The Dynamic Duo

Hey loyal readers. Sorry I’ve been posting-remissful. Hmm, Spellcheck does not think “remissful’ is a word, silly Spellcheck. Actually it doesn’t like the word “Spellcheck” either. Perhaps it is committing apoptosis? (also not a word, btw).
Lately I have been devoting all my spare time to learning about cell respiration, photosynthesis, mitosis, meiosis, bones and muscles. Ah, photosynthesis, I can hear you thinking. ‘That is simple! The sun shines on the geranium, and I make sure the geranium has plenty of water. Then the geranium breaths in the carbon dioxide and breaths out oxygen, which is why I have lots of geraniums in my windowsill. And thus the plant lives and grows.’ And you are right in a naive, grade-school type way. But you left out all the ‘good’ (ie boring) stuff: thylakoids, granum, light spectrums, chloroplasts, chlorophyll, Photo Systems II and I (yes, II comes before I just to make it more confusing) C3, C4 and CAM plants, and of course, the good old Calvin Cycle.  And you do NOT want to ask me about that other stuff; I mean you do NOT want to even get me started (at least I hope not, cause it has mostly already left my head.)
So far, it’s been a nice weekend. UltraDad and I both had today off; it’s Nevada Day, a holiday for state employees. This year, it coincided with Halloween. I think it’s celebrated on the last Friday in October, delivering a nice little 3 day weekend for the fortunate. I think most of you are aware I now have a gimpy knee; the combined results of osteoarthritis and cartilage-removing surgery 15 or so years ago.  A knee replacement is probably in the works somewhere down the road, but part of my stop-gap measures include ordering something called an “unloader brace” at my orthopedist’s suggestion. It was constructed to the unique specifications of my knee, thigh and calf size, and I got a call yesterday saying it had finally arrived. So this afternoon we went in to pick it up and get some instructions on how to wear the thing. Interestingly enough, the PA and tech also had no idea. I guess they don’t order them often, and they are all a little different, for some reason. Anyway, they muddled their way through instructions as we tried to help. After they finally thought they had it right, I made them stop and let me try to put it on myself, which was another process of trial and error. I wore it for several hours, and it didn’t seem all that comfortable, It is supposed to shift the weight bearing away from the inside of my knee where bone is rubbing on bone, and I couldn’t really tell it was even doing that yet. Anyway, after we got home and I checked the box they sent with us, I found several pad-like shapes in various shapes and sizes.  Perhaps they are to provide some additional cushioning???
Anyway, UDad and I decided to reward ourselves with a movie and some take out KFC chicken. When we got back home, we settled down with our meal and “When Harry met Sally” with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. It was kind of cute and funny in a chick-flick relationshippy sort of way. UDad was nice about it, but I could tell he would been happier if there had been a gun fight or two. I think we had a total of 10 or so Trick or Treaters, so I have a bit of candy left over, which I may as well just pack right onto my belly and skip the middle man.
UltraDad pretty much finished tiling the guest bathroom floor two weekends ago. It looks very, very nice. He did an excellent job. I think the hardest part was putting the toilet back in. We had a fun little game where he crawled under the house to turn the water back on, after installing a new fitting on the water hose to the toilet. My job was to tell him if it was leaking or not. Leaking is not even close; the whole thing blew off and water geysered out, as I ran outside yelling “Shut if off!” I had just gathered all of the towels I could find when, in an action I would never have predicted, the geyser erupted once again. THIS time I yelled until I got vocal confirmation that I had been heard. I begged UDad to give it up for the night, but he patiently persisted, and got the thing done.
Last weekend I spent in Utah visiting my very good friend, Ima. She actually had the prison storekeeper job before I did, and we became friends talking on the phone. On our agenda for the weekend was viewing the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Leonardo Center in Salt Lake City. We had seen the ads and it sounded intriguing.  Actual bodies were preserved through a process called ‘plastination’ and were in various poses, demonstrating different body structures and body systems. Jimbo, now living in SLC, agreed to go with us and allow us to take him out to lunch afterward. Ima and I set off from her home in Stansbury Park armed with 2 GPS Systems and a Mapquest to get to Jim’s apartment. The GPS’s talked to us in tandem, not always agreeing on the best route to take. We shut mine off to avoid the confusion, and listened to hers tell us to make 3 U-Turns in a row, which seemed very unproductive. We finally called Jim as a last resort, and learned we were nearly there. We made Jim drive to the Leonardo Center.
The exhibit was very interesting, showing off muscles, bones and body organs. One body showed nothing but the skeleton and the circulatory system; another, only the nervous system. There was a lot to see and a lot of people to take turns viewing exhibits with. When I sat down after nearly 2 hours, to check my blood pressure at one exhibit, I realized my knee was throbbing and I was exhausted. Jimbo later told Johnny that it was interesting, but that he very soon got tired, like he was at the mall!
We had lunch at Squatters; the food was good, but the activity at the next table was very distracting. A young, dramatic man who it appeared was with a party from yet another table spent most of the time we were there standing and talking loudly and animatedly to a woman at the table-next-door. At times he hugged her or sat on her lap. He finally bopped back over to his own table and sloppily dumped his food into a “GO-box” as members of his table asked him to lower his voice.
After dropping Jim back off at his apartment, Ima and I went back to her house where we talked and laughed at the antics of her three shitzu dogs. I even managed to complete my online biology homework.
Just had a very nice videochat with Linc and parents. I had a lot of competition from Beaker the turtle, toys and light reflecting in the window, but got a couple of nice smiles. Silly daddy UltraBob elicited some great laughs, leading him to conclude he should be a standup comedian for 6-month olds (and maybe their grandmas:)
And now, I think I’ve delayed starting my bio home long enough. In fact, maybe too long. I think it’s time for bed.
Later, Gator.

Ultramom