Monday, October 3, 2022

A little of this, a little of that

 

Our Church Source

Woke up yesterday at 0600.  Why, you may ask? Because Early Service at Church is at 0730.  Why do I go to that service since I have to get up so early?  Because that service gets over at 0830 and the next one starts at 0900.  One of our Priests tends to be extraordinarily long winded and has even been known to give a Pre-Mass Sermon, the regular Sermon and then a Post-Mass Sermon.  Which would be fine if 1) there was some structure in how he presents the Sermon's Lesson; 2) if there was some brevity in his sentence structure so one could make sense of it and 3) if he didn't tend to use the same Sermon all three times with only some small variations, of course.  So, it's the 0730 that we usually attend.  Even that isn't necessarily foolproof however.  3 or 4 weeks ago, he was in the midst of round 3 when the doors opened and the 0900 congregants started walking in and sitting down.  Which prompted several of the 0730'ers to get up and walk out.  Which seemed to confuse him somewhat as his ending was a bit abrupt.

BTW, He's the Pastor.  

But, yesterday was Special.  The temperature outside was 50o. Who knew it was October already?  It seems like just last week it was in the 90's.  So much of a change,  I actually wore a sweater to Church.  Not because it was needed, but because I could!  Quite a few of the congregation took similar advantage, although nobody went as far as wearing a parka.  

That would be a bit much!

So, a nice cool day which in and of itself (after this Summer) is something to be thankful for. 

In a similar vein, LJD* is doing quite well.

 

For perspective, this was taken on our first visit with her.

  She's now tripled her birth weight and is now almost 4 LBs.  

Looking MUCH better here
 

Of even better note, she's off the ventilator which she's been on since birth.  She's now on a different machine that provides less O2 which encourages her to breathe on her own more.  Initial reports from Little J and LJW say she's doing that quite well.  

New equipment in use.  Not apparent to me what the difference is, just that it is progress.

For folks that are in the know, she's down to 30% fiO2.  Which when I asked "What the heck does that mean?" LittleJ replied "Fraction of Inspired Oxygen. Normal is 21%.  The number represents how much oxygen she needs to keep her Pulse Oxygen Saturation Numbers in the range they are supposed to be in."

Oh, right...I knew that...No really, I did...I'm not kidding...I mean doesn't everybody know that?

Actually, I make my assessment of how she's doing by looking around and seeing if the NICU nurses are still smiling and walking and talking normally when around her.  

No Master Caution Lights flashing has always meant things are going well...for now.  Worked when I was flying, should work now.

I'm just extremely grateful that things are progressing in a positive fashion.  I know how tough this is for Mrs J and I.  Can't imagine what it's like for Little J and LJW.  

On a lighter note, Top Secret Planning is now going into effect for a Gathering of the Clans in College Station in a couple of weeks.

"What's the occasion, juvat? An Aggie Football game? "

"No, Sarge, even bigger and better than that.  It's MG's first Birthday! "


Hard to believe it's been a year already. 


Should be fun.

Finally, another milestone has been reached in my trips around the world.


My Truck turned 100 this past week.  No Beans, I wasn't moving when I took this picture.  I happened to be in the Parking Lot of my official Play Ground, AKA Lowes.  No Sarge, Mrs. J has not offered replacement vehicle yet.

Rats!

Peace Out Y'All! (and Yes, it was a slow news week.  Bigger, Better, Faster next week...Maybe!)

*For any new readers...LJD is our acronym for Little Juvat's (My Son's Daughter).  Our youngest (of two) Granddaughters.  Born on July 20th this year at 27 weeks and is still, as of posting, in the NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in San Antonio.  Prayers are definitely appreciated.


40 comments:

  1. Was wondering about LJD, very good to read about her progress juvat and she is still in the prayer rotation. As to sermons during the first service, short is best yet some wearing the cloth seem to think, "It's showtime!" Have smelling salts at the ready for vehicle prices, new or used............ :)

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    Replies
    1. Nylon, She's doing very well. As I said, the Nurses are smiling which is a good sign. Much better than talking to the Doctor as they seem to start the conversation in Swahili. I've heard that about vehicle prices. Thankfully, the old Girl is still functioning within normal parameters. With luck, I'll get several more odometer rotations out of her.

