A couple thoughts on a windy, sunny Sunday afternoon

This is me on a Sunday afternoon, around 3:30pm.  It was a beautiful day in Pittsburgh, 73F with returning birds chirping happily away.

(News alerts say thunderstorms are on their way in the next hour or so.  I love a good storm, don't you?) 

It's hard to believe that just 4 days ago, we awoke to 2 inches of snow on the ground and a frigid temp of 20F.  My friend Diana said it was "Winter's Last Hurrah".  I had a haircut appt at 10am, and walked thru a blizzard to get there.  

Afterwards I sat in my barbershop another 30 minutes, waiting for the snow to die down.  Just another Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

I tried going outside earlier today for a bit, but my scalp and face had a pretty adverse reaction to all the sunlight.  Came back inside, laid down for an hour or so... it's just a waiting game.

I wish I had a clue how long these long covid symptoms plan to continue.  Aside from a couple afternoons in early December and February, it's been a pretty constant battle since it returned September 12.  

It makes me feel abnormal, isolated.  I was already weird before all this, and this doesn't help! 

I've never minded being a hermit, but when you don't have a choice... anyway, I just need to remind yourself, it could be worse.  I am hoping, hoping this will end by summer.

Hey, can I include a little rant here?  Do you see this "Very Local" app on my tv screen, second row, far right?

It's for locally produced programs--a little bit ago I watched a documentary about rehabilitating inmates by having them train guide dogs at the prison downtown.  But I suppose my favorite feature is the news. It airs the most recent local broadcast from WTAE-TV, our ABC affiliate.  

However, every commercial break--EVERY ONE--is for one of those cheesy, awful gambling apps you can download to your smartphone.  I think those things are the absolute worst, and you just know some poor sucker is going to blow the few bucks they have for a hopeful "big score".  Phones are too convenient for gambling!  I think that people who want to use these apps should be required to register and prove they have the resources to waste if they're married with a family.  End of rant.

Speaking of addictions, as long as my tv is up there... a couple weeks ago I signed up for "You Tube Premium Lite".  It's $7.99 a month and allows you to watch everything on YouTube (with the exception of music videos) ad-free.

Those ads are what kept me from watching more than a few YT videos in one sitting.  (They aired twice as many ads if you watched YouTube vids on your tv instead of your computer, so I never did.)   Now I catch myself watching that YT app a good hour a day or longer.  It's why I'm on here writing another blog post so soon instead.

Today I'm having a Sunday dinner of chicken tenders (I made a pan of these a couple weeks ago and froze 6 baggies worth), garlicky spinach and white cheddar mashed potatoes.  A friend recently asked why I go to the trouble of cooking every day.  She said if she was single like me she'd be having cold sandwiches or cereal for dinner.   

What can I say, I like a hot meal to end my blog with.  Thanks for letting me share.  I wish I could share this chicken too--it's good.

These might be relics now, but I am still the Trek Master

Recently, my friend Margaret from the blog 'Stargazer' posted a photo of a little dog with snarling teeth and a horn on his head, and a black cat wearing a gold Star Trek tunic.  She wrote "It's Trivia Time, does anyone know what Star Trek episode this dog is from?"

It took me 0.02 milliseconds to recognize the dog from the Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within", where a malfunctioning transporter begins beaming things up--twice.  It was a brilliant episode, and a frightening one as well when a duplicate Captain Kirk goes on a violent rampage.

After I responded with my answer, she said "Right!  The black cat is from the episode with Gary Seven, do you remember that one?"

I almost spit up my Romulan ale; did she seriously just ask if I remembered the 1968 episode "Assignment: Earth"??  That would be like asking if I knew the name of the spaceship that Captain Kirk & Mr. Spock flew on!

All joking aside, I am very grateful to have good friends like Margaret from Washington, Jase from Colorado, Roger from Georgia, and Chuck & Robin from Canada who enjoy Star Trek too.

I thought I'd use this as an excuse to show off my Star Trek TV dvd collection.  I told my Trekkie friend Roger recently that given the awfulness of the new show Starfleet Academy, I was streaming Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on Paramount Plus instead.

He said "You should consider buying Deep Space Nine on physical media, DVDs are making a comeback."

I do not believe dvds are making a comeback, but I still almost choked on my Tarkalean tea.  I DO own Deep Space Nine on dvd!  I own all the Trek shows, movies, everything!  I am the Trek Master!

