Rant #4,004: Johnny Angel

Shelley Fabares finally met up with "Johnny Angel" the other day.

Fabares, the quintessential TV actress who started her career as a teen pop star, died over the weekend at age 82.

I briefly spoke about her yesterday, as the news came in of her passing, but there is more I want to say about her.

The niece of fellow actress Nanette Fabray, Fabares acted in several TV productions as a young child, but she became a huge star in her early teens, as her portrayal of the very prissy "Mary Stone" on the ultra-popular "The Donna Reed Show" (1958-1963) made her a teen idol for the ages, a teen idol for a much more innocent time.

She became every young boys' fantasy girl--even if us boys weren't at the point in our lives where we could know or understand just why--and her every move was chronicled by the teen mags, just a few years prior to these magazines' pivot to the Beatles.

She was so popular that the fledgling Colpix record label--Columbia-Screen Gems' record label--decided that they could market her popularity into a singing career, and her rendition of "Johnny Angel" hit the top spot in the singles chart in March 1962.

Like Ricky Nelson with his hits, she performed "Johnny Angel" on the sitcom, and it propelled sales of the tune into the millions.

Even though she wasn't much of a singer, Fabares was one of those teen pop star TV actors that was groomed for records--Paul Petersen, James Darren were others--and the success of this way of creating pop stars certainly laid the groundwork for the later Monkees project, with Colpix morphing into Colgems, and everything that followed.

She had a couple of other mild hits during the next year or so--the followup "Johnny Loves Me" hit #21 three months later--but that was pretty much it. 

Fabares remained as a regular on "The Donna Reed Show" through 1963, as the storyline moved her to college ..,

But the real reason for her departure was that she was gradually moving into a big screen career, and Fabares appeared in several movies of the time, including three films with Elvis Presley, "Girl Happy," "Spinout," and "Calmbake," and one with Herman's Hermits, "Hold On!," with these films establishing her as the female lead and pairing this female pop idol with two male pop idols, Elvis and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits.

During this period, she remained faithful to the show that launched her, making a couple of return appearances to "The Donna Reed Show" during its three remaining seasons on the air.

Teen idols have notoriously short runs of popularity, and the same thing happened to Fabares, as movie roles dried up, so she went back to television, and guest starred on numerous TV shows during the early 1970s.

And she found fame again from the mid-to-late 1970s into the late 1990s with regular roles on "One Day At a Time" and especially on "Coach," two of most popular sitcoms of the era.

Fabares continued to act into the early 2000s, both in movies and on television, but she pretty much retired in the early 2000s, a period during which she had a liver transplant.

She was married to actor Mike Farrell of "M*A*S*H" fame.

Fabares did many things in her extraordinary career, but I think even with her later successes, I believe that her role as "Mary Stone" on "The Donna Reed Show" will always stand out from the rest.

She was the perfect, prissy antagonist versus Paul Petersen's less "perfect" "Jeff Stone" character, and even with Oscar winner Donna Reed at the helm, it made the show a never-miss sitcom of the time, especially for younger viewers.

And her "Johnny Angel" just floats into your consciousness every time you hear it.

Funny, I had only recently stumbled onto a podcast where Fabares was interviewed, and she seemed to be quite a humble person, astonished to this day about her success.

R.I.P. Shelley Fabares. You left quite a legacy to us all on film, TV and records.

Rant #4,003: Good Thing

We celebrated our son's birthday on Friday evening, by going out to a local restaurant.

The place wasn't very crowded, and the food was good, so it was a nice way to celebrate his special day.

We mentioned to the waiter that it was his birthday--which was actually yesterday--and the waiter gave us a free dessert for him, on the house.

I thought that that was a really nice gesture.

Our son had to work on his actual birthday, so I hope it was a good day for him even though it was also a workday.

Otherwise, it was a pretty slow weekend, which is a nice thing.

This coming week is a busy one, starting with today, when I have to go to my regular doctor for medical clearance to get that eye surgery in late September.

I am sure I won't have a problem getting the clearance, as my recent exam with him showed that in spite of all the surgeries, I am pretty healthy for an old codger of 69 years young.

That is the befuddling thing ...

I am healthy on one level, but unhealthy on several others.

Hopefully, the eye surgery will be the end of the cutting for this year, and for any year in the near and long-term future.

But I know that I have several other doctors' appointments coming up, so who knows what fear will lurk in the heart of Larry?

I certainly don't know.