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  2. Good news about LJD, prayers continuing!

    Spare us all from long-winded preachers.

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    Replies
    1. Dimly I recall a story about Gen Patton and a long-winded chaplain at Sunday services. He informed the chaplain that everything he needed to say could be done in (10 or 15 minutes). The next Sunday, Patton was in the front pew, pulled out his pocket watch and held it when the sermon started. The sermon finished on time.

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    2. Don,
      Wonder if I should try that. Not a General, but....

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  3. 18 months ago, I wouldn't have known about those lung numbers. I do now. Mine is 2L/min.... I graduated to nighttime use, and as needed after effort. Thank God she is on the upswing... What a miracle. This cool air is so welcome, I almost get teary eyed. The summer was a real beast.

    I read once upon a time, that when musicians weren't very satisfied with their songs, the endings would go on and on and on. I wonder if pastors are like that? I know one of my "sermons" went long one Sunday, but it was one of my first, and I underestimated the volume of material to get through.

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    Replies
    1. STxAR,
      Air is good, Cool Air is better and God's gift to Texans (and all the rest of you Southerners out there).
      I think Abe Lincoln said "I would have written you a short letter, but didn't have time, so you got a long one." Regardless if it was Abe or not, there's a lot of truth in that statement. Short and to the point is the kindest thing you can do for others. Their time is finite, don't waste it for them.

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  4. Thanks for the update on LJD - that is great news! And yes, unalarmed personnel and no flashing lights/blaring alarms are great stand ins for those of us with little technical knowledge.

    TB The Elder always insisted on attending first service, for the simple reason that it got out by 10 AM and one still had the rest of the day (and, as you suggest, it had the subtle pressure on the follow-on service to push it. One can only imagine what happened in the last service...

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    Replies
    1. THBB,
      Thanks. Our last service starts at Noon. Went to that one once.....

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  5. I can remember when 100,000 miles was a big deal...

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    1. Rob,
      My first car (a Chevy Vega, yeah I know) barely made it to 70K. I dumped it the first weekend after I came on Active Duty. Missing the morning briefing at UPT was "Not Acceptable" and car problems were not an approved excuse. (Not sure if there WAS an approved excuse. Death, your own, might have been, maybe not.) So, yeah, 100K was a big deal.

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    2. I remember 5,000 mile tires and ones that got 50K were magical. Cars sure have changed over the years. (But, funny, electric cars have about the same range now as they did in 1905... Hmmmm....)

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    3. Beans,
      Quite the coincidence isn't it. It's almost as if Physics is involved.

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  6. Good news on the grandbaby! Prayers are being answered. Your pastor could have been in the military. Remember when you were an IP how you told them what you were going to tell them, you told them, then you told them what you told them. In some cases, a fourth reiteration was required at the debrief!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. D4,
      I recall most Pre-Flight Briefs were brief. And most Post-Flight Briefs weren't. I also recall that rank had little weight in Post-Flight Briefs as long as you said "Sir" (and I suppose now Ma'am) after each critique. Being thin-skinned was not a good trait as best I recall. But...it was effective and I learned an awful lot.

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  7. Terrific news on the baby front… Continuing prayers!
    Some of the best advice I’ve heard, for any speaker, is “Stand up to be seen. Speak up to be heard. Sit down to be appreciated.”

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    Replies
    1. Skip,
      I hadn't hear that one before. Lots (Lots and lots) of truth in that statement. Especially the last sentence.

