Bob Laurent

Letter sent to the President today

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:11:00 GMT

Dear Mr. President,

The launch of the Aries X-1 is a great opportunity to get our kids interested in math & science again. During the space race, kids had great enthusiasm for science & math. There is little that we can do to promote education in these fields greater than a manned program with a new and exciting goal (Moon and Mars). This is very important to our country and I would encourage you to put your full support behind it.

Additionally, during this time of economic troubles, this program employees many people. Continuing this program is another way of supporting jobs in this country.

And, of course, there's the scientific interest in the additional exploration.

It's time to motivate our kids to be interested in science and math so that we can be competitive in the world market again.

Please support manned exploration of our solar system to the fullest extent possible.

Thanks!

Your long-term supporter,
Bob Laurent

Surgery follow-up

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 04:49:44 GMT

I had the post-surgery visit today. The surgery took more than twice as long as expected (6+ hours instead of 2-3 hours) both because of the size and the location (close to my esophagus) of the hiatal hernia. The patch they used to plug the hole in my diaphragm was 4 centimeters by 7 centimeters.

The good news is that I no longer have to crush pills (many medications taste vile when crushed) and I can start eating small quantities of fruit again. The nurse practitioner felt that I was recovering well given the complexity of the surgery.

Interestingly, it seems that this may have solved my back pains that I've had for the last 30+ years. It's early to be sure, but the signs are good.

The remaining question is whether this will have solved my anemia issues.

Surgery

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:20:34 GMT

The surgery apparently went well yesterday. I'm still in the hospital, but expect go home tomorrow. Sometimes tha pain goes away; sometimes it's really interesting.

One doctors description of my hiatal hernia: "that thing was huge" - surgery took a lot longer than planned because they needed to pull my stomach back through so it's on the correct side of my diaphragm (about 1/3 of it was in my chest and about 2/3 in my abdomen.

Is this panic?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:12:39 GMT

Am I avoiding being scared about the surgery by worrying about living on half pay for a month+ after the surgery? The last couple of weeks, I was worried about the post-surgery diet. Now I'm worrying about money. Are these real worries, or is it a way of avoiding worrying about the surgery itself?

Surgery!

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:04:49 GMT

My surgery finally looks like like it will happen on Wednesday. It'll be a hiatal hernia repair and a Nissen fundoplication ( http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/surgery/specialties/gastro/esophag.html ). I've had my pre-op appointment, my insurance (at a mere $10K per year) has agreed to cover it and UC Davis' financial services is satisfied. The post-surgery diet, however, looks really unpleasant. One to two weeks of liquids only, followed by 4-6 weeks of no raw vegetables, no raw fruit, no onion, garlic or anything in the cabbage family, no frozen deserts and meat must be finely ground...lots of other restrictions.

First CSA "box"

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:46:18 GMT

We got to pick up our first CSA share yesterday. It's a small farm that sold 12 shares this year. We got chard, arugula, lettuce, potatoes (about 6 servings), basil and a small bunch of assorted herbs. They said that later in the summer, the haul would be much larger.

Birthday "present"

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 05:02:21 GMT

As a reward for turning 50 later this month, my medical insurance rate went up by about $140 per month.

And my Congressperson says that our healthcare system is working just fine...

Contingency planning - need help

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:48:54 GMT

As most of you know, my (step) daughter is attending college in Switzerland. We had planned to pay for next year's tuition from the sale of the house in Wells. We've had 3 offers on that house fall through, and it hasn't yet sold.

So, we need to come up with alternatives to cover her tuition for next year. She's discovered that it is difficult to transfer to somewhere cheaper as a sophomore, so she kind of needs to make it through her sophomore year there.

If any of you are able / willing to contribute to her tuition for fall, please contact me (e-mail is first name @ last name . com). If you know of non-traditional sources of help, I'd be interested in hearing about those (other than student loans and financial aid that her school's financial aid department would already know about).

Thanks for your help!

He was a good cat

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:38:43 GMT

I buried Spot today. He died a while ago and we'd hoped to have the money to cremate him. Today was the first day when the weather, my emotional energy and my physical energy were all up to the task at the same time(just barely on the physical energy - we have red clay for soil).

He used to trill when he purred (vocalized purr).

I miss him.

CPAP question

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 07:42:36 GMT

A question for those of you who use CPAP machines. What do you do when you have a stuffed up nose?

It may be relevant that I use a nasal mask and a chin strap (the latter is to prevent mouth breathing).

Rally to Overturn prop 8

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:01:29 GMT

Unfortunately, I can't attend this event in Sacramento on Monday, but I thought some of you reading this from the Bay Area might have the day off and be able to attend.

http://www.eqca.org/site/apps/cd/content.asp?c=kuLRJ9MRKrH&b=4028667&event_id={58453023-AD1F-4242-846E-A5528B0CF7E4}&content_id={F2E10EE7-DF1D-404D-9C73-A135ED4DDCF5}&seid=

Speakers include George Takei and Brad Altman

Windows 98 or 95 computer?

