! Happy Birthday! to my son Benjamin (His birthday was July 30th.)


I went on this website www.lockeduplovedones.net and signed the petition supporting Criminal Justice Reform Bill H.R. 1254. It included sending letters to the President and Congressmen.

My weekend was pretty good. Friday after work I drove to my friend Tanya's place near Stillwater, NY and set up my tent.  She has a large outdoor party every year. She calls it BattleBash. (I don't know why.) She has bands perform and food to eat and a campfire to sit around. After I got the tent up Tanya came home and had her future in-laws with her. I gave them a ride to Saratoga Springs where they were meeting her future husband at Horseshoe Inn Bar & Grill. They invited me to eat but I went home. I was grungy after a hot day in the warehouse.

Saturday morning I made BBQ Baked Beans and did laundry while preparing the beans. I used 8 cans of Van Camp's Pork & Beans and 1 & 1/2 cups of KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce. I showered and shaved and took the beans out of the oven and headed to BattleBash. It was nice getting there and having my tent set up, air mattress and bedding ready, chairs out and everything in place. I spent time with friends, helped the band carry their equipment, provided bubble makers for the kids, and ate. Tovia helped with the bubbles. My beans were a hit. There was nothing left to bring home except I kept a small dish of beans aside for my friend Eric. I sat in my tent site area some of the time and listened to the bands play. Most of the music was provided by High Peaks Band. I could see the stage from the side and the volume of the music was perfect from my angle. As the night wound down there was only music down low on a MP3 player system. The campfire was peaceful. I went to bed around 1:00 am and slept real good.

Sunday morning I woke up at 8:00 am. I could hear people at the campfire. I wondered if they were just up early or if they had not gone to bed yet. I went back to sleep and got up at about 9:00 am. Rays of the sun were getting through the trees and on my tent. I didn't have the rainfly on the tent because there was no chance of rain. The entire roof of my large tent is a screen. I awoke to see the sun light streaming through the pine trees towering above me. It was beautiful to see. I got up and fired up my little charcoal grill. I cooked bacon in a frying pan and used the bacon fat to make blueberry pancakes. I had eight pancakes with butter and pure New York Maple Syrup. They were yummy good! I had no takers on the pancakes but the pound of bacon was gone as soon as people heard about my leftovers. About 2 o'clock Laura got up. She lives in the house with her sister Tanya. She told me that the people at the campfire at 8:00 am included her and they had been up all night. She was doing "Hair of the Dog" to get her head on straight. She got her shoes on and we went for a hike in the woods. She showed me a berm of soil that was from a dug trench and part of the Revolutionary War. All the area around their home was a battle field during the Revolutionary War. The area is very historic. We were only gone for about a 1/2 hour. She went to back bed when we returned from the woods and I packed up the car. I left around 7:00 pm. I went to Saratoga Springs and met up with Eric. He ate my gift of beans and washed out the dish and gave it back. I went home, emptied out the car, washed the stuff that needed it and went to bed.

Note: I did not take any photos while at BattleBash. I wanted to live the moments without the distraction of taking pictures.

The picture below is of the stage. Someone else took it and I grabbed it off of Facebook.

Monday - Another day at work. Not too hard but quite hot. I left work as soon as I could just to get away from the heat.

My antibiotics are over and my steroids are down to 10 mg Prednisone a day. It is the lowest amount on the taper down schedule. I am beginning to feel my breathing get a little worse. Well, at least I made it through BattleBash. Last year I had to take my nebulizer and use it several times to be able to breath okay at the party. I was better this year.

I am getting ready for bed and tomorrow work day.

Continue w/ lots of stuff skipped.

Hello! It's me again! (Who else, huh?)

I did go to Burning Man in August/September 2012.

 I drove there in my little 2 seater Honda Insight. Galway, New York to Black Rock, Nevada was a very long trip. 2600 miles, one way. I had my bicycle attached to the back of my jam packed car taking its endurance to the limit. It was hard work for a small 3 cylinder engine and a rubber band transmission so I found I couldn't go too fast 'cause I worried about it. I gave my bike away at Burning Man before the trip home.

I made stops in Layton, Utah to visit my friend NormaJean. (both directions)

I enjoyed most everything about Burning Man. I didn't meet up with the friend who inspired me but I did meet up with another friend Chris Hampton. That's him on the left.