But my wife and son also had their physicals over the past few weeks, and they also came out of it with good health, so hopefully, I am on the road to that goal.

Just one more surgery ...

Anyway, enough about that.

I also have a work meeting this week, which I am sure will go pretty well.

Our online magazine really looks great, and in this issue, we have a remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001--9/11--that is really, really good.

I helped put this section together with several others, based on the reminiscences of one of the executives of the association I work for who was actually on the ground when this horrible day happened, 25 years ago.

I think it is the best thing that the book has ever had in its electronic pages, and I will give you an update when it comes out so you can read this man's story, too.

We all have stories about that day--I do, too--and that will all come out in the ensuing weeks.

For the rest of this week, I have several other things I have to attend to, so it is going to be a busy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday ...

Leading into several other busy weeks in September, October, November and December.

It will all keep me on my toes, which I guess is a good thing--

Even if some of the things I have to do aren't really in the "good" category.

But so be it.

They have to be done.

So let's get them done ASAP.

(And rest in peace, Shelley Fabares. She died over the weekend. 

Who could ever forget her, from her regular stint on "The Donna Reed Show" to "Johnny Angel" to everything else she did in front of the camera, and mostly on TV? 

She will be missed.)

Rant #4,002: This Could Be the Start of Something Big

Well, we just about made it through another week!

It is finally Friday, and the weekend is just around the corner.

Tonight, we are going to celebrate my son's 31st birthday.

We have to do it then, because he works on Saturday and on Sunday, the latter of which is his actual birthday.

I know i say it every year, but I am going to say it again--

I simply cannot believe he is 31!

Time does fly!

And before you know it, my daughter will be married, so this us an exciting time for both my kids.

Thinking about it kind of takes me away from my own problems, so that is a good thing.

And in between it all, one if my nephews is also getting married, so there are a blitz of fun things happening during the next few months ...

And that isn't even including my wife's xxth birthday in November, another milestone celebration.

I have to be healthy for all of this, and I will do my darndest to make sure that I am just that.

It all should be a lot of fun, hopefully making the year go out in a good note.

And it all starts tonight, when we take our son out for his big day.

Maybe that will be the start of something big!

Heaven knows that my family and I could use some good news at this point.

And I am sure you have heard, doctors believe that they have a cancer drug that works in a different way for people with skin cancers like I had--

And if trials continue to be successful, not only will it help fight the re-occurrence of those horrid skin lesions, the way it works--by attacking cancer cells that remain after the lesion's removal, and is done on a person-by-person, individual basis based on what is happening in a person's own body--might be a clue for combatting ALL cancers.

Maybe things are looking up during the remainder of this absolutely dreadful year.

So have a good weekend, i will speak to you again on Monday--

And I will try to enjoy myself as we celebrate our son's birthday!

Rant #4,001: Worryin' Kind

In my seemingly never-ending quest for good health, I went to the dermatologist yesterday morning for my latest skin checkup.

Two things were outstanding, and had to be removed, for further tests.

One was on my forehead, and the other was on my scalp.

The forehead one was this little thing that had come about a little while ago, and I pretty much knew it had to come off.

The thing on my scalp was kind of strange.

I had some work done on my scalp--not the cancerous growth I had removed a few months ago--and it led to a thick scab that would not come off my head.

It wasn't really that noticeable, but it was there.

About two weeks ago, it began itching really badly, and on Wednesday morning, it finally fell off, right in my hands in the shower.

A combination of shampoo and hot water took it off my head.

I was able to save the scab--it measured maybe a quarter of an inch and came off right in my hand--and I brought it with me to the skin doctor.

I pointed out to him the previously scabbed area when the examination started, and I even gave him the scab, which I had saved in my pants pocket.

He told me that what was under the scab was of importance, so he threw away the scab and took a culture of that area.

I just hope that neither of these areas prove to be a problem, as I have had enough problems this year to fill a large dumpster.

But at least they were taken care of, preliminarily, this time around.

Let's see if they prove to be troublesome ...

If they call me, I know that I am doomed once again.

2026 has been a year of major health concerns for me, and I don't need another one--

Certainly not with my eye operation just around the corner.

And again, I feel fine, although I do feel pinches where the lesions were removed.

But I really feel fine, which I guess is both a blessing and a curse.

It is a blessing because I have not really suffered prior to any of my operations ...

But it is a curse because if I had suffered, perhaps I would have gotten the work done earlier, and maybe it all would have gone smoother.

