technology and photo seminars in many cities.  Technology is fascinating as we think about advancement in the last 20 years.  It’s an industry on steroids!  Today we can’t imagine life without our cell phones.  The Dick Tracy watch in the comics years ago is now a reality and I’m wearing one. It does everything but make lunch for me and I’m working on that!

We talked about memories, and as I mentioned we change through the years.  How we think, how we act, and how we look.  I hope you have lots of memories!

AN OPEN LETTER TO MICROSOFT

I have experienced every Windows Operating System since the beginning of time!  Windows 95 was definitely the biggest splash!  Microsoft lit up buildings in London and New York with the 95 logo and it was a huge marketing extravaganza including the theme song from the Rolling Stones!

At that time I lived in the Midwest and remember driving to Chicago’s McCormick Center for the big event.  Windows 95 was the first real user interface.  Many versions have passed, some good and some not worth mentioning, including Windows Me and Windows Vista.  The OS that the world passionately embraced was XP which served us well for 12 years!

The last worthy OS was Windows 7, then came along Windows 8, a total disaster!  People were confused and frustrated.  The general public, most businesses and corporations refused to migrate.

Microsoft quickly upgraded to 8.1, but it wasn’t any better.  The biggest downfall was a new perplexing start button.  The system was really two, the Metro and the Desktop and did nothing but offer frustration.  In order to make any sense of it all you had to install a third party start button to regain any familiarity and unless you were pretty computer savvy this had to be accomplished by a technician.

Microsoft slowly woke up to the fact that they had a real loser on their hands and decided to totally skip the next progression which would have been Windows 9.

So here we are in 2018 using “The Revolutionary New Windows 10” as our operating system.  Tens of thousands, perhaps millions were forced to download and install Windows 10 whether they liked it or not.  This was performed with an intrusion of privacy and with no permission from the user!  We gave up Windows 7 and now are faced with a Mickey Mouse start button, and frequent system updates that often destabilize the OS.  It’s just not rational that people have to hire a technician to repair Microsoft’s updates.

I have installed applications on all my computers and on hundreds of customer’s computers to maintain ease of operation and enhanced security.  Namely,  CCleaner, Malwarebytes and  Classic Shell, which gave us an alternative start menu that we have been accustomed to for years.

Certain MS updates have removed all three of these programs.  Your answer maybe that those applications did not meet the criteria of your updates.  That would not be true as they performed to standards after reinstalling them.

Now, after almost a decade, the author of Classic Shell is giving up because of frequent Windows 10 updates which continually make Classic Shell unusable. 

Not only these problems, but now you have taken away Windows Essentials which included Windows Live Mail.  We have used your email program for eons and now you have left us with Windows 10 mail which everyone loathes!  Again, the user has to hire a technician to set them up with a new mail program.

Microsoft, we are pleading with you to supply us a start button that allows us easy access to the task at hand,  a credible email program, and to stop removing programs that belong to the user!

I wish I had a Giant Megaphone!

I wish I had a giant megaphone so I could loudly announce to everyone who owns a computer this warning.

If you ever see a message on your desktop or laptop stating that you have a dangerous virus and telling you to call an 800 number for the fix, don’t do it.  THIS IS A SCAM.  DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER!  Simply re-boot your machine and get on with your life.

Another scam that is prevalent today is getting a phone call.  The person will say he’s from Microsoft and
that you have a dangerous virus on your computer.  He’ll give you a real “snow job” in an effort to scare you and will ask for permission to get into your computer by installing a small snoop program.  Soon he will inform you that he has found the problem and for a fee he will fix it.  You give him your credit card and now you’ve been had!

In both cases the criminal’s object is to get your credit card number.  Once they do it’s a wild spending spree with your money!