July 30. 2006  Trips to the Dentist
 
I went to my dentist this past week. I went in for a cleaning performed by a dental hygenist and my status was then reviewed by the dentist. My "status" typically consists of needing a filling or two, a root canal, an extraction, a bridge or that surgery where the cut back your gums. I've had numerous variations of all these, so it's usually with some trepadation that I enter the dental clinic. That's why this last visit was so special...I actually got a good report with no further work necessary!!!
 
I was elated. I'm a sissy cry-baby when it comes to dental work. I've been very fortunate that my last two dentists have been really good guys, practicing painless dentistry, at least as painless as somebody drilling holes in your head can be. My present dentist is also a neighbor and flies the Piper floatplane shown in the sidebar. My permanent record shows that I am slow to react to Novocain. Finding that little piece of information out the first time was not a pretty sight.
 
I've been suspicious of some dentist's prognosis, particularly when the number of fillings began to exceed the number of fillable teeth. I've always kinda attributed my teeth problems with the English part of my heritage. Still, my fear of going to the dentist has a long history.
 
My mom was a dental assistant down at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX during WWII when she met my dad while he was stationed there. After they married my mom came up to dad's hometown in Cary, IL while he was shipped to India. In Cary she began working for a local dentist. This old doc was a throwback to the lawless frontier days when dentists did barbering and occasionally brain surgery (perhaps the result of over-enthusiastic drilling on top teeth). His equipment was antique consisting of a drilling apparatus driven by a slow electric motor and coupled to the drill bit (dull, I seem to recall) by a series of leather belts wrapped with string running over a series of pulleys. The strings were broken and worn and the loose ends would hit you in the face as the belts were going around. The doc didn't believe in Novocain. He did believe in bearing down on his worn bits until the hole was drilled, usually resulting in wisps of smoke and the stench of ground tooth matter filled your nostrils. He must've been deaf since he was totally immune to my screams. Of course I was frequently hauled, kicking and screaming to that masochist for all my youthful checkups since we got a family discount.
 
I next had a dentist, also in Cary, who was a huge man. He had fingers the size of sausages...not the skinny little sausages but those huge bratwursts that beg you to use two buns. He was the kind of dentist who believed in "hands-on", or rather, in his case "fingers-in". two fingers stretched my mouth to the limit and left no room for instruments or drills. His work was so poor that many later dentists commented about that fact when they had to replace every single filling he put in. He's also the guy who sent me to the periodondists for several thousands of dollars of root canal and surgery. One root canal lasted 3 hours and left my jaw locked open for many hours afterward.
 
Next I had a dentist who was also an old family friend. He was the first to let the Novocain work for awhile before he went to work. He became my favorite, but then he retired. So, when I moved to Wasau Wisconsin I was dentistless.
 
One major toothache later had me calling frantically for a dentist who would take me...most were not taking new clients. I finally got a reference for a fella that was just starting his practice. His receptionist made me an immediate appointment and gave me the office address. I had a heck of a time finding the place until I realized it was in an alley...hmmmm. I walked into the waiting room which was just like my great-grandmother's living room since the furniture was of the same era. It even smelled the same. After a short time I was escorted into an equally old room but with dental equipment that was modern but used. I noticed that there were tons of crayon drawings of Mr. Happy Tooth taped to the walls. The dentist came in and he was young and he quickly explained that he was starting his practice with children since many other dentists didn't like the squirming, screaming, thrashing of kids, and I knew I was in the right place. I asked him if his young patients had colored the pics of Mr. Happy Tooth since a lot of the pictures were kinda scribbly and went outside the lines. The doc looked at me kinda strangely and then said that he had colored those pictures. I'm fairly certain that the blood drained out of my face, but I was in so much pain I let him get to work. Amazingly, all went well and I found myself on several other occasions in the waiting room next to the mothers of 6 and 7 year-olds.
 
So when I move or when I'm traveling I'll have to put myself in the hands of a new dentist or dentists who may be extraordinary or may be Machiavellian. I figure just about everything that can be filled has, everything that's been pulled is not an issue, the bridges are synthetic and I stopped eating refined sugar 3 years ago. Of course, I have these recurring nightmares of being stranded somewhere in the Nevada desert with a dentist who has this drill that runs on pulleys with strings....
 
