Tuesday, November 25, 2014

One Foot In the Grave

I had to journey over to The Big(ger) CityTM for a follow-up appointment with an ear, nose, and throat specialist earlier today; last month the specialist diagnosed me with a deviated septum caused by being on full time oxygen.  There was good news and bad news today; the good news is the ointment he prescribed for me resulted in "definite improvement," but... Well, here's kinda-sorta what he said (we're paraphrasing): "If you were in your 20s we could fix this surgically, but at your age..."  There was more to it than that, of course, but I had to chuckle at the age remark.

I think I'll go online and look for funerary urns.

15 comments:

  1. I saw a kidney specialist last week, and I've lost 50% of my left kidney function. He said that while this isn't normal, it's not as bad as it sounds. He says, "at my age" ha, even if I lost the whole kidney I could still live longer than my dad and brothers.

    The bad news is, he wants to remove it, because it is causing problems. So next spring we have an appointment with the knife. I'm going to see if I can keep it in a jar on the mantle, so they can cremate it with me before I'm off to purgatory...

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    1. I'm sorry to hear about your kidney, Anon. FWIW, my first ex-wife had a kidney removed when she was 17 and she's 71 now. I like the way ya think about putting it in a jar. :-)

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    2. Ya could re-word that Irish folk song to "...there's a kidney in the jar."

      I couldn't believe how many different urns and boxes are available online.

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  2. "At your age!" Yeah, I get that a lot. Sure makes you feel like a left over dinosaur, buy hey, we are still kick'in, just not very high!
    When I was in the biz, I had one old boy raising Hell about our high cremation costs and wanted to know how he could come out cheaper. I suggested a way that wasn't on our price list which was, one hundred pounds of charcoal and a can of lighter fluid! Not very ethical I know, but he got the point. I guess his wife ended up with a Folger's coffee can for an urn! I used to run into some really "interesting" people.

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    1. I'll bet you DID see a lot of "interesting" people in your bid'niz, Ed. I like the charcoal idea!

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  3. Saaay Buck, that's a right purty lookin' urn....where'd ya scare it up? I'd like one exactly like that, thankee..

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    1. I found it in a generic Google search for "funerary urns." It's a very pretty piece, innit?

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  4. PS: I'm a sucker for modernest oriental stuff...of all kinds..

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  5. Buck and the next Mrs. Pennington?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkMt2QAdA8U

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    1. Heh. That's pretty good. That said, one problem: there won't EVER be a "next Mrs. Pennington." We're done -- I refuse to be a three-time loser. ;-)

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  6. YIKES! I circled back around here to mention I was just watching a vid of an interview of Gene McDaniels today (1000 pounds of Clay) shot in 2011 wherein he looked 20 years younger, articulate and in perfect health/shape. He died the following year@ age 76 "peacefully at home" with cause of death undisclosed--probably naturally. Little do ANY of us know when the old machinery will give out...at our age gives new meaning to that
    childhood prayer "If I die before I wake.." doesn't it? shudder...

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    1. Indeed it does, Virgil... indeed it does.

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    2. Dad passed away at 61. His dad passed away at work at 62. That's one of the main reasons that I retired at 60 and haven't regretted it for one second..............

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    3. I went early, too, tam. No regrets here, either.

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