The above number is the cost of my stay at Sloan Kettering for my high dose chemo and stem cell autologous transplant. I was admitted january 9th and discharged on Jan. 28th. I got the bill this past Thursday, so it took almost four months for them to sort it out, and get their payment … Read more
Our guinea pig Vindabel departed this veil of tears a little less than a month ago. Tom Faranda’s Folly: Sad news in farandaville as guinea pig leaves us It was sudden. A mini-tragedy, as is the loss of any pet. So today we got our new guinea pig. She was the most interesting-looking of the … Read more
I love animals but this is a bit much. Spain ponders rights for all the great apes – World – insider.washingtontimes.com An excerpt: The law would eliminate the concept of "ownership" for great apes, instead placing them under the "moral guardianship" of the state, much as is the case for children in care, the … Read more
I must be in a theological / religious state of mind (note the prior post). Here’s an interesting article on the phenomenon of an expanding number of seminarians in Poland. They are in demand throughout Europe, with more than 100 of them in the mission land of England! BBC NEWS | Europe | Polish priests … Read more
I picked up on this on Amy Welborn’s weblog, Open Book. There’s a link to Open Book on my skimpy blogroll to the right of this posting. For some reason I thought of the thug Zarqawi, proclaimed a "martyr" on the Al Queda website, and his so-called "spiritual advisor" (what was he doing – advising … Read more
I started this journal on September 8, ’05, and today is June 7th, ’06, so that’s nine months of journaling. This will be the 355th post. Sometime yesterday the 10,000th visit was made to the weblog. When I began the journal, it was primarily to record my odyssey through treatment and chemotherapy for my lymhoma. … Read more
I respect anyone who can figure out how to get paid 15 million dollars a year just for talking (being "perky"), but this is still a joke. "Anyone who watches ‘Today’ knows I’ve done more hard-hitting interviews than any evening news anchor." … Read more
My town of Croton-on-Hudson NY (pop. 7,000) has been having a street fair for close to 20 years (maybe longer). The usual stuff; a nice parade, and plenty of street vendors, local businesses, churches, philanthropic groups, etc, having exhibits and stalls on the street. Our church, Holy Name of Mary is into the fair in … Read more
A man owned a small farm in upstate New York. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him. "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent. "Well, there … Read more
Scroll down, and a bit below my picture you’ll see "Categories". The only category is "My lymphoma and related medical stuff". If you click on that, only the lymphoma-related and a few other health-related postings will appear! My other ramblings, family stories, and mediocre jokes will be gone. Then go to this January 8th posting, … Read more