That and This

 MADISON, AL.

Cold weather is still here and barely made it above freezing during the day. Tomorrow is supposed to be above freezing and that's the end of freezing weather for a few days. YAHOO.

Today the OFM got to tryout his new colored pencils. They are VERITHIN by prismacolor. I was very excited to try them since they are "hard lead" pencils instead of the Prismacolor normal colored pencils I now use.  The report is yuck. They were so badly made the pencil sharpeners I have used for years was unable to get decent points on them and the wood part of the pencils kept on splitting and breaking. Finally I gave up on them after ruining a couple of them. Nope not for me. Back to old reliable I went and finished the coloring tonight. It came out well in spite of me.

Saturday starts the delivery of SEVERAL  items I have been waiting for Christmas to get over with before ordering. They are due to start arriving Saturday and will be delivered over the next two weeks. It is a pain in the rump to not be able to drive to Walmart etc, and just run in to get little things.  But that is what I have lived long enough to be encountering.

We had an inmate of this facility take a ride in an ambulance right after lunch but no one knows why. It is not usually a good thing when that happens in this facility.  However I was over in the foyer area looting the free snacks counter  about 7 PM when up pulled an ambulance returning the inmate to his bedroom. He smiled at me as they rolled him past me.  So tomorrow at breakfast we might find out what happened.

That's it from this assisted living facility for today. Do not forget to say hi to the new year in the morning. Goodnight.

PILE OF COMMENTS

 Madison, Al.    

When I got the computer lined out again last night it took me to a place it had about thirty recent to not so recent comments awaiting approval.   I was unable to figure out where they went to when they got approved but they all disappeared and went somewhere. So if you sent a comment in the last few days it might have been in that mess that I have no idea what was going on.

Anyway today was a nice inside day due to the freezing temps outside. We had a couple of nice meals served to us. Friendly care givers made the day a bit nicer also. But the OFM seems to have been having a Dementia episode this afternoon so he is a bit off track on things tonight. We plan on putting him to bed early tonight to attempt to "sleep it off" so to speak.

So every one have some fun and be safe please.

FIRE ALARM

MADISON, AL.

We had a little excitement last evening late. I was sitting enjoying some nice coloring time when the fire alarms went off and scared me. But they kept on sounding off and folks started taking it seriously. Then the caretakers circulated among us and started getting folks toward the correct doors but soon the word was sent around it was a false alarm. Folks calmed down. Later in the evening we found out that someone in the MEMORY section of the building had put a slice of bread into a microwave to toast it and then left leaving the microwave going full blast. The microwave eventually put out enough smoke to set the system off. There was not much danger of a serious fire but at least I know for sure what I will do if the fire alarms go off again. Every thing got settled down soon and we had a good nights sleep.  

My therapy session today went very well.  It seems that my brain is holding things pretty well intact at its current ability. It is known that that is about the best we can expect from the Dementia I am afflicted with. Gaining anything back is highly unusual.

That's about it for tonight. Get busy and have too much fun for me.

NORMAL Day

MADISON, AL.

Got up at 6 am as usual. Went to breakfast at 7am as usual. However the outside was was nearly warm so I got in a LOT  of speed walking. The next three or four days are supposed to be well below freezing every morning so I will be piddling around inside during that nasty weather.  Another coloring was started and is going well. It is looking like it might be a nice one.   Nothing else special happening so I will be piddling tonight and trying to figure out what to do next week. Have fun folks.

SPECIAL POST

 Madison, Al.

A special post tonight to attempt to contact a blog reader who sent me a nice letter but the OFM cannot respond in her style.  SUSAN R. please send me your email address since I cannot respond by texting.

Onward to OFM stuff. We had a very nice Christmas here at the assisted living facility. The OFM did a personal assessment of if he really needs to be here or is he just being too careful. Well I hate to admit it, the OFM definitely is in the correct facility for his current abilities about 78% of the time. The rest of the time when this Dementia is kicking in he DEFINITELY needs to be here with the trained assistance surrounding him keeping him safe. So I , with great regret declare my traveling time over. HOWEVER folks I still suggest that if you are wanting to quit and follow your dream DO NOT WAIT A MINUTE LONGER THAN WHEN THE ABILITY TO GET DOING YOUR DREAM COMES ALONG. I waited four years longer than necessary and it is now considered an error on my part.

The good news is we had a nice Christmas time here with several local groups bring nice entertainment events to us to enjoy. THANK YOU for all of your efforts. We all appreciated your efforts.

In the meantime everyone please try to have too much fun.  Good night.

Christmas

 Madison, Ala.

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and is ready for another wild ride this year.

CHRISTMAS EVE

 Madison, Ala.

Today was the first time in my life anyone wanted any of my paintings or colorings. So I handed her my ring binder of the completed colorings and she chose two colorings to take home and frame. My head is all swollen now. That is the first time anyone wanted any of my art work. 

Other than that it was a great day to get out and walk the grounds in the bright sunlight. And I did just that three times for about an hour and a half total time out side getting great OFM exercise. Other than that not much exciting happened. On the other hand I should be glad I am still alive for another Christmas with grand kids to hug.

That's about it folks. Good night and MERRY CHRISTMAS.

LENGTH OF LIFE DATA

 Madison, Alabama

Today  the OFM attended therapy today and got lots of information and had a great session of therapy. Here is the important part. Average Length of life left to live is with no disease according to the SSA is about 8.7 years.  But when you throw in the Dementia  and recalculate the number changes to 8 years of life left. Both estimates are supposedly plus or minus a year on the average. So that means no matter what happens with this Dementia or without it I will live a normal expected length of life. Just a bit differently though. So the OFM looks at that and sees that he needs to pick up the pace of living to get all he wants to do in his life before the Grim Reaper shows up to his worst fight ever. I must be very lucky to find out this and have the opportunity to do something with the information.

So folks Christmas is in the back yard coming fast so get busy trying to have way tooooooo much fun.  See you tomorrow.

TALKING TIME

 MADISON, ALABAMA

The day started with the dementia attack that started yesterday still giving me lots of trouble. I was hobbling along the halls next to the nice handrail in case my balance got too bad. It was not pretty but I did get some ambulating in.  My therapy time was spent,at my request,discussing my illness situation and my future. Allisson was very agreeable to us being sure we were on the same page as for as my treatments were going. The horrible fact is that the disease is a terminal disease  that cannot at this time be stopped but the time it takes to kill me can be lengthened by years by careful treatments. I am on the careful treatments list and responding well to them.

So I got the big picture painted so I now have some as clear as possible plans for my future. Some folks call me morbid but I like to know what is ahead and do what I can to accommodate the needed actions.  Now I know what and more or less when things will happen and that is very comforting.

Now back to todays events. After the therapy session I was still  in bad shape form the Dementia and having to have the hand rail very nearby. I kept on hobbling along the hall hand rails trying to get in some walking even though I could not get to aerobic speeds I needed to. Suddenly in the course of about a minute I went from hobbling to full brisk striding again an flew along the halls. Suddenly I was able to get into briskly striding without the handrail being needed and got in a full thirty minutes of aerobic and heart helping fast walking inside the building.  It is a bit too cold outside today for good walking out there. And I have been doing really well since then. So I plan to keep calling the episodes Dementia attacks. It is now 9.15 pm and I am still going strong. 

I do not know what the dickens is going on but you can be certain I will be pushing the envelope on fighting the unbeatable foe. OFM

DEMENTIA ATTACK

 Madison, Al.

