Be aware, the "Message Forum" is NOT password protected.  Unlike profiles that are password protected, anybody who gets to this webpage can see what is written here.  Nobody can contact you directly based on this forum unless you reveal your personal contact information.  Use the "Message Center" for sharing personal contact information with another classmate.

This message forum is an ongoing discussion about anything and just about everything ... within reason.  One thing our class was good at was having opinions.  Almost 70 years of life experience certainly qualifies us as experts on most everything!   Ask a question ... give an opinion ... share some insights ... it's our web site, it's our forum.  That said, it's probably not a good idea to get into arguments about politics, religion, and the like.  While we're experts on everything, we also have a wide range of values and beliefs. This site belongs to all of us ... the whole range ... and we are not here to isolate, alienate, or subjugate anybody.  Of course insults, humiliation, sophomoric barraggadocio, and demented humor is expected behavior among some of us less mature people.
 

Jim Cejka

So where was Carl Sagan when we were studying science? Been watching the 'Cosmos' rerun series this weekend. Facinating. Heard all the jokes about his 'billions and billions' intonation, but really, the series is wow.

Nancy Davison (Boerger)

Oh, yes! 

Neil de Grasse Tyson is on top of my list of "Famous People I'd Like to Have Dinner With".

Jim Cejka

I have gotten comfortable enough with my senior age to be past the stage where certain things make me feel 'old' anymore, like doctors that look 16, all our songs are now oldies, and half the stuff we had in our house now showing up on Antiques Roadshow. BUT, I read that this year is the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the Ford Mustang. I had one of those, my first 'real' car, right after they came out. Whoa, that's 50 years ago??? I still remember that new Mustang smell, boy was I proud. 50 years?? 

Pass the Geritol, please.

Barbara Blair (Brenzel)

Just looked outside my side window & saw 14 robins!  Yes, there is hope for spring in Wisconsin!  Unfortunately, after hearing the weather report, I think I may see 14 dead robins in the yard tomorrow!

Therapy for my back is going well - now I'm being weaned from the back brace.  This was sure not an easy surgery but I don't need a cane any longer.  Once the back is healed, I'll be pain-free & walking good.

Garry Sellers

Hey Barb, we're glad you're back.  The boys at the pub tell me that they all missed you and said that they wouldn't let any other girls use your pole while you were gone.  The physical therapy seems to be working ... or maybe it's part of the problem!  Don't let anybody walk all over you, including yourself!

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

QUESTION: What's worse than having your husband disabled with a broken right foot?

ANSWER: Having his wife disabled at the same time with a broken right ankle/leg! (surgery on 3/27)

PROGNOSIS: 2 to 4 months recovery for both!

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Jeanne - According to your timetable, you should be getting well just about when warm summer weather comes to Wisconsin  Thinking good thoughts for you on Thursday. 

Barb  - so glad you're healing on schedule - also in time to enjoy summer, hopefully.

Jim Cejka

I don't know about robins as signs of spring in CA, I haven't ever seen any. But, I did find a nice, big, black widow spider on my workbench in the garage yesterday morning. 

Sure Jeanne, did you guys do that just to keep you from shoveling any more snow this spring?

John Ruhland

Hi Barbara,

I have been following your messages, going back to 11-25-13, regarding your back surgery. I knew that was coming up for me in the near future. Sounds like your recovery and rehab are going as planned. I was hoping to have mine done around the first of the year, but because a "Certain Health Care Provider" was dragging their feet (talk about a slow process), I finally had the surgery done on March 10, 2014 at a different hospital. The surgery went as planned; spinal fusion between 2 vertabra and laminectomy in my lower back. I also have a brace and a cane like you do. I found the walker they gave me was more of a nuisance than a help, so I just use the cane. I don't know when rehab will begin. I'm sure the doctor will let me know when I see him at the first follow-up appointment in the first week in April. I just hope we will both be able to do Something/Anything as the warm weather approaches. I hate just sitting around. I'm too much of a "Do-It-Yourselfer". Yard work, house upkeep, car repairs, etc. Here's hoping your recovery continues to go well. Sounds like your surgery may have been more involved than mine.

Sometimes it seems like our bodies are like an old car. Once your warranty runs out, things start going to hell. Or maybe there's just too many miles on the old chassis. Oh Well!

Jeanne Zinser (Gottschalk)

Yeah, Jim...I guess you let our secret out of the bag! We're expecting at least an inch of you-know-what overnight. Guess we'll just have to let it melt. It better be gone by surgery day on Thursday. I don't want to fall AGAIN!!

