Chele’s smile was brighter than a welder’s arc this week. It was a chemo week, which means 3 straight days of chemotherapy. This was the last round of 6, so no scheduled cisplatin infusions in the near future. Day one is 6 hours long. Normal chemo weeks Chele is worn out and sleepy. Walking can be a challenge and she stays dehydrated and exhausted. This week she was walking around saying she needed the exercise. She smiled more than she frowned and just seemed happier. Day 2 lasted about 2 ½ hours because she also had IT chemo. Day 3 was the shortest day at around 90 minutes. Day 3 was the worst. The harsh reality is the day after IT she will always have a bad day. Once a week she will be dehydrated, not want to eat and stay nauseated. She had the strongest anti-nausea drugs this week and the results were the same. Day 4, there were no appointments, just recovery. She finally was eating normal by dinner. We spent a quiet relaxing weekend at home, no nausea or illness to report. Lots of sleeping but no sickness. Chele is very weak again. Rest and recovery.
Random Fact of the Week What is an arc? An electrical potential difference must exist between two points for an arc to form: There is a surfeit of electrons (the negatively charged elementary particles within the atomic shell) at one end, and hence a negative charge. At the other end, the lack of electrons results in a positive electrical charge. This difference generates a voltage. A phenomenon known as a dielectric breakdown occurs under certain conditions. This happens when physical forces attempt to balance out the difference between the charges. A channel is created in which the heat and high voltage ionize the gas between the poles to form an electrically conductive plasma. Only current can flow through this plasma channel. Depending on the type of power source, the breakdown can occur as a spark or a flash and is extinguished just as rapidly as soon as the difference in charge is balanced out. Alternatively, it can continue to burn as an arc.
Did you know? Michelle changed her hairstyle when she changed men. After 15 years of marriage, she finally cut her long hair short, I was lucky she didn’t cut me short too! I have added a photo of her with short hair.
Throwback Love Story Life before our ranch, we owned 1.5 acres in a suburb of Austin. It was dense with trees which meant the temperature was always 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the city. It also meant plenty of wildlife. Chele had chickens of course and we needed good fences to keep the bigger critters from a free lunch. I don’t like to hire much out, so I decided putting a fence around the perimeter would be relatively simple. I bought some hog panels and tack welded those to existing posts around the property. I am far from a professional welder, but tack welding isn’t an art. It is a touch of the arc just enough to tack metal to metal. I needed to do this 2 times per pole and there were about 50 poles. I had all my safety gear on, gloves, pants, welder’s jacket, the works. Helmet in hand I started the work. After about the 3rd pole, lifting the helmet got to be a real nuisance. I decided I would get my weld prepped, then just when I was ready for the arc, I could close my eyes real tight and tack it. This worked perfectly. No helmet needed; the job went so much faster. I was safe and all was well. I finished the fence and helped Chele with her projects for the day. We enjoyed a quiet evening at home, we watched Survivor on TV and I thought “I could do that. I need to apply, lol” We headed off to bed around 10pm. I woke up at 3am with something in my eye. It felt like metal. I went into the bathroom and tried to wash it out. I frantically woke Michelle up asking for her help. She too could not see or get the metal out of my eyes.
We are seen almost immediately at the ER. The ER doc asked for my story, and I tell him I was working with some metal putting up fence earlier in the day and I thought I had grinded some metal into my eyes. He put a numbing agent into my eyes that gave instant relief. An examination and an orbit x-ray were done, but nothing was found. The pain started to return about 15 minutes after they gave me the eye drops. The doc came back in and gave me more pain medicine and asked me to step through exactly what I was doing. This is when I mentioned I was welding. He stopped me immediately and said, “You have welders’ eye” He gave me some medicine and sent me on my way. Michelle did not let that go. She first said “Really? No helmet? What were you thinking” Of course she was concerned and happy this was not permanent, now that it was over though, I got the 3rd degree. Every time I pick up a welder’s helmet, I think of that lecture I got from her that day “and getting me up at 3am because you were not smart” (She doesn’t like using the word stupid) “No helmet. I can’t believe that”. "What made you think that you couldn't burn your eyeball through your eyelids Brian?" Then it was a soft kiss and an "I love you"
Deep Thoughts Moods and emotions are complex. It's thought that three factors combine to create them in the brain: biology (for example, hormones and brain chemicals), psychology (such as personality and learned responses), and environment (like illness and emotional stress). Common, everyday causes of a negative mood are: Stress, Poor sleep, Tiredness and Overwork. I've realized that my sleep directly affects my activities during the day. If I get a good night's sleep, I have more energy and take more action. With less sleep I complain more and push blame on other things.
Guiding Light "The Great British Bake Off" (Netflix), “Survivor” (Paramount +), “Amazing Race” (Paramount +), “Big Brother” (Paramount +)
Primetime Spark “The Fall of the House of Usher” (Netflix) (★★★★) Siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built a pharmaceutical company into an empire of wealth, privilege and power; however, secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying.
“Bad Sisters” (Apple TV), “The Morning Show” (Apple TV) Season 3, Football, Hockey
“Welders Whey”
The Menu
Starters
THC Gummies
Mandarin Oranges
The Arc
Crème of Chicken, unsalty ass Chicken (★) Under seasoned this time
Beef Sausage (★) not my favorite -chele
Meatloaf (★★★★)
Fried Cod (★★★)
Classic Chicken Sandwich
Sweet and Sour Chicken (★★★)
Brazing
Green Beans
Sweet Corn
Carrots
Fluids
Enterade
Aldi Lemonade
Love you,
Brian
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