I had a stage show to go to today that had my son running the sound/ lighting booth and his wife and two kids acting in the play. It turned out to be a marvelous two hours of fun, laughter and great singing. The down side was I started having a Dementia attack during the intermission.  It gave me some fits while watching the play but I hung out there to end up really enjoying the play very much. That was pretty much the whole days event.  I will definitely attend the next play.

After the play I was returned home just in good time for supper here at the assisted living place I live now (and probably will live until I drop dead). Here it is almost 8pm and now I am fairly recovered from the dementia attack. And there you have the story of my life for the day today. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Rough Morning

 Madison, Al.

This morning was rough with the Dementia kicking in for a few hours but by lunch I was back to decently normal.  I sure hope it stays gone tomorrow until after the play my friends Dan and Mary are taking me to see right after noon. My son, his wife and both grand kids are in on the production of this play. It should be a great event.

A little bit of art stuff was done and my lady friend across the hall showed me the very nice coloring she had just finished this afternoon. We talked about it and several other things for about an hour. She is coming along very well on her coloring.

On the exercise front, I got in two half hour walks today. one inside in the warm hallways and another one outside on the area side walks. It certainly felt very good to be outside for that walk for a change.

Meanwhile things are going decently in general and have not missed any meals.

I guess that is about all there is to talk about so have a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

WALKING DAY

 MADISON, ALA.

Today was a nice day with a good amount of computer time chasing things to learn so my future plans can be reasonable for my condition. It is normal for my brain functioning to get worse slowly for about five years. However it is known that proper medical care/treatment can stretch that out noticeably. How long is noticeably? Nobody knows. So we are not counting on much happening.

Today at therapy I did the "chores" in quicker time than before and asked the lady what she thought it meant. She basically said it means we are doing right to get whatever betterness I end up with but no number . Those are my interpretations of our discussion. A LOT OF WE DO NOT KNOW TERRITORY OUT HERE.

Meanwhile I am feeling well and getting around very well with just joint sluggishness in the mornings. 

Today was a somewhat cold day but good sunshine. In the late morning I got out for a thirty minute outside quick march of the sidewalks I usually got to walk and it was wonderful. That helped my mood for the rest of the day.

Not much else of significance happened so I will quit blabbering for now. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

NORMAL DAYS HAPPENINGS

 Madison, Ala.

How about  a dose of a usual day for the OFM.  

The alarm goes off at 0600 so I can be ready for breakfast served usually a few minutes after 0700. My breakfast is  Cheerios and milk, three strips of perfectly cooked bacon served with hot tea. Many other items are available but this is my choice especially since the cook, a  skinny delightful fellow called Jay, cooks the bacon perfectly every morning . It is a wonderful breakfast of my FVORITE BREAKFAST.  Thank you JAY.

Next on the morning list is 30 minutes of walking the halls or sidewalks outside (depending on the weather) at my brisk pace that gets me into slightly aerobic breathing and blood pumping. Then I get back to my room and straighten it up for the day.  Lunch is served at 12:15 and supper at 5 pm. Mornings are usually spent cleaning and straightening my quarters.  The rest of the morning is free until lunch at noon. Frequently I do  coloring of pages from adult coloring books for a nice easy getting going start of my day. Lunch is taken care of by 1245 normally.  Mon-Wed-Friday I have my brain treatments about 02:30 so the dementia is kept at bay as much a possible. This gives my a lot of free time to visit, argue, discuss, mess around with the other folks here. When the weather permits, Betty (BettyR in the comments), and I sit out on the patio and discuss what ever one of us thinks up for about thirty minutes then head inside for her treatments and my treatments. After treatments I tend to do more coloring or something at least that important until supper at 0500. After supper is more free time to do more treatment homework or coloring or visiting etc.  The OFM usually targets bed time at 1000 pm.  It is normally a busy but not rushed day. Most of the patients just sit in their rooms and watch TV instead of doing the "homework" THAT THEY GET ASSIGNED.  Usually the home work is a 20 minute session of some physical exercise that will help them get better but that seldom happens. The  OFM gets told often to take it easier on himself since I TAKE THIS PREVENTION AN RECOVERY SERIOUSLY.

Well there you have it, a normal weekday here in paradise. Weekends are usually treatment free but the OFM STILL DOES HIS WALKING AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

There you have it a normal week in the assisted living  situation I in.   MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE. 

MY COLORINGS

MADISON, ALABAMA

Today was fairly ordinary except for one little surprise. The assisted living place I live in head person, Betsy stopped me and asked to have a couple of my colorings to hang in the facility for folks to get to see them.  I said sure what type? We talked a minute and I told her I would bring my ring binder with all of them available to her and she could help herself to any she wanted.  She started looking and decided she needed more time to make her choice since there were so many good ones. 

Well I guess I should take that as a compliment. But who knows what will come of it all.  Other than that it was an ordinary day of nothing special.  So everyone have some fun wherever you can and I will catch you tomorrow. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

REALITY BITES TODAY

 Madison, Al.

Today the OFM got a dose of reality and a nice surprise. The surprise first.  A wonderful reader from Wisconsin sent me a nice Christmas card with a nice heart in it. It looks like it is a home made cloth heart. Thank you very much Cindy.

Today was reality day in therapy. My person helping me and I tested me to try to choose which new route to take for treatments. Please keep in mind there is no known cure for any of the Dementia diseases but death can be delayed a good bit in most cases.  As soon as we can identify the "breed" of the disease we will know more details about this exact model of the disease I have.  But for now we know I likely have five more years to live.

Now to put that info in perspective. I am 79.5 years old right now and and in five years I will very likely have outlived about 85% of the men born when I was.  So in reality I have a high  prospect of finishing out a full lifespan in spite of the dementia. That means I got in a full life time in spite of the Dementia. So I have decided I am a very lucky man especially since I got to fulfill my life long dream of roaming the country in my trailer for a full 17 years. Now that the news is out of the way, what is next. I do not know for sure but I know for sure Alisson is a fantastic caregiver and I have the best help available on the face of the earth. For sure the next five years will not be dull.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!!!!!!

 

JUST ANOTHER DAY

Madison, Alabama

 It was basically an easy day without any especially difficult events. The DEMENTIA hits pretty strong in the mornings lately but eases off in the afternoon and bed time. Make no mistake Dementia is a very formidable foe. But I do resist as much as I can.  Right now the big issue is nearly no shot term memory such as what I walked into a room for. Anyway I walk inside in the warm as much as I can at as brisk of a pace as I can get aerobic exercise. We have good halls to allow me to move on along well. So I get in a good solid 30 minute walk after breakfast. But the rest of the day if I have to go to another room like therapy it is about a five minute fast walk is all. But in a day I feel I get in about an hour of fast walking events

Today I finished a nice colored pencil coloring and was a bit proud of it, so I showed it off and it was well received. 

During the afternoon I went through a couple of stacks of  coloring book pages to sort out the pages I want to try out and the ones to give away. It seemed like more than fifty opportunities of pictures. But whoever ends up with them will have lots of fun. Some of them went into the therapy room so those patients could enjoy some coloring. That would be nice.

Meanwhile being not allowed to drive is a real pain but I feel they are correct about my inability to quickly figure out what other drivers are about to do is my weak point and that is serious. I feel I can operate the vehicle but I cannot tell what another driver seems to be about to do until it is pretty late in the adventure, so I still need to stay away from driving,

OK I have blabbered enough so I WISH YOU A SAFE AND MERRY  CHRISTMAS. Good Night.

