Me As Paul McCartney

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

For Halloween in 1979, my costume was Paul McCartney from the cover of the 1969 Beatles album Abbey Road. (McCartney is second from left.) 

I was 18 years old and a huge fan of The Beatles. I still am a huge fan. Yes, that is my real hair combed forward. Notice that I am holding a cigarette in my right hand, just as Paul did on the album cover. (Paul is left-handed.) I also went barefooted (wearing sandals) to a party that night, just as Paul was on the cover. My suit was actually dark blue; the photo has faded over the years.

One of my friends took this photo in my room (No. 214, affectionately know as "Rorer 714"), Wilson Hall dormitory, Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH), Northfield campus, Northfield, Massachusetts. Hello to my fellow NMHers.

Incidentally, I was given my longstanding nickname "Bungalow Bill," "Bungalow" for short, "Bungy" for even shorter, at NMH. I was nicknamed after the main character in The Beatles song "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill."

Halloween At AMI

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): 

Here we are, the copy desk editors of Globe and National Examiner magazines, wearing wigs in our newsroom in Boca Raton, Florida, in celebration of Halloween on Friday, October 30, 2009. Of course, that's me on the right, wearing my "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" T-shirt. The woman in the boa (in the back, center) is not wearing a wig.

From 2002 to 2011, I was a copy editor / page designer for American Media Inc., which publishes the supermarket / gossip weekly tabloids. During those nine years, I edited and designed many pages every week for Star, Globe, National Examiner, and National Enquirer magazines.

In the lower photo, behind me on the wall are small printed pages of the issue of Globe magazine that we were in the midst of completing. We had an 8 p.m. final deadline for Globe magazine every Friday. We had a 6 p.m. final deadline for National Examiner every Wednesday.

We worked on the pages of both of those magazines at the same time, so we had lots of work and lots of fun. The magazines had different formats and somewhat different styles, so one of my many challenges was applying the proper criteria to the proper page.

For examples, the widths of the text columns were different, with Globe being slightly wider than National Examiner, and Globe required spaces before and after ellipses, and National Examiner did not.

A Venetian Blind

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

What was your worst Halloween costume ever? My worst costume was the result of being asked to a party at the last minute when I was studying at the University of Missouri in Columbia in the late 1980s. I put on dark sunglasses and grabbed an unopened box of dry spaghetti from my kitchen cabinet. I went as a Venetian Blind.

Here I am re-enacting that costume for Halloween in 2020. Note that I am wearing my brown "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" T-shirt, which I didn't have back in the 1980s. The glasses and the pasta are also different.

2 Extra Pennies ... Returned

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

A personal Halloween story from the early 1970s

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I went trick-or-treating with my friends on several streets near my house in West Islip, Long Island, New York. We came to a house where a woman gave every child one piece of candy and one shiny penny. When it was my turn, she gave me the piece of candy and then gave me three pennies. I smiled and went to the next house thinking that I was two cents better than the other kids. You know, that woman sent some kid after me and made me give back the extra two cents. I am sure that there is a life lesson in there somewhere.

By the way, we never went to the house on the left side at the end of that street, only a few houses from where that lady lived. There was a rumor that the guy who lived there was shooting kids with a BB-gun rifle from a second-floor window. I don't know if it was true, but why take a chance, right?

1 Day Until "Movember"

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

Remember, "Movember 2023" starts in one day on November 1, 2023.

However, due to medical issues, I won't be able to participate in "Movember" this year, because I won't be able to be clean shaven on November 1.

"Movember," an annual, month-long event when men around the world grow moustaches throughout the month of November to raise awareness of and to raise funds to combat cancers that afflict men; men's suicide prevention; and men's overall physical and mental health. I have participated every November for decades.

Millions of dollars are raised worldwide every year through fundraisers and donations, with the United States, Canada, Australia, and India typically raising the most money. European countries also do well with raising funds.

