David F. Porter

It is time to jump back into a bit of biological family history. This one is a bit tough. David Porter was born to Grace and Albert Porter in Fulton County, Illinois in about 1927. My research up to this point has not provided me with an accurate date of birth. When the family broke up in the early to mid 1930's David, Kermit and Harriet are placed at Cunningham Children's Home in Champaign, Illinois.

I have spoken to Harriet about Cunningham and she stated the siblings rarely saw each other because the boys and girls were kept separate. David was eventually placed with a family but things did not go well. He was then placed in the Military School in Quincy Illinois. He is adopted by an Iowa family when he was 12 years old. We know this information because in 1960 he wrote Judge Murphy in Fulton County, Illinois and asked about his original birth certificate and family. Judge Murphy advised him that my biological grandmother Dora Louise Porter might be his sister. He wrote her on March 30, 1960 and relayed what he could remember of his family to her. He provided sufficient information to convince her that he was in fact her brother. David indicates that he lost track of Kermit when he was adopted by the Iowa family and has had no contact with any member of his birth family since then.

 

David's next letter to Dora indicates he has received letters from several of his siblings and from his mother. She sent a short note saying according to him: "She said it was too much of a shock for her to write more." He clearly has a gift for understatement since his mother had not seen or heard from him in almost 30 years. He has received pictures from several of them and is hoping for more. His sister Ruth suggests that that it would do no good to reach into the past and rehash all the things that happened to separate them and just move on from where they are now. He goes on to say something very forgiving: "I know Mother has paid dearly for the troubles of the whole family." He is most likely kinder than I would have been. He goes on to tell about his life. He served as a paratrooper during World War II in 1945 and 46. He is living in California and fate has not been kind at least financially. He is filing for bankruptcy. He is employed as a truck driver. He indicates he has met a wonderful girl named Dawn whom he calls Genie. She has two sons David 9 and Stephen 7. They also have a son together named Kenneth and a daughter Nona who is two weeks old. He states hopefully: "Our family is well and the future looks much better."

This is the picture David sent with his letter of his family without baby Nona.

 

The better times David hoped for were not to be. He next writes Dora in October 1960 indicating he is still working on the bankruptcy and that on October 25th his divorce from Dawn was final. She had run off with another man and left the children with him. The two older boys are going to be adopted by his ex father in law. Nona, according to David was conceived by the other man and is not his daughter although he says he loves her as if she were. He is not sure what will happen to her. Kenneth is the only child he feels is actually his. He apparently had asked Dora and George to help with some money so he could come out to Illinois and see them. George apparently was not happy about the request and vigorously rejected the idea. David apologizes for the gaff and states he is not a drunk or drug addict like his two deceased brothers were. He then states: "If anyone needed a drink, I should right now, but I know that brighter days are ahead and my troubles will be lighter very soon." He later closes the letter hoping to visit them soon and stating he is lonely there and has no friends.

 

I have discussed David with Harriet. When I interviewed her she indicated that he seemed to feel that his siblings should take care of him and provide his with a desk job of some sort. She relayed that he had passed away but she did not know when or where. My research to this point has not provided any records other than his military enlistment records from 1945 and his marriage record to Dawn in June of 1955. It appears that the brighter days and lighter troubles escaped him. Placed in an orphanage as a youth, cheated on and abandoned by his wife, seemingly rejected at least in part by his siblings one wonders if his life ever turned around. If I find any additional information I will share it here with you. 



39

Yesterday was our 39th wedding anniversary. No big party. No huge gifts. Just two people who have shared a life together and continue to be in love with each other. We did go out to lunch and did a little shopping. Then it was back home for a bit before we went to Monmouth. We went to Deep Blue Innovators Blues Festival at the Rivoli Theater. The draw for us was the opportunity to see Carol's former boss Glenn Brooks sing and play.

This is Glenn. He is an extremely accomplished musician and as he admits "a bit of a ham". There are many things to love about Glenn. His outgoing and unfailingly happy demeanor. The fact that he is in his 70's and can still make everyone in the crowd remember the rock and roll of their youth.

Manning the drums was Glenn's younger brother Chris Brooks. He is a bit younger than Glenn and is probably in his late 60's. His conduct and demeanor are much the same as Glenn.

