And the most remarkable thing? We won't tell folks for a few days yet but thinking about what we'd do if we couldn't travel caused us to rethink the whole idea, which really makes much less sense now than it did then, before the whole prednisone/drug change/ mania took hold. We're really better off staying here until the transition is complete, and banking our needles so we can take the whole tour of England that we envisioned in the first place. So we aren't going. We've already cancelled everything and are planning out the autumn, starting with a month in Bellingham. Were going to take our sweet time hopping down the coast As you might expect, we're very excited about it because that seems to be what we do.

Whew. And again, whew.

What a wild ride!

I agree, as far as architecture goes. It's a beautiful building, and more interesting and characterful than the glass towers. I really like them both for different reasons though. I really enjoy stepping out the door and looking up at those towers and the sky behind them and the reflections across them. Different every day, just like the river.

I agree, as far as architecture goes. It's a beautiful building, and more interesting and characterful than the glass towers. I really like them both for different reasons though. I really enjoy stepping out the door and looking up at those towers and the sky behind them and the reflections across them. Different every day, just like the river.

Thanks for your concern, Genny. I will bring that up with my rheumatologist to get his thoughts, and also remind him that I'm planning on getting cortisone shots in my knees before we leave - something I've mentioned before but will double check.

It's quite remarkable how much of a change in the quality of my life it is making in the meantime though.

Hi Scott, please be sure all your docs are aware of your regular ibuprofen use. In dogs, NSAIDs are never used with steroids of any kind because the combo commonly results in gastric/duodenal ulceration. I don’t know if humans are as prone as dogs to that problem but we might be. Plus chronic NSAIDs all alone can be cause kidney injury, especially in the face of dehydration.

That's what I know as the Lucky Lab. Never occurred to me there are multiple locations, but then it's been maybe a dozen years since I've been there.

Much has changed but the Ambassador (now condos) is still there. What a beautiful building. I'll take it any day over the glass towers.

Now THAT is an attractive bird.

Well, depending on what one means by "knee..."

(Wiki says it is "the joint between the thigh and the lower leg in humans.")

I suppose leg joints of a bee could also be called knees...

Thanks for that. I hadn't heard that Dickens painted her portrait first, but I'm not surprised. I grew up on Dickens and I think read well over half of his complete works.

They're an amazingly colorful bird if you get a good look. I'm hoping I'll see one with the new camera some year, but not this one. They don't make it as far north as England. I think I'll go back and find my best shot from the past though and include it here.

Wowzer! For whatever reason I sure am glad you posted this!

Ah, Joni Ernst, Republican from Iowa. Famous for "We are all going to die", in response to the risks of Medicaid cuts. This is not even an original evil remark, since Scrooge came out with "then let them die and decrease the surplus population", which is a quote from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, spoken by Ebenezer Scrooge in response to the suggestion that some poor people would rather die than rely on charitable institutions like workhouses.