Of course, the name "Movember" is a combination of "moustache" and "November." Men start clean shaven on November 1 (every year) and grow their "stashes" throughout the month, so if you notice more guys with moustaches in your travels, that's why.

There is also something called "No-Shave November," when men don't shave at all during that month, so you may see more beards than usual, too. I already have a beard, so I suppose I am already somewhat participating.

Many women also don't shave during November in support of us guys. (no joke)

Also, remember that International Men's Day is on November 19 (every year).

For more information, here is the link to one of the many "Movember" websites:

https://us.movember.com/

Today Is ...

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

When I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, I loved magic and practical jokes. For brevity, I'll just mention two incidents at elementary school rather than explain my extensive experiences with my Chinese linking rings and my color-changing handkerchiefs, plus my talking toilet device, my spoon with the hole in it, my sneezing powder, my plastic ice cubes with the dead flies inside, oh, my joy buzzer and whoopie cushion and fake vomit. I had it all.

When I was in sixth grade in 1972 at the age of 11, I brought a magic trick to school to show my friends. The problem with that was: my classmate and fellow magician John Bass. John could flip 50-cent pieces all around his long, skinny fingers. He was amazing. So, John saw me performing my magic trick for a small group of classmates and quickly approached me. He grabbed the collar of my shirt and angrily yelled at me, "I'm the only magician in this classroom." I said, "OK," and I never brought another magic trick to school. (true story)

I also once scared my sixth-grade teacher Mr. Carlson. I had a trick pen that made a loud bang when opened. One day, while my classmates were reading textbooks at their desks, I asked the teacher if he could open my pen. He said, "If you can't open it, I doubt if I can." He opened it, and BANG! We both laughed, but him not as much as me. He said, "Ah. You got me." After the bang, all of my classmates looked up from their books for a short moment and then went back to reading. Not one laugh was uttered. Not one word was spoken. Dead silence. (true story)

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

On Halloween in Babylon, Long Island, NewYork, in the 1960s, when I was a kid, my parents gave out 150 candy apples to the kids, plus regular candy if we ran out of the apples. Trivia: Candy apples are more popular on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States, whereas caramel apples are more popular in the U.S. Midwest.

October 31, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

My favorite Knock Knock joke is:

Knock. Knock.
Who's there?
Cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe who?
Cantaloupe without a ladder.

2 Days Until "Movember"

October 30, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

Remember, "Movember 2023" starts in two days on November 1, 2023.

However, due to medical issues, I won't be able to participate in "Movember" this year, because I won't be able to be clean shaven on November 1.

"Movember," an annual, month-long event when men around the world grow moustaches throughout the month of November to raise awareness of and to raise funds to combat cancers that afflict men; men's suicide prevention; and men's overall physical and mental health. I have participated every November for decades.

Millions of dollars are raised worldwide every year through fundraisers and donations, with the United States, Canada, Australia, and India typically raising the most money. European countries also do well with raising funds.

Of course, the name "Movember" is a combination of "moustache" and "November." Men start clean shaven on November 1 (every year) and grow their "stashes" throughout the month, so if you notice more guys with moustaches in your travels, that's why.

There is also something called "No-Shave November," when men don't shave at all during that month, so you may see more beards than usual, too. I already have a beard, so I suppose I am already somewhat participating.

Many women also don't shave during November in support of us guys. (no joke)

Also, remember that International Men's Day is on November 19 (every year).

For more information, here is the link to one of the many "Movember" websites:

https://us.movember.com/

 

Candy Corn Day

October 30, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

I love candy corn, not only for their distinctive taste, waxy texture, coating of shellac, and various colors, but also because they contain FOUR types of sugar.

I like Brach's Autumn Mix which is a mix of regular candy corn, chocolate candy corn, and candy corn-style pumpkins. I have been eating this mix in recent days and weeks, including today.

Ingredients : Sugar, Corn Syrup, Confectioner's Glaze (Shellac), Salt, Cocoa Powder, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, Gelatin, Dextrose, Honey, Artificial Flavor, Sesame Oil, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 3, Soy Lecithin, Blue 1, Red 40.

