Back to Boise

Sunday we left Ketchum and returned to Boise.  It's a mainly pleasant drive.



There is scenery.



There are hilly looking things.



Upon our return to Boise the weather just tanked.  It was cold and Monday it rained.  We had planned to have the windshield in the truck replaced Monday afternoon, but decided the weather was just too iffy to have it done in the RV park.

I saw the ENT on Monday morning.  The ear looks really good.  It's dry and there is no inflammation.  The pile of anti-fungal/steroid/drying agent powder is still sitting on top of the eardrum perforation, so it's not possible to see if it's any smaller or not.  In time, the power will detach and then all will be revealed.  It appears that my new world order will include showering with a dixie cup over my ear, since it seems that two phase water repelling is required.  The earplug lets a little water in, and with my wretched ear, that's a bad thing.

Next up is a trip to Portland.

The Ear, People and Internet Privacy

We saw the ENT again this morning.  It’s good news, bad news.  My ear is totally dry, so it’s not weeping anymore.  I was successful in keeping any and all water out of it since I saw her last.  The bad news is that she aggressively powdered my ear last visit.  The remaining powder has caked and hardened itself onto my ear drum.  She said I could just leave it there, but it kind of gives me the willies to have a pile of caked powder sitting on top of the perforation in the ear drum.  So she gave me two samples of an ear drop which allegedly will not feel like flaming pokers if they get into the middle ear.  I am to use them twice a day for two days, and then return on the 12th of June. 

Hopefully the drops will loosen the powder and she’ll be able to get it off the ear drum.  Today she was afraid to apply too much force for fear of tearing the ear drum, and then, of course there was the whimpering coming from moi.

People are so interesting.  There is a teeny tiny travel trailer across the street from us.  The man is about 6 foot 5.  I don’t know where he sleeps.  Plus, they are traveling with a Great Dane and standard Poodle.  I don’t know where anyone sleeps! 

And then there is this.



That’s an enormous 5th wheel, notice the triple axles.  He has a full on tractor trailer with a sleeper, and a smart car on the back.  Talk about difficult to park. 

And then there is internet privacy.  Without much coverage or fanfare, the Republicans have voted to allow ISPs to sell your personal data.  Their justification for this perfidy and malfeasance goes like this.

An opinion piece under Flake’s byline appeared in the Wall Street Journal on March 1, saying the rules took away “consumer choice” because people’s browsing histories could not be used to offer them “innovative and cost-saving product offerings.” The column said the rules would “create confusion” among customers because the FCC and FTC would regulate different parts of the “Internet ecosystem.” The same arguments and similar phrasing were used in a letter the industry coalition sent to Congress.

What Flake didn’t mention was the amount of money that flowed to him after he agreed to sponsor the bill.   The Washington Post covered vote and the background.  The article can be found here.

So, we continue to be amazed at the rabbit hole down which current politics take us.  And don't forget covfefe!

The Spring of my Discontent

I went back to the ENT physician's assistant yesterday.  It was a disappointing visit.  Although the fungus is gone, the ear is still weeping.  Worse, the perforation which used to be between 7:00 and 8:00 now stretches from 7:00 to 9:00.  She offered faint hope that it might shrink as the inflammation decreases, but I am not holding my breath on this.  There is also something in the center of the eardrum.  It's either an indentation or another perforation, she can't see it well enough yet.
So, she powdered me again with the steroid/anti-fungal/drying agent, and we will go back on Wednesday.   The next step will probably be antibiotic with steroid drops.  This fills me with dread because the drops will go into the middle ear which feels like a hot poker has been inserted.  This delightful feeling lasts for hours, so with a twice a day regimen, most of the day is spent on the couch suffering.

Traveling this year has been extremely aggravating.  I realize this is a first world problem, and I should be smacked for the whining, but whine I must.  Winds in Jensen curtailed any hope of road riding.  We came to Boise to ride the Greenway.  It's under water.  Yesterday we wondered what's happening to the Wood River trail in Ketchum.  It's also flooding.  Worse yet, almost every mountain bike trail in the area is closed due to recent rains.  So, that's disappointing. Perhaps there will be hiking.  Our time in Ketchum will be cut short as it is, due to the wretched ear.