But in a way, Roger is right.  I don't own the "official" episodes of DS9.  When they were first released in 2004, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was $599.99 for the boxed set.  I couldn't bring myself to pay that much, so I began looking in some pretty shady corners of the internet.  

I found a Chinese company that sold bootlegs of Trek TV shows, and I got all seven seasons of DS9 for $79.00 total. 

The set arrived in these wonderful silkscreen boxes.  I loved their packaging so much, I didn't feel guilty for buying bootlegs.  The discs were high quality, affordable--and even had an option to hear the episodes in Mandarin!

Finally, a couple years before I retired (and was still in my old apartment) I found a graphics website RixGrafix where you could download his artwork and make your own DVD boxes.

I wanted a more uniform option to display my Star Trek dvds, so I downloaded the art for all the Trek series, and printed them at an office supply store on hi-grade paper on my lunch hours.

I bought 50 dvd cases from a DVD container warehouse, and they turned out really nice.  The first picture below is my Star Trek: The Next Generation dvds in their fan art boxes.  

The second photo shows Star Trek: Enterprise, Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager.

When you line them up on your shelf, the spines form a spacey Trek collage.  😏

I no longer display them.  When I moved to my new apartment in 2017, I sold or gave away my bookcases, and all of my Trek dvds went into storage.  As long as I can stream them on Paramount, that's where I'll watch them.

Oh and for the record, I went on Amazon last night to see if ST:DS9 was available to purchase, it is.  But unlike that $599 price tag in 2004, they're only $66.00 now.  I'm not buying, but good to know. 

Microblogging, Teepee style: The Good, the Sad and the Ugly

It's been awhile since I did a "Micro-blog" (written on a variety of subjects under one title) but I've got several things on my mind.  So if you'll indulge me...

1. Missing any teeth?  I am, 3 molars in my lower left quadrant.  And Japan may save the day.

Back in September (when I assumed I was recovered from long covid and underwent a lengthy dental procedure which somehow triggered a relapse)  I was all set to begin preparations for an "implant bridge" for 3 missing molars.

I may not have to go that route.  Japan is completing testing of a drug that will REGROW TEETH IN PEOPLE WITH MISSING TEETH.

Apparently people are born not with 2 sets of teeth, but 3.  A protein in our system called USAG-1 prevents the third set from coming in.  Japan has created an intravenous drug called TRG-035 that inhibits the protein and causes missing teeth to grow in, with no adverse affects.  

This has been tested successfully on mice, ferrets and 30 people with missing teeth aged to 64.  The ADA said it should be on the market in 3 years and will have a profound effect on dentures and dental implants.  Let's hope so.

2. Do you have any strange habits you can't really explain?  Here's one of mine

Every morning when I make my bed, I rub a lemon fresh Clorox bleach wipe over my fitted sheet.  I put on the top sheet, and do the same thing again.

Why am I doing this?  I wear an extra large t-shirt to bed (and nothing else).  I change my sheets every dozen days or so.  But there's something about getting into bed every night with that faint smell of disinfecting lemon that really turns me on.  Am I a weirdo?

3.  Remember Susan Richardson from 'Eight is Enough'?  You should see her now

This show ran on ABC from 1977-1981.  Susan Richardson played Susan, the "jock" of the family.  Born on March 11, 1952 she turned 74 a few days ago.  This was her then, and how she looks now.

You should play this 20 second video of her.  She hasn't had an easy life,  I'm just shocked and saddened how poorly she's aged.  It seems like every day I'm reminded I'm getting old myself.  

And finally, speaking of aging... last week one of the people who read my blog (Carole) sent me a link to a long-covid drug study being done in Massachusetts.  Thank you Carole.

I contacted them, and was told the study was closed to new enrollees but even if it wasn't, I was over the 50 years age limit.  They expressed their regrets but asked if I'd still answer some questions and I said yes.

They said people in the study had been dealing with this for 2 years or longer.  I said mine began in January 2024, about two weeks after recovering from covid.  I said it was 16 months of hell, and then in the spring of 2025 I began having "well days" every 2-3 days.  I told her I belonged to a senior club at the time, and used those 'well days' to visit the center and go on a couple restaurant outings.  Finally, near the end of July 2025 it was mostly gone for good.