The young fella pictured above is named Jay and he was playing lead guitar. He related to the crowd that he met Glenn and Chris when he was a student at Knox College and they had gotten him his start playing in bands with them. He now lives in St. Louis and drove up just to play in this show with them. He said he would drive anywhere for that opportunity. If you look closely you will note he is playing a right handed guitar left handed. The pic guard is up instead of down and the bass string is on the top rather than the bottom. He is the first person I have seen play this way other than Jimi Hendrix. Jay appeared to be in his 30's and was quite and accomplished guitar player.

This is a picture of the group playing. When they finished their set I went out front to buy a half rack of ribs from the local fella providing the food for the evening. Carol and I shared some of the best ribs we had eaten in several years. We stayed around for a while to listen to the next man playing but decided after a bit we had seen the group we wanted to see and it was time to go.

 

It was off to our favorite spot Budde's Pizza and American Craft Beer.

Kate Budde was kind enough to take a picture of us so we would have a photo to remember our 39th anniversary. We were enjoying a couple of Oktoberfest beers. It was also the bar's halloween party that night. We didn't stick around for all that but did get to see a couple of interesting costumes.

This couple came in walking abreast of each other basically dressed as a giant bra with two huge tits.

The cutie in the foreground is Tami. She is one of our favorite bartenders. We actually love all the bartenders there since they bring us beer. She is doing her best angry zombie impression. The man behind her is Mike Budde dressed as Walter White from breaking bad. After taking these pictures we went home to take care of our dogs Teddi and Lily. Carol was kind enough to let me watch my Cardinal baseball team play in the World Series. I wish my Cub fan friends could experience how good it feels to say playing in the World Series. Mike, I know it has been a while for your Mets but at least you have memories. Pat is still waiting. So that was our 39th anniversary. Next year maybe we will have a party since it will be our 40th.

 















The Comforts of Home

As winter and cold weather swiftly approaches there are things to be accomplished in BFE. The mower needs to be removed from the tractor and the snowblower put on. The antifreeze needs to be checked in both tractors. Caulking around the house where there are leaks and in general tightening things up. It will be time to work on some quilting with the wife. She gets my assistance in the winter. The granddaughters need quilts made out of Papa's old clothes. Soup mixes have been ordered and were delivered today. Nothing quite like a bowl of warm soup on a cold winter day. One of the main chores is moving firewood from the outside stacks into the garage. It burns so much better when it isn't covered with snow.

The racks are set on the west side of the garage.

The tractor loader is filled from the outside stacks and driven into the garage to be unloaded.

It will take several trips to fill the racks. The great thing about wood is that it heats you every time you move it. Cut, split, stack, load, stack, move it into house, stack it in the fireplace and light it up. Most of it will be handled about 5 times before it is burned.

So here we are half done, one rack filled.

Success at last as both racks are filled.



The reward later in the evening is getting to sit on the love seat with Carol while the fire warms the room and gives it that romantic feel. Somehow that moment makes all the work worth the effort.

Harvest 2013

Last week my older brother Jay and younger brother David called. It was corn harvest and they wanted me to know I was welcome to come over to where they were farming for a ride along. They had purchased a new 8 row corn head for the combine and thought I would like to see how it worked. Those of you who don't farm or didn't grow up on a farm may never understand the draw that spring and fall have to those of us who grew up the changing of the seasons being an important event. I got in my truck and drove over for a bit of the harvest experience. I think for me the draw is not so much the sights and sounds as it is the smells. Especially the smell of harvesting corn.

This is the combine coming down through the field. It doesn't look too large from here.

This is a closer view. The tank on top is almost full of corn. It holds about 250 bushels. That would be about 14,000 pounds of corn. My older brother Jay is driving. The machine in total is about the size of a two car garage or a small house.

He has reached the end of the field and is unloading the corn into wagons to be hauled to the grain elevator. One load from the combine will fill one of those wagons.

This is the view from the driver's seat looking down at corn plants being pulled into the head. The grain will go into the combine's tank and the rest will be ejected from the rear of the machine. I had the opportunity to drive for a little while. It is always an amazing experience. Some many things going on that you need to monitor and so much the machine does with little interaction from the driver. The new head has ground hugging sensors so once it is lowered into position at the end of the row it adusts automatically to the contours of the ground. If you spend several thousand dollars more and buy a GPS unit you can basically just ride along yelling at everyone you see: "Look no hands!!!!" It had a different meaning 50 years ago when harvesting was a very dangerous profession and lots of farmers had at least on arm that had a hook instead of a hand.