Mexican Grand Prix

Sunday, October 29, 2023: It's 4:21 p.m. here in southeastern Florida, and I am in my bed in my room at The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/), following spinal surgeries on September 2, 2023, and October 6, 2023. I am unable to watch the Mexican Grand Prix on TV here, so I can follow along live with this guy's commentary on YouTube on my phone. The race started at 4 p.m.

This is the 19th race of the 23-race Formula 1 auto racing season for 2023. Today's circuit (track) is Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.

(I posted a graphic of the circuit in the comment section below so that you can see a clearer version.)

The first 18 races were in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Miami, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Beligium,The Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Qatar, and Austin.

This season, there are two races in Italy and three races in the United States (Miami, Austin, and an inaugural race in Las Vegas). The Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, earlier this season was postponed due to poor weather conditions: rain and flooding.

Formula 1 racing is the only sport that I actively follow. There are 20 drivers on 10 teams (constructors). Only one driver is from the United States.

The Red Bull team won the Constructors Championship after the Japanese Grand Prix. Max Verstappen of The Netherlands won the Championship, when he won the Qatar Grand Prix.

Oatmeal & Hermits

October 29, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I like oatmeal, preferably steel-cut, with chocolate chips and/or berries (never strawberries ... YUCK !!!), sometimes with real maple syrup, and sometimes with brown sugar. However, I prefer grits with butter and a little white sugar for crunch. Shrimp and grits is a favorite dinner of mine. (This morning, I ate a little oatmeal with grape jelly.

October 29, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I am absolutely a hermit.

Cold Hot Dogs

October 29, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

When I was a young kid in the 1960s, I loved eating hot dogs straight from the refrigerator.

My Torn-Up Self

October 28, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

My wonderful wife took this photo of my physically torn-up self (*), when she visited with me this morning.

I am still engaging in almost-daily physical therapy and occupational therapy, following spinal surgeries on Sept. 2, 2023, and on Oct. 6, 2023, both at Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach, Florida.

I am still enduring much pain, weakness, and numbness from these surgeries. I am also frustrated and disheartened, because I really want to return home, but I am really not progressing physically enough to do so. I can barely walk, even while using a frame walker with two front wheels. Both of my thighs ache, but they are also both numb.

Adding to my weakness is receiving powerful intravenous antibiotic every day through a PICC line in my upper left arm. I had just about completed a six-week-long regimen of daily intravenous antibiotic for a blood infection and possible osteomyelitis (bone infection) in one of two fractures in my right ankle due to two falls in April 2023. However, due to osteomyelitis in my spine, my infectious-disease doctor added another six-week-long regimen.

(As an aside, both of my feet ache and are also numb due to continued neuropathy that started many years ago because of my diabetes. My surgeries may have exacerbated the symptoms in my feet.)

Many times, the pain in my back and in my legs is so unbearable that it prevents me from continuing both of my therapies, even while using pain medications. My two main pain medications are Percocet pills and Fentanyl patches, both of which are opioids.

Much of my pain is in the area of my incision in my back from my second spinal surgery, which was on October 6, 2023, and which took six (6) hours to complete: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. This surgery involved the placement of titanium plates, titanium screws, and a long titanium rod affixed to my spine by my spinal surgeon due to osteomyelitis in three lumbar (lower) sections of my spinal bone. My spinal surgeon told me that my spine was "collapsing" and that I required this serious surgery immediately.

After my spinal surgeon completed his part of my surgery, my plastic surgeon closed my rather long incision in my back (34 centimeters long/13.3858 inches long) so that the metal pieces would NOT form bumps that stick out of my skin.

My first spinal surgery was on September 2, 2023, when I had an infection (an abscess) removed/cleaned out in one of my spinal disks in my lower back. It was discovered at that time that I had osteomyelitis in that area of my spine.