(It returned Sept 12, 2025 after that disastrous dental procedure and yadda yadda, you know the rest.)  It's pretty much been bad ever since, with no "well days" like l experienced a year ago.  In fact, every blog-post I've written this year I've been tempted to say I'm taking a break.

The woman I was talking to (Stacey) asked if I was maintaining a healthy mindset, I said yes and no.  I said I was dealing with depression and guilt, she said that was not uncommon.  I said I had three friends I talk to on the phone--Mary from the Senior Center, Diana & Pen who I went to high school with a hundred years ago.  I added that I write a blog and follow others blogs, which helps me feel less alone.  

Stacey asked me to contact her again when I feel I'm making a recovery, I said I'd do that.  That's it.  Thanks for letting me share, everybody.

In a world without Star Trek...

(Friday morning, 9am.; there's a gentle knocking on my front door.  When I answer it, there's a young woman there.  Very attractive, Afro-American, mid-twenties.)

HER: Good morning sir, am I disturbing you?

ME:  Good morning, not at all.  Can I help you?

HER:  Yes--hee hee!  I moved into #412 this week and wanted to get my wash done.  Steiner told me to pick an empty block of time on the calendar in the washroom, but there's no one using it right now, and your apartment number is on there for this morning.  Do you need it?

ME:  Actually, I'm 402.  My neighbor Dee is 401, that's her block of time right now but she isn't home.

HER:  Do you think she would mind?

ME:  Well, she left a little while ago to run a pan of noodles up to the Catholic Church on Lincoln Avenue for their Friday fish fry.  She may want to use it when she gets back.  But I don't think anyone else is scheduled on there after her today.

HER:  Okay, thank you!  I like your door sign, is that Jewish?  I love the Jews!

ME:   Thank you... no it's not Jewish.  It's uh, Vulcan.

HER:  Oh.. Balkan.  What country are they from?

ME:   I think that's a bunch of countries but not Balkan.  VUL-can. 

HER:  Oh, Vulcan!  What country are they from?

ME:  Um... a tv show, Star Trek.  You know, Mister Spock.  He was a Vulcan.

HER:   I don't, I'm sorry!  But you seem very gentle!

ME:  Ha, okay... thanks, and nice to meet you.  Welcome to the Tiffany.

Later, after Dee comes home.  Another knocking on my door.  This one is pretty loud.

ME:  Hi Dee, what's up?

HER:  Can I use your phone?  I let my daughter borrow my phone up at Assumption, and the ding-a-ling left and took it with her!

ME:  Sure--here ya go.  Just tap the phone icon on the bottom.

(Dee calls her daughter and tells her she needs her phone back right away for her pills.)

HER:  Here y'go, thanks.

ME:  You're welcome.   Hope you have a nice--

HER:  Why do ya got a man on your phone?  None of my business.  Is he a soccer player?

ME:  No, that's Captain Kirk.

HER:  Did you say Catherine?  You know I wear a hearing aid.

ME:  CAPTAIN.  Captain Kirk.

HER:  Captain Cook?

ME:  No Dee, forget it.  He's a character on Star Trek.

HER:  Sorry, I don't watch the Disney Channel.  My granddaughter does though.

😢😢😢

Soup Thursdays aren't for everyone, and patience isn't a virtue--it's a necessity

Here was my Thursday dinner.  A crusty roll and bowl of Mexican Style Street Corn Soup.  It was very tasty with several cheeses and jalapenos, and the can suggested I add a dollop of sour cream so I did.  I never thought I'd be eating Campbell's again, but I do like their Home Style soups.

I eat soup every Thursday.  This began a couple years ago, when I would eat a light dinner on Thursdays because I did a weekly weigh-in Friday mornings.  (It's no longer official, but I still do those Friday weigh-ins.)

Anyway, Wednesday night I'm talking to a friend on the phone while looking at the cans of soup in my cupboard and trying to decide.  She said "Why must you have soup on Thursdays?  You know what--never mind."

What's the problem here?   I said "I don't have to have it only on Thursdays.  On Monday I had a BLT with butternut squash soup for dinner.  But Thursday will still be Soup Thursday.  It doesn't have to be one flavor, one week it could be a bowl of Tomato Bisque and a grilled pepper jack cheese sandwich, the next week a ham sandwich and broccoli soup."  