My older brother Jay up on a wagon pushing corn away from the edge so it doesn't spill on the way to the elevator. The tractor pulling the wagons is another miracle of modern technology. It is a 275+ horsepower beast with an infinite variable transmission. The brain box of this monster determines the most efficient engine and transmission combination to get the job done. It saves a lot of fuel and wear and tear on the machine. The top speed on the road is 32 MPH. Since the front axel has suspension and the cab and seat are isolated it is a smooth ride down the road at that speed. My 40 horsepower Kubota has a maximum speed of 18 MPH and on the same road with no suspension will bounce you out of the seat.

My brothers are minimum tillage farmers and have spent years honing their craft. They finally feel in their late 50's and early 60's they understand how to raise a very good crop of corn. They would not share what the yeild was on this farm and frankly it is none of my business but from the smiles on their faces I would say it has been a very good year.

Greed

Over the past weekend at a WalMart in Louisana patrons who utilized EBT cards for the SNAP (food stamp program) noted their cards showed no purchase limits. Soon the store was overwhelmed with shoppers who apparently stripped the shelves bare in an attempt to get food items that they did not have funds to purchase. WalMart employees had noted the problem and contacted their corporate office. They were advised to let the folks go ahead and shop. IBM who runs the system was doing a test of its emergency generators and that apparently crashed the system which resulted in no balances showing. One shopper who was being checked out when the system returned to normal had a 49 cent balance on her card and about $700 worth of grocery items scanned. WalMart indicated they would not prosecute if the shopper left the groceries. The shopper walked out empty handed. If you are curious there are procedures in place for when this sort of thing happens. We are a caring nation and don't want anyone to go hungry. If the system crashes and the store has no idea what their EBT-SNAP balance is they are allowed to purchase $50 worth of food items. The limit varies by state, this is the limit in Louisana. WalMart was contacted and corporate did not respond to inquiries if employees at the store were aware of the $50 limit.

You might reasonably ask, where the fuck are you going with this? Greed, avarice, whatever you want to call it seems to be a hallmark of the current American lifestyle. Game the system. Get yours before someone else gets it. Get all you can and fuck the next person. I watch Shark Tank and too often I listen to one of the "sharks" ask how much it costs to produce an item and how much it sells for. The response may be that it costs $3 to make and is sold for $6. The "shark" has one concern. Can the cost of production be lowered? It is never the intent to lower the price for the item it is to increase the gap between the cost of the good and its ultimate sale price. So, you watch investors with hundreds of millions or in some cases billions of dollars concern themselves only with the procurement of more money. We celebrate their greed. We commend them as job creators. When they try to lower the costs of production they are almost always suggesting moving production overseas. They are job creators but the jobs are often in China. There is no concern for those losing jobs here only with getting a better return on their meager investment. I contend meager since often the request is for a modest sum given the extreme wealth of the sharks.

Let's get a bit closer to home. You go to the store and pick up 20 grocery items. When you review the register receipt when you get home you note that you got your 20 items but were only charged for 19. The item that did not ring up was valued at $20. What do you do? It's a big store like WalMart and they won't miss that $20? Do you go back and pay the $20? What if it was the other way around? You got overcharged $20. We are all in the car headed back and fussing about our time and expense for the extra trip.

Many are making a big deal out of this incident at WalMart over SNAP benefits. Isn't that typical, welfare queens and people to lazy to work taking advantage of the system. The truth I see here is that there is no difference in the three situations. The "sharks" were greedy and taking advantage, if I get something I didn't pay for and know about it then to my thinking I stole it. The folks in Louisana were guilty of greed and theft as well but no more than the other two groups. You don't get a free pass if you are rich, or it wasn't your intent, or extra blame because you are poor. Morals are not situational. Greed, is greed, is greed. We cannot celebrate it in the rich and punish it in the poor. It is always wrong.

FISH

I was volunteering at the FISH food bank the other day and wondered why more of the poor and hungry in Knox County did not use the food bank. It occurred to me after a few moments of thought that perhaps the price for the help was too high. Not in terms of money. The food is free. Nothing is required from anyone who comes and gets food. You have to be a resident of Knox County and you indicate without proof that you meet the income guidelines. No donation, no prayers, no going to church. All you have to do is walk up to the door and lay down your pride. Think about it. What are the hardest things to say? I'm sorry. I was wrong. I need help. The world opens up when we are able to utter those sentences.