LEARNING TO COLOR

 MADISON, ALABAMA

Been some calm days lately but a bit busy. A nice chunk of the busy was coloring book coloring of different scenes. Betty R (see comments to meet her and welcome her to the blog reader group) and I have been helping each other learn new techniques and styles. She is very quick to learn and quick with a colored pencil around paper.  We have been swapping ideas about things coloring wise and she is a sharp pencil pusher for sure. Definitely makes the assisted living  hall nicer to be in.

Tomorrow I start the therapy for my brain again to slow down the deterioration that cannot be cured only slowed down.  My memory ability has taken a real beating in the last couple of weeks but the down trend is right on schedule with the predictions given to me by the doctor who diagnosed me. Look out world the OFM is in for a big fight. Don't get any on you!

Have a Happy time folks, we are deserving it these days.   

JUST COLORING

MADISON, ALABAMA

Today was mostly coloring in my coloring books for relaxation. I went over yesterdays doctor's report on my condition a couple of times to try to understand what everything means. Basically it means no more solitary OFM camping trips.  To be safe I will need at least one fully capable adult with me on any trip I make. Oh well it is fun getting old. yeah right.

Other than that a lot of time was spent discussing with other residents in this assisted living facility on handling traveling with less than healthy adults  and troubles that crop up. I definitely have some new things to learn with this new to me limiting situation.  As I learn things I will report so all my readers can learn if they need or want to.

Meanwhile back to shipping from Amazon being kind of messed up now that Christmas is near, shopping for presents without being allowed to drive is a pain.  The internet (Amazon) does not quite equal to holding an item in your hands to examine it, but I guess I will have to learn.

In the mean time every one try to have too much fun this month of December.  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

BROKEN BRAIN UPDATE

MADISON, ALABAMA

12/10/25

THIS IS WRITTEN IIN OFM LANGUAGE NOT THE PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE OF THE DOCTOR.  Please remember the OFM is over 79 years old already and is older than the average white male in the country lives anyway. It seems that I have brain failure in progress. Dementia is a name given to several types of the brain troubles. Within that designation are several types of brain failure. Alzheimer's and vascular are the two biggest groups. The doctor could not yet tell us what exact{if it exists} condition I have.  But It is not curable. However certain treatments may delay the final stage called death by several years. Which ever variation I have, I am and will be doing any and all treatments available.  Right now I have a life  to live time guess of UP to 8 years.  That is the same time most "guess age of death programs" have me checking out anyway. So basically I am an old fart on borrowed time. But I knew that and that is why I traveled in the travel trailer for the last 17 years. BEEN THERE AND DONE IT FOR  OFM THINGS. As I have deteriorated in the last three months, there is no way I would want to be on the road in the physical shape I am now in. So If you have a dream, DO IT NOW.   

NOT EXPECTED

Madison, Alabama

12/9/25

    Well it was not expected. I was sitting at the normal table in the dining table with the usual companions just having a nice chat when suddenly I felt some water drip on my head.  As I reached to see what was going on a short stream of water hit on my bald head and ran off onto the table. Then another drop hit!

I jumped a bit and twisted back as I went to wipe my head with my napkin. And there Mary k holding her water glass and giggling. My reaction was not a friendly grin. She thought it was funny.

The other big deal was finally getting to see the doctor about the results of the testing  during the last few months. He was very polite and helpful.  The test results did not show Alzheimer's or vascular dementia but rather a different trouble at the back of my brain. I do not know what it is yet but it showed up well in the x-rays when he tried to explain it.  I do not recall the name of it but I hope to find out soon to research it so I can act at least a bit intelligent when fighting it. My son was with me and probably got the name of the trouble so I can research it on the internet. In the mean time it was just an ordinary day in the assisted living facility I call home these days.

Everyone get busy having tooooo much fun

ROUGH DAY

 It has been a rough dementia day today.  The dementia has been kicking me most of the day so there is not much to report.  A good nap this afternoon helped make the day better. Amazon shipping has about six of my orders floating around some where between Madison Alabama and Dallas Texas  for two days now instead of delivering them. 

Hopefully tomorrow the dementia doctor will shed some light from his testing reports on what I can expect in my future. It will be bad or worse as best as I can figure out ahead of time. But at least I am still alive and can hug the gran kids.

Everyone relax and have some fun of some sort, OK.

OUTSIDE WALKING

 MADISON ALA.

    Today was a cold and wet day for the most part but in the afternoon it was decent for a little while. Not real nice but the temp was high forties without any wet or wind and I happened to be dressed for the garbage run from my quarters.  After the dumpster had a nice meal, I looked around and decided to do some walking outside instead of loops inside in the hallways.  So off I went and it really turned out to be a nice full half hour brisk walk. Tonight it feels great to finally have gotten out for some decent exercise  It is supposed to be freezing every night for five nights starting Thursday.  

The facility is really putting up lots of Christmas decorations and having several drop by local entertainers  do music and sing alongs. Some of them are pretty darn good.

That is about all the excitement for today. Have fun everyone.

GETTING CLOSER

12/4/25

Nothing much happening around me.  Tuesday we finally after many months and some tests like MRI and EEG we get to see a doctor for the results of all the waiting and the testing.  One person in the therapy groups thinks it will come in as vascular dementia. I do not know any more than that at this time.

One thing I do know is the huge amount of food this assisted living place serves has me gained 20 pounds in the last few months. I have a plan in place and being executed to get that down to a reasonable amount of weight for me. Losing is not easy for the OFM. 

I also have noticed my memory is not near as good as it was a few months ago.  That is also inline with the Dementia guess. The assisted living place is decent for living at and things are going well here.  My son made a correct judgement when we talked about my mental situation several months ago. Sure is wonderful to have Kiddo as my caretaker.

I have had no luck in getting posting edited photos in a blog so I am looking into a simple way to do it.  My brain no longer can handle much complexity in thinking.  So I will have to chase simpler styles.  I have done over 50 colorings in the last few months and really want to get them into the blog for viewing.  So it may have to be with a bit less finesse that they get posted.

In the meantime I am eating well, walking a lot, sleeping well and having mostly pleasant days and nights here at the assisted living home.  Every one please use your days to live life to the fullest you can. Thank You.

DATA OOOOPS

 11/21/25

Madison Alabama

Well  the OFM did a great job again. He got his head on backwards and inside out and thought he  was doing great. Nope, Old man Weather got him to paying better attention. The OFM had been operating on weather statements by others instead of checking it out himself. The OFM weather predictions were coming in rather wrong but he had a decent record of predicting general weather for areas he has traveled the last 17 years and staying out of trouble.

Here is where he messed up. The OFM had asked other locals what the distance was from here to the Gulf of Mexico coast, He got told it was a a little over a hundred miles. OK. But where he really screwed up was forgetting that the Gulf of Mexico has a huge curve in it and not checking a map. Yesterday he finally did the checking things himself and realized the error.  What he found is that instead of a little over a hundred  miles it turned into 600 miles.

So the curve of the coast went a lot farther south to get to Rockport than he recalled. As a result the OFM now knows that Madison Alabama is more like 600 miles farther north than he let himself be fooled into believing. Now that makes the weather here more reasonable to predict.  Where we are is at a latitude up into the lower panhandle of Texas. Now that far north is a whole different weather pattern.  So now I need to learn the weather winter patterns  for the cold country of  Madison Alabama instead of wonderful coastal Rockport Texas.(see the header picture) This was a really stupid mistake for a boon docker /explorer like the OFM. Now I plan to spend some time today to thinking like this area where it gets colder. Might even need to get a long sleeve shirt or two for winter here.

