Life and Times of Bart Mayo

Wow, is this outdated.

2010-02-22T14:29:00.001-05:00

Documenting what I do and for whom is one thing. Updating my personal blog has been about as much success as when I was trying to keep a journal.

Well, what has happened since my last post?

I completed Knee Replacement Rehab in August. Can’t say that I am fully recovered but close. There is still a bit of pain, especially when I climb the ladder to the Sound Booth at church to play the Audio Tech. At least I am able to get back to the IT work that was doing. Now if only there was more of it so that I can pay for the lack of income due to the down time.

We have had a significant change in the pets since April 2009. Late June we lost our Ragdoll Persian Casey due to Liver cancer. We felt a significant hole in the household and found a kitten if very similar colorings that we adopted from a Rescue in Crossville, TN. The kitten appears to be part Maine Coon and part Ragdoll. Within weeks we discovered our Tortoise Shell named Taz had Mammary cancer. She had that operated on and managed to survive another four months before succumbing to a relapse. In the meantime our 11 year old Golden Retriever was suffering from Kidney failure. She died toward the end of September. The week before Halloween we obtained a new Golden Retriever puppy from a Breeder in Clinton. This managed to fill up the house somewhat since the puppy had a significant amount of energy. Shortly after that is when we lost Taz. All was fairly peaceful, not counting the energy of the new puppy. Mid December I was working on the fence with Logan, the Golden Retriever puppy, by my side. At one point the neighbors dog came across the street to say hello. It was a very calm greeting and the other dog went home. About a half hour later Logan got lose and decided he wanted to return the visit. I managed to yell to Logan and get him to stop and turn around, briefly. Logan then ran into the street and got hit by the Dominos driver that happened to be driving past at 20 miles over the speed limit. As you can guess I wont be ordering Dominos anytime soon. Just prior to this incident Indie (our Himalayan cat) decided to sneak into the dryer for a spin. He survived that ordeal but when we took him to the Vet to get checked out we discovered that he had massive Kidney and Liver failure. Indie died within a week of Logan. We ended the year with just Jessie and Nelson. Jessie who was enjoying a calm household prior to all the deaths and Nelson a very energetic kitten that loves to pounce. Jessie did not take kindly to this behavior.

We started 2010 with the acquisition of a black and white cat from a Rescue in Maryville that we renamed Bella, short for Isabella Sophia. She has enough energy to keep Nelson busy and off of Jessie and yet enough composure to not get on Jessie’s nerves. We also started to try to get a new Golden Retriever puppy. The co-breeder of the Dam that gave birth to Logan had two dogs that had given birth the last week of 2009. By the end of January we found out that she had three dogs that had given birth which resulted in a total of 26 puppies. Last weekend we drove to Dalton, GA to pickup Amber Grace. There was a bit of divine coincidence with the naming. We had decided back when we were set on getting one of this breeders puppies that if it was a girl we would name it Amber Grace and even during the drive down to GA we could not decide on a name for a male. This not knowing if the puppy we would be getting was a male or a female. We had not mentioned to the breeder of our naming choice. When we arrived she handed us a female and we told her of the name. Most breeders have a theme for the litter for when the AKC registered name is filed. The coincidence is that the theme that the breeder chose for this litter was “Jewels”. How fitting that we had already decided that the female name would be Amber.

We now have a very peaceful home. Nelson and Bella play with each other quite a bit. Jessie hides quite a bit and complains a lot but that is Jessie. Amber gets along very well with Bella and Nelson and at least Jessie doesn’t get physical in her complaining about another new animal in the house.

The business is going pretty good considering the recession and the geography for which I am conducting my business. I could always use more customers, but I’m not needing to shut down the business and go find a regular job yet. Jean is still gainfully employed and thus barely keeping our collective head above water.

Knee recovery

2009-04-27T19:06:00.003-04:00

Knee replacement surgery was tow weeks ago today. I find it interesting at how little has been communicated with me as to what to do and how to do it. Maybe they thought the book would do all the talking for them.

Had a PT session today. Today was a little different in that the last session was heat pads above and below for about 15 minutes with nothing else going on. Today they placed the heat pads and also connected the Stim pads. This time with the stim pads I was sitting up and doing quad sets while sitting thus stretching the hams as well. Well, apparently I was only able to do about 5 minutes of this. I think they started the timer at 15 minutes of heat, Stim pads, Quad sets and Ham stretches. I remember seeing the timer hit the 9 minutes remaning mark Shortly the pain started increasing. Increasing hard and fast. Later they said the timer was paused at 8:25 remaining. I quickly was in so much pain that I was visibly crying and unable to speak to ask for something to relieve the pain. Luckily they were watching and stopped all actions. When we concentrated on just doing the quad sets with the Stim pads I was fine and able to complete the 15 minutes of those.