Who knows?

I just hope that this latest episode doesn't prove to be anything worse than it could be.

Having had one cancer removed, I don't need to go through that again--

But if it is what I hope it isn't, then I will just have to grin and bear it.

What else can I do?

There has been this "black cloud" over me this year, and while I try to hang in, it is very, very difficult.

But as usual, whatever happens, I will make it ...

And I will be OK.

It is just that the worry does get to you after a while ...

And I just want that "worry wart" to go away--

Permanently.

Rant #4,000: Ready, Willing and Able

Congratulations to the Ranting and Raving Blog, having reached the 4,000 rant mark today.

Or, is it congratulations to me for getting this Blog that far?

I guess it is a combination of the two.

4,000 ... that is a lot of Rants, a lot of things to say, and most importantly, a lot of things to think about.

Since the spring of 2009, I have put up plenty of what I have to say, what I believe in, and what I feel you--my audience--might be interested in.

It has been a fun endeavor, and I have really enjoyed my time sharing my thoughts with you--

Even if you disagree, which is your right to do, as long as you do it civilly.

I never would have guessed that we would reach 4,000 entries, but we have.

Looking up exactly what "4,000" refers to beyond just another number, this is what I found throughout the Internet:

It is a natural number in between 3,999 and 4,001, and it is a decagonal number, meaning that it is, according to a definition posted on Wikipedia, "a figurate number that extends the concept of triangular and square numbers to the decagon, a 10-sided polygon."

This is all gobbledegook to me, so just let's say that reaching 4,000 Rants is a pretty nice achievement.

In the context of this site, we will probably reach 4,100 posts sometime early next year, and we will reach 5,000 posts ...

Sometime in 2030!

That is if I can last that long.

I sure hope I can.

This Blog is nothing but fun to me, giving me a direction each and every weekday ...

Or as many weekdays as my body will allow, and it hasn't been too cooperative this year.

I have eye surgery coming up in late September, which will certainly impede me here, but I just look at it as another speed bump--

Because even if I have to take a few days off, I will be back as soon as I possibly can.

I just don't know how long it will be until I can get back in the saddle again, but hopefully, it won't be that long.

Whatever the case, we have reached #4,000 here, andI think that that is quite an accomplishment.

And as far as the future ...

I don't know where the Ranting and Raving Blog is going, and that is all part of the fun.

I don't know if TikTok or OnlyFans is in my future--I sure hope not--but you never know.

Personally, I would just like to keep this the way it is, because it is small and very personal.

But I will never say never, just let's say that I doubt that this site will expand visually, in particular on those platforms, which I only mentioned in jest.

So lock yourself in for the next 1,000 posts, because I am ready, willing and able to do it!

Will you be with me?

That is your choice.

Rant #3,999: Stuck Like Glue

My family's vacation ended two weeks ago--

But due to modern technology, it actually ends today.

Why do I say this?

Because today, I have the sincere pleasure of paying a few tolls that we had while driving to and from our destination.

Rather than having the ability to pay the tolls right then and there--and get them right out of the way right then and there--due to modern technology, we get to pay them later.

Our license plates are read by an overhead scanner, and while this does speed along the traffic without any stoppage, it bleeds my wallet two weeks after we came home.

I know that the two such bills that we accrued during our travels are coming today, because I receive mail alerts from the post office, and those two bills are in there, according to the alert.

Honestly, I would rather pay the toll exactly when I accrue it, but that is not how it works related to certain tolls in and out of New York State and elsewhere.

Modern technology is nice, but it extends the cost of the vacation well beyond where it should be.

But I have to say, things have improved.

When they first instituted these overhead readers probably at least 10 to 15 years ago, I remember that it used to take months to get the bill.

It would come, and you really had to think about what it was all about, because it was so out of your memory.

Now I see that they have sped up the process, so I don't have to think about the bill--

I just have to pay it.

And these bills are often quite costly.

I don't remember what the cost of going over the Verrazanno Narrows Bridge is off hand, but I think it is something like $24 each way, so it is going to cost me $48 or so to pay this one off.

I accrued another toll bill due to an errant GPS direction--GPS is not always correct, this one taking me through a toll area rather than around it--and that one will be much less, about half the bridge toll at best.

That amounts to about $72 in total toll bills that need to be paid, not a small price any way you cut it.

So when I write the checks for these bills, our vacation will finally be over and done with.