Keep warm and try to have tooooo much fun. OFM.

Not Much Happening

11/19/2025  

Madison, Alabama

Howdy again. Here is the big excitement this last week. My laundry got done today and it has been put away.  Now that is exciting in my life.

Things are going smoothly for the most part.  Painting pages from coloring books has been my daily chore for fun. And for rehab the lady has me doing all sorts of games requiring thinking. Good grief that hurts  my poor pea sized brain.

There you have all the excitement of the last week. Have a great time and keep smiling.

Good Night.

NEW COLORING BOOK

11/11/25

NEW BOOK

MADISON, ALABAMA

wow Did I get a big surprise today from the mailman.  A nice Christmas present came in from a reader/ friend. It was sent so as to be fun finding out who sent it. I think it is from a long time reader here in Texas. Sooner or later my DEMENTIAed head will figure out who but for now I will just enjoy it.

The gift is a very difficult coloring book that will have very challenging colorings to do.  THANK YOU FOR THE FANTASTIC GIFT MYSTERY READER.  It is a book named WINTER WISHES

A CHRISTMAS COLORING FANTASY

BY LYNN LANGMADE

It is about 40 of the highest level difficulty coloring pictures in the world. We are excited to get busy working on one of them. The OFM bets it will run close to two months to do one of the easy ones. But what beautiful art it will be when finished.  A real painter artist would maybe do the pictures justice.

Thanks again to the giver of the great present. Maybe I will find out who it is someday!

On the mind damage front, the therapist says I am making good progress and likely slowing my mind failure rate by a good bit.  After discussing my situation with her and then consulting the internet it appears I might have as much as five more years of somewhat functional mental abilities ahead. That means I need to get busy cramming stuff into the blog soon.  hmmm that could be a lot of fun, right. By then I will be 85 .  That sounds like nice piece of time to prove to the world I really am a knuckle headed fool, doesn't it? 

In the meantime everyone have tooooooo much fun please.

LATEST GUESSING

 MADISON, ALABAMA

11/3/2025

It is time for an update on my condition. It is not good. All the markers for my dementia are out in full force and I am on a normal path for one of the types of dementia to put me down in the next very few years.  For those who it might make a difference, let me guarantee you it is not a wonderful way to quit living. HOWEVER I have a not had average life. So do not cry for me but rather get busy and live your life to make me feel I have done very little. 

I moved in to here at HERITAGE on May 30 \2025 thinking why do I need to be here instead of a campground like  Point Mallard. Now I know the answer......I AM SICK.  But there is not time to cry over it all.  It is time to use every moment for living and laugh at the grim reaper as he trips on the rocks I leave on the path for him. he he he. So there is the future for me.

Next month I finally get a few moments of a doctors' time to see my future situation. It will be interesting to see what is coming at me in the next couple of years.

As far as here and now, I cannot safely drive anymore. My response times are way too slow for normal traffic and I do not want to cause anybody else injury. So I stumble along as best I can. Friends and family have been wonderful in accommodating me with my needs. Sorry I cannot bring you great adventures and exciting events any more but I am still trying to set up to show the world my ofm colorings.

So everyone get busy trying to have tooooo much fun. I AM.

MORE OF NOTHING SPECIAL

 MADISON, ALABAMA

10/30/25

More of nothing special. It has been a little busy for many folks with school events and the holidays approaching. But the OFM has been just coloring scenes from the coloring books and enjoying good health.  No big health issues for him or his family.  They are busy with their things getting ready for Thanksgiving and then Christmas. They have a lot of family within a couple of hours of their house to be busy visiting during Thanksgiving and Christmas and being in stage plays until after the first of the year.

The OFM is once again going to put in effort to get his pictures started on the blog and be more blog active. Good Luck to me I said.

Health around here is doing well. Cold but not severe weather has been slipping past us now and then.  It has been just cold and wet enough to get in the way a little bit but not extreme at all.

That is about all there is so everyone try to stay happy and have fun. We will try to lead the way on that. Happy Holidays.

NOTING SPECIAL YET

MADISON, ALABAMA

10/24/2025

It has been a very docile last few days. Not much happening but sleeping and eating. The OFM is doing therapy to help his dementia recovery progress.  We have slowed the progress of the disease by a nice amount, but that is all dementia can do and we are seeming to be doing as good as possible in limiting the rate of the disease.

In the meantime the OFM is doing a decent job of coloring pictures in the coloring books. We are still trying to find out how to publish them. Soon we hope.

In the meantime nothing bad has been happening. OFM's family is doing great with school and outside activities. OFM's family had a great trip down to Vero Beach in Florida where they celebrated a break in school activities.

The OFM has no special plans for anything in the immediate future but staying healthy during in the cold Alabama winter here in Madison. Ecevry one pleas enjoy yourselves.

Latest Test Results

MADISON, ALABAMA

10/18/2025 

The latest test news. Today the OFM went down to the healing room and participated in finding out how well or bad I am doing. Keep in mind folks there is no beating DEMENTIA only stretching it out until it gets you.  Today the OFM did much better than he has done at anytime in the past on the testing for status.

A lot of new info was gained and he is looking better than any patient they have had .   That is good news but is definitely not as good as cured. We still have to wait until Dec.9 to find out what the doctor thinks about what to do and how much longer the OFM has to enjoy living.

But look out world the OFM is ready to push some limits and try to be the first human to live forever.

NEW AND REPAIRED

 MADISON ALABAMA

10/17/25

The OFM got lucky today when his DIL Melissa had time to get him to a new glasses location.  We got to Costco and the lady in the optical area had already brought up my eye records etc and was ready to do business. We chose to glue the current glasses back together to carry us until the new glasses would arrive in about two weeks. So we were quickly out the door ready to help my DIL do some shopping at the resale places in Madison.

It turned out to be a good day for it. The OFM found himself a jacket to wear in the moderate cold weather due in a couple days for only $16. It was a very good find and purchase. Melissa found some well priced items for the theater she is helping. Over all the OFM had a fantastic day thanks to Melissa.

Now all I need to do is be careful not to damage my repaired old glasses before my new set comes in. Have fun folks. We intend to,

BROKEN

 MADISON, ALA.

10/16/25

Well I should have planned on something happening to make things difficult. My glasses right temple piece just snapped off from the glasses frame to make things more interesting. So now a visit to somewhere to replace the glasses will add to all the fun.

Today was the day of the OFM having a coloring book coloring session for all the old folks that wanted to try their luck at that sort of coloring. We had about 12 folks participate in it. They seemed to enjoy  the event. The oldest person was a very nice lady od the age of 104. Yep 104. Overall it was a fun event. Have fun everyone. We are trying to over here. Good night.

EEG TESTING REPORT

 MADISON, ALABAMA

10/14/25

We got to the doctor office right on time this morning and they quickly got me into the torture room used for electric testing of victims.  The nurse got right to work applying about fifty electrodes to my body with glue to hold them in the best torture points to keep the OFM awake.  Then she put powerful strobe lights in my face to keep me awake. Then she hit the power switch and things began to happen. The OFM nearly went to sleep. After about an hour of laying there waiting for something to happen everything went silent and the operator of the equipment announced that we were finished and removed all the electrodes from my formerly beautiful body. ( YEAH RIGHT). Then the OFM walked out and gathered his son and we headed back to the OFM's living location.