All she said was "Okay Sheldon."  I admit it, I've become a creature of habit, particularly while waiting for these long covid symptoms to abate.  I'll admit something else; Fridays are Fish Fridays.  That's not during Lent, that's year round.  It might be fried haddock one week, baked flounder the next.  But Thursdays are Soup Thursdays and Fridays are Fish Fridays.  I don't understand why this would bother anyone, do you?  

Part 2:  These things take time... too much time

This past Sunday after finishing that blog about my childhood church, I was eager to get cleaned up and head outside.  We were having our first day of blue skies and warm temps in months, and I wanted some.  But while putting on my shoes, I began "smelling covid", that strong odor of burnt hair and diesel fuel & baked beans.  (That means a flare up is fast approaching.)  I wound up turning everything off, going into the bedroom and shutting the door.  I laid in there until almost 5pm.

This has been a daily thing since my big relapse in September.  A mild burning in the eyes and face in the morning,  it rises and falls during the day, settles down around 10pm.  But every couple days it's a crazy-ass flareup day; I honestly wonder if this will ever go away.  It did last summer.

Monday morning, my barber sent me an article about long covid and "micro clots" in the blood, which scientists say are causing the long term symptoms.  It was a scary but interesting read and meant a lot that Roe took the time to read the article and send it to me.

Anyway, after getting up and starting my Sunday dinner (cheesy rice with roasted green peppers & baked chicken) I turned on the tv to catch the next episode of "Pioneer Woman".  I began watching her cooking show a couple years ago with Season 1, Episode 1 and vowed to watch every show.  I am currently on Season 7, Episode 3.  My 81st episode!

I don't think my Soup Thursdays are "Sheldon-esque", but I admit I'm pretty anal about finishing things I've started.  After this one was over, I noted there were 10 more episodes of Season 7.  There are 13 episodes per season.  How many seasons are there in total?  

THERE ARE 39 SEASONS.  (She must do 3 seasons every calendar year.)

I did a manual count of remaining episodes to watch.  I have 416 more shows.  It took me 3 years to watch 80, I'm not sure I want to watch 416 more.  I turned off her show, turn on the news... this is not a joke.  They said "In entertainment news, for you fans of the Pioneer Woman, she just started filming her 40th season."

This will probably be one habit I can break!

Religion for Sale: A fond farewell to the Coal Lick Methodist Church

This was taken in June 1973, our first day of Bible School that my siblings & I attended every summer at the Coal Lick Methodist Church in Waynesburg, Pa.

That's me and my sister Shawn in the back, my brother Steve and sister Donda-Lin in front

I sure am wearing a lot of plaids here!  Why, Doug... why.

I have very, very fond memories of this small country church.  Our great grandparents were married here, as were our grandparents, and our mom & dad.  So were our Morris aunts, uncles... our oldest brother Duke married his first wife Cheryl here in 1981.

August 7, 1958.  My parents wedding.

The church was built in 1840, and in 1970 had 68 adult members.  

It had a beautiful dark wood ceiling (as you're about to see) and gorgeous stained glass windows on both sides of the church that sadly, are no more.

I told my friend Diana the other night that I always felt a tremendous sense of peace here.  The basement had half windows that filled it with soft light, and a 1940s kitchen where various church or family events were attended with plenty of food.  In the summers during Bible School, we worked on crafts down there.

As I sit here writing this, all these memories come flooding back.  Every year (besides my siblings and first cousins) we'd see other families like the Bland kids.  The oldest Rodney was my age, they all had orangey red hair and loads of freckles.  Their mother loved to sing and had a loud, booming voice.  There were the Zollars girls (the older one was an awful bully who grew up even worse), the Hendersons (BJ, Eddie & Pam, good kids) and our second cousins from our Grandpap's brother Kenneth's family, also named Morris.  

Farm boys, quiet and good looking, with dark hair and tan faces and clear eyes.

On April 19, 1981 the Morrisville Methodist (top) & Coal Lick Methodist church (bottom) had their final day of services.  They joined together to form a new church, the Oak View Methodist

Anyway, this past week my sister sent me a Zillow listing for the Coal Lick which is up for sale.

They're asking $200,000 for the structure and 1/8 acre.  Gosh that sounds steep.

After the church closed up shop in the early Eighties, it sat empty for a number of years before being bought by a family for use as a home.

Over the years they removed the stained glass windows, added a wooden deck on the left side... what happened to the doors on the vestibule in front?

And here's the side opposite the deck--those beautiful stained glass windows replaced with ordinary ones.