(*) I refer to myself as physically torn up because of these two surgeries, plus my three surgeries last year, from which I am still recovering: quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery in March 2022 and then two related chest surgeries in May 2022.

Today Is ...

October 28, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I like dark chocolate because of its bitterness.

October 28, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I have been tended to by many of them over the last two to three years.

Today Is ...

October 27, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

Today is Navy Day. My father retired at the rank of Commander after serving for twenty-two (22) years in the U.S. Navy, both on active duty and in the reserves. My mother worked for the U.S. Navy as a civilian.

In the late 1950s, my father served aboard a ship, transporting displaced persons (delayed pilgrims, as he called them) multiple times from Bremerhaven, Germany, to New York City after World War II. After his death in 1997 at age 62, some of his ashes were scattered from a Navy ship into the North Atlantic Ocean, where he spent much of his time with the Navy. The rest of his ashes were interred at Breslau Cemetery in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York. (Lindenhurst was formerly named Breslau after the city in Germany.)

October 27, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

I don't really have a favorite American beer, well, maybe Samuel Adams. At university in the early 1980s, I drank PBRs (Pabst Blue Ribbon) because it was cheap. I also went through a short stint with Miller High Life long ago.

I did drink Grolsch long ago, but that's not American.

I never drink Budweiser and Molson due to resultant hangovers.

My favorite beer is Mohrenbräu, which is a famous Austrian beer. I first drank it in my Austrian cousins' living room in Dornbirn, Austria, in the early 1980s, when I was in my early 20s. I have enjoyed it on many subsequent trips to Austria. I have never found it in the United States. Mohrenbräu is brewed in Dornbirn.

https://www.mohrenbrauerei.at/

October 27, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

Superstition: It's good luck if a black cat follows you home.

Austria National Day

October 26, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

PHOTO: the flag of Austria

While I am only one-eighth Austrian, I have a strong love and affiliation with Austria. Today is Austria National Day, which I celebrate every year. I have been to Austria seven times since the early 1980s to visit my many Austrian cousins and to ski in the Austrian Alps. I enjoy eating Austrian food and love listening to Austrian pop music.

Here is a bit of information about Austria National Day:

https://www.archive.austria.org/national-day

Today Is ...

October 26, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): My dad liked mincemeat pie. So do I.

Healing Of My Incision

October 25, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/):

While the long incision in my back is healing well, it is still causing me much pain in my back and in my legs, despite powerful opioid pain medications, plus itching in the wound's surrounding skin, which signifies healing. I am now receiving daily bandage/dressing changes. (Nurses took these photos.)

This afternoon, my nurse and my occupational therapist, who was also there, told me that my incision looks better.

My incision is from my second spinal surgery, which was on October 6, 2023, and which took six (6) hours to complete: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It involved the placement of titanium plates, titanium screws, and a long titanium rod affixed to my spine by my spinal surgeon due to osteomyelitis (bone infection) in three lumbar (lower) sections of my spinal bone. My surgeon told me that my spine was "collapsing" and that I required the serious surgery.

The incision in my back (34 centimeters long/13.3858 inches long) was then closed by my plastic surgeon so that the metal pieces do NOT form bumps that stick out of my skin.

My first spinal surgery was on September 2, 2023, when I had an infection (an abscess) removed/cleaned out in one of my spinal disks in my lower back. It was discovered at that time that I had osteomyelitis in that area of my spine.

Sour & Greasy

October 25, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

My Rehab Roommate

October 24, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): My roommate's ring tone on his cell phone is the United States National Anthem ("The Star-Spangled Banner").

For days, I just could not determine what famous person he sounds like. I finally figured it out. He sounds like Ace Frehley, one of the four original members of the rock group KISS. Here is an interview with Ace so that you can hear sort of how my roommate sounds.

https://youtu.be/CfxsabmX1jY?si=PXoZf0iHQPneE5_X

Me As A Pisces

October 24, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): This absolutely describes me as a Pisces, but perhaps in an exaggerated way.

