I Guess I Was Right . . .

BREXIT hoopla is subsiding rapidly because people are realizing that it is a British thing, not a world thing.  And Europe seems to be getting over it.  Of course, many in Great Britain are still unhappy but I see where the government is not going to hold an election for the "Do Over" people.  If anything, I would think the Do Overs would lose even worse the second go round should there be such a thing.

Any way, the market is on its way back up.  I think it will recover to about where it was before.  Of course, FMOC could screw it up and something else could do it too.  I see where the price of oil will probably go up a bit as the summer driving reserves are down.  That means demand is up and that is classic "supply and demand' economics.  And rising prices in oil seems to spur the market on higher.

But there was no real reason except for general luke warm economy ala Obama we are settled in for the duration of his administration.  A group of incompetents with arcane give it away philosophy will come to an end.  As Margaret Thatcher said, "Liberals do great until they run out of your money to spend."   The gimmie days are I think are over.  There is not enough money to sustain all the gimmies.  Already the national debt is way out of control.

Perhaps the Republicans will grid their loins, and stop the leaking purse from excess spending.  And maybe we will get some reasonable tax reform.  I like the present system, as I understand it. I do not like the high rates of taxation and go great lengths to avoid having to pay excess taxes.  It is not that I dislike the privilege of paying taxes (as that means one has a real income), it is just that Congress wastes so much of it on extravagant social programs.  We need to get back to reality.

Any way, I did not panic and sell my investments.  I already had considerable conversion to cash in my IRA.  I have been selectively buying defensive stocks.  And I was pleased, that during the brief draw down, most of those stocks weathered the drop.  Did I have losses, yes, were they as bad as the market drop, no.  So I was some what prepared for a drop, just not because of BREXIT.  So we are now beyond that, I hope.

BREXIT . . .

I do not understand all this hoopla over BREXIT.  I agree some big US banks may and I repeat may be impacted but nothing else.  Airfares to United Kingdom (UK) may be down for a while but that will adjust pretty quick.  So why depress the remainder of the stock market?

I think BREXIT is only a stimulus to impact the US's weak economy ala Obama's ineffective fixes.  BREXIT is more about sovereignty of the UK than financial fiasco.  The Brits are just taking back their country from European bureaucrats that were essentially unelected rulers.  They did not want further increases of Muslim/Arabic people freely entering their already overcrowded island nation.  There were several thousand camping in France with the specific intent to get into the UK.  Now that will not happen.  So the UK was essentially taking back their own destiny from non-islanders located in places like Brussels, Paris or Luxembourg.

The UK will escape the bickering over Greece and their economic excesses.  Similar problems exist in France, though less so, but more so in Portugal, Spain and Italy economies.  And then there are group of little island nation states like Malta and Cypress (Cypress has already like the Greeks gone though a default of sorts).  So there are a host of inequalities in and amongst the European Union EU).

United Kingdom will continue to be a good friend and ally in Europe to both us and the continent.  NATO is not a function of the EU though many confuse the two.  For instance, both the US and Canada are members of NATO and have nothing to do with the economy or the Euro coinage in Europe.  They are not synonymous, while currently related, they are not the same.  One is military alliance and the other economic merger.  UK remains a charter member of NATO and is a strong military contributor to the military strength of NATO while neither Malta or Cypress have little or nothing to do with NATO.

I know for a fact that Luxemburg's contribution to NATO is one battalion of troops, a mere pittance compare to the US and the UK.  And since the Iron Wall has fallen there are new members of NATO such as Poland and Hungary as well as the Baltic States.  As I recall Austria is not a member of NATO and neither are the Swiss but they will align with NATO if threatened.

So do not confuse military strength with the potential collapse of the EU.  The EU is concerned with money not defense.  So even if the EU were to totally collapse, it would not mean a demise of NATO.

Even though the UK was a member of the EU they steadfastly refused to use the Euro and remained with the pound Sterling as their currency.  You would get your bill at a hotel in both denominations but had to pay in pounds.  Each of those EU nation states had their own tax system, while many were had similar tax systems they were not all the same nor have the same rates.  So a lot of the separation will not effect coinage, their no UK Euros floating around like Malta or Greece or Portugal.  The Euro is common to all those nation states with the sole exception being the UK.