Now we get to wait until December 9 to find out the guesses the doctors will make about the OFM situation and what if anything can be done to heal aging.

In the meantime we will keep on having fun in Madison Al.

EEG

MADISON, ALABAMA

10/13/25

Howdy folks. Tomorrow is the day the OFM gets an EEG to try to see what is wrong with him.  It is to be done early tomorrow in a location in Madison at an EEG testing place. Then Dec.9 we get to go find out what the diagnosis is for the OFM from the doctor handling the case.  Looks like we might find out something in December about the OFM and his troubles. Maybe even if there is treatment for his trouble. That is about it for now. Not much I know but it is all I have.  Be safe folks. We are trying to be careful also. Goood night. 

Crazy Man

 MADISON, ALABAMA

10/07/25

Good evening folks. It is good news night.  The OFM passed his valuation of brain cells with flying colors today. His test score went up a large amount.  But it still is in the zone of needs to get better.  At least he is healing some.  Dementia is not curable but is slow downable and the OFM is good at being mentally slow. That is all the special news that happened and it was good news for a change. Everybody be nice to each other and maybe we will get more good news again soon. Good Night.

CLASSES CONTINUE

 MADISON, ALABAMA

10/4/2025

It was a nice day all around today. For the day`s effort the OFM painted a wooden bucket of flowers picture to have something to do. The picture went to supper with me and was well received by all the folks that viewed it. That was a nice surprise.  Any day now I hope to have time to try to find out the program to use for importing photos and putting them into the text of the blog along with stories. But it is not here yet. Old friend Don C. gave me a call from up in Michigan and we visited for a good while. That was about all the excitement in my life lately.

Another art class is due in a couple of weeks and there has been a nice amount of interest in it. Maybe it will work out well.

Other than that everyone have some fun some place.

The OFM.

COUNTING NEW COLORINGS MAYBE

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/28/25

The OFM got to trying to see what all he knows that needs doing for the blog. So he plopped down and went to work on a new drawing. He ended up counting all the drawings he knows about and wants to do right now.  The coloring effort stopped for the quick count. Well that quick count was quiet an eye opener.  With five coloring books in hand and several individual drawings in storage the OFM came up with a rough count of high probability want to do colorings right now of 350. At at least a week each that comes out to a few years. At least I know now it will not be a boring next few years.  In the spare time I still have a blog to write for fun.  Today two new readers stopped by my room to let me know how much they liked the blog.

Today the OFM spent a good bit of time checking his colored pencil pile status and ended up ordering several new pencils to replace worn out ones.

Good Grief the OFM is too old for all this work. It might be time to back off a bit. Anyway every one have fun and brag about it. See ya soon.

THE DEVIL VISITS

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/27/25

The OFM was trying to get some things in his life under control today when the  DEVIL walked into his mind saying   THE STORM IS TOO STRONG YOU CANNOT WIN.  

THE OFM LOOKS UP QUIETLY STRAIGHT INTO THE EYES OF THE DEVIL AND SAID I AM THE STORM!

ANOTHER CLASS

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/24/25

The OFM started prepping for the next class in doing art images.  Frequently on makes small marks not where they want them to be or the wrong color or just plain blows it. How to handle that is our next class.  The OFM named it FINISHING TOUCHES.

We will learn some ways to make correcting small errors in drawing without a lot of bother. I hope.  In the mean time I am trying to have a great time just healing form funny little body pains.

As if today the OFM has a doctor and is scheduled for an EEG,MRI AND  a follow up visit to discuss my troubles. So maybe we will see some improvement in OFM writing and coloring in the new year.

Maybe soon the OFM can relax a bit easier. Thank you for reading and comment.

GETTING READY

MADISON, ALABAMA

9/21/25

The holiday is over and when the in charge folks return tomorrow and get going good they will have plenty to plan for with Thanksgiving, New Years, Christmas and getting everything lined out again for next year. We have indications next year might be a big year of changes in things. Us bottom of the pile folks just have to wait and see what the economy allows. The OFM is planning on adjusting his situation a bit to smooth out his life some. The OFM head is still resisting being able to get pics into the blog but we are banging on the soft spot in his head in an effort to get them back into the blog. 

Everyone relax and have some extra fun for the rest of us.  

good Night.

Good Internet ARTNMEETING

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9-18-25

We had ten folks join us for the coloring gathering. The size seemed just right. The  set the guest in the order he needed them to sit so he could access equipment and supplies easily. All the folks had the same hot air balloon picture to color. Two of the folks refused to attempt the change in grip the OFM recommended while everyone else made the change with great success. So we ended up with 8 very happy new artists from the group. And that was the end of anything special for the rest of the day. Have fun folks.

NEW RULES AT THERAPHY ROOM

MADISON, ALABAMA

09/1/25

Let us talk about surprises.  This morning I went into the therapy room to discuss about the lack of aerobic exercise and change my workout to have more aerobic exercise.  Well I found out that I was in an evaluation phase where they decided what exercises I was supposed to do in the future. This is all without consulting me.  The discussion went well and starting tomorrow I will not be in any category beyond head category due to the Dementia diagnosis earlier in my illness time.  This is as it seemed like it should have been weeks ago. So now except for the brain damage treatments I am on my own for exercise. I am very happy with the conclusions and decisions. Yes my thinker is getting worse and I definitely need the mental help I am getting. It is nice when things work out well isn't it. Please understand that the quality of the treatment has always been excellent. 

Now I have another reason to get going on relearning how to get pictures onto the blog. The list of things to do is still too large for me to get accomplished soon but I am back closer today than in the last few months. The Heritage mess started when I moved in on May30 this year. But I also have to defend them because Federal Patient laws have been a factor in several things that seemed odd when they happened.

Tomorrow is the  big coloring class event.  I have spent a nice amount of time prepping things for the event. During the prepping I really wanted to be getting some pictures for the blog but it was not to be yet.

Thanks for reading the stuff tonight. Maybe things are actually finally coming together. It has seemed like a long road so far. Good night.

Suprise required attendance

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/15/25

Lately I have been warring with a management group at this facility about if I am required to attend some of the sessions of exercises. And where did they think they got the authority to force me to attend and require me to spend money on fitness classes I did not want to attend. Basically the lower level bosses told me I just had to and that was the end to the discussion with a smug smile on their faces. I let them think they prevailed and went back to my room and cut off the payments to them. Today the discussions were a lot more nice with their bosses. Today was a very nice day of good exercises for my needs.  Hmmmmmmm.

MORE FOLKS

MADISON, ALABAMA

09/12/25

To the OFM's surprise we had five more folks contact me to come to the coloring class.  It is about to outgrow the available space. Of course saying you will come is still just a maybe but we will see what transpires for real.

The lady staying across the hall from the OFM bought a really neat adult coloring book from Amazon a couple of days ago but when the OFM tried to get one they were all sold out of it. So now the OFM has to do without it.

In the meantime things have been nice and peaceful here in the assisted living area. Have fun friends.

IT IS A GO NOW

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/10/25

We have a go for sure on the art coloring class for next week on the 18th.  During a  root beer float  celebration this afternoon. a few folks told me they would be interested in a class using professional colored pencils for some art efforts. So we talked about it a bit and now the OFM will try his luck at being a teacher for a couple of hours that day. Wish me luck.

Everything is going well with the OFM. His Dementia seems to be right on track  and following the normal path of  Dementia.

Today he gave two separate small classes on differences in colored pencil leads. Both classes were well received we were surprised to see. That is about all there is for our excitement these days. Every one have fun.