Please, No More Pain

October 24, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): After a couple of years, I wish the daily pain would stop.

More PT & More OT

October 24, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): Selfie: This afternoon, I engaged in my daily regimens of physical therapy and occupational therapy in two exercise rooms here at the rehab facility. These days have certainly been challenging due to my continuing weakness and my constant pain. While doing arm and leg exercises today, I was sweating and was quite lightheaded from my pain, possibly from my low blood sugar, and probably from my continued daily intravenous antibiotic. A doctor told me earlier today that I am already taking the maximum dosage of pain medication allowed. I take two pain pills: Percocet (an opioid); and Lyrica (for nerve pain). I also have a Fentanyl patch (an opioid) on my shoulder that is replaced every three days. I also take low-dose aspirin pills, but they are more for my quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery I had last year than for pain. While I was getting back into bed this afternoon, a nurse was there to change the bandage on my almost-14-inch-long incision in my back from my six-hour-long spinal surgery on October 6, 2023. I also had a shorter spinal surgery on September 2, 2023.

National Bologna Day

October 24, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): My wife likes fried bologna. I don't think I have ever eaten it fried. I prefer salami fried in butter, but I don't eat it that often.

Today Is ...

October 23, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): Today is National Mole Day !!!

I certainly remember Avogadro's Number from my studies of chemistry in high school and at university. ("The number 6.02214076×10^23 was chosen so that the mass of one mole of a chemical compound in grams is numerically equal, for most practical purposes, to the average mass of one molecule of the compound in daltons.")

While I ultimately became a journalist instead of my planned medical researcher or bench chemist, I was quite fortunate in the 1990s to land a job in New York City where I could indulge my love of a topic that has interested me since I was a young kid in the 1960s playing with my chemistry set. From 1992 to 1996, I was a Reporter, Writer, Editor, and Researcher for an international weekly magazine on the financial and technical aspects of the chemical industry. This included agriculture chemicals, petrochemicals (aromatics and aliphatics), pharmaceuticals, flavors, fragrances, plastics, paints, coatings, oils, fats, waxes, surfactants, and more.

Yes, I'm a nerd ... and proud of it.

I am honored to have worked for one of the oldest publications in the United States. The magazine, initially titled "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter" and titled "Chemical Marketing Reporter" ("CMR") when I worked there, was first published in 1871. It was again renamed "Chemical Market Report" shortly after I left for a job as a writer for a wire service covering commodities trading (futures and options).

I still laugh at the title of my first position at "CMR": Oils, Fats, and Waxes Editor. It was my job to cover such products as castor oil, grease (both yellow AND white), and carnauba wax from an industrial standpoint. I soon made the lateral move to Flavors and Fragrances Editor, then promoted to Heavy and Agriculture Chemicals Editor, and then majorly promoted to Market Research Editor.

I rank this job as my most favorite job since I became a journalist in 1982 partly because, as I still jokingly say, it made me appear smarter than I actually was. Also, my groundbreaking story on tung oil as a natural industrial lubricant in its infancy was cited in USDA and EPA governmental reports. My writings were also cited in a thesis of a university student.

While I was working for CMR, I sent a copy of the magazine to my former university chemistry teacher from the early 1980s to let him know that I never lost interested in this subject and that chemistry was my professional life at that time. He wrote back, thanking me. He told me that a teacher usually doesn't know how far his influence on his students will go. He also mentioned that he had never heard of tung oil.

October 23, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): Today is TV Talk Show Host Day. My favorite talk show host is Joe Franklin. He is credited for inventing the talk show format. I often watched his show. It was a relaxing and interesting show. "The Joe Franklin Show" was broadcast on TV from 1950 to 1993. I often watched it during the late 1970s and the 1980s.

October 23, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): While I don't really like the yellow cake, there is enough other stuff going on to distract me, so I enjoy it as a whole. I do like Boston Cream donuts.

October 23, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): For many years, I thought this was in Italy or Spain. It's in California.