I applaud the UK's determination to withdraw from the EU.  They have decided that they are British, not common Europeans.  That was vote for liberty.

The Heat is On . . .

Our rainy season is over.  At least for the foreseeable future.  The ambient temperature has shot up to the mid to high 90s with a lot of humidity.  We are drying out, the lakes as yet are full but the run off has tapered considerably.  Soon the lakes will be falling again as per the local norm.  We may yet get a  thunder shower but not very likely.

The heat index is driven by the humidity and is pushing over 100, feels like more than a 105 or more.  The local water parks are full to capacity as the kids (and parents) are seeking a place to cool off.  Cities and villages are trending toward water slide parks rather than swimming pools.  The danger is not so much of drowning but I guess broken bones and necks are a bit higher.  And the attendees get a thrill going down steep slides, twisting and turning into a relatively shallow pool.

We had a father's day cook out at the flying field yesterday.  Not to many showed up, a few did to enjoy burgers and watermelon.  Then it began to get really hot, so we all kind of packed up and headed home.  Today we are generally staying home and enjoying the real father's day.

I did some model covering.  I have just built back my Stik model, it was a pile of sticks from an errant take off.  I am pretty sure it was bent control rods that caused it all.  I will be checking it out anyway.  I doubled the control rods to prevent bending, not pretty but functional.  I will check out the receiver to make sure it is not going haywire too.  The bird will be a bit heavier with all the additional glue and patches.  Beefed up some of the structure, had to even patch the fuel tank with shoe glue or a similar sealant.  It does not deal with a great deal of pressure so a good patch will work.  I tried to stay away from fiber glass as that is heavy stuff, used around the landing gear mount.  I replace the top deck with 1/8th inch balsa instead on the thinner stuff in the original so I know it is stronger than before.  Getting the covering back on as I write.

I will have to install the landing gear and engine.  The throttle linkage is all set up, just got to hook it up so to speak and she will be ready to go.

It is hot in the garage where I do the work.  So I have to do it early in the AM and then kind of back off and work in spurts.  It is just to hot.

Discover Card . . .

Wow, out of the blue I got a message from DiscoverCard saying contact them, they think they have detected unusual activity on our credit card.  Usually, when I see such message they are nothing more than phishing.  But the message did display the actual last four digits of the credit card, so I called them as requested.

In a short but nice conversation with DiscoverCard person, we determined yes there was fraudulent activity going on.  There was a charge at a 7-11 and at a Tom Thumb Grocery store, neither of which we are near or use.  Asking further where this occurred and she said in Arlington, TX.  Of course, Arlington is a good forty miles from us and I have not done any shopping in Arlington.

I have no idea how they got the numbers of the card, could have been random in nature.  Or someone has been copying the numbers off other charges in the local region.  We will never know but we have Discover watching our backs for us.  We do use Discover Card routinely, and all other cards sparingly.  In fact I have just one other card while Judie has that and one of her own.  They were not involved.

Hats off to DiscoverCard and their fraud detection capability.  They had already stopped one charge and the other had gone through, but she said, it would now be kicked back and we had no liability.  Those are my kind of people.

Do I recommend them, you bet I do.  Second time they have come through for us like that.  The other time it was some game software operation, and we got that stopped.  That was years ago.

Our Animals . . .

No, not dogs or cats, we are talking about deer and squirrels.  I cut some branches off the Pyrocantha that surrounds the water well out back.  I had previously cut some Pyrocantha on the South side of the house and piled the branches up in the vacant lot right next to us.  So I picked up some of the branches from around the well area and started across the yard to put the new cut stuff on the old pile of branches.

I saw three squirrels under the bird feeder chowing down on spilled seed.  The Blue Jays and some of the other birds and an errant squirrel usually jump into the feeder and spill it over on to the ground.  The ground is bare there as the feeder is hanging from a branch of the Hackberry tree.  It is easier for them to feed on the open ground there than under the other bird feeders that have grass beneath them.