And then there is the RNC.

On Friday, the Republican National Committee, which handles national fundraising and campaigning for the GOP, filed a public comment supporting a proposal currently awaiting judgment by the FCC, Recode’s Tony Romm reported late Tuesday. The petition, filed in March by the marketing firm All About the Message LLC, would permit private companies and political organizations to deposit automated messages into consumers’ voicemail inboxes without causing the cellphones themselves to ring. If the FCC rules in its favor, the proposal would move “ringless voicemail” robocalling technology from a regulatory gray area to legal fair game, potentially opening the floodgates for telemarketers and political organizations to inundate Americans’ voicemails with messages hawking products, services, and candidates for office.

Can you believe the perfidy of this?  They want to flood your inboxes with their unwanted solicitations.  Deleting voice mail now takes forever since Verizon started reporting the number that left the message, its duration and other un-needed information.  They're trying to make you sign up for visual voice mail, which costs money.

It's Memorial Day Weekend.  There is a B-17 flying in the area, her name is Aluminum Overcast.  It's pretty cool to hear that engine overhead.

More in Boise

Sunday we drove in to look at the capitol.  We figured (correctly) that there would be less traffic on a Sunday morning than during the week.  Here is the dome and the columns out front.



The top of the dome from inside.



On the basement floor there are many informative things to read about the history of the state.  We found this to be amusing.  One wonders how they determined which Indians were to be disenfranchised, and were there that many Mongolians that they needed to be kept out of the voting pool.  In 1890 the LDS gave up plural marriage, and Idaho gave them the vote in 1895.



Isn’t that a beautiful thing?  I love old stuff that still works.



Boise has commisioned public art on their utility boxes.  The painting does add a touch of cheer to the sidewalks.



After the capitol we walked down to the Basque Block.  The Basques are an interesting people.  Their language is completely distinct from all other languages.  Many of them migrated to this part of the country and worked herding sheep and cattle.  Boarding houses were built for the men to live in during the winter.  This is one of the two surviving buildings.  The block “preserves the Basque heritage” with a number of restaurants and a museum.  You can read more here.



This was a surprising marquee.



We drove out the other side of Boise in search of dry sections of the greenway.  There is a really cool stretch of amazing homes in south east Boise.



This one is for sale.

Still wet!  There is a work around to this section of water, other than riding through it.  This is pretty far from the RV park, so it’s doubtful we would drive out this far to get on the other side of the water.

Today we rode up to the Eagle Bike Park.  As is so often the case, our conception of what constitutes a green trail is different from the person’s who colored the maps.  Trails are very hard packed dirt, with some sand.  There are ruts from water run off.  In most places the single track is wide enough.  There was one hillside traverse I declined because it was too narrow and too side hill.  The trails are steep.  There was a fair amount of hike a bike.  The initial pitch up was about 18%.  We decided to look at this less as peaceful riding through scenic vistas and more like weight lifting.

The first time we came down the hillside, Jim decided to ride a “green” downhill course.  Hah!  Double HAH HAH HAH!  He had to dismount three times because it was so steep.  At one point he could feel his back wheel coming up, so stepping off seemed prudent.  He also flushed some sort of large bird from the bushes.  I went down the 18% section (with jumpy things) and that was sufficiently thrilling.

See the jump mid photo?  We ended up approaching that from the bottom on a different trail and riding down under the jump.  It’s the Stormin' Mormon trail.  The bottom half is fun, it’s bermed, and the jumps are not extreme.



Looking up from the parking lot – key word is up.  Given the topography of the land, and where the open space is, it’s all going to be up.



The new Dish receiver was supposed to be here Friday, today at the latest.  I called last Tuesday to verify it was in transit and was told that it was.  So I called today to inquire since it did not arrive.  IT NEVER SHIPPED.  The technical support person just did not order it.  The person who verified it was on the way Tuesday flat out lied to me. When talking to them today, a little bit of anger leaked out of my voice, maybe just a touch.  We don’t have that many more days here, and the people who do installs are really busy. We may end up having to take it with us to Oregon and getting it installed there.  We have an over complicated system that has a/b boxes and wires going everywhere and I do not want to touch anything in the cabinet.

