A few years back, I started collecting the National Audubon Society Field Guide series. Here are the ones I currently own:
Here are the ones I'd like to get:
Starting in the mid 80's, only one person ever cut my hair. Gil Carrasco, at a shop over on Baldwin in Arcadia, was the guy I trusted with my hair, and for over fifteen years no one else cut my hair (except one time when he was on vacation - I needed a trim to attend a wedding and a nice woman at his shop filled in).
When I got my V-Star motorcycle back in 2003, I started buzzing my hair to avoid the dreaded helmet hair look. Carole took care of it, but a few times I did it myself. One time I went all the way and took a razor to it after the buzz. It felt very strange inside my helmet.
I've been wanting to update my look a little, so a few weeks ago I started growing my hair out, and it looked okay. With my hair short, the gray in my beard stands out and gives me an older look, so the longer hair actually makes me look younger. After a while, though, the long hair was needing a clean-up.
On Tuesday before Christmas, I got the stitches from my sinus lift removed. Afterwards, I went hunting for a barber, but all the places I found were closed, either for the day or permanently.
On the Saturday after Christmas, with Jimmy's wedding in the afternoon, it was time for action. If I couldn't find a barber, it was off to SuperCuts.
I stopped in at Arnold's on Broadway (where I used to get my hair cut by Mr. Bruno back in the late 60's). He seemed nice, but was also popular — he had a young guy in the chair, and two more guys waiting. I just didn't have time to wait my turn.
I headed over to the SuperCuts, and found it nearly empty. An older guy was getting a trim, but the other three stylists (?) were free and there was no waiting. It was Kenny's turn, and as we went back to his chair I explained the situation. He asked a few questions, and then got started. A tiny amount off the top, neatly trimmed on the back and sides, tapered but not stepped. It all went as expected.
When I got home, Carole gave me a thumbs up, and Justin finally stopped telling me to cut my hair.
The holiday break has been a little different this year.
Jimmy's wedding on the 27th meant that Rick and Ann couldn't make it to Big Bear on Christmas Day. After a lot of back-and-forth, the McConnell Christmas was moved to Sunday the 20th. William missed having the traditional Christmas Day festivities, but everyone else seemed to enjoy not having to slog up the hill on an already busy day.
The (now) traditional Christmas Eve dinner at my house went really well, except we didn't get dinner ready on time. By the time we opened presents, everyone was tired, and my Dad was dozing a little. Next year, we'll make sure it runs more smoothly.
Christmas day was nice. Kristie joined us for gifts and breakfast, and everyone had a great time, as usual. I got a Spot Messenger for the FJR, and Carole got a Vita-Mix.
I started noticing a developing chest cold on Christmas afternoon. When I woke up on Friday, it was full-on — sore throat, deep cough, runny nose, aches — the whole deal. Since I couldn't call to cancel, I got up early and went to donate platelets, but the nurses decided I shouldn't once I got there — after the finger poke, of course...
Saturday was Jimmy's wedding. Outdoors, at 4:45pm (but scheduled for 4:00pm), in about 40° with a apparent wind-chill of 30°. I was suffering, and worked hard to avoid coughing during the ceremony. The poor bridesmaids in their sleeveless gowns were noticeably shivering. The reception was quite nice (other than my illness).
Sunday was spent dealing with my symptoms, and resting.
Today I'm starting to feel better, and have grand hopes of seeing the end of this bout. We'll see.
So, my #3 tooth (upper right first molar) had an old filling go bad, and after working on it off and on for a few years Dr. Crabtree decided it couldn't be saved and really needed to be removed. In December of '07, Dr. Ardary (my oral surgeon, and highly recommended) removed it, and we made plans to replace it with an implant.
There are sinuses running horizontally just above the tooth line in everyone's upper jaw called the maxillary sinus. In my case, the sinus ran very low in the area of the #3 tooth — so low that there wasn't sufficient bone depth to hold the implant post. The solution to this sorry state? A sinus augmentation, or sinus lift.
Here's a summary of the procedure: an incision is made at the site of the missing tooth; the sinus and its related tissue is lifted up and away; and bone graft material is used to fill in the resulting void.
The graft has to mature for 9 months or so before it is strong enough to accept the implant.
Last Thursday, I went in for my sinus lift. They can do it with either local or general anesthesia, but everyone I talked to - Dr. Crabtree, Jodie, the great RN at Dr. Ardary's office - told me (in no uncertain terms) to get the general. Justin was my driver, and did a great job.
So far, it's been three days of pain and suffering, but that's to be expected. Vicodin is a wonderful thing.
Hopefully by Monday I'll be back in form.
Jeremy came over to do some laundry, and said there's a B2 bomber flying overhead. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later a B2 flies almost right over the house, going from north to south at about 1000 feet. Five minutes later, it's back, nicely silhouetted against the low clouds. Very cool.
The B2 flies over the Rose Parade almost every year, but other than that we couldn't think of a reason for it to be here.
Edit: from the Beacon Media News: "A B-2 stealth bomber from the 509th Bomber Wing performed a ceremonial flyover Sunday during services for Verne Orr, a former secretary of the U.S. Air Force who died last week at age 92."