So I figured as I walked by with the branches the squirrels would leave quickly.  But not so, two these squirrels have become use to us feeding them via the bird feeder.  Do not get me wrong we are not for feeding the tree rats, that's what I call squirrels.  These two Fox squirrels just kept on foraging for seed ignoring me.  I was not moving fast nor was I actually coming at them, but I got with in 10 feet of both of them and they just ignored me and kept on eating.

I had just finished my second trip from the well with a hand full of Pyrocantha limbs and was getting ready to return for the final clean up.  I looked at the squirrels, they kept on eating and then looked over at the old Post Oak tree about half way between me, the squirrels and the well and there stood a young yearling doe.  She looked at me like, "Are you putting out food for me?'  I stopped in my tracks, turned and went around the front of the house and came inside.

I figured I would let them do what they do in peace.  I could get the remaining limbs later in the day.  No need to startle them or scare them off.  After all we are in their territory, not ours, we are just interlopers that can occasionally be counted on for some food scraps to eat on.

The deer are particularly fond of melon rinds, water melon is most common.  Though sometimes we have cantaloupe melon rinds.  Even old grapes, and greens of any kind except of course onions and other herbs.  They do not eat Rosemary, hence we have a lot of that planted and they do not eat chives.  They will on a rare occasion eat parsley, though it is not preferred. Naturally that is what we have growing around the yard.  They will also eat leaves of Crepe Myrtles and low hanging Oak limbs.  We have to have wire cages around Day Lilies, Daises or anything else we like except Vincas which they do not seem to eat.  They ate Tulips right down to the ground, but left the Garlic alone growing right behind the Tulips.  That kinda gives you an idea of what our yard is composed of, plants that deer to not eat.  No style, all driven by the animals.

They have gone beyond the animals being pests, they are sort of our cohabitants in the area.  Last week we had fawn spend the day in the middle of the yard.  Its mother left her there and came back later and got her.  The yard maintenance people spread fertilizer all around her and she just stayed where her mother put her.  The new born fawns are all over the neighborhood.

So I left them in peace and will go out later and finish my job.

Learning About Type II Diabetes . . .

Diabetes Mellitus is an auto immune disease and it is incurable.  The first, auto-immune means it will attack you in many different ways.  No two Diabetic individuals have the same kinds of reactions for the disease effects us all differently.  The second, incurable, means there is not cure!  You can get to remission but even then, Diabetes may still be doing damage to you.  And all of it is attributable to the effects of Agent Orange, or more specifically, Dioxin.

So learning about your disease is a constant challenge.  For instance I take Metformin, an old but reliable treatment for Type II Diabetes, and I take Januvia, a more modern treatment that works best against peak blood sugar levels.  It is a new drug thus more expensive and the Metformin is a generic drug, considerably less expensive.  Both work as designed so to speak for me.

And I have a glucose meter, I live by the meter!  I test when I get up in the morning, again at lunch time and before dinner at night.  Sometimes I test before I go to bed.  In the past I have tested at different times but I have learned a Diabetic does a test before eating.  When you eat your blood sugar (glucose) levels go up with digestion.  So it is called "determining your fasting" blood sugar levels.  And my doctor gives me a blood test roughly every six months called an "a1c" test.  This test can look back at least three months or more and determine your blood sugar levels in a different number.  One strives for an a1c of 6.2, if higher like at 7.0 the doctor will chastise you.  Above that level, and it does happen when a Diabetic individual is not managing his disease, then you are doing damage to you body.

Fortunately for me, after my diagnosis with high levels of blood sugar, I gradually brought down my levels to the 6.4 to 6.5 levels.  I tested a lot in those days and kept a log watching it come down. 

I went through a couple of VA examinations and they found I had cataracts that they attributed to Diabetes, they also found I had Peripheral Neuropathy (PN), that is damage to nerves in my hands and feet.  In other words, I was losing my sense to touch in my hands and feet.  PN causes different issues with people, some have pain, itching, etc. while others like me lose their sense of touch.  My heart disease, hardening of the arteries, is also attributable to Agent Orange.

I have had the cataracts removed and have Crystalens installed.  I wore glasses since I was 13 years old.  I do not wear glasses anymore.  I occasionally use cheaters to read but do not need glasses for any distance vision.  So the cataracts are taken care of but I must be examined yearly for Diabetic damage to my retina's, far so good no damage.

