Real life thread

[Air Force Brat]

So Then I don't need this do it your self Exorcism kit I just bought on Ebay??
hmmm... I'll just keep it around... one never knows.

Heh, Heh, well we have the same Master, and the Lord, our Lord, He is one Lord! Besides that, we each had a Daddy that loved God and his Country, and his Sons, why I go as the Air Force Brat, Jeff could as likely be the Navy Brat. I was around airplanes and the military from day one, the Dash 1 for the C-130 was my primer, I specifically remember how to pull the fire handle for the first shot, and if it didn't go out, to twist it for the second shot, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic is my anthem, to hear and see the flag snapping in the wind makes me wanna cry, I love my Savior, my family, my fellow man, and my country, in that order, I am an American, and my name is the Air Force Brat!

 

[vesicles]

My Dad came to Texas from Alabama (where his family moved to after 1st coming to South Carolina in the late 1600s and then moving to Georgia when it became a colony in the 1730s), after he got home from World War II (mainly because he had met my Mom while he was studying at Rice University before the war).

Hey, your dad is an owl! Rice University is also my alma mater.

 

[SampanViking]

Well I am having a very quiet day in the office today, which is probably no bad thing.
The last couple of weeks have been very busy with a lot of work arriving early, that I would not expect to see until the end of January! Its been very surprising.

I have also met a huge number of Chinese Students studying at either University of Bristol or University of West England. It is quite noticeable how many more Chinese are studying in the City and of course that number is only going to grow.

I also notice that all these kids are studying serious subjects. Its all Sciences, Engineering or Business Administration (and their English is pretty good too). I met a bunch of six last week; boys and girls, and all of them studying Mechanical Engineering.

Whenever I meet these kids I always ask them where they are from. Initially they just say China, but once you let them know that you have some knowledge of the country, they will give you more detail. Interestingly, I am finding that the kids are coming from virtually all Provinces, Coastal and Interior and that they all seem to get along fine together, no matter where they come from. Its very encouraging.

The weather here has been milder than average, but seems to be getting colder. Its also been really foggy for most of the day and will probably turn foggy again as it gets fully dark.

On Monday I had a rare opportunity to enjoy the Sunset over Clifton Downs (a large Hill top Park in the Middle of Bristol) It really was a beauty. I took a few pictures and will try to remember to upload a couple of them here.

 

[Equation]

Hey, your dad is an owl! Rice University is also my alma mater.

Rice is a damn good school, especially their Undergrad program. It's the Harvard of the South as they say. It's a beautiful campus as well.

 

[vesicles]

Rice is a damn good school, especially their Undergrad program. It's the Harvard of the South as they say. It's a beautiful campus as well.

Yes, it is! its grad school is not too bad either. Especially the Bioengineering dept, top 10 in the nation. Chemistry is not bad either. It used to have 3 Nobel Laureates (Smalley passed away a few years ago). And it is the birth place of nanotechnology.

 

[Jeff Head]

Hey, your dad is an owl! Rice University is also my alma mater.

Yes, My Dad started his college at Auburn in 1942 as a Mechanical Engineer student. He enlisted in a US Navy officer program while there and they moved him to Rice at the time. After a year there, in early 1944, he went to the Pacifc as an Ensign.

When he returned to the States after the war and his service in '47, he went back to Rice. He played fottball there (he had done so as well at Aurburn) and also played the Trombone in the band. He completed his BS and MS in mechanical Engineering at Rice. He then went to work for LTV (Ling-Tempco-Vought) in Grand Prairie, TX where he ultimately became their lead Dynamics Engineer for numerous major projects (F-8 Crusader, A-7 Corsair II, nuimerous missile projects etc.). All four of his sons, ended up working for anywhere from 1-3 years at Vought in entry level engineering positions. It was kind of a right of passage. Early on, he continued on his Phd. at SMU.

He worked at Vought his entire career and retired after 44 years...and they hired him back as a consultant for anohter five. he died in 2004. I miss him every day. He was a great man, extrremely intelligent, but a great father and grandfather...and my friend. A man of strong, but unobtrusive faith and a very patriotic America. I have always said that if I coul be half the man he was, and then raise my own sons to be twice the person I am, then I will have been completely successful in raising my sons.

This year, after many years, Rice finally has a decent football team again. Out of respect and memory to my Dad, I always root for the Owls unless they are playing BYU or Boise State...which I do not believe they ever have done. Also, I always root for Auburn for the same reason. This year they may again be the National Champions.