After that we spent some time trying to get the leg straight. I guess a week of no "official" PT did some harm in not being able to straighten the knee. This took some time to get the knee straight.

What we added this time was using the left leg to help pull the right back to a beyond 90 angle. Did about 10 reps of this.

Finally we had a large pad that applied pressure to straighten and cool the knee. Had to ease up twice due to the pain but got through it.

Hopefully Wednesday will be a better session.

Knee Replacement

2009-04-16T11:00:00.001-04:00

Apparently PT starts today. Just got a call from "Home Health" wanting to know if 2:00 this afternoon is ok to have the initial session. The gal whose name slipped by me too fast also said that the nurse would be here this afternoon as well. Nurse is coming to check the effects of the blood thinner.

Shortly thereafter I got a call from someone else at Home Health. “At Home” PT and nurse to draw blood is not going to be approved. We called someone else and asked that the whole issue be resolved and call up back with the results.

Bart Mayo

bart@bartandjeanmayo.com

Knee Replacement

2009-04-16T10:15:00.001-04:00

Knee Replacement

2009-04-15T18:37:00.002-04:00

At the group PT session on Tuesday they mentioned that they would like the bent angle of the knee at 90 or higher. They also want the straight angle to be at 5 or less. Tuesday's measurements were at 5 degrees straight and 95 degrees bent. Tuesday night was better for sleeping anyway.

I managed to fall asleep about midnight and except for the 3:00 blood labs I slept all the way to 5:00. 5:00 is when they woke me up to make sure I had the ability to take a shower. Most of Wednesday morning was uneventful with the exception of the PT's coming to my room to do a private therapy. I did get a brief visit from the Physicians Assistant for Dr. Cates letting me know when he wants to see me to take out the stitches and staples.

We are currently trying to get In Home Rehab as well as the blood labs that need to be drawn a couple times a week. If that falls through I am planning on Star Therapy downtown Kingston and Roane Medical Center for the bloodwork. In either case it will be a few weeks before I do much of anything outside the door to my home.

Knee Replacement day 2

2009-04-14T06:57:00.001-04:00

Knee got replaced yesterday. Despite serious pain killers, the knee is
in a great deal of pain. Had breakfast before 7:00. I think rehab
will start very shortly. If I had to guess, I may have gotten three
or four hours sleep last night. I got moved from the bed to the chair
about three.

Sent from my iPhone

Knee Replacement

2009-04-13T05:08:00.001-04:00

05:00
Just getting up. Biggest task at the moment is getting Jean awake. I
doubt I will be able to post again before the surgery.

Sent from my iPhone

Is there really an Entitlement attitude in America?

2008-12-08T18:30:00.001-05:00

I grew up being told to be thankful to those that provide a service for me. In fact I was almost apologetic in requesting people to provide a service when I got married. I discovered back then, that it was customary and showing gratitude to pay about $100 to someone that wasn't in my family for performing a service for my wedding. I did offer the sound tech at my wedding a check for $100 even though he turned it down. His response when I pressed the issue was to put it in the offering plate. He did say that if I really wanted to help out I could join the sound team. Since I had quite a bit of experience doing sound I did so.

During this past month I have been the sound tech at two weddings. Between the first and second I was informed that an attempt is being made to require weddings to pay for non staff members that provide a service to the wedding. Ok, I suppose I can agree with that. I’d rather it be a courtesy as a way of saying thanks but if the church wants to require it that will work too. The problem that I have is that at a bare minimum the non staff church member should at least receive a “Thank you” from someone involved with the wedding. I know that neither of the two weddings paid me for taking time away from my wife on both Friday and Saturday. I also know that the second wedding did not even thank me. It may have happened but gratitude by that first wedding is something that doesn’t stand out in my mind.

So I ask the question, is the entitlement attitude that prevalent? Is it really that I owe it to the next generation to provide the services that I can perform at no cost to them?

Bible reference is validity for "Spread the wealth"?

2008-10-27T20:40:00.003-04:00

I haven't been one to force my religious views on anyone. My posting this is not an invitation to spew hatred toward me. If you want to discuss this fine, leave a comment.

For lack of something better to watch I was watching "The O'Reilly Factor" this evening. The segment was discussing the ABC Affiliate in Central Florida interview between the Anchor and Joe Biden. Geraldine Ferraro was saying that Obama is not promoting the Spread the wealth philosophy but if he was the rationalization for that is an account in the Bible. She stated that in the book of Luke the early Christians shared everything that they had.

Point one: Minor as it may be the actual reference is Acts 2:44 and 45. NIV says: All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Point two: There is a major difference between a group of Christians gathering what they had and voluntarily providing for the needs of someone in their midst against the government forcing that group to give more of what they have and giving it to someone that may have the need but is not part of the group of Christians. After all most churches that I am aware of have a ministry of Benevolence.