You add up these costs, plus the cost of the other tolls we accrued that we paid right then and there as we moved through several states on our journey, and it all really adds up to a pretty penny as you arrive to, and get home from, your destination.

All told, it is nearly $100 in tolls.

And while modern technology allows you to speed through some of these tolls spots, you pay for that convenience with your wallet later on.

If I had a choice, even though I hate traffic like everyone else does, I would rather pay as you go rather than pay later on.

It puts a slight stench on a fun trip, but what can you do?

I guess I could get EZPass, but 1) it doesn't pay for me, as I only have to use it when we go on such trips, which is not regularly to warrant such an expenditure, and 2) New York EZPass is generally not accepted out of New York State--

So what would I be saving?

Not much, if anything, so it really doesn't pay.

I guess I am stuck ...

Stuck like glue.

What else is new?

Rant #3,998: I've Got the Music In Me

The weekend is over, and today is the first day of the work week.

For me, it is the first day of another same-old, same-old week.

Not that I am complaining ...

I have had too many weeks that are just the opposite ...

Featuring too many doctors telling me about what ails me.

I did get the final eye drops that I need for my upcoming eye surgery, and I did that this past Friday.

This week, I have to take my son to the dentist, and as for me, later in the week, I have to go to the dermatologist for another followup after that cancer was taken off my scalp several weeks ago.

If it is not one thing, it is another.

Hopefully, he doesn't find anything untoward, but if he does, let him take it off and hopefully, that will be the end of it.

I can't take any more of these health episodes ...

And yes, I feel fine, which I have learned does not necessarily mean that I am fine, it just means that I feel like myself, but who knows what is happening inside my body?

What do I do in the meantime, in between health journeys?

Lately, I have been digging into my CD collection, and digging down deep.

Now that it is all in order, I can really investigate what I have, and archive it onto my computer and a thumb drive so I can listen to these CDs in the car.

I don't like it that for the past several years, CD players are not built into cars, so you have to be creative in listening to your CDs there--

Just like if you want to listen to your records in the car.

I just digitize everything, so I can listen to my heart's content.

Getting back to CDs, I have been archiving a lot of stuff, things that you simply cannot get on vinyl record, or at least it is very difficult to get on vinyl.

It is just as fun as digitizing LPs and singles, and it goes much faster, because you don't have to listen to the music to archive it--

You just feed the CD into an exterior drive that I have, and you pretty much let your computer do all the work.

(And yes, I also don't like that computers don't have this drive built into them anymore, but again, you have to roll with the flow.)

It is fun, passes the time, and allows me to listen to this music in my car.

And lately, I have been listening to a lot of CDs this way.

I guess I simply like physical media a lot, and streaming does pretty much nothing for me.

I like to have something in my hand, and whether it is vinyl, CDs or even cassettes, that is preferable to me than just streaming something.

I can digitally transfer over just about anything to my computer and thumb drive--yes, I have a gadget that does this for cassettes--so it really is an easy thing to do.

So as I prepare for another examination--and another surgery--this is what I do to keep busy, in between work, of course, and all the usual things I have to do.

So yes, it is the same old, same old, but I try to make it all fresh and new.

I at least try to do that, but I don't always succeed ...

As I ponder my future, health-wise, and as I count the days for 2026 to end--

Hopefully, on a good note.

So, while I have no idea what is happening in my body at any given time, I do know that I have the music in me ...

And that, at least to me, is a reassuring thought.

Rant #3,997: No Fair At All

I swore that I would not talk about my eyes again for now, but this Rant has to do with my eyes, although peripherally.

It actually has to do with complete incompetence, a concept that has grown, and has become more accepted, since the pandemic. 

Due to my upcoming eye surgery, I was told by the doctor/surgeon's office to get three specific eye drops for the management of the surgery afterward, and the office put in the prescriptions to my local pharmacy--the one right across the street from where I live--so they could be processed.

The day after my last appointment--when my dilated eyes had returned to normal--I went to that pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions.

The pharmacy gave me two of the prescriptions, and told me that it would be a day or so for them to get the third one.

They told me to sign up for texts from the pharmacy, and they told me that when the prescription was ready, they would text me about its availability.

I signed up for the texts, and left the pharmacy with the two ready prescriptions in hand ...

And I waited, and waited, and waited some more for a text message about the third prescription, but heard nothing from the pharmacy.

On Wednesday, I went to the pharmacy to find out what the status was of the third prescription.