United States Grand Prix

Sunday, October 22, 2023: It's around 4 p.m. here in southeastern Florida, and I am in my bed in my room at The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/), following spinal surgeries on September 2 and October 6, 2023. I am unable to watch the United States Grand Prix on TV here, so I can follow along live with this guy's commentary on YouTube on my phone. The race started at 3 p.m.

This is the 18th race of the 23-race Formula 1 auto racing season for 2023. Today's circuit (track) is the Circuit of the United States in Austin, Texas.

(I posted a graphic of the circuit in the comment section below so that you can see a clearer version.)

The first 17 races were in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Miami, Monaco, Spain, Canada, Austria, Great Britain, Hungary, Beligium,The Netherlands, Italy, Singapore, Japan, and Qatar.

This season, there are two races in Italy and three races in the United States (Miami, Austin, and an inaugural race in Las Vegas). The Grand Prix in Imola, Italy, earlier this season was postponed due to poor weather conditions: rain and flooding.

Formula 1 racing is the only sport that I actively follow. There are 20 drivers on 10 teams (constructors). Only one driver is from the United States.

The Red Bull team won the Constructors Championship after the Japanese Grand Prix about a month ago. Max Verstappen of The Netherlands won the Championship two weeks ago when he won the Qatar Grand Prix.

Today Is ...

October 22, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): Today (fourth Sunday in October) is National Mother-In-Law Day, so we honor my mother-in-law (R.I.P.). We love you and miss you even more with each passing day. This is my favorite photo of Lorna and me. My wife snapped it on July 13, 2008, in a coffee shop in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, when the three of us were on vacation, visiting my wife's family and friends in and around Toronto. I particularly like that she is small and is holding a big cup, and I am bigger and am holding a smaller cup.

October 22, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): My favorite nut for taste is filbert (hazelnut). My favorite nut for texture is cashew. Also, due to my Italian and Austrian heritages / upbringing, I love roasted chestnuts. I call them by their Austrian name: maroni. In Italian, they are called castagne arrostite or marroni. What is your favorite nut?

October 22, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): My favorite color is dark purple. What is your favorite color?

October 22, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/)

Today Is ...

October 21, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): When I was a kid sometime between 1972 to 1974 and sometime between the ages of 11 and 13, I had pet chameleons in a terrarium. At one point, they weren't eating their regular food (live mealworms) for weeks, so I caught a bunch of monarch butterflies and put them in with the chameleons. Nothing happened. My dad suggested that I give my chameleons to my dear friend Dave who lived several houses down the street, which I did. I think my dad just wanted them out of the house ... or maybe it was mom. I'll have to ask her. Months later, I found out from a book in a pet shop that chameleons sometimes go weeks without eating. LOL ... (In the comment section below is an online photo of the type of chameleon I had as pets. The reptile in the main photo is also considered to be a chameleon.)

October 21, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I like Witch Hazel: the scented astringent and the Warner Bros. cartoon character. She's the green-skinned witch that Bugs Bunny encounters. For a short time, I splashed witch hazel on my face after shaving my face. It burned, but then softened. I soon switched to bay rum, which still burned and softened my face, but it smelled better. (You can see the cartoon character Witch Hazel in the comment section below.)

October 21, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I am not a huge fan of cheesecake, but I will occasionally eat it. I do like my mom's famous pumpkin cake (chocolate chips and walnuts with a sugar glaze). I like pumpkin pie during the Christmas season, but as per a decades-old personal tradition, I never, EVER eat it on Thanksgiving Day. Any other day during the year is OK.

October 21, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I like apples in every form except raw. I just don't like the texture of raw apples, nor the sound of the bite: that annoying "crunch."

Today Is ...

October 20, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): Although I am originally a northerner, I do like chicken and waffles.

October 20, 2023: The Isles Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Boynton Beach, Florida (https://ibnrc.org/): I don't think that I have ever eaten brandied fruit. However, I have eaten rum fruitcake.