Getting political again. Copied completely from the included link.

2008-10-08T18:15:00.003-04:00

Mystery Contributions Flood Obama

Tuesday, October 7, 2008 12:08 PM

By: Philip V. Brennan Article Font Size

"Senator Obama is running on an image that is directly the opposite of what he has been doing for two decades. His escapes from his past have been as remarkable as the great escapes of Houdini.”

— Thomas Sowell

Cherche la femme (follow the woman), the French advise, when looking for who is behind a scandal. For Americans in this election period it should be Cherche Le Moolah — follow the money, especially all those bucks that have fortuitously adhered to Barack Obama's exchequer throughout his mysterious past.

A reader gleaned this from the Internet:

"Around 1979 Obama started college at Occidental in California. He is very open about his two years at Occidental, he tried all kinds of drugs and was wasting his time but, even though he had a brilliant mind, did not apply himself to his studies. 'Barry' (that was the name he used all his life) during this time had two roommates, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, both from Pakistan.

"During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a 'round the world' trip, stopping to see his mother in Indonesia, next Hyderabad in India, three weeks in Karachi, Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate's family, then off to Africa to visit his father's family."

Who financed this costly world tour?

On his return, he stopped being Barry and became Barack, and went to Columbia University where tuition is anything but cheap. Who paid it? After Columbia, he went to Chicago to work as a Community Organizer for $12,000. A year. "Why Chicago? " the reader asked. "Why not New York? He was already living in New York."

There he hooked up with Antoin “Tony” Rezko, recently convicted on fraud and bribery charges. Rezko was born in Aleppo, Syria and was named “'Entrepreneur of the Decade” by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association.

Two or so years later, Obama entered Harvard Law School. Talk about expensive tuition! Who paid the tuition? After completing law school, he went back to Chicago where Rezko offered him a job. He turned it down to work for Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, which had connections with “Rezar” Rezko's firm. Rezko was one of Obama's first major financial contributors when he ran for office in Chicago.

In 2003, Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with "seed money" for his U.S. Senate race. In 2005, Obama purchased a new home in the Kenwoood district of Chicago for $1.65 million (less than the asking price). Where did he get the money for the property? On the same day, Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining empty lot for full price.

The reader reported that “Valerie Jarrett was Michelle Obama's boss and is now Obama's chief adviser and he does not make any major decisions without talking to her first. Where was Jarrett born? Shiraz, Iran!”

Guess who's in charge of all those “small” Internet campaign contributions for Obama? According to my reader, none other than his two college roommates from Pakistan: Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid.

Now let's follow the moolah a bit further. In an Oct. 4, 2008 Toledo Blade article entitled “Hunting Mr. Good Will. WHO is 'Will, Good'?" columnist Jack Kelly revealed that a Mr. Good Will, who Kelly says lists his employer as "Loving" and his profession as "You" — has contributed an astounding 1,000 times to the Barack Obama campaign, all in amounts of $25 or less which add up to $17,375 — far more than the legal limit of $4,600 or $2,300 each for the primary and general election campaigns — 1000 times!

Kelly notes that Kenneth Timmerman, my fellow Newsmax columnist, discovered Mr. Good Will after checking no less than 1.4 million individual contributions in the latest Federal Election Commission master file for the Obama campaign.

While Mr. Good Will claimed he was from Austin, Texas, when Kelly called directory assistance, they could find no listing for him.

Then there is Mr. Doodad Prowho, who made 786 contributions for a total of $19,500. Like Mr. Good Will, Mr. Pro lists his employer as "Loving" and his profession as "You." Mr. Pro said he is from Nunda, N.Y. Directory assistance found no listing for him either.

Noting that Obama has raised a whopping $223 million in contributions of less than $200, Kelly wrote that candidates are not required to disclose the names of those who contribute less than $200, and Mr. Obama has not. But he added that the Federal Election Commission does require campaigns to keep a running tally of contributions and to disclose the identity of donors once their total contributions exceed $200.

This is how Timmerman discovered Mr. Good Will and Mr. Doodad Pro.

Timmerman, Kelly writes, was particularly curious about 11,500 contributions from overseas totaling $33.8 million. He adds that Sens. McCain and Hillary Clinton required foreign donors to provide proof of citizenship, yet according to Timmerman the Obama campaign did not.

"More than 1,400 of the overseas entries clearly were U.S. diplomats or military personnel, who gave an APO address," Timmerman wrote. But they accounted for a mere 12 percent of Obama's overseas donors, whose contributions totaled just $201,680.

"In July and August, the head of Nigeria's stock market held a series of pro-Obama fundraisers in Lagos," Timmerman wrote in Newsmax. "At one event, a table for eight went for $16,800. Nigerian press reports claimed sponsors raked in an estimated $900,000."

