Surgery Update:  I have been recovering from double level back fusion surgeries which I had done at UCSD Medical Center under the VA Choice Program. The surgeries were much rougher than I imagined they would be. The recovery, 65 days now, has been difficult. I am told by the doctors it will take four or five months to fully recover. It has been a slow two months where it seems like I have barely improved.

Feeding The Birds….and Mrs. Shonegarger:  I feed the birds outside my back deck every morning. They are mostly black crows, but occassionally I get smaller birds like wrens and sparrows. These little birds wait until the crows have taken their fill and flown away, after which they swoop in for the meager scraps that were left behind.

Our two cats, Yogi and Boo Boo, love sitting on the upper back deck watching the large crows feeding on the hillside 20 feet below. The crows caww loudly as they swoop in and take a bread or cracker morsel that I throw to them. I find this time very peaceful as I sit drinking my morning coffee and watching my cats react to these hungry birds.

I grew up on Rollins Road in Toledo, Ohio. Rollins Road was a wonderful place to be a kid. My best friend Larry had four brothers and sisters. His dad was a mailman and his mom, like most moms back then, was a home maker. She also was feeder of birds. I remember seeing her save toast and bread and in the mornings throw it off her back porch to the birds. I never gave it thought back then as a kid but as I daily throw morsels of bread to the birds in my neighborhood I often think of Goldie Shonebarger.  I can see her throwing bread and toast, taking the time to take care of God’s birds.

Oxycodone Drugs – Evil Disguised As Good: My back fusion surgery was actually two surgeries five days apart. The first sugery they went in from the front which involved a vascular surgeon as well as the spine surgeon. Then, five days later I was in the operating room again. This time they went in from the back and installed rods and a cage. In the process they nicked my spinal column causing a leak of fluid which led to the doctors needing to repair it before completing the surgery. I was in the operating room for seveal hours.

Since the surgeries I have been taking Oxycodone for pain. I started out with 5mgs every four hours. I took this amount for over a month before realizing I needed to get off it. The longer you use this drug the more you need it. I would get sick with body pain, nausea, and weakness after three hours. As time went on and my body got used to it I would start getting sick after two hours. I was hooked in a week and had I not made up my mind to get off it I would be in a bad place right now.

Thankfully I have weaned myself down to just five 5mg pills every 24 hours. My goal is to be off it completely by the end of November. Even with these low doses and spread out times my body screams for this drug. I am sick as a dog at times as I attempt to hold off from taking the pill sooner than the six hour interval. So on top of trying to deal with the recovery I have had to deal with this drug grabbing me by my soul. I do get almost immediate relief when I take the drug but it is short lived. The sad thing is the doctors give you no insight into how to manage this medicine. Had I not been aware and determined to beat it I would probably be another statistic by now.

Airbnb Rentals Destroying Residential Real Estate:  The RB&B problem in San Diego is growing. San Diego city government officials, starting at the top with Mayor Kevin Faulkner have punted. The reality is people are now buying residential houses for the sole purpose of creating vacation rental revenue. The demand for housing is growing and the prices soaring as a result. The answer is a simple one. Rental properties should be permitted but short term vacation rentals turn residential neighborhoods into commercial zones. Last I checked you cannot turn you house into a 7/11 or a hardware store so why is RB&B different?

Oh, I will answer my own question….the real estate lobby. Do your jobs over there at City Hall and take care of the all the people, not simple the wealthy investor class.  Shame on you guys.

San Diego Roads: I had friends visit from Georgia and they could not believe the roads around town and especially around the airport. Potholes, steel plates, hidden bumps and dips….if you live here you know the story. On and on they work on the roads….low bidder gets the work. Once they begin they have to figure out how to make a profit given their crazy low bid they gave to get the work. Less tar, stones, glue…who knows. Our roads suck and we have no snow, ice, rain, or freezing which causes most Midwestern and Eastern cities havoc. Whats the deal?

Oh, I will answer my own question….the lack of credible leadership at the Streets Division and at City Hall. The buck stops with the good Mayor Kevin Faulkner. Are you guys blind? Do you drive to the airport and around town? How many times do you have drive these streets before you realize whoever is running the road show is a dummy….or worse.

Georgia Tourists Amazed To Learn We Already Have A Wall: I took my friends from Georgia to the border to look at the existing two fence wall between the US and Mexico. I showed them the amount of travel back and forth and explained this wall has been there for almost twenty years and works quite well for citizens on both sides of the border. Free and easy “legal” travel occurs every day across at the border. Mexicans work here and live there and many Americans live in Mexico. The big lie….we are walling off Mexico was exposed for these naive Georgian visitors. The double fence at the San Diego Mexico border area works well and helps Border Patrol to handle the smugglers and human traffickers in a much safer way.  So why were these Americans confused?

Oh, I will answer my own question….the full court press of lies pushed continually on the American people by the liberal media, politicians, and radical groups is taken as truth by many Americans and especially democrats and progressives. The failure to look at the proposed completion of the border security wall in a fair and honest way is simply a reflection of these groups left wing goals. An open, uncontrolled border is not simply naive it is completely nuts.

SAY IT PLEASE !!!

The next time someone says, “How are you?”, try this answer on for size: I am whole. I am complete. I am perfect. I am happy. I am dynamite. I am lovable, loving, getting lots of good love. I am well off and doing well. I have it all together. I am basking in the riches of life. I am prospering right here and right now. I am being richly rewarded, even in my sleep. I am a miracle worker expecting a miracle right now. I am peacefully peaceful. I am walking the walk. I am talking the talk. I am claiming the victory right now. I am successful. I am wealthy. I am living by pure grace. I am a believer. I am standing on faith. I am on my way to the top. I am what I am because I just can’t help myself. And how are you doing, my dear?