When you stand on the side processing the requests the most difficult thing is being nonjudgmental. I don't know why they got in the position they are in. Drugs, alcohol, abusive parents, no parents, accident, illness, bad luck, it could be any one of a million things. My reponsibility is simply to prepare the food order for their size family and hand it to them. When I wonder about what happened to bring them there I redirect my mind to two things. First, they have humbled themselves and given up their pride. Second, but for luck and grace that could be me.

Emotions

I will first apologize for being absent for a few days. Saturday I was down with some sort of horrible stomach  ailment. I will not share the gory details only saying that my I never got far from the bed or the bathroom. It is not something I would wish on anyone. It appears to this point Mrs. Sutor has avoided my fate. Let's hope her luck holds out.

I have been hesitant to write on this subject because I have just been too something. I continue to try to determine the emotion or emotions involved. The government is shut down and we appear to be stumbling along to a default on our national debt. I initially thought my feelings about this were anger. Rage, perhaps. Disappointment, grief, sadness, also seemed in play. If you are looking for me to blame one side or the other you will be disappointed. I blame them all. Everyone involved has some responsibility to bear in this mess. This is not something that has developed overnight. Not something that has occured because we have our current President, Senate Majority Leader or Speaker of the House. We have stumbled toward the edge for decades. Spending more than we take in. Allowing larger and larger annual deficits. Involving ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Trying to be the planet's policeman. We argue that we want to keep government out of our lives. Well, that seems conditional. If the program benefits me, then it should stay around. If it doesn't, then clearly it needs to go away. I worked in the public sector almost my entire working career. I did factory work a couple of times and honestly I don't see much difference between work in the two areas. In both cases I went in and did what I was told to the best of my ability. If it needed done and it wasn't my job. It didn't matter. Did I wonder in both cases if I would or could lose my job? Sure. Things happen in government and industry and positions are eliminated. I paid into social security and into two government pension systems. It cost me over $1,000 a month to get old. It was taken with an agreement on how it would be paid back. The state of Illinois is in dire financial straits at this time. They have already made changes to the health care coverage they agreed to provide. Later this year or sometime next year they will change my pension benefit. I understand and accept that. It is called shared sacrifice. We all give something so that we all benefit. There is almost none of that going on in Washington at the moment. It is sad and frustrating, and disappointing and stupid.

So many things in this fight have gone wrong. The closing of the World War Two Memorial and the National Mall was stupid. The comments by some on the right that the Affordable Care Act is the worst piece of legislation ever and compare it to the Fugitive Slave Act are simply clueless. Louie Gohmert, Representative in the House from Texas never fails to amaze me. If you wonder why nothing gets done here is part of the reason. His recent quote: "All this clown (speaking of the President) needs to do is repeal the most important law he ever passed, and then this will be over. Why is that so hard? The Tea Party represents almost 22 percent of Americans. Only a dictator would refuse to give us everything we want. Obama should be more than impeached-- he should be in jail." If we got what we wanted because 22% of Americans demanded it then the United States would be a very interesting place. I haven't checked the numbers recently but last time I looked somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% favored universal background checks for firearm purchases. The percentage of Americans who favor a policy has nothing to do with it being right and becoming law. I am inclined to agree with my friend Dan who feels that the Affordable Care Act was designed to fail to that single payer health care could be implemented. While I don't like the Affordable Care Act, I do think that everyone should have health care coverage. There has to be some way to get that done that all can agree on. Here is my problem. We have to stop talking past each other and start talking to each other. We need to do the things a Christian nation, which we claim to be, should do. The basic things. Feed the hungry, educate our children, provide health care to all our citizens. There must be a way to talk and come together and get those things done.

Until we start addressing issues and stop the name calling and sound bites I will continue to be all those emotions. Sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed....

October

I think maybe this is my favorite month. The leaves on the trees begin to turn. The weather turns cooler. Fat guys love that, we sweat less in October. Warm enough you don't need a coat, cool enough you aren't making your own gravy. The corn is ready and harvest begins. Spring brings the smell of freshly turned soil. Fall brings the smell of corn harvest. Chaff in the wind and the roasty smell of corn going through a dryer. The poison ivy turns that lovely shade of red and I'm less likely to get covered again until next spring.