Kelly added, "Making contributions on credit cards via the Internet — as both Good Will and Doodad Pro did — makes it easier for foreigners to contribute. Web logger Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) reported three Palestinians living in a refugee camp in Gaza tried to donate $33,500 to the Obama campaign last year. They were caught only because the amount was far above the legal limit. If foreigners donate in amounts less than $200, their illegal involvement would be virtually undetectable."

Kelly concluded that were Obama a Republican, "the news media would be demanding he disclose the names of all of his donors — as er, the Republican has done — so we can see if there are among them other Good Wills and Doodad Pros.

"CNN recently sent a reporter to Little Diomede Island, the westernmost part of Alaska (2.4 miles from Russia) to determine whether Sarah Palin had ever been there to see Russia with her own eyes. But CNN — and the rest of the media — have been incurious about the Obama campaign's fund-raising."

Finally there is this. According to The Associated Press, Jerome Corsi, the American author of a best-selling book attacking Barack Obama, is being detained in Kenya where Obama, as the son of a Kenyan father, is a national idol. He is being detained because he does not have a work permit, a senior immigration official said Tuesday.

Corsi, who wrote "The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality," was being held at immigration headquarters in Nairobi after police picked him up from his hotel Tuesday, Carlos Maluta, a senior immigration official in charge of investigations, told The Associated Press. "We still haven't decided what to do with him," Maluta said.

As I wrote, cherche le moolah.

Phil Brennan is a veteran journalist and World War II Marine who writes for Newsmax.com. He is editor and publisher of Wednesday on the Web (http://www.pvbr.com) and was Washington columnist (Cato) for National Review magazine in the 1960s.

He also served as a staff aide for the House Republican Policy Committee and helped handle the Washington public relations operation for the Alaska Statehood Committee which won statehood for Alaska. He is also a trustee of the Lincoln Heritage Institute and a member of the Association For Intelligence Officers.

He can be reached at pvb@pvbr.com.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Who says dogs and cats can't get along?

2008-09-28T16:07:00.001-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

The economy now is as bad as the great depression?

2008-09-20T11:16:00.001-04:00

McCain says the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Obama says they aren't. Most Democrats are saying that this is the worst crisis since the great depression. Then there were lines foe bread and now the only lines are for iPhone's and movies. Is this really that close to the great depression?

Did I say we do a little reading?

2008-09-17T21:23:00.002-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Yes, we do a little reading.

2008-09-17T21:20:00.001-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

A clean desk is a sign of a sick mind.

2008-09-17T21:17:00.001-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Cleaning before a cleaning service comes in to clean, why?????

2008-09-17T21:16:00.004-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Interview between Bill O'Reilly and Obama

2008-09-14T20:29:00.002-04:00

Just saw the segment discussing the associations of Obama. Obama's reaction is that he can not be held responsible for anything that did not directly come out of his mouth. Yet he and most Democrats hold Pres. Bush responsible for something that someone in the administration said and not even something said on behalf of Bush. He can't be held responsible for something said on behalf of him and that he has allowed his voice to say "I approve of this message", yet he holds Bush responsible for anything said by someone no matter how far down in the administration???????

Liberal Democrats have crossed the line!

2008-09-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

Let me see if I have this correct.
I hear and read lots of comments that say Gustav is a blessing in disguise when referring to either the GOP convention or attention to issues related to Sarah Palin. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!! A hurricane is a blessing? Any one who can say that a hurricane can be a blessing not matter what the reason has got to have their head up there ass so far that it will take surgery to get it removed. Much less that the hurricane is a blessing so that it will cause others to be discomforted in their plans.
Bristol Palin is pregnant. So what! While it is shameful that a 17 year old girl got pregnant how is this the fault of the parent of that seventeen year old? It has been said that Bristol is five months pregnant and that she is the true parent of Trig Palin. Trig being the fifth child of Todd and Sarah Palin. Trig is now five months old. This would mean that no sooner did Bristol give birth to Trig than she got pregnant again. A seventeen year old unwed girl from a family that believes in high morals getting pregnant as she is giving birth to a Downs Syndrome child, GIVE ME A BREAK! Seventeen year old girls make mistakes but not to this degree unless they come from a Liberal, no morals, dysfunctional family.

2007-09-30T12:52:00.001-04:00

Daddy caught me rearranging the stereo wires.

Do we really have control of our money?

2007-09-08T11:17:00.000-04:00

If it hadn't been for the fact that I have heard this information from multiple sources I'd pass on it as crack pot Conspiracy Theories. Think on it and do the research yourself.

2007-08-30T16:04:00.000-04:00

View looking down from railing

2007-08-30T16:01:00.001-04:00

View from inside room.

2007-08-30T15:58:00.001-04:00

Toward door from kitchen.

2007-08-30T15:56:00.001-04:00

Sleeping area.

2007-08-30T15:55:00.000-04:00

Just inside the room.