My ear is better.  When I push up from the underside, I don’t hear fluid moving around.  The pops and crackles have stopped, as have the momentary periods of being deaf.  So, perhaps there is progress.  I am back to showering with the ear plug AND the plastic cup over my ear, trying to keep it dry.

So, that’s it from Boise.

In Boise

The drive from Brigham City to Boise is pretty in places.  It’s all freeway.  It’s a long drive, but there’s no drama.



There’s one little climb, which got us high enough to see snow and fog.



Eventually, you come back down into mass agriculture.



It’s good that we came to Boise.  It’s a larger city with better medical people.  The two treatments of Gentian Violet did exactly nothing for the fungus. I was able to see a physician’s assistant in an ENT office who spent time suctioning out my ear and then dusting it with steroid/anti-fungal/drying agent powder.  That was yesterday.  It’s better today, but it’s still wet in there.  I’m supposed to go back again next Friday, but I may go sooner.  This really needs to be resolved before it makes its way into the middle ear.

One of the reasons we came to Boise was to ride the Boise Greenway.  It’s under water!  There is so much run off from the mountains that they’re having to release a lot of water.  This is a low point in the trail.



The river is running really fast. 





This is the entry to an RV park along side the river.  The park is dry, but there’s a lot of standing water.





We are liking Boise so far – but it’s early days.  Today we rode on the road, it’s hilly here!  I think we did more climbing today than we did all winter in Tucson.  There are bike lanes on many roads.  Although Jim was almost taken out by a teen-aged driver on the way back.  Monday we are going to check out a mountain bike park just up the road from here.  There are a lot of trails that are signed as green (easy) so maybe we can ride there.

The Last of Jensen

Another hike we did while in Jensen was Moonshine Arch.  It’s just north of Steinaker State Park.  Getting there involves a gravel road, and then a dirt road that has the sand that’s like talcum powder.  I will once again be vacuuming out the bed of the truck.  It’s a nice hike, there is some slogging through the talcum powder sand so don’t wear a nice pair of socks.  Mine are now pink.

It’s a pretty arch.  There is a cavern underneath it.



The scenery on the way back is just lovely.  Look at the colors.



Today we drove to Grand Junction, via the highway of death, CO139.  It’s actually a really pretty drive.  The road surface was not bad until we were about 38 miles north of I70.



There are cows on the road.  Notice that she is on our side of the jersey barrier.



As you approach Douglass Pass the road gets really steep.



The south side of the pass has significant switch backs.  They are signed 15 mph and they mean it. 
Here is more live stock we saw.  It was a critter rich day.  We had cows and deer.  Going into Loma, prairie dogs were running across the road in both directions.  None were harmed by us.  There were also sheep on the highway.  Someone had put up home made signs warning of sheep on the road for several miles.



A large part of the road maintenance appears to be scraping mud off the road.  See the scrape marks in the dirt?



The Deere 333G was pushing dirt over the edge of the road.  The power tool behind the Deere was pulling up bushes and throwing them over the side, as well.  There was a lot of evidence of mud removal along the way.




This is the top of Douglass Pass.  The road was rough in places, but it wasn’t crumbling.  There are roads in the Tucson city limits that are worse. Large falling rocks have taken their toll on the pavement.  In a car or a truck, it’s not a bad drive.  We would NEVER EVER EVER take the RV in either direction on that road.  There are some really steep bits that are long enough to allow the weight of the bus to put serious strain on the engine brake.



It’s a pretty drive.

Oh yes, the ear.  Fungus is still in residence.  This time the ENT squirted the gentian violet into the ear instead of painting with a q-tip.  His thinking was that more would be more effective.  Thought I was going to pass out/vomit from the pain.  Eight hours later it still hurts, along with referred pain into the jaw.  So, I have an appointment with an office in Boise on the last day that we are there to see what’s happening on the ear drum.  Hopefully today will have exterminated the life forms in my ear.