"I have not heard from you about the third prescription," I asked the front desk person at the pharmacy. "It was supposed to be ready a day after I picked up the other two. What is going on?"

She took my name, and looked me up.

"The prescription is on order," she said.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked.

"We don't have it here, so it is on order," she replied.

"Again, what does that mean?" I asked. "How long will it be before you have it?"

"I don't know," she replied.

As you can imagine, this "Who's On First" game was starting to get to me.

"Look, here is the deal," I said. "I am having an operation in September, and I need those eye drops. You gave me the other two that I needed, you said the other one would be here the next day, you asked me to sign up for text messages related to prescriptions, and I haven't heard a thing from you. So what is going on with the prescription?"

"I don't know," she said. "Go to [another pharmacy], and have the prescription switched there."

This complete indifference to this situation is appalling, at the very least, but it truly shows total incompetency--

And really bad customer service.

If they were having a problem obtaining the prescription, they should have texted me about this problem, but they never did, leaving me in the lurch and putting this all on my head.

If they would have at least texted me about this problem, I could have taken the proper action, rather than sitting here and not knowing what was going on.

I left the pharmacy in a huff, went back home, called my doctor, and had the prescription switched to the other pharmacy, which is about five miles away from where I live--

And the prescription was filled in about a half hour, and I have to go pick it up when I can get over there, probably by the weekend.

My doctor's office told me that it was not surprising that this pharmacy could not fill the third prescription, because "we have been having trouble with them lately."

I wonder why.

Total incompetency, total lack of customer service ...

They act like robots when it comes to taking care of the customer.

As you know, I have brought up similar situations in the past, where workers really cannot care less about the customers they are there to supposedly serve, and this type of inane behavior has heightened since the pandemic.

And as I have said many times, these incompetent leeches are working, and I am sitting here.

It seems every time I have had to have an operation, nothing goes smoothly leading up to the actual procedure.

I always have to extend myself beyond where I really should, because of incompetence--

Which seems to be accepted in today's world.

And it increases the anxiety level I already have related to the procedure, and everything around it.

I will certainly not ever go to the pharmacy again to fill a prescription ...

It is only a prescription for disaster.

Not fair, not fair at all.

That being said, have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday ...

With all three of my prescriptions in hand.

Rant #3,996: Shaving Cream

It is Thursday ...

The day of the week I dreaded for so many years.

Why?

Well, it is one day before Friday, so I still had one more day of school, or later, one more day of the work week, to get through before the weekend came.

It is also the say that for decades has been one of my shaving days, and I just hate to shave. This day hasn't changed whether I was going to school, working full time, or acting as a remote worker, so today is the day I shave ...

And I did just that this morning.

I hate to shave, and I am not a good shaver to begin with.

My father was a terrible shaver, always cutting himself and having to use a styptic pencil to mend his wounds.

Me, I use and electric razor, and even though I shave just twice a week now--also on Sunday, so on Sunday and Thursday each week--I have never really mastered the "art" of shaving, and I burn out electric razors at an alarming rate.

My son ... well, he takes after myself and my father, and he is not the greatest shaver either.

But I don't want to grow a beard--I have tried and it looks terrible on me, and itches like nobody's business--so I have to shave twice a week.

When I was working full time, I shaved three times a week, adding in Tuesday to the shaving mix.

So the one good thing about not working full time is that I have cut down on my shaving days, which is good for my face, and my razor.

And depending on the week, I can maneuver the days if I have to ...

For instance, let's say we are going out to a restaurant on a Saturday, I can shave on Saturday rather than on Sunday.

And there are weeks I shave just once, but those are few and far between.

Look, I am never going to be a member of ZZ Top.

Their classic lineup featured two members--guitarists Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill--who had long beards down to the middle of their chests.

And they had one member who didn't have a beard--

It was the drummer, and his name was ...

Frank Beard!

Well, I am no "Larry" Beard, but I am no "Larry" Gibbons or "Larry" Hill either.

I am me, myself, and I just hate to shave.

Such a waste of 15 minutes, such a limited return.

But I can't see myself with a full beard, which I probably could grow in about a week.

So shave I must ...

But no full body shaving for me!

It would probably take me at least an hour to do that.

While it doesn't grow on my head anymore, it grows everywhere else ...

I also hated to mow the lawn way back when, so mowing my body--

Out of the question--

And not by a hair.