Here's a couple pics of the cluttered interior.   Aside from the ceiling (which looks beautiful as ever) it's difficult to picture the church as it once was.  I can still see it clearly in my mind's eye though.   

The current owners have got a lot of bric-a-brac going on here!

One more...

I began having spiritual doubts when I was around 17 or so, and pretty much lost any remaining beliefs in college.  A Sociology professor of mine would talk at length about the need for religion to placate the masses, and I began seeing things in a different light.  I'm not an atheist, but not into organized religion either.  

Finally, I wanted to share this:  I was telling my friend Diana that behind the pulpit of the original church was this very large portrait of Jesus by Heinrich Hofmann.  It was absolutely huge, it must've stood fifty feet tall.  

She said "Well, I'm sure it looked that way to a child's eyes."  Maybe so.  But it never intimidated me, seeing the Savior praying always brought me peace inside, and comfort.  This was the artwork below.  

I will never forget you, Coal Lick Church.  

Has anyone else done this? I'm giving it a go

Have you heard of this?  Getting prescription meds over the internet without seeing a doctor first?  A couple weeks ago I was watching a news story about online pharmacies, and how 95% of them were bogus--selling questionable or phony drugs.  I couldn't help but wonder if any of them were legit.  And how did this work, anyway?

I've been taking 10mg Amlodipine daily since 2019.  I'd gone to the hospital for a kidney operation, and they informed me there was a problem, my blood pressure was too high.  They put me on two meds, monitored me for a couple days then did the surgery after.

I was then prescribed amlodipine, which came with side effects like swollen ankles and dizziness when I stood up.  When I complained about the swelling, they gave me a smaller dosage but my BP numbers shot right back up.  I went back on 10mg.

In 2022, I checked into the hospital for a 2 day drug screening to try other BP meds.  They were unable to find an equally effective drug.   They would write me a 3 month prescription, sometimes with a refill for another 3 months, then require I come in to renew the prescription.

In 2024 when I got long covid, my pill supply was shrinking and I had no refills left--I was in too much pain to leave the house, my primary care physician would only say "I'm sorry but you have to come in to get your prescription renewed" so I took my remaining 1 month supply and cut them in half to make them last 2 months.  Smart, huh?

Then one day soon after, I was feeling better and went to the senior center to see my friends.  A nurse was there checking people's BP numbers.  She did mine and said "You need to go to the hospital right now. Your blood pressure is in heart attack or stroke territory.  I mean it, go now."

I called my PCP, he saw me the next morning and I stopped chopping my pills.  My BP was back to normal in a couple days.

So here's my current story.  I called my PCP a couple weeks ago to see about getting a refill.  He said he already did this over the phone 3 months ago, for my next refill I had to come in.  I told him I couldn't, I was sick with the flu.  I asked if I could have a Facetime appointment like I do with my neurologist.  He said sorry, it would have to be in person.

That's when I began checking out online pharmacies prescribing drugs, and found the one above (TelyRX).  I asked AI about them and got this:

TelyRx appears to be a legitimate, U.S.-based telehealth platform and online pharmacy, featuring LegitScript certification, HIPAA compliance, and a 4.9-star rating on Trustpilot. It offers FDA-approved medications without prescriptions, but requiring a review by a licensed U.S. doctor. Users generally report fast, reliable service.

At first I said "No way.  I get my prescription at NO COST thru my current insurance plan."  TelyRX is charging me $49.00 for a 90 day supply--but they were offering a 20% discount on my first order, and an even bigger discount on refills.  

It's actually a bargain, as my doctor's office is in West View.  It's $35.00 to get an Uber ride there, another $35 to get a ride back.  My PCP is $25 for a standard visit. 

So it would cost me $95.00 to get my refill the traditional way, or TelyRX who is sending my prescription in the mail for $44.00.  I know I can't do this forever, but if this can save me the hassle (and added expense) of going to the doctor for now... why not?   In several months I'll be switching from private insurance to Medicare, and hopefully a new doctor with a closer office.

I still don't get how this is legitimate though.  TelyRx asked my height, weight & age.  They didn't ask for my medical history, or how much I take of the drug.  I had to sign a declaration that it's a prescription drug I already take, the Amlodipine is only for myself and I would use them in a responsible manner.  

These just arrived in the mail ten minutes ago.  I asked if I could get a six month supply instead of 90 days and their doctor approved it.  Let the pill popping begin.