On other fronts...I found a website that has some great animations regarding George Dubyah and staff. Be sure to visit www.toostupidtobepresident.com
 
Until later.....DKHT

July 22, 2006  Weird Week
 
I went to the local newspaper office (the Lakeland Times) last week and took out an ad for the big boat. The big boat is a 1990 Misty Harbor with an Evinrude 88HP 2-cycle 4-cylinder outboard which has served our family since we bought it new all those years ago. We've always kept in in top-notch condition and I even built a special garage for it to store it in the off-season.
 
I checked with the original dealer to find out what the Blue Book value was and put that in the ad. Now, I'm not the kinda guy that likes to barter. I offer what I think is a fair price and hope I'll find a buyer who researches and respects the offer.
 
My mom and dad and I bought the boat new from a local dealer. We spent many hours cruising the lake. Dad usually drove and often had the stereo system playing his favorite polkas. After dad passed on I used the boat to take mom and family on cruises and to take friends and their families out for some tubing and cruising. Lots of good memories.
 
I was extremely fortunate that the second fella that showed up had both knowledge and respect for the unique design and quality of the Misty Harbor construction. Both he and his wife appreciated the fact that we'd kept the boat in such great condition. So the boat has a new home with someone that will take good care of it, And, although I had to say goodbye to a reliable craft that had been such great part of my family for so many years, I realized that this was the first step in reducing the number of my worldly goods in preparation to move on...to Texas and beyond!
 

 
On other fronts:
 
I have been on the Atkins diet for nearly 3 years. When the local grocery stores dropped low carb foods and the two local health food stores went out of business, I was at a loss for low carb food sources. Then I found Netrition's website (www.netrition.com). This site has tons of products at prices only a few pennies higher than what the local stores were charging, and the shipping costs are wonderfully low. I've ordered from them several times and the products are great. The shipments are boxed with care. I just received my latest shipment which included low carb pastas, sauces, salad dressings, all-purpose flour and a mashed potato substitute which tastes pretty darned good to a guy that hasn't eaten potatoes for 3 years.
 
My moron neighbor (you know the one...he's the guy who has a lower IQ than G Dubyah and exists as a 6-year-old in a 35-year-old's body) has bought yet another toy. It's one of those trampoline rafts. Now I don't begrudge him having this toy, but I do take offense at the fact that he chose to place it in front of my place and one fifth of the way out in the bay... it even interrupts normal boat traffic! That's what you get when stupid people with too much money invade these Northwoods.
 
I just won an ebay auction that offered a brochure that should complete my collection and research into the Joy Camps history.
 
Oh yeah, if you still don't believe what an out-of-control ass George Dubyah is, check this out George Dubya wants to revise the Constitution
 
Until later.....DKHT

July 13, 2006  Ducks 'n stuff
 
When I was in Wichita Falls Texas last winter I did a lot of geocaching, taking advantage of the warmer weather and total lack of snow. One of caches I found was Duck's Playground. It was located in a large park surrounding a small lake. This was the home to a huge number of ducks and a fair amount of geese. They reminded me of the ducks that call my Northern Wisconsin lake home during each summer.
 
Every spring for the last 34 years I have looked forward to the arrival of the hummingbirds, ducks, common loons, and bald headed eagles. All call our lake "home" for the summer while raising their families.
 
The loon pair that returns to our lake usually lays two eggs, and their nest is typically on one of the four small islands. Loons "scoot" along the ground because their legs are so far back on their bodies. The eggs and any young that hatch are highly susceptible to predation by eagles, raccoons and muskellunge. This year we have two chicks which we hope will survive. If just one survives it will mark the first successful hatch in many years.
 
The duckling broods tend to be larger in number, although many fall victim to the same predators. Most clutches begin with seven or eight hatchlings but it's not unusual for this number to be reduced before they mature. There actually can be two hatches in the summer, although the second hatch has a difficult time growing strong enough to make the fall migration.

 
New people on our lake tend to alter their beachfront to look like something out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, the biologists recommend the beachfront be left natural. The plants and grasses stabilize the soil and provide cover and food for our critters. The ducks frequently come in under my oak tree to feed and to hide in the shoreline grasses.
 