 It is the month of our wedding anniversary and marks the day I was fortunate enough to convince the most wonderful woman in the world to marry me. Later this month will mark 39 years of marital bliss. This is us circa 1974.

Friday night marked Octoberfest at Budde's our favorite bar in the world. Where we go and feel like we are at home having a beer or two with friends.

So this is a bonus, we have the four food groups represented. Meat, cheese, bread and beer. Why waste limited stomach space on things like fruit and vegetables?

 

So as you can see the beer is on ice as is the cask which will be tapped shortly. The fella in the blue shirt is our able barkeep Casey. You may recognize him from previous posts as he is the mandolin player for Frank F. Sidney's Western Bandit Volunteers. The guy in the orange shirt and hat is Jim Smith owner of Somethings Brewn and an excellent beer brewer.

The man in the gray hat is Mike Budde and the gal peaking around the firkin is Diane Budde. They are the owners of Budde's Pizza and Craft Beer Bar. Mike is getting ready to tap the firkin by knocking the faucet in displacing the bung from the bunghole. Yes, dear reader, do not be disappointed your faithful blogger made numerous comments before, during and after regarding Mike and his actions hammer into the bunghole. Did I feel like it was too easy? Did it make me feel cheap?Did I comment anyway? Fuck yea!

The firkin has been tapped and the golden elixer of life flows forth. October is a glorious month. Let the games begin.

The contest was to hold a full mug of water at arms length. The winner would get a prize. Jim dropped out first. He later alleged that if the mug had been full of beer and he got to drink it if he won he would have showed the young fellas how it was done. My personal opinion is that he would have been disqualified for drinking the contents and holding up an empty mug.

 

Carol, pictured on the far right decided to enter the lady's competition. She was the senior participant. The ladies were directed to hold their mugs out straight ahead at breast level.

 

 









You will note that Carol's arm has started to droop a bit. Some in the crowd commented that she was not holding her mug as required. She calmly replied that she knew where her breasts were and could in fact hold her mug lower and still have it at breast level. I, for once in my life, remained safely silent. 

I include this final picture of Jim to say that a few drinks and a smile is great way to spend an evening with friends in the glorious month of October. Seasons change but true friends don't. Go have a beer and chat with a friend you haven't seen in a while or make a new friend.

Bark-a-thon 2013

Today, as they have for several days recently, two young deer came up in the yard to eat acorns under a large burr oak near Teddy and Lily's exercise area. It was still damp out so they had not been let out yet. Teddy managed to spot one of the deer passing by and the bark-a-thon was on.

 

It is tough to see due to the angle but the deer on the left is the one farthest from the fence. If you look just up the fence from the gate you can see one grazing along the fence line. This picture was taken after the dogs had been barking for about 30 minutes.

As you can see the deer are completely unconcerned with all the barking coming from the house. We have french doors in the great room and a garden door in our bedroom. The dogs were running between the two sets of doors barking for almost an hour. It was wonderful. The great thing about living out here in BFE is the wildlife coming up in the yard to eat. The other great thing is that the dogs can bark for hours and there is no one around to complain. They don't disturb anyone but us and we have become somewhat immune to the racket.

 

This picture and the next couple were taken just west of our house on the way to Galesburg on Wednesday evening. This deer was in the ditch when we drove down the hill. She jumped over the  fence and decided when we stopped we were not a threat and posed for a few pictures.

She stopped and gave us this coy over the shoulder look back as I snapped a few pictures out the car window.

 

After a couple of minutes she turned to have a look at us and really never seemed to feel we were a threat. The archery season has started and in a few weeks shotgun season will open. A deer that stands still and looks at you like this will end up in someone's freezer. I don't have the heart or desire to  kill one so the only shots I take are these. 











