Life Is Good........

Well "Hi" Everybody !!

Have you missed me ? No !! Well, I could get a complex over that.... but, you all have your lives to live... so, missing me comes a really long way down on the "totem pole of life" !!  As long as you are are doing well & your part of the Universe is treating you well - who am I to worry about being missed !!

Ok - it's been two weeks since I last had the chance to post anything.... and it's been interesting, tho' - not exactly a lot of fun, for your's truly !!  But first - the important thing.... the family !!

As I type, ME - our Daughter - is at work.... I'm out of step with what she is doing at the moment, so... I'm guessing she will be home a bit later tonight.  J - our Son - is upstairs, preparing for a meeting he has, in town, this afternoon.  That just leaves B - My Wife & Dearest Friend - who also upstairs, doing a bit of housework.... mainly the bedroom area, I think.........

As for the music... it's Rush & their concert from the Maple Leaf Gardens.... somewhere around 1986.  If any Rush fans are reading this, if you have an exact date for this show, can you let me know ?  It's the same show that their 'Grace Under Pressure' video/DVD was filmed at.  I made a copy of the s/t (from the video) then the DVD came out & that included the s/t anyways....

I don't think I have any Zeppelin concerts, from today.... but.... as I wasn't able to write about it, at the time, I want to list one I missed. I should of covered 10 days ago - but, anyhoo......

So, from December 2nd 1971, recorded at the brilliantly named "Starkers, Royal Ballroom"  Bournemouth. The tracks are:

CD 1

1) Immigrant Song
2) Heartbreaker
3) Black Dog
4) Since I've Been Loving You
5) Stairway To Heaven
6) Going To California
7) That's The Way
8) Tangerine
9) Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

CD 2

1) Dazed & Confused
2) What Is & What Should Never Be
3) Rock & Roll

CD 3

1) Whole Lotta Love
2) Communication Breakdown
3) Weekend
4) It'll Be Me

I was really looking forward to writing all about this show..... but, now.... I can't really remember why !!  Never mind - it's a brilliant show & worth having in the collection, if for no other reason than the 2 encores !!  As always - don't buy bootlegs.... more another time time.......

I've just realised..... it's 12-12-12 today !!  Not quite as good as last centuries 7-7-77 (my birthday) but, it's a good one anyways !!  Isn't the World meant to come to an end this year ?  I seem to remember there was something about it happening - all to do with the Mayan calendar or something.......... Oh well - life goes on & if the World does come to an end..... well, it's been fun !!

Right.... where have I been for the last two weeks ?!  Well, I'll try & explain.......

The last time I wrote, it was the day after ME's graduation..... I was sooooo happy, to see her get her moment & how proud I felt, to be with her on that special day !!  Well, that was a Tuesday.... on the Wednesday (the next day) I woke up & heck was I feeling bad !!

In 1973, I broke my back.... just the bones, not the spinal cord.  Anyhoo - over the past year, I guess, I have been having really nasty neck pains. I went to the Dr about it & he didn't really do too much..... putting it down to old age & stuff.  About a month ago.... I went back & he sent me for x-rays.... I wrote about this, in an earlier post or two !!  Well - the x-rays, so my Dr said, were normal & there wasn't anything to do with it - other than take more pain killers, which I take anyhoo..... for the disease thingy I "suffer" from.

Then - on the Wednesday - I woke up & my neck was completely locked, looking down at the ground !!  Not only was it very painful, I didn't have any motor functions in my muscles, to be able to move the darn thing, if I wanted to !!  All very weird !!

At about 11am, after taking morphing & various things.... the pain got so bad, that B took me down to the local surgery & I (luckily) saw a different Dr.... who, after an examination, phoned the hospital, in Taunton, and told them to expect me.

Long story, made short,..... that's where I've been, since then...... a whole two weeks later !!  I was put under a lovely Consultant, who - after surgery, to remove my "bionic" implant - sent me for an MRI and various other test...... looked after me really well !!

The worst part, the most painful (I guess) was having over a week of traction..... I've decided, every Dr should have at least 2 hours of this, as part of their training - just to show them just how painful & uncomfortable it is !!

But there is a "silver cloud" at the end of this rainbow of a story !!

As mentioned before - I broke my back, in 1973, and this has left me with a curved spine..... the place were I broke most of my vertebrae.  Well, midway thru' my stay, I had a CT ( Cat) scan and the consultant came to see me about it, to tell me things looked good.

I pointed out, I had never seen an x-ray of my back curvature.... and, to my amazement, he got me out of bed and pushed me, in my wheel chair, down to the computer room area & showed me the damaged I had done, all those years ago !!

Then, things went very quiet...... he was playing with the computer & after a few moments, he said something - I thought - I would never hear. "I can fix this" !!  I couldn't believe my ears.... after 39 and a half years of being stooped over, this man said he could take the curve out & basically straighten me, to a sort of upright position !!

So - that's where I am, at this moment......... I'm home for Christmas, and in the New Year, about May or June time, I'm going back into hospital, to have probably the most dangerous surgery of my life..... but, one I never thought I would get the chance to have !!

I keep saying, "I've finished with the hospital for another year"..... but, this time around, well.... I have, probably, the chance of a surgery I never expected..... and, if it works, something that will changed our lives so utterly completely, I can't put it all into words !!

So - that's about it for now..... after 2 weeks, in hospital, I'm kind of just getting my "house legs" back under me & I'm a little knackered, so, for now, I will away.  I've lots more to tell you about, my friends of "Internet Space" - but, that will have to wait for another day.... for now I will away, with Neil Young's 'Psychedelic Pill' Cd playing away in the background, life is good !! So.... until next time....

Bye Bye