CLEARING STUFF OUT

MADISON, ALABAMA

Yep it was a busy day.  We got in some shopping for supplies for the art class on the 18th. I will be teaching a very preliminary class on using art pencils for coloring the new adult style coloring books like I have been using for a few weeks now.

It is looking like we will have about ten students attending the one time class but the OFM will be available for answering questions for well after the class is finished. Probably as long as I am around here. It is basically a class on proper application of pro level colored pencils to the paper. It was a nice day outside and I got to enjoy a nice bit of it.  Good Night Folks.

GREAT DAY AT SCHOOL

MADISON, ALABAMA

09/05/25

The trip over to the school for Grandparents day went very well. The afterwards lunch at the Mexican food location, Phil Sandoval's, was as usual very average extremely excellent. Figgggger dat out if you can. 

Back at my living location it was big party day as one occupant was turning something like 103 today. She was nice to visit for a few minutes. After that I went to my room to make sense of a new brain exercise I got today to work on this weekend. I have to give Allison (sp) credit with putting in great effort to attempt to assist in the OFM keeping as much brain ability as possible.

That is it for tonight, but it is shaping up to be a busy weekend.  HAVE FUN.

GRAND PARENTS DAY

 MADISON, ALABAMA

9/4/25

Tomorrow is grandparents day for my grand daughter at her school and her grand mother, her husband and the OFM are going to the lunch to visit with her. I am very excited to do this again.  She seemed to enjoy having us there in years past.

On the home front my order for some dumbbells came in yesterday. Now The OFM can work on getting some decent uper body strength back.

Art class soon

MADISON ALABAMA

9/2/25

It seems that the art class I have been preparing to give will happen September 18 .  It will be a fundamental class on materials, costs, and general open questions so everyone can get an idea of the commitment colored pencil art requires. Not much is required but what is needed is needed badly or you just waste your money. 

The OFM is still trying to get photos to get on the computer so we all

 get to see them. The next few weeks will be very busy we think.

That is about all from over here in Bama. Have fun.

Big Test Today

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/28/25

Today was my first big official test to see if I have a working brain and what level it is working at or something like that. We went through several hard questions like what day of the week is it. The OFM naturally replied he did not know since the day of the week made no difference in his lifestyle so he ignored them. That is likely not the answer they wanted to hear. But if you don't want or need to know why bother  about  it I wondered. Several other questions did not really seem to apply to full time RV style folks. Maybe that is why full timers are so special eh!

The earlier therapy session was even more questionable. The therapist had us tossing the equivalent of a nice beach ball back and forth between us. I finally convinced him that was too easy and we should do it with our eyes closed when receiving the ball. He did not think that was possible but I talked him into doing it. So I closed my eyes and removed my glasses and he tossed the ball to me and I caught it and threw it back to him with my eyes still closed. It hit him in the chest and he missed it. Before he quit I had him catching the ball with his eyes closed but I never got him to toss it back with closed eyes. We used to do that all the time down on Galveston Beach in Texas. Hmm I wonder if the next session will as much fun?

That is enough about my brain and supposed brain sickness called dementia that is developing in my head  Have fun and good night.

Mouse In The House

MADISON ALABAMA

8/26/25

The OFM has been getting a lot of double strike key strokes the last month. He finally decided it was his mouse had worn out.  Careful controlled testing showed that to be correct. So a new mouse was ordered a couple of days ago.  It is due in tomorrow and we will be glad to reduce the number of misspelled words per paragraph to reasonable for me.

On the healing front It was great today to find out that even though my brain illness is not curable it is possible that the treatment we are getting has a reasonable chance of giving me a 40% increase in usable life expectancy for my brain function. That translates to something like another 3-4 years over the original time frame. I will be thrilled for every extra day I can milk from the situation.

In the mean time every one try to have tooooo much fun.

Goodnight.

WELL THAT FAILED

MADISON. ALABAMA

8/24/25

The OFM managed to screw it all up yesterday evening and posting a picture resulted in sending the picture into la la la  space. I will have to get another try when I can.  This brain failure stuff is sure getting in the way of the good life. All you sane folks have fun.

COMPUTER LESSONS

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/23/25

The good news tonight is the OFM's son got by today and we had picture goes into the blog writing lessons. Now please do not get too excited since the OFM has to get comfortable putting the picture into the blog. However tomorrow morning our plan is to start practicing doing picture insertions and see how it goes. Monday morning is go get new eye exams and order new trifocals for the OFM. With some luck tomorrow tomorrow night just might put the first new pic in a long time into the blog. Wish me luck.

SUDOKU

MADISON, ALABAMA

08/22/25

Well here we are with another few days under our belts. The OFM has spend a good bit of the last few days having short mild migraine attacks and trying to learn a game called SUDOKU. Supposedly it is a wonderful numbers game that will make my mental abilities score much better in a couple of weeks. It seems I have an EVALUATION coming up. What evaluation are they talking about? Anyway All I have to do is stop the auto pay from my bank and we will find out answers I bet.

Back to the good things. My son got us an eye exam appointment for next week. My eye sight has really deteriorated in the last month or so. Looks like new glasses are on the schedule soon. They will be welcomed for sure.

The coloring book coloring class is now on the schedule for first week of September. So the OFM needs to get busy and plan a class for the level of abilities of the folks i the class. There are a few folks here that will probably exceed the OFM abilities but we hope to get more folks to doing something besides stare at televisions. 

That is about it for this entry. Keep active and have tooooo much fun. 

PHOTO NEWS

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/19/25

Well I have an appointment in a week or three for my son to come over and help me start being able to put pics on the blog again. It would be nice to finally get a lot of the move off the road finished.  Of course I will not have all the travel pics anymore but at least  I might get some good grand kid pictures for all the relatives to see on the blog. So everyone have a great week and be nice to everyone you meet.

NOTHING SPECIAL HAPPENING

 MADISON, ALABAMA

8/18/25

Things are going pretty smooth. The facilities are getting several new folks in and the big revamp of the inside is in full swing now.  The OFM is still getting his walks and the brain therapy lady is working really strongly on trying to slow down my memory loss speed.  I am not fixable but we think that we can significantly slow down the abilities loss speed.  So I have a lot of homework every day to  keep up my end of the fight. Our best guess is I may have a decent 7-8 more years if I keep up the "up keep" as needed. You count on me leading that effort.

In the mean time I have the colored pencil coloring class coming up right after Labor Day that I am also prepping for.  We have about ten folks considering coming to it. We will see.

That is about it, I hope every one else is doing well at trying to have tooooo much fun.

UNREAL EVENT

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/15/25

Today I saw an amazing display of playing catch with a large exercise ball. One person was the exercise instructor leading the morning effort. The other person was an older lady resident in her early 80s I think. . She had a special feature, she is totally BLIND.  They were standing about 15 feet apart. The instructor tossed the ball to bounce in between them on its way to her.  She would catch the ball as the instructor would move laterally to a new spot and make a mouth noise like a whistle.  The lady would bounce the ball to him to catch and return. This went on for about ten minutes with the lady always catching the ball and accurately returning it to the instructor. The OFM stood there in awe of the event. She never missed the catch or throw angle back to the instructor. Incredibly amazing to the OFM.

NICE BIRTHDAY

MADISON, ALABAMA 

8/13/25

Hello everyone. It has been a bit of busy day cleaning, sorting and other things like that with nothing special happening.  We have been taking our therapy treatments as prescribed for both body and mind. Some progress on the body but the mind is sliding a bit.  According to the therapy folks, the OFM is doing well? Anyway the OFM turned 79 and our son and his wife and the the grandkids along with the OFM's ex wife and her current wonderful husband went out for a nice birthday supper together. It was a wonderful evening.