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  8. Juvat, amazing how quickly (from the pictures and my reader's perspective) LJD has grown. Anytime you enter a hospital and the nurses are quietly going about their business and not looking worried, walking fast, carrying papers and/or medical instruments things are going pretty well for the patients.
    Continuing with Prayers UP!
    Cletus

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    Replies
    1. Cletus,
      Yeah, it is a helpful reminder that she is progressing. Day to day changes aren't that apparent and the fact that she's not quite 3 months old yet also causes some mental lapses in me. Gotta keep the perspective. The nurses are smiling and they see this every day. Smiling is good. Doctors? Who knows? They seem grumpy most of the time. Lack of fiber in their diet I think. Besides, we the grandparents, aren't the ones they need to talk to. Fortunately, the parents are doing a pretty good job keeping us in the loop.
      Thanks,

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  9. Glad to hear your Grandbaby is doing well!!!

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  10. I, also, add the Hip-Hip-Hooray to the long list of HHHs above. Very good.

    As to that tricky O2 supplement point? Knew about that back when I was a wee kid listening to the Navy divers my dad talked to at the army base where the AF was in control of recovering re-entry vehicles. And re-learned it during dive class. And got to scream at a doctor of respiratory magic stuffs because she took Mrs. Andrew off of 100% O2 saturation (on 100% for 2 weeks) and then wondered why Mrs. Andrew wasn't breathing (maybe because her body was so full of O2 that she didn't need to breathe?) Idiot doctors, I swear.

    Glad you and yours and yours extended are all doing well.

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    Replies
    1. Beans,
      Thanks. The only time we worried about/used 100% O2 was when we ran intercepts on Blackbirds. There's not a lot of oxygen molecules once you get above 50K. They get even fewer and farther between if your cabin pressurization isn't quite up to snuff. Hence, we'd switch to 100% and clamp our Oxygen mask on as hard as we could before we turned hot on the intercept.
      Oh, and it also gets really quiet when you get going a little too steep in your climb and you get above 70K. Those big honking engines need even more O2 than you do and they'll very quietly let you know that you screwed the intercept up and will return you towards the Earth posthaste.
      Don't ask me how I know!

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    2. It was 100% oxygen all the time for the deuce driver back in the 60s. We always thought that was a good excuse to go to the club and drink a lot of beer to clear the inner ear of that evil oxygen. Night flying always included the debrief with fried egg sandwiches and beer.

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    3. D4,
      I thought you guys had the sealed "Space" helmet because you were high and fast. On another note, I have been known to have used medicinal O2 on a TDY RTB or two. Focuses one it does.

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  11. Congrats on LJD's progress, and may she continue to keep growing bigger and stronger every day.

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  12. Church looks like St Mary's in Fred'burg...went to Sat evening mass there two weeks ago....

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    Replies
    1. Yes it is. Taken from the Choir loft. Been our Parish for 24 years now.

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  13. "Here endeth the lesson, and so say we all."

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  14. Glad she continues to improve! And enjoy the birthday party!

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  15. I may enjoy stream of consciousness blog posts, as I'm often wont to do, but am not at all a fan of stream of consciousness homilies. How hard is it to prepare a sermon? Maybe not all that hard, but some priests in my parishes don't seem to want to try. One was always 15 minutes, no shorter, no longer, but nobody knew what the heck he said during that time. The current guy is pretty good- concise and prepared, mostly reading from notes or a written homily.

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    1. Tuna,
      I think my problem with this guy is two fold and the sermon is just the victim. First, although he's probably about your age (you youngster), he's very new to the Priesthood, having been a real estate salesman in his prior life. A lot of that salesman stuff comes across in his sermons. But, probably my biggest problem is the outstanding Priest we had before him. Father Tony's sermons were funny and entertaining with the intended message/lesson wrapped nicely in the mix. The associate Pastor is new in the last couple of months. He's from India, his English however is pretty good and the slight accent only makes me focus a bit harder on what he's saying. I do breathe a sigh of relief when I see him coming down the aisle during the entrance. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa!

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  16. Having been through this twice with both out grandsons, I'd say she's doing very well, juvat! Great to hear her weight is going up, and her O2 numbers are good.

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    1. DrJim,
      Thanks, it is encouraging to hear that other parents have experienced this and had good results coming out of it. And talking it over with the "Big Guy" helps a bit also.

      Delete

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