Well I thought I had good control of the disease except I was plagued by a rise in blood sugar during the night that resulted in a high test number in the AM when I got up.  That is generally known as the "Somogyi effect," discovered by a Hungarian doctor named Somogyi.  At night when you natural blood sugar declines, the liver detects the drop and acts to convert fats into sugar (or glucose).  So I figured it was just normal and I had to live with it.  In the AM when I got up the blood sugar would be 140 to 147 all the time.  Every once in a while, like maybe one day out of the month it would be around 125 to 130.

About year ago, I decided I needed to lose weight.  And to lose weight, well one had to reduce caloric intake.  So I quit eating lunch.  I figured in ancient times, people did not have the luxury of three meals per day.  It was a habit not unlike from smoking cigarettes.  I had quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey in 1980, thus I could quit eating lunch.  I lost almost 40 pounds and my weight is around 190 pounds now days.  I took two inches of my waist and I brought down my AM blood sugar to about 130 to 133 in the AM.  That was great.

About two months ago, I had eaten a large meal at supper and missed taking my Metformin, so I took a double dose that night.  Next day my blood sugar in the AM was 125!  Whoa, I thought, there is no reason I have to space out my Metformin in four equal amounts,  I can take one in the AM when I get up, one during the day or before dinner and two tablets at night when I go to bed.  Well, guess what my blood sugar in the AM runs between 120 and 125 in the AM.  My fasting blood sugar average is down now below 125, it is around 116 or less now days.

So testing is most important, and when and how much drug you take is also important.  I am really interested in what my a1c is going to be?  I would love to see it be at 6 or even some magic number like 5.9, reality tells me it will be more like 6.2, but we will see.

Have I conquered Diabetes Mellitus, I know I have not done so.  But I now have it under control and it will stay that way.  Oh, yes, I still do not eat lunch, or if I should do so, do not eat supper, or a large night time meal.  Gotta keep the weight off and gotta keep the blood sugar under control.

Heading to False River . . .

We are mentally getting ready to go to False River and the camp for Memorial Day weekend.  It is our usual trek now days where so James has a crawfish boil and we invite family and friends over.  I don't think we will have to many attendees, certainly Mark and Paul will show up.  Aletha probably will cruise by on her power raft.

Herrise will show but not eat the crawfish.  Walter has been invited but he rarely responds so we do not know if he will show up.  He did last year and seemed to enjoy the crawfish.  Amanda Louise and her husband will show up from Nashville.  I am sure they are doing their annual trek to visit family in the region and would not miss an opportunity to see us and dine deluxe to boot.

The camp is usually very green this time of year.  The Cypress trees will have leafed out for the summer.  And I am sure the Wood duck that nests with us will be in place in her nest box.  She is very quite and does not disturb us and we try not to disturb her and her brood either.  We sometimes have a Mallard nest out front, sometimes not.  In spite of their nature to migrate and few always stay around when they can find food.  Since the camp is often deserted, not used very much, it is an ideal spot for the ducks.  And sometimes they get great food too.

New Roads will be warm, moving into the hot humid summer time.  The lake will be quite active, not quite as active as the 4th of July but plenty boats will be running back and forth.  The camp has an aluminum bateau boat but no engine (ergo we do not need a license either).  We do not use the boat very much at all, stays chained up most of the time.

We make a few trips into New Roads looking for any changes.  The town is a bit more vibrant than it used to be and that maybe due to the Audubon Bridge in operation.  The town has sort of been discovered by those folks that live to the East of us in the Florida Parishes.  And the Mayor has been very proactive and getting events to draw folks in.  Real estate has become very pricey and that is the attraction of the lake.  And it has a few good eating places here and there in the region.

We drive by and look at our old houses where we grew up.  Some of the houses are gone, some are modified a lot.  We may see an old friend or two.  And we may take a spin out and check the plantation. 

We head back Sunday, drive is about 400 miles one way.  We may stop in Natchitoches or Shreveport, often at Longview, TX for bar-b-que lunch (and gas somewhere along the way).  We usually make it back home about 4 PM.  Got to stop and Buc-ees and peruse the many gas pumps and chintzy merchandise.