Tomorrow will be more therapy and healing.  It is a slow road this healing stuff. Everyone have fun and we will see you later. 

NEW DIAGNOSIS

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/10/25

It was a very interesting day today.  Mentions of my mental state brought in a lot of discussion.  For the moment it is thought (no doctor yet) but medical support folks were in on the discussions. The general consensus was that the OFM is in an early stage of  Dementia. This is the first time anyone has mentioned that illness.  The OFM went right to work learning what it means etc. Turns out he could not quite get a hand on all of it but he learned a lot about it. Yep it is serious. My doctor appointment is still over a month away. Just thought I would let everyone know about this surprise and then continue my style of living until a real doc gets a hold on it. Ya'll have fun. I intend to.

ART SHOW

 MADISON, ALABAMA

8/9/2025

Howdy from HOT north Alabama.  Well we only had one event worth reporting today.  The OFM hangs latest art efforts on the hall side of his door to give everyone a good laugh as they walk by.  Today the recreation director of this place stopped and looked at the coloring hanging on the door and the rest of the efforts in a ring binder I keep in my desk.

She decided she wants to have a public showing of some of my "art" for the folks in this operation and anybody else that walks in a good laugh. So now it looks like the OFM will become infamous all over the building soon.  I am already in-famous for all the walking I get out and do every day while they all tell their doctors all sorts of excuses for sitting in their room watching TV all day and night. So lean back and relax. I think the OFM has all the bad luck tucked in his closet for now. Good night.

NEW WALKING AREA

Madison, Alabama

8/8/2025

Well we had a great day in the dining room today.  The cooks outdid themselves on all three meals. The OFM ate a full plateful at each sitting. They really have their act together on the cole slaw. It is scrumptious. Then in midafternoon they had what they called Farmers Market put on by staff and volunteers. Lots of different fruits were available. The OFM had a large cup or watermelon, grapes. and three more good fruits for the afternoon snack. OINK 0INK. 

For good measure the OFM got clearance to use the back yard for walking. It is the area about a hundred feet wide by the long length of the facility  with a mowed deep swale down the middle. It is a mown maintained area where the OFM can walk in slightly rougher terrain with sloped areas to add exercise to the walking. It worked out perfect .  That adds to the concrete walkway around the building that we use now.  Wet or dry we have a good walking surface now.

That is it for tonight. Have some fun whever you are.

WALKING AND FLYING

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/7/2025

Things are going fairly well. I have been using my walking cane outside when walking and utilizing rougher ground to give me more challenging get along.  Today I discussed moving my walking over onto the the sloped grassy area that has some very moderate unevenness to it. He looked it over and agreed I am ready for it if I keep the walking stick at the ready. I agreed with him that I still can use the stick now and then since I still flop a bit now and then. So we have another small bit of progress.

The dental check up went well yesterday. The dentist gave me an A on my tooth care but an A+ needs a few changes that I and my daughter in law are making to my teeth cleaning equipment. A report on my opinion about it all will be in about three months of now or when I think something is worth mentioning..

A neat event happened this morning. While walking, one of those four winged insects with the  long round body we called mosquito catcher back in my childhood days flew next to my side burn area for a couple of minutes. I could actually feel the breeze from its wings on my ears. That was a neat experience.

I do not know why for sure but now days I bruise very easily. Yesterday my right fore arm ended up with several long mild bruises on it. Old age maybe? The two physical therapists working with me these days are really making a big difference (improvements) in my getting around but I do my homework each day.

Internet is very iffy around this place so do not worry if I miss a day or two of blogging.  It is likely my short term memory or the internet as the trouble.

Have some fun and get outside while you still can.

The OFM.

REALITY REPORT

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/4/2025

OK folks I will continue in a sort of way as well as my mind allows. Here is my status. It took three sordid months of misadventures to get to this status.  The short story of this situation started in mid May while on my way to my usual summer time visit.  I got parked at the usual state park in the usual camp sight with no trouble.  I went for the usual walk after set up.  Then the troubles hit. I got slapped with total dis- orientation of where or why I was at wherever I was. I attempted to  flag down a vehicle to get the rangers to find me and help. And then I passed out in the road.  About a week or so later I awoke in a jail place in east Texas.  Angels from Alabama came all the way from Huntsville Alabama to get me and the rig.  It was my sons fantastic wife's parents. The short story is I had no idea what was going on but I knew they were good folks helping me. A few days later were here in the Madison area and the OFM was still totally out of it about what is happening. The wonderful angels here took great care of me while I was pretty much out of it for a few weeks. The Castle and the truck were sold and the OFM well taken care of in spite of his out of it state of being. To the current status now.

I am in an assisted living location in mid Madison and slowly regaining some of my senses. The situation is safe and comfortable. I am slowly regaining some of my memory loss but it is slow going. The food is decent and living is comfortable and safe. At times there is no coherent thoughts in my head and in the good times I can tell that I will never get all my senses back completely. But I will be trying to let every one experience this life situation through me as suggested by one of my longer term readers.

The situation is decent and comfortable but the OFM's brain does not work right all the time.  But enough folks have suggested I tell the world about it that maybe it would have some value to those who are getting old.  I will be 79 in about a week. Thanks for reading. We will see what works out to be.

NOW IS TIME

MADISON, ALABAMA

8/3/2025

The OFM and KIDDO (the OFM's son) worked for a few hours today trying to teach the OFM how to publish a blog and pictures again. Alas, the OFM no longer has enough personal memory to be doing that any more. His old age limits at 79 have caught up with him. The OFM even could not take pictures and edit them to fit into the blog again So we regretfully have to let it go and say good bye to OLD FAT MAN ADVENTURES . We have had a great time for over 20 years  traveling and reporting the great things to see and do in our country and visiting with folks. This heartfelt good bye is published thanks to the help of KIDDO.  Please keep your blogs going as long as you can so the OFM can get a chance to read how things on the road or wherever you are doing. I hope to be able to comment on others blogs for awhile yet.

GOOD BYE AND SAFE TRAVELS

Life Update

 Madison, Alabama

7/29/25

Not much going on folks. Just waiting on a doctor appointment in a couple of weeks. Then another in a couple of weeks after that. Maybe some more info after they get through with exams. Got through some birthdays recently so my son and both grands are now one year older. The great news is both grands did so well with their performances in the stage performances they are being considered for an acting school to increase their already great abilities.

And that is all for late excitement. Have fun.

NEW LIFE PLANS

 MADISON, ALABAMA

7,26,25

The OFM did some careful looking at his future lifestyle with things going as they are. It is bright but definitely not like we had planned for the next decade. Our life expectancy is about ten more years. We will be 79 in a couple of weeks.  But the health situation is expected to keep me in some sort of assisted living until I KICK THE BUCKET during my late eighties. So what does that mean?  Time is short and I better hurry up with living.  We can expect to be in assisted living for the full time of this 9-10 years due to not being allowed to have a drivers license again. OK now We know the game ahead of us now. At this time I am in the process of being tested by two different doctors to see what a decent guess about my life forward will likely be like. The good news is I likely will be in good enough health to still do traveling if I do not have to drive.

It is nice to get some decently accurate information so I can get a good idea of what to expect and act on the information. Is it what I hope for Absolutely Not. But it is workable and look out America is soon going to have a other old fart running the roads even if he is required to be a passenger only. More on this story as it develops. 