Take care of your ears.  When they turn on you, life is bad.

Return to Moab from Grand Junction

The trip to Grand Junction was fortuitous.  Upon our arrival at the GJ KOA, I spied a mobile RV tech on the roof of a travel trailer.  We asked if he could work us into his schedule to replace the seven pin and he said sure.  He sent us off to buy one, and by the time we returned he was ready to install it for us.  He's a competent tech, did nice work, taped everything off and was very pleasant to boot.  Best of all, we did not have to take the RV in to the dealership.  Their yard opens directly on to Hwy 50 and we were not looking forward to making that turn across heavy traffic.  So, if you're in Grand Junction with a wonky RV, call him.

It was really good that I resisted the urge to just take antibiotics for the ear, and sought medical treatment.  I have a mycotic infection on the eardrum.  The ENT was able to suck most of the offending material out.  He then painted it with gentian violet, which was developed in the 1880s.  It's making a come back as an anti-fungal.  It also stains everything it touches.  There is already a purple blotch on my bath towel.  I have to go back in two weeks.  After the remaining cells die, they, too, must be vacuumed off the eardrum.
Why, you wonder does she have fungus growing on her eardrum?  It's because of the narrowness of my ear canal.  The ENT said its shaped like an Erlenmeyer flask, with the eardrum being the bottom of the flask.  So, even though we've been in low humidity, the ear continues to be the gift that keeps on giving.

Other things we saw in Grand Junction included a trailer full of long horn steers.  Look at that horn!

This is a locomotive grave yard.  There are over 60 of them sitting on sidings.  It's sad, seeing that much machinery rusting with their wheels covered in tumble weeds.  Some may go back into service, others will not.

This is Crescent Junction.  It's at the corner of I70 and UT191. This is where the contaminated mine tailings are being taken and buried.  There were many train cars.  On the right, you can see a mobile crane heading towards a car to pick it up.  There's nothing out there, so I suppose it's as good a place as any to make radioactive.

So that was the last two days.  We'll uproot the schedule to accommodate a return to Grand Junction.  There are very few medical specialists in this part of the country.

Speaking of medical stuff - the house passed the ACA replacement today.  They made rape, pregnancy, domestic violence (not true, 45 to 48 states have laws forbidding this practice, article here) and C section deliveries pre-exisisting conditions.  I wonder if all of those college educated white women who voted for that man are still happy with their decision.
Several days ago Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., said this during an interview on CNN:

My understanding is that [the new proposal] will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool. That helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, they’re healthy, they’ve done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now, those are the people — who’ve done things the right way — that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.

The italics are mine.  It's interesting to see how their minds work.  It you're sick, clearly it's your fault.  Ah lah, they've all gone back to the White House for a beer bash to celebrate a good day's work.  I can't stand it.  Call your Senators, tell them to stop this now.

It hit the 90s today in Moab.  Looks like we'll be getting up early for hike/bike.  We're up and out for Jensen, UT on Sunday.

Ears, Birds and the Bees

I saw the Tucson ENT yesterday.  It was sort of a good news, bad news report.  The hole in the eardrum is still there, but it's very tiny, 0.5 mm in size.  Dr. P believes that water intrusions into the middle ear, and subsequent infections, are not likely.  The hole is so small that surface tension should prevent water from getting across the ear drum.  It does continue to prohibit activities like paddle boarding, kayaking or free diving for pearls at depths of 100 feet.
This was my hearing test in July.  The lower line is the left ear, and the change in hearing was fairly shocking.  After the original perforation in 2010, my left ear's line was just slightly below the right ear's line.

This was done yesterday.  It's better than it was before surgery, but it still tails off at 4000 hertz.  It's not a terrible hearing loss, but I was hoping for more improvement.  The nerve is still in good shape, and this loss is well treated by a hearing aid. 