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:16:28 GMT

Anyone out there have a windows 98 or 95 computer sitting around gathering dust that you'd be willing to let us have?

Thanks!

I need to apologize

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:44:51 GMT

I have behaved badly over the past year or so. I let myself believe that we were helping someone who was in need, who instead took advantage of us. I made many very poor decisions; I'm not sure how many of them can be fixed. I'm not sure what the root cause is; I am wondering if I am seriously mentally ill. I hope that whatever the root cause is can be fixed (better living through chemistry?). I have had trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction. I don't like the person I've been this year.

I have horribly hurt my beloved wife. I don't know if she will ever be able to trust or forgive me.

I apologize to everyone who I have hurt or misled in any way. I convinced many people that it was my wife who was acting irrationally when, in fact, I was not behaving rationally.

If any of you can identify when I started to behave irrationally, that might be helpful when I see the psychiatrist. Did it start when my dad died? With the earthquake? When my mom died? When we moved to Wells? When I lost the job at Magnacash? Some other identifiable event?

I want to be very clear that I love my wife and I regret that I didn't believe her. I was wrong and she was right.

I would appreciate any and all support as we work through what's going to be a very trying time. I would also appreciate those of you who consider Lindy a friend if you could support her through this.

Thanks.

Spot

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:54:20 GMT

My cat, named by Lindy "Spot" passed away last night in his sleep. He had lap turns with both of us yesterday and crawled under the covers early in the night.

I will miss him terribly. He was a good cat.

Milk

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:23:25 GMT

OK, I don't normally post comments about movies we've seen. Milk is an exception. Sean Penn could have been Harvey Milk. Extraordinary performance; if you have not seen it, get to your theater before Milk goes away.

First snow

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:31:21 GMT

We had our first snow last night. This compares very favorably with when the first snow fell in Wells!!

House in Wells

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:26:03 GMT

We have an offer on the house in Wells that appears acceptable. This person submitted an offer once before that fell through before we could accept or counter, so we'll see what happens.

Wish us luck!

Does theft go with a poor economy?

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:30:46 GMT

Our TomTom was stolen out of our car Tuesday night. The fog was thick; the cop that took the report said that there was an usually large number of incidents in the area that evening. He thought that the thick fog was allowing people to be less visible (I agree!), so it was a crime of opportunity.

He was not encouraging about the chances of getting it back.

Looking to support "no on 8" and similar causes?

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:05:10 GMT

The Human Rights Campaign (a major supporter of no on 8) published their 2009 buyers guide indicating some companies that support GBLT equality and some that scored low. Some of their scores surprised me; others did not. It's available at
http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide2009/

New phone number

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:45:59 GMT

My phone number has changed to be in the area code where I'm living now.

If you want it, please e-mail me at my first name at my last name dot com.

There are always at least 3 sides to any story

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:39:08 GMT

In this case, there are probably more. I've generally been presenting my own view of things. My wife has a different view. If there had been an objective external viewer around, things would probably look much different.

Any of you remember the Dick Van Dyke show where the Petries each tell their view of what happened and the fish presents a different view? It was funny then; it's not funny being in the situation. Wonder what our cats would say.

In spite of the stress, I still love my wife very much and never intended to hurt her.

Attention Lindy's friends

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:46:31 GMT

It should be obvious that Lindy could use some support right now. She's feeling isolated / cut off. If you'd be willing/able to give her a call of support, e-mail me for her number. My e-mail is still my first name @ my last name dot com.

Thanks!

Anti prop 8 demonstrations

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:44:56 GMT

http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

Madagascar 2

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:54:09 GMT

Did anyone else see this as an anti-prop 8 movie? Why wasn't it released before the election?

Small gesture of support.

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:43:57 GMT

From CREDO (formerly Working Assets)

Subject: Sign the Pledge to Fight Prop 8.

Dear Friend,

On Election Night, progressive Californians had a lot to be thankful for and a lot to be proud of - but we also lost a hugely important fight: the fight to defeat Prop. 8.

Prop. 8 is a stinging blow to every person who believes in equal rights - we're angry, we're frustrated, and we're upset. We feel betrayed by our fellow Californians. An overwhelming majority of California voters (6,313,674) cast a ballot to mandate better treatment for farm animals. Only a minority of California voters (4,932,086) stood up for equal marriage rights. That hurts.

But we don't have to accept defeat. We can start taking action to fight Prop. 8, and eventually to repeal it all together.

I just signed a pledge to fight to repeal Prop. 8 -- I hope you will too.

Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/fight_prop_8/?r_by=1456-144897-71uJI5x&rc=paste

Thanks!