I couldn't do it

We have all had an experience similar to the one I had yesterday. Carol wanted to go to Peoria last night to a quilt guild meeting. There were several ladies going and Carol thought she might have to drive. Her car was below a half tank so I offered to take it to Wataga and fill it with gasoline. Small town living in the Midwest is truly life at its finest. I pulled up and pushed buttons on the pump so I could pay inside after my purchase. Carol wanted a candy bar and I wanted a bottle of pop. The clerk inside was pleased to announce over the loudspeaker that pump 4 was ready. It seemed like a pointless gesture since I was the only customer at the time. Must have been one of their rules. I finished pumping gas and went in to make my other two purchases. Debit card processed receipt in hand I am ready to depart and head back for BFE. The young lady working the cash register then says: "Have a great day." She said it nicely and seemed sincere. Maybe I should have left it at that, but I could not. I'm tired of people I don't know and I am not friends with telling me what kind of day to have. It wasn't enough for her to say have a nice day. No, she had to go for the gold medal. Have a GREAT day. I stopped my walk toward the door and said as kindly as I could: "I really don't think I am capable of that at this point. Would it be okay if I just have an average day? Maybe shoot for adequate? You telling me to have a great day puts a lot of pressure on me. I'm just not willing to work that hard at it. I mean really it's after lunch and I've been slacking all morning. If it is going to be a great day I've got to really work at it now. Could we back that off to something less strenuous?" She agreed, while giving me that- you crazy old bastard look- and told me to have an average day. Since she doesn't know what average is for me I figured I could just leave and have any kind of day I wanted.

I am tired of people I don't know trying to tell me what kind of day to have. Shouldn't they say: "I hope you have a nice day."? I think that sounds less like a command and more like someone being kind and hoping your day goes well. I  don't need sales clerks telling me what kind of day to have. It seems to have gotten out of control. It appears in some places the government is trying to tell citizens what kind of day to have. They have also added another requirement.

Now I have to smile too? When will it stop? Smile, say hello, have a nice day? Smile, pick up litter, say hello, have a nice day? Smile, pick up litter, say hello, hug a baby, carry packages for old ladies, open a door for someone, and have a nice day? Those things seem less sincerely done when I am ordered to do them. Can't I just do them and have whatever kind of day I want? So here is my response to your demand that I have a nice day.

What do those fucking numbers mean?

I had my occasional doctor's appointment yesterday. When the appointment was over I went to the fourth floor to have a blood draw done. Last night Dr. Hill called and left me a message with the results of that blood test. My HbA1C was 5.8, blood glucose 101, triglycerides 198, HDL 42 and LDL 133. Well that is all wonderful but what the fuck does all that mean. What the hell is HDL and LDL and why do I care? Using my numbers you get today's health lesson.

Let's start with HbA1C. Glycated hemoglobin or glycosylated hemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin that is measured to identify the average plasma glucose concentration over prolonged periods of time. The lab test shows the average level of blood sugar (glucose) over the previous three months. My number was 5.8. The number considered normal is 5.7. You are considered prediabetic at 5.8 to 6.4 and diabetic at levels above 6.5. So far the news is acceptable. Above what is considered ideal but by the slightest of margins.

Blood glucose is the amount of sugar present in the blood. It is the primary source of energy for the body's cells. It is made available for cell absorption by the hormone insulin. My fasting blood glucose level was 101 mg/dl. So translated a bit it was 101 milligrams per deciliter. Fasting blood sugar is considered normal when it is between 70 and 100 mg/dl. You are considered impaired in the range of 101 to 125 mg/dl and diabetic at 126 or above mg/dl fasting. So once again just outside of normal but close.

Triglycerides are synthesized by your body and are received by the body through the food you eat. They transport the dietary fat to your fat cells and high triglycerides suggest an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. My triglyceride level was 198 mg/dl. The literature indicates that ideal is less than 150 mg/dl. Boarderline high is 150 to 199 mg/dl, high is 200 to 499 mg/dl and 500 mg/dl or above is very high. This time I am pushing the limits of what is considered acceptable. How do you lower this number? The following actions are recommended.

Avoid foods containing sugar
Avoid alcoholic beverages
Quit smoking
Avoid high intake of simple carbohydrates
Follow a high fiber diet
Avoid sweets
Avoid heavy meals
Avoid late night eating
Lose weight
Exercise

It looks based on that list that I have a few lifestyle changes to make.