Rant #3,995: Something In the Air

This summer has been a very warm one, and I read today that for the contiguous 48 states, we just went through the hottest July on record.

The average temperature was 76.89 degrees, which made it the warmest month ever in the U.S., less Hawaii and Alaska.

This temperature edged out the July temperature registered during the Dust Bowl, in 1936, so it broke a 90-year-old record.

Personally, I simply cannot take the heat, but my family and I wait until the evening to put on the air conditioning, because the price is simply too costly to do it during the day.

When I drive around, I do use the air conditioner pretty liberally, and during our recent vacation, I probably had the AC on about 90 percent of the time when driving.

And this has brought up some other interesting things, at least in my own mind.

As you know, I am a big Yankees fan, and my team has been flailing for some time, and their bats have been nearly silent, in particular, at Yankee Stadium.

The team has been very successful playing away on the road, but when it comes to playing at home--where they should be excelling, since the team is supposedly built around the stadium that they play 81 games at during the regular season--they are not doing well, and I think the weather has a lot to do with it.

Here is what I put up on Facebook the other day, and what do you think about it?

"Watching the Yankees since 1965, and watching them play in the new Stadium since 2009, I think the Yankees' current lack of offense has to do with the ballpark itself.

The current Stadium's wind pattern appears to be different than it used to be, and balls that would fly out of the Stadium in the past are just long outs today.

The wet weather New York has experienced this summer hasn't helped matters, making the ball heavier and harder to hit out.

I just feel that the changing atmosphere, while not the full culprit in their offensive malaise, is certainly part of the problem. I have never seen so many near misses at the Stadium as I have this season. What do you think?"

And the responses I received back were pretty mixed.

Some thought it was an interesting observation that they hadn't heard before, others scoffed at it, and others said that the opposing team has to play in the same conditions, so what I said doesn't make sense--

But those opposing teams don't have to play 81 games there, just a few games at a time.

In later posts, I pointed to the Mets' CitiField stadium, which used to be a downright pitchers' park, but now--and I believe also due to changing weather patterns--has become a hitters' panacea.

(Yes, I know they brought in the fences a few years back to make it more hitter friendly, but it is only being felt to a larger scale right now.)

I wonder why none of the professionals--weather, sports writers, and the like--have not brought up this point, but I do feel that the Yankees aren't hitting--

And not necessarily because their biggest guns, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, are injured and out of the lineup for months.

Look, I could simply be looking for a needle in a haystack here, but I think I am onto something.

Anyone have anything to say on this subject?

It could be a real grand slam of a topic if it proves to be true ...

And since Yankee Stadium is an open-air arena, I have no idea what can be done about it.

But I think it is an interesting thought ...

A perfect one for another hot summer day.

Rant #3,994: Eye Candy

Now that I got my eye thing off my chest ...

So to speak, of course.

I learned a little more about why it happened yesterday morning.

Coincidentally, I had to take my son for his yearly eye checkup at the same place that I used to go regularly, but now can't because of my impending eye surgery.

I mentioned all of this to the doctor, and yes, she said that the prescription might have led to the retina tearing ...

Because since I am so near-sighted, the eye strained to fit the new prescription I had, and after three years, it just tore very slightly.

She said it is a rare occurrence, but it does happen, so I guess I am once again God's chosen person to suffer this year.

Thank goodness my son's eyes are OK.

His examination went quite well.

Me, I am not too happy right now, but eye ... err ... I ... will get over it, I guess.

I also brought in my car for an oil change.

After driving 2,100 miles in about a week with one good eye, I figured it was time to get my car some new oil.

It was time anyway, so it all worked out, scheduling-wise, pretty well.

And I was expecting the worst here ...

You know, you go in for an oil change, and they tell you about 23 other things that are wrong with your car, and you have to fix them NOW--

And you come out with a bill eight or nine or 10 times what just the oil change costs.

It has happened to me many times in my driving life, and it happened to my wife about two or three weeks ago.

And I have a six-year-old car, one that I just refinanced, so I was expecting the worst.

Happily, I only needed the oil change, so that made me feel good.

At this point, I look for little things to make me feel good, and this was one of those things.

And I didn't get any further surprises during the remainder of the day, so I guess that made me feel good too.

I don't know if you know this, but the one organ in your body that stays the same size when you are born to when you leave this earth is the eyes.

That is why newborns have that "full," adorable face when you see them, with the eyes almost too big for their head and face.