Personally, I don't see the value in bringing city concepts into remote areas. Yet it appears to be an inevitable cycle. The desirability of Northwoods lakefront property has inflated it's value. Typically the people that purchase these properties come from affluent cosmopolitan backgrounds and don't have experience with nor appreciation for wild places. These people are slowly destroying the nature of these Northwoods. It was so very different back when I first fell in love with this undeveloped area some 36 years ago.
 
One of my favorite movies was Paint Your Wagon which featured a song that included the lyrics and lament "God made the mountains, God made the sky, God made the people, God knows why. He fixed up the planet as best as he could, then in come the people and gum it up good..."
 
Until later.....DKHT

July 9, 2006  Disturbing news from the Texas property
 
A few days back I received a phone call from my mom in Texas regarding my property there. Mom has been my eyes and ears, checking on the property at least once a week, mainly to make certain nobody dumps anything on the property. I'm still trying to budget gates on my two roads in.
 
Anyway, mom said that some large (based on the size of the tire tread marks) construction vehicle had come in the main drive scraping dirt and depositing it in lumps about 25 feet in on the road. Evidently the road crew came through to re-gravel Blue Heron and decided to do a little bit of excavation on my driveway, disregarding the "No Trespassing" signs at the drive entrance! The vehicle ran off the edge of my drive, creating deep ruts.
 
So, after all the money I spent on having this work done on my property, some idiot operator on the road crew has screwed up my entrance. I use the word "idiot" because this individual couldn't read a simple sign, or else chose to disregard it. Either way, I figure it's a violation of my rights.
 
But then, this is George Dubyah's state, so violating citizens' rights is pretty much SOP.
 
Until later.....DKHT

 
Independence Day!!!! Fireworks and parades, cookouts and picnics, beer, brats, chips and sodas.
 
The independence won by our ancestors guaranteed freedoms for all of us who have followed, and we must not lose our diligence in maintaining them.
 
What saddens me this Independence Day is a travesty perpetrated by Messrs GW Bush and RB Cheney and the FBI. Not long ago many librarians and directors of library services received a National Security Letter demanding that all library patron records be opened to the FBI, using a little known part of the Patriot Act.
 
These records were to be provided for all library patrons, without warrant, probable cause or court order. Part of the letter additionally issued a gag order prohibiting the letter recipients from speaking with anyone concerning the contents or requirements of that letter!
 
Several brave individuals did contact legal advice, including the ACLU. Thankfully these legal efforts resulted in a Federal Judge lifting the gag order. With that done, the story gained notariety. Use +library +privacy +"gag order" in most search engines for many further accounts of this event.
 
These tactics are similar to the intimidation and information gathering used by the Gestapo in WWII. There's a point where the need for National Security can run amok. Power corrupts, so they say, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
 
We must guard our freedoms, including the freedom from having Big Brother monitor what we read and what we research! Consider the following:

• "Those who desire to give up Freedom in order to gain Security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." - Thomas Jefferson
• "We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom--what's left of it--but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." - Edward R. Murrow
• "I am certain that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice." - Fredrich August von Hayek

Another of GW's dictums which crossed my desk today (courtesy the "Highways" magazine from the Good Sam Club) is an order from the Bush Administration to America's National Parks to reduce their expenditures to 80%. This means major cutbacks in park services in our nation's natural treasures. This occurs while GW opens protected lands in Alaska and elsewhere for commercial development from his his rich oil and mining buddies.
 
On Other Fronts
 
Anyway, the 4th reminds me of the many years I set off commercial fireworks every 4th at a local country club where I worked in N Illinois. We had a commercial license for the fireworks, but occasionally got blind-sided by our fireworks supplier. Like the year their local facility had an explosion in mid June in the bunker which destroyed our order. They replaced the order with shells from China which unfortunately got wet in the ocean crossing and became totally unpredictable on launch.
 
These were commercial shells launched from 3" and 4" steel tubes. However, the Chinese writing on their labels left us baffled as to what each shell did! I had a total newbie working with me who had a hard time handling the strange behaviour of the replacement shells, swearing that some were "purposely out to get him". This was back in the days before remote launch technology was available, so we had to light each fuse by hand right at the tube. The timing on a few shells was off, probably due to the water exposure and they either exploded within twenty feet of launch, going up or coming down!
 
Until later.....DKHT