People told me that the wind could be brutal and that staying in a tent could be a problem. I brought extra long tent pegs and rope to reinforce the windy side. Although there were two days the wind blew maybe I was lucky it never reach the brutal stage. That's my tent and car in the center of the photo below.

I have more photos in photobucket here. A difficult thing about Burning Man is explaining it to someone. It is like ART OVERLOAD! I loved all the art. Art on people, on vehicles, on structures in camps and in the desert. Seriously, WOW! And yes, there were some artistic expressions that didn't strike me but it was still perfect that I was in a place that was accepting of everyone. I got more hugs at Burning Man than a whole year in my usual places. I saw smiles and happy people. Hot and thirsty?....  people were happy to share. Your own dress or costume expression of art just isn't cutting it for you.... some camps and places were there to help. Bicycle kinda' dull.... places around to help you pimp it up! Walking at night without a light?....  someone will give you a flashing light to keep you from getting hit by a bicycle rider. I couldn't really say what is the best thing about going to Burning Man. It's like voting for the most beautiful flower. The people, the art cars, the music everywhere (the music in and around the temple was low, peaceful and inspiring), the pavilions, art structures, the peace and love, the night sky, the fires, the decorated camps, and how great cold water was! (Check out an earlier post for the YouTube video that was a great part of my inspiration.)

On to something different. I have had an illness that started early October 2012 and has persisted up to now. Much of that time I was so short of breath I was losing my abilities to enjoy the things in life. I could go on and on and on, and maybe I will but not right now.

It is a little over one year later from my previous post.  (Of course you can see that.)  I guess I should not bother to make any apologies.  This is the me that I am.  If writing here were THAT important to me than I would make regular, substantial updates.


I should report on my plans to go snowshoeing.  I went to the park and did not find the place to rent the snowshoes.  I went to the warming hut and walked around the area taking in the beauty of the park woods.  There were a few people returning from cross country skiing and they looked uncomfortably frozen.  I then drove away from the area and parked my car at the Dance Museum and walked the packed down foot trails in the park nearby.  The time spent was pleasant and invigorating.  It was not what I started out to do but was still a successful mini adventure.


I have an artistic friend who is making plans to attend Burning Man 2012.  He posted his intention on Facebook and asked, "Who's coming with me!?"  My first thought was, "How cool would that be to go to Burning Man?!... but seriously, that's not likely to happen."  Then I considered that I would like to visit my daughter who recently moved to Las Vegas sometime soon so maybe I could do both!  AND attending Burning Man is on my bucket list so, "Why not!?  If not now than, when?!"  I applied for two tickets and got them.  It will require some good planning and discipline to pull this off.  There are so many things to think of and prepare that I'm wondering if I have bitten off more than I can chew. No!  I can do this! That's the spirit!

I know, I know. I didn't follow up. (I had an issue I was not ready to dive into.)

Friday evening, January 28, 2011

It is now Friday evening and I'm relaxing at home.

Everyday after work I take some time to sit in a comfortable chair, close my eyes, take slow deep breaths and clear my mind. But on Fridays this seems especially necessary. I don't know why. Perhaps it is psychosomatic. Anyway it works as I am now quite relaxed and unstressed.

Recently I purchased a used iMac from Ed, a photographer with The Saratogian. This is the best computer I've owned. My experience with computers has always been with PC's so there is some learning and adjusting to do. I ordered the book "iMac for Dummies" from Amazon.com and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

This weekend is going to be a good one. Tomorrow night I will be attending a birthday celebration for Ronnie. It is held at Desperate Annie's in beautiful Saratoga Springs. Sunday night I'm heading to Bogies in Albany to see the awesome band "Skeletons in the Piano" perform. I am considering heading to Saratoga Spa State Park on Sunday afternoon to do some snowshoeing. I wanted to do this last weekend but it was too cold. It will be a new adventure for me. I am trying to find a nice outdoor winter activity so I won't dread winter and to help me stay fit. Or should I say GET fit? Throughout the weekend I will hang with friends Eric, Ron, Evelyn and Loraine.

I'll be back with the exciting results of my weekend! (Someone's gotta' be excited so I'll take the job!)

Peace and love,

Bob