NEW STAGE PLAY TODAY

MADISON, ALABAMA

7/25/25

  Today we attended a stage play involving both the OFM's grand kids. The pay was BOB SQUARE PANTS or something like that. My hearing did not let me catch the full name.  It was a nice play about equivalent political stupidities we have seen in the real world. The kids did an excellent job of the acting and performing. The singing and dancing was very good.  Over all it was a great joy to see.

Afterward the OFM went to a lupper (lunch supper) with a nice couple for some Mexican food that was also very good. After a long lunch they dropped me back at the assisted living where I live for a nice easy going afternoon and evening.

The play was excellent all around and the OFM enjoyed the heck out of it.  Afterward the OFM has been just being a first class bum laying around th room.zzzzzzz

Mental Events AND HAPPINESS

MADISON, ALABAMA

7/24/25

Yesterday was interesting to say the least. Getting mail set up to come to this Assisted Living Facility was finally totally accomplished.  It is not difficult if all all of your brain works, but when your brain is visiting Alice over in wonderland it can be a challenge of the highest order. So I advise you folks beginning this old folks journey to relax and enjoy the ride. Keep your humor at the ready cause you are definitely in for a "what the hell " ride. Just relax and have fun instead of getting all upset and mad.

The great news is the physical health care here is wonderful. My body is hurrying toward the best the OFM has ever been in overall physically. Not big strong like when I was weightlifting back in college days but rather the right  amount of good muscle tone for daily life. The brain weaknesses are being defined with ways to live comfortably with those weaknesses  and still enjoy being alive to have lots of fun. When a brain fart happens, and they will happen, just relax and enjoy the comedy act you put on. If I knew being half nuts was so much fun I might have started earlier.

Please do not try to deny you are having mental decline when it happens but rather learn how to enjoy the ride and adventures safely and try to have TOOOOOOO MUCH FUN.  Bye Bye I have to get busy safely playing IN MY CURRENT WORLD.

Dementia

 MADISON, ALABAMA

7/22/25

Let us talk about dementia a bit. The OFM (soon to be 79 yo) is in the beginnings of Dementia which is not a disease to my surprise. Here is my understanding  of what is happening.  My brain gets to the point it cannot remember all the different things a person usually does recall to live a normal life. It is the term to describe the way my brain forgets lots of things it used to know and use.

It is the collection of things that no longer work right as we age. My immediate main trouble is my short term memory is practically  non existent. I am an accomplished specialist at totally forgetting what I "learned " in the last few minutes but can recall in great detail what I learned hours ago sort of.  This creates me making LOTS of notes when I am awake to attempt to remember what I "learned" yesterday. It is not a nice way to live.

To those who have been on this wild learning journey with me, my sympathy goes with you. But the better news is I am learning ways to live with this aging mess. If you are not in this mess, have heart it is still a life worth living, settle down and learn the "tricks" of the time of your life and keep on living. You cannot defeat it but it is possible to accommodate it and still live a great senior life.

As an example of accommodations I am making I now do colorings and hang them on my assisted living living quarters door to the hallway where others get to see them and have fun making jokes about them. 

The OFM thinks that his blog may get to be better soon but in a different style than in the past. A new to me life style is seemingly developing. The OFM gets nearly daily psycho help in living his new style of life and even if it is different it is still great fun. So tighten your seat belts it is looking like a new style of wild riding is coming on. YAHOOOOOOOOOOO. 

TANGLED UP ME

MADISON ALABAMA

7/21/25

HELLO  folks. It is the OFM finally. Things have been less than the best in my world lately and getting to the computer key board has not had first priority lately.  But it looks like I will be back in action in the near future. I apologize for the delay but cannot promise it will not happen again in spite of my preferences. Thank you for your patience with the Old Fat Man. The four medical folks I am working with tell me I will get better and we are doing sessions five days a week to achieve it.  See you soon I hope.

Things Are Calm

 Madison, Alabama

07/16/25

Not a lot to talk about. The facility here has about six new folks moving in in the next few days. My BP has gone back up a bit and part of my additional pill change has been held back for a couple of days. The BP is back up to a bit high but still much better than a week ago. We are thinking it is a post office screw up.

Meanwhile the facility had a free taco feed at supper time tonight.  The OfM went with the kitchen meals since I wanted them more than the taco meal. they were really excellent.

We have been doing a lot of coloring lately but we still cannot get the pics onto the internet to publish them.

It looks like some fun times in the near future with all the new folks moving into the facility. Talk to ya'll again soon.

BLOOD PRESSURE SURPRISE

MADISON, ALABAMA

07/15/2025

Howdy folks we had a nice surprise during breakfast this morning.  Maybe some of the extra pills I am taking are starting to work.  My blood pressure at the breakfast table this morning was 103/66 with pulse of 70. That is a nice change for this OFM. Is it possible we are actually making progress. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Nothing else is happening of real importance in our world. My rework of my head to cure my brain failure troubles is on schedule to start happening soon. We passed the first of the new brain repair trainings with flying colors this morning. Now the real training begins. Hopefully with good results. Good Night Everyone.

CALM DAY WITH LITTLE HAPPENING

MADISON, ALABAMA

7/13/2025

Dear friends it has been a nice day in general. I still cannot get a photo taken with my canon camera to post any more.  A nice color pencil art effort of a desert valley was completed today. But I cannot get it to post on the Internet for publishing. Such is the life of this retired bum. Otherwise things are going well but the living without a vehicle is a real pain.  Other folks without vehicles at the Assisted Living place I am at are all not contented with that arrangement either. However I still agree that at this time I would not be a great choice to be out on the public roads. My reflexes are just not good enough. Hopefulluy that will soon start to heal enough.

 In the meantime I hope to soon get to publishing pictures again real soon.  Good night.

GOOD NEWS FINALLY

MADISON ALABAMA

7/11/2025

We finally got some decent news around here for a change. The new medical professional ordered two new items to be taking after she reviewed the OFM lab reports. Tomorrow he will start getting two new vitamins with his blood pressure control pills. The measured blood pressure surprised us with his first reading below 150 in the last several years at 138.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a long run of good luck for the OFM.

We hope everyone is having some fun these days.

Good Night. 

GETTING BETTER I THINK

MADISON, ALABAMA

7/10/2025

Back on the air again. Several things have been hitting on me lately but are getting worked out. There just has not been anything special for a few days and the OFM has been kinda beat down.  But today things seem to be on the up swing.

Yesterday was a turning point on some things. The teams now have a nice lady who is helping the OFM Teams to address address some health items in his some medical issues and a couple of other legal issues. We are hoping to speed up some of the processes we are going through.

Over all we are OK. We just do not have a lot of day to day activity yet.  Hang in there folks we sure hope to increase the excitement level soon.  BYE.

NICE VISIT

 It was a nice day and a long visit from my son was a welcome change. Several events in the last few days were discussed and some small plans were made for the future. My limitations are getting a bit stronger so we have to be careful of getting to ambitious about things physically demanding. This getting old stuff takes some being careful with planning outdoor events. Thank you to the readers still reading and commenting. I think my blogging days are about over.  I will soon be 79 years old and aging is fast becoming a difficulty to be carefully handled. I know others still well active in their 80s but my body and brain is not looking like it will be one of those types. So I will do what I can with what I have and be very glad I had 21 years of the free life like I did.  Keep smiling folks because life is worth living if you stay busy and live it for all you can.