But all your other organs grow with you, but the eyes stay the same.

I would have never thought I would have eye problems other than being near-sighted, but that is what I am facing right now.

OK, I said enough about my eyes.

No more talk about that part of my body for a couple of weeks.

Let's talk about my kidney, my prostate, my quad muscle, my butt.

How appetizing that kind of talk is!

But nothing more about my eyes ...

OK?

Say "eye" ... err ... "aye" if you agree.

Rant #3,993: Eyes Without a Face

Eye, eye, eye, eye, eye!

I regret to report to you that I am going to undergo eye surgery on September 21 to repair a partially torn retina.

The beat goes on with me in 2026, a year where one thing gets fixed and then another thing pops up to frustrate me.

And it is just so frustrating.

I had three surgeries to correct one thing, had cancer taken off my scalp, and had several other issues that were just beginning to heal, and now I have this thing to contend with.

I have actually had this problem for several months, but I put off getting it repaired because, quite frankly, I was in no condition to go through this surgery.

I was weak from the other surgeries, and the bad right eye didn't really impede me from doing much of anything.

In fact, as you know, my family and I just came home from vacation, and I drove 2,100 miles without any problems.

But now that I am supposedly back together again, it is time to get this thing done.

There are two options: a "bubble" procedure, where this is implanted in the eye, and a "gel" procedure, where this is also implanted in the eye.

Both are good for me, but my doctor and I are going for the "gel" procedure, because it takes much less time for healing ...

But the negative is that it will take another procedure to get the gel out of my eye over time.

All told, once I have the procedure done, I will need constant followups, and after about six months, I will supposedly be good to go.

In the meantime, the gel procedure will allow me to do my work, to drive, and to do what I need to do, and do it more rapidly than the bubble procedure would allow.

So we are leaning toward the gel procedure, but my doctor will have the final say.

During this period, I will be in and out of this Blog at regular intervals, but i am certainly not going to give it up.

I will let you know when that happens.

This has just been a terrible year for myself and my family, and I really cannot wait for 2026 to be over and done with.

Heck, I still have to go for followups and other things that have ailed me during this year--including things that were operated on--so I am not completely out of the woods on those things just yet.

And let me tell you, all of this has prepared me for ANYTHING.

I have learned that you have no idea what is going on in your body at any given time, and that upkeep is the key.

Yes, it is all frustrating and depressing at the same time, but hopefully, the eye procedure--yes, it is surgery--will be the final such thing I will have to go through in the immediate future.

I was the guy who was never sick, never injured, pretty much healthy my entire life, but the last couple of years have been a collective nightmare ...

And at this juncture, I don't know which way is up.

I just know that I have to get this done now, because if I don't, it can lead to a fully torn retina, and I don't want that.

So I am not happy right now, but at least I know that this will get done and that hopefully, I won't have to worry about it ever again.

There are no guarantees, either.

And to add to my current splendor, this problem could have been due to my lenses.

Not necessarily a misdiagnosis, but the lenses I have might have strained my right eye to the point that the retina tore.

I got those new lenses about three years ago, when I was seen not by my regular eye doctor, but another doctor in the same practice who had not seen me before.

I had an appointment with my regular doctor, but unbeknownst to me, he had to leave that particular day for whatever reason, and instead of making another appointment with him--I found out he wasn't there when I arrived at the office--I elected to go with this other doctor, who I had not seen before.

My mistake ... but who knew?

And my regular eye doctor has now retired, so I will never be in his care again.

So that is where I stand now.

I am nervous ...

No, make that petrified ...

But I will get through it.

I am prepared ...

So let's go!

Rant #3,992: See

Today, I have to go to the special eye doctor to see where I stand with my right eye, which has a partially torn retina in it.

Honestly, I am completely torn--yes, there is that word again--about getting the procedure done and letting it go.

Yes, my vision is not as good in the right eye as it was before this thing happened--I have no idea how it happened--but I have managed pretty well, even with the bad eye.

I have been able to do my work, drive, drive at night, read the newspaper ...

Basically do everything I had done before this happened.

Heck, I just drove 2,100 miles, and I seemed to manage pretty well.

So, do I get this done or do I not get this done, at least right now?

I just don't know.

I do know that the surgery takes about 40 minutes, and the way it was described to me, some type of bubble gets placed in the eye, and I have to really do nothing for at least five days, other than keep my head low so the bubble can do its job.

Then, I can gradually return to normal, with increased activity.