LDL cholesterol is low-density lipoprotein. It is called that because it is less dense than other cholesterol particles. LDL cholesterol is referred to as the "bad cholesterol". This is why. Some LDL circulating through the blood system tends to deposit on the walls of arteries. White blood cells swallow and try to digest the LDL in an attempt to protect the blood vessels. In the process the LDL is converted to the toxic oxidized form. More white blood cells move to the area creating a low grade inflammation of the artery wall. Over time this creates a bump in the artery wall called plaque. The process continues slowly blocking the artery. If a sudden rupture occurs on the surface of the plaque it can cause a heart attack. So what do the numbers mean. My LDL number was 133 mg/dl. An LDL of 100 mg/dl is considered optimal. An LDL of 100 to 129 is considered near optimal. My LDL level falls in the 130 to 159 mg/dl which is boarderline high. Numbers from 160 to 189 mg/dl are high and over 190 is very high. There is clearly some work I need to do here as well.

HDL cholesterol is high density lipoprotein. It is considered the "good" cholesterol. This scavenger cruises through the bloodstream removing bad LDL cholesterol from where it does not belong. High HDL levels reduce the risk for heart disease and low HDL levels increase the risk of heart disease. My HDL number was 42 mg/dl. The numbers here are below 40 mg/dl is bad. Numbers above 60 are considered good. So I fall closer to the bad range but thankfully not in it. The number can be changed through the lifestyle changes noted above.

Finally there is an overall cholesterol number that some feel is helpful. It is calculated by adding together your HDL and LDL numbers along with 20% of your triglyceride number. In my case that number is 214. The charts say the following. Less than 200 mg/dl puts you at low risk for coronary heart disease. 200 to 239 mg/dl is boarderline high. 240 mg/dl is high and puts you at twice the risk for coronary heart disease than someone who is below 200 mg/dl.

So there you have today's health lesson. Don't just know your numbers, know what they mean. Know what you can do to change them and then make a plan if one is needed. I know I need to lose weight and exercise more. Eat less in the evening. Reduce alcohol consumption, now they are just talking crazy. You must draw the line somewhere.

Dr. Hill

From time to time I lose my resolve and go see the good doctor. It has been a long relationship between Dr. Hill and I. He was the physician of choice when I began working at the Mary Davis Home. At that time, around 1980, he was new in the Galesburg area and was trying to build a practice. We would have to transport the kids to his office in handcuffs. I remember one visit where we had to work on a few issues. Dr. Hill is English. He had a bit more accent then as opposed to now. He also used terms that he would have used in Great Britain which confused the unsophisticated clients we had. On the visit I remember best he told the young man I had taken over to see him to: "Pull up your jersey and pull down your trousers." The young man being examined turned to me with that deer in the headlights look. He had no idea what Dr. Hill wanted him to do. I told him to pull up his shirt and pull down his pants. I then advised Dr. Hill that I would be his English to American English translator. I had two young men with me that day and I could not take them both in the exam room at the same time. You know that whole turn your head and cough deal. Even if it's a doctor you don't want another incarcerated guy to see another man cupping your balls. I had to leave the second young man out of my sight to witness the exam of the other kid. Having only one set of handcuffs I determined the best course of action was to cuff him to a coat rack that was mounted to the wall. He asked me what he was supposed to do and was advised to just stand there till I came back. Surprisingly he actually did.

Dr. Hill and I are both a bit older now. He is in his early 70's and feels like retirement would be boring. I am in my late 50's and feel like anything is better than working again. I hadn't been to see the good doctor in over a year because from time to time I am determined to be stupid. I had been taking medication for high blood pressure and decided with no medical evidence that it was no longer needed. When I visited today my blood pressure was 148/88. Here is the Mayo Clinic chart.

Systolic                                                     diastolic
below 120                    Normal                  below 80

121-139              pre hypertension  or       80-89

140-159           stage 1 hypertension or   90-99

160 or more    stage 2 hypertension  or 100 or more

Then you throw in the following. Heigth 70", weight 258, BMI 37.1  If I was a turkey I would be easily be considered a "butterball". So back on blood pressure medication I go. Dr. Hill also ordered some blood testing so I went upstairs and got stuck. It is likely I will end up on cholesterol medication as well. Of course he wouldn't be a good doctor if he didn't try to get me to do some other things. He suggested a flu vaccination and a colonoscopy. I declined both. He tried to convince me the colonoscopy was a good test given my age. I again declined. He tried again and I refused stating they could put that test where the sun don't shine. He advised me that was what they had in mind. Sorry Dr. Hill but no glamour shots up my poop chute.

So my advice. If you haven't seen your doctor in a while, go. If you don't know what your blood pressure is, have it checked. When you have it checked keep track of the results. If the trend over the months is up then get some medication. Don't be like me.