Terri Levenhagen (Hoornstra)

Jim: It looks on the map in my bird book as if robins are only in southern/central Calfornia in the winter. We see them all year around in the Bay Area. But whenever any kind of berries are ripe on bushes or trees, they flock together, and travel like a marauding horde through the neighborhoods. People must scrape robin corpses off their patios - inebriated birds with impaired navigation skills who crashed into windows they thought were blue sky!

Ray Thompson

I have had three major back surgeries so far. Fusions and rods & screws. No pain any more but have lost a lot of mobility. Today if I drop something on the floor it better be very important or it stays there. Bending to tie my shoes now is a major chore. The good comes with some bad. Best wishes to all for a good recovery.

Jim Cejka

Barbara Blair (Brenzel)

Wow!  Many back issues!  Guess we're at "that age" for the old body to start falling apart.  I "hear" everything that everyone is saying.  Falls & breaks & surgeries - not fun!  I'm hoping that by spring (if it ever does arrive here) I'll be able to plant some flowers & enjoy sitting on the patio.  I still can't lift much & bending is pretty much out of the question - I've gotten pretty good at squatting & use one of those grabber things to get the stuff off the floor that I've dropped.  Necessity is the mother of invention & I've discovered moves!  Sorry, Garry, the pole dancing moves are gone forever!!

Barb

The drunken robins really cracked me up!  And the robin stuck reminds me of the weather we're still having.  Most of us are just laughing about it now - such a joke!

Barbara Blair (Brenzel)

Jeanne - good luck with your surgery.  A year ago (or was it two?) my daughter fell & broke her ankle.  She was on crutches & then had a boot.  She's fine now - just took "time" to heal.

John, hope you are healing nicely.  When your doc did the fusions, did he go in from your front?  That's how mine was done & my stomach is still tender on the inside.  The therapy has helped so much.  I'm almost done with mine now & the best advice the therapist gave me was that I shouldn't look forward - to all the things that I couldn't do.  He said to look backward - from where I was when I started.  That has helped a lot when I get impatient.  It also took forever to have my surgery - I started with my doc in August & then didn't have the surgery until Nov.  And there was all the poking, prodding, & tests to go through pre-surgery.

Another banner day in Wisconsin - today it warmed up a bit & it's raining!  Oh well, at least I won't be seeing any black widow spiders!

Jim Cejka

"They say that age is all in your mind.  The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body."  ~Author Unknown

William Nelson

Jim,

We really like that quote, but it seems our brains are losing their connections too!

Jim Cejka

Oh yeah, Bill, sure. . . . . .um. . .what quote??

John Ruhland

Barb,

Thanks for the reply. I was fortunate in that my surgery was through my back. I have not started therapy yet. I like what your therapist said to you about looking back on what you could NOT do before, compared to the PROGRESS you are making now. Like you I am too impatient and want to "back up to speed".

Ray,

Sounds like you are a veteran at this back surgery thing. Any thoughts on the amount of time needed before we can begin doing light yard work, etc.? I know--I know, "everyone is different"  regarding recovery time, but I was hoping perhaps you could "shed some light" on this. About the shoe tying thing. Are we to the point, in our lives, that we should resort to shoes with velcro straps?  OR maybe just buy slip-on shoes.

Melody Jones (Parker)

This is from all 22 of us who live in California; there was a reason we moved out of Wisconsin!  LOL!

Ray Thompson

John-- 2 1/2 to 3 months I was good to go. Work hard on the therapy even though it hurts. I do have loofers and slide on slippers. If we go out and I wear nornal shoes my bride ties them for me. If that is the worst it wasn't all that bad. I can do pretty much everything except bending. I have to go straight down to the ground to pick something up--no more bending down. I guess that is because of the rods that were placed in my lower back. Fusions are different and total mobility may be ragained--not sure on that however. Work hard and best wishes on your recovery.

Jim Cejka

One thing John - do what the rehab people tell you, but don't think if you do twice as much you'll get better twice as fast. Had an in-law do that and in 3 months he was right back where he was before the surgery. Undid everything.

John Ruhland

Ray & Jim,

Thanks for the informative feedback from both of you. Much appreciated!

Jim Cejka

What's the world coming to?

Ate at a Chinese restaurant today. With great anticipation, I opened the fortune cookie.

It said, "Try another fortune cookie."

William Nelson

Jim, that's even worse than one I got a few years back, "You like Chinese food."