There is no assurance that this will work, by the way, so it is a crapshoot, even if I have the surgery.

It took three surgeries on the same area to fix my other major problem, so I am not immune to doing what it takes to fix a physical problem.

But with the eyes, I admit it is a different thing altogether, and I have to ask myself if it is worth the toil and trouble, at least right now.

I want my vision to be what it was, but is this procedure worth it to me so much that I get it done right now?

I just don't know.

I have been going back and forth on this, and I still have not come to a conclusive answer.

I think the best thing to do is to talk with the doctor, see what she has to say about it, and go from there.

Yes, another surgery would be nerve wracking, but it would be for my betterment.

But this is elective surgery, and I have proven that I can live with what I have now ...

Again, it could get worse--complete retinal detachment--if I put things off too long, so maybe now is the time to get this done.

We will see ...

With "see" being the operative word.

I want to give my eyes a rest, so this will be my final Rant for this week.

Have a great weekend, and I should be back in the saddle on Monday.

"See" you then ...

I hope.

Rant #3,991: Come Home

Yes, my family's vacation has come to a close.

We finally got back to our home on Monday afternoon at about 3 p.m., and between the beginning of the trip and the end of it, we drove more than 2,100 miles, give or take.

It was fun, but the moment we got back to our home, we all jumped into work mode and my wife, son and I had plenty to do to return to a semblance of normalcy.

Me ... yes, I had work, and I think I caught up on Tuesday morning, but I had a lot of other things to do, in particular with one of the banks I use.

Right before we left--and on a Sunday, when this particular bank is not open--I found a huge error that this bank made with one of the checks that I deposited into it about a month ago.

My bank account was awry for the past month, and a lot of it had to do with the non-delivery/delivery problems I have had with things that I ordered online.

So I gave it a few weeks to iron itself out, but it never did, and on the day before we left, I found out why.

I use another bank for some of my accounts, and I made out a check for a certain amount to be deposited into the bank in question to help pay our rent.

I do this every month without problem, but this time, the bank in question made a tremendous error--

They deposited about one-tenth of my check's amount into my rent account instead of the amount I wrote on my check ...

And since it was related to rent, you can imagine what a problem that caused for me.

I had plenty of money in the rent account, so I covered the latest rent payment fine, but it threw off the balances of my regular account at one bank and the rent account at the bank in question.

So the first thing I did when we arrived home was to go to the bank in question and sort the whole thing out ...

And they told me that since a month had elapsed, I should simply write a new check, including the difference, and deposit that check into the rent account.

Yes, they did apologize for this error, and yes, the fault was at least partly mine, because I did not check the receipt as thoroughly as I normally do--

But it created a kerfuffle that took me a few hours to rectify.

I had to rewrite my registers to reflect all of this mess--including the returned monies from the orders that I had a problem with--and I am still not 100-percent sure if everything adds up, but I think I did it right.

Then we had the mail ...

I put in to have the mail stopped for the period that we were gone for, but evidently, doing it online was not the way to go, as they never stopped the mail during the period.

Just on a whim, I opened up the mailbox, and lo and behold, the box was brimming with stuff, mostly garbage mail but some important stuff too.

I wonder if they stopped someone else's mail for this period instead of ours ... but stopping the mail online did not do the trick.

Thank goodness newspaper delivery started again on Tuesday morning ...

At least that went right!

I guess doing that over the phone was the right way to go.

Anyway, about the vacation ...

Yes, by the time we got home, we kind of needed a vacation from the vacation.

Lots of driving here, there and everywhere, and I found that to be fun.

Except on Sunday night, when we came closer to home in droves of rain, and that was difficult, to say the least.

But it was good to get away, see a different part of our country, see relatives who just recently moved to these new environs, and enjoy "southern hospitality," so to speak.

This is a huge country, a wonderful country, the best country in the world, and to discover new parts of our country while on vacation was a great thing to do.

And I listened to so much music that I programmed on my little thumb drive--nearly 800 songs during the entirely of the trip--that it kept me going full throttle.

It was a fun couple of days away--even thought I had to work throughout the trip--and it provided some good memories for us.

But now, it is back to the same-old-same-old, and my son went back to work yesterday, I seemingly work 24/7, and the first thing my wife did when we go home is do the drudgery of the wash.

So it is good to be home, but I just wish we could all be on a permanent vacation from chores and duties and work and everything else ...

Which isn't happening anytime soon.