Here are pictures of the bee and the bird.  The bees here are Africanized hybrids.  They can be vicious little buggers.  When we sit out on the patio a few are always buzzing around.  Bees make me nervous.

There is the always darling hummingbird.

What does one say about today's mass shooting in San Bernardino?  We're both sad and have headaches.  It's just another tragic day for our society.

Traffic and the Ear

What's happening in your neck of the woods?  We've had a spectacular two days of really terrible traffic jams.  This happened yesterday on westbound I90.  It was a dry day, but somehow a truck driver managed to over turn his vehicle and completely block all lanes of I90; he was carrying 45,000 pounds of frozen burritos.  Traffic was a mess for hours.

This happened this morning, near Tacoma.  The semi jack-knifed and in the process, pushed the jersey barriers into the other side of the freeway.  People moving in the opposite direction had multiple accidents due to the unexpected appearance of the barriers.  Traffic, again, was a mess for hours.

So, when we leave tomorrow morning we will be driving neither to the west nor the south, so hopefully we will not encounter any of these types of events.

We saw the surgeon this morning.  He said the hole in the ear drum appears to be healing.  Say hallelujah!  It'll be 4 to 6 weeks before it's known for sure, but he said he thought it would be ok.  So, it's not closed yet, but it might be.

We are leaving in the morning.  We're getting out of here just in time.  The weather is shifting into the pattern of rain every day, wind and general misery from never seeing the sun. 

Feet and Ears

The visiting of doctors continues.  Jim's foot had not improved significantly with icing and TENS therapy so we went to see the podiatrist again.  The fat pad on Jim's heel has thinned somewhat, which has caused the bursa to become inflamed from too much pounding on the heel.  Now we are taping.  After my first foot surgery I spent too much time on crutches and gave myself plantar faciitis.  I spent a year icing and taping, it was brutal.  So now Jim will learn the joy of athletic tape.  The goal is to pooch up the heel and then strap it firmly so there is more flesh under the heel.  It's a process.  Dr. Lewis' taping is a thing of beauty, I aspire to be as good as he is.

After the podiatrist, we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.  It was ok.  Not great, not terrible.  I had barbequed quail legs.  The sauce on them was really good, it had a slight taste of orange.  The quail was good, but it's kind of a pain to eat, and there's not much of it for the amount of effort expended eating it.

Then we went over to Uwajimaya, which is an Asian grocery store.  I love looking at stuff there.  We were interested to see chili paste with holy basil.

It is originally from India and is used in Ayurvedic medicine as an “adaptogen” to counter life’s stresses. It is considered a sacred plant by the Hindus and is often planted around Hindu shrines. The Hindu name for holy basil, Tulsi, means "the incomparable one." Medicine is made from the leaves, stems, and seeds. 

I had never heard of it before, of course there are many things of which I have not heard.

Cute mayonnaise containers.

Farmed tilapia.  They're good sized fish.

Crabs on the hoof.

They have a cool housewares section.  I like the egg faces.

Today we saw the ear surgeon.  The paper patch he installed two weeks ago slipped, and was no longer in place to encourage the hole to close, and so it didn't.  We discussed proceeding with the fat plug.  It has a lower success rate than the paper patch, but it's what's left in my progression of ear surgeries.  He wasn't inclined to do it, since we're leaving soon, but I convinced him that he should.  At noon today, that's what we were doing.  The surgeon makes a small incision in the ear lobe and removes fat.  Then he puts a pointed tool into the hole and irritates the edges a little; after which the fat is forced into the hole.  It's sort of like a dumb bell with some on the other side of the ear drum, and some on the exterior side.  It's a fairly uncomfortable process.  If I ever do that again, drugs will be taken before hand.  There will be at least three more weeks of showering with the cotton ball, the vaseline, the band-aid and the dixie cup over the ear.  I'm fairly despondent about this, having a hole in the eardrum increases the likelihood of ear infections, which erode the graft and likely send us back to the operating room in five years.
We're here for one more week, and then heading directly to Tucson.  Have you been watching the news?  Phoenix has been having flash flooding with swift water rescues.  Hopefully this will not be happening when we go through there.