When we are down in Houston, particularly visiting at MD Anderson for my cnacer condition, my wife and I always drive around on the Rice Campus. it's not too far away. Beautiful place, and one of the best Engineering Schools in the country,

 

[vesicles]

When we are down in Houston, particularly visiting at MD Anderson for my cnacer condition, my wife and I always drive around on the Rice Campus. it's not too far away. Beautiful place, and one of the best Engineering Schools in the country,

I am sorry about your cancer condition. It sounds like it is under control.

My lab is literally across the street from MD Anderson. I can see the Baylor college of medicine and MD Anderson Neurology center from my office. Rice is beautiful indeed. All the trees lining the streets... And Valhala (a grad student-run bar on the basement of the Biochemistry building, 50 cent beers...). I miss it a lot.

 

[Jeff Head]

I am sorry about your cancer condition. It sounds like it is under control.

My lab is literally across the street from MD Anderson. I can see the Baylor college of medicine and MD Anderson Neurology center from my office. Rice is beautiful indeed. All the trees lining the streets... And Valhala (a grad student-run bar on the basement of the Biochemistry building, 50 cent beers...). I miss it a lot.

I spend a week or so at MD Anderson each year. My cancer is very rare...like one in three million. Sacral Chordoma.

Anyhow in 2010, from April-October, I was there for six months altogether. 3 very major surgeries. In the second I went through 41 units of blood. They removed my entire sacrum (it was full of cancer), then used my fibula from my right leg as a strut and a couple of pounds of titanium and bone fusion to allow me to walk again. They took half of my abs (one side) and used that as a patch over the huge wound in the back where they took the sacrum out, and then took the blood supply to feed the bone strut from my other leg and grafted into that bone. Crazy stuff....but it all worked. Then 3 weeks in ICU followed by over two months in bed in the hosptial. That was followed by another 3 moinths of very intensive rehab. With the good Lord's help, a lot of prayer, and a lot of love from family, friends, and people I had never even met, the Dr.s worked miracles.

I go back each year now for my major checkup. They have a Spine and Brain Tumor Seminar each fall that I come to and get to see all the folks I have gotten to know with my condition, and all of the Dr.s, nurses, rehab people, etc. who factored so heavily into my treatment and recovery.

So far, yes, no new cancer. For me now, each day is a wonderful gift.

 

[vesicles]

I spend a week or so at MD Anderson each year. My cancer is very rare...like one in three million. Sacral Chordoma.

Anyhow in 2010, from April-October, I was there for six months altogether. 3 very major surgeries. In the second I went through 41 units of blood. They removed my entire sacrum (it was full of cancer), then used my fibula from my right leg as a strut and a couple of pounds of titanium and bone fusion to allow me to walk again. They took half of my abs (one side) and used that as a patch over the huge wound in the back where they took the sacrum out, and then took the blood supply to feed the bone strut from my other leg and grafted into that bone. Crazy stuff....but it all worked. Then 3 weeks in ICU followed by over two months in bed in the hosptial. That was followed by another 3 moinths of very intensive rehab. With the good Lord's help, a lot of prayer, and a lot of love from family, friends, and people I had never even met, the Dr.s worked miracles.

I go back each year now for my major checkup. They have a Spine and Brain Tumor Seminar each fall that I come to and get to see all the folks I have gotten to know with my condition, and all of the Dr.s, nurses, rehab people, etc. who factored so heavily into my treatment and recovery.

So far, yes, no new cancer. For me now, each day is a wonderful gift.

Good Lord! That was some major major work done! I am glad everything is OK with you now!

 

[Jeff Head]

Good Lord! That was some major major work done! I am glad everything is OK with you now!

Thanks, my friend. God's richest blessings to you and yours.

I am living now what my wife and I call, "Our new reality."

I am disabled...but it could have been much worse. I cannont get out and hike the back country, climb mountains, climb comms towers, take helo rides into the back country, do heavy exertion, bending, stooping, bacially nothing that stresses the lower back.

But, I can walk, drive, and am still working. I build my models, do a lot of research, teach Sunday School to kids at church, take my grandkids to movies...take drives into the mountains, and have been accomodated at work so I can continue working in my areas of expertise without any of the heavy exertion or maintenance work that would otherwise stress my lower back.

I had the opportunity to get full disablity...but refused. I knew I could work, and wanted to. If I can earn my way...I am going to do it. I would rather help my kids, grandkids, and society if I can, then be a burden on them all.

Anyhow...it's been quite the journey, and I have actually been very blessed by it and learned things about myself and living that I probably could not have learned any other way. So, though it has been hard, I can say like Job of old (in the Bible who went through horrible hardships) ..."The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed by the name of the Lord."

...in addition to all of that, I have a lot more time to spend on this GREAT forum!