Semi Colon

For all of you that have been following my adventures of late, here is an update. On Monday, the 15th, I went in to the West Los Angeles VA hospital where I underwent a low anterior bowel resection. For the layman, they took out about 8 inches of my colon. The sugery and, subsequent, recovery went well. There was little pain or discomfort. I was sent home on the following Monday, cleared to do just about anything except lifting anything over 10 pounds. I had some rather severe gas pains on that evening and on the following evening as well. By Wednesday, they had subsided. The worst part about the entire deal was waiting for the pathology results. I went back to see the doctor today and was told that all the tissues came back clean and clear of any malignancy. Woo Hoo!! I now join an exclusive club of "survivors". I wonder what the ribbon color is for colorectal cancer? Brown? How about a scratch and sniff? Maybe the world isn't ready for that just yet. I'll shelve it, for now.
A big thanks to all who wrote, prayed, cared or even feigned interest in my plight. It was a real blessing to both of us and we are, eternally, grateful. While this was no fun at all, it was still a good experience. To see so many people come together, on my behalf, made it more than tolerable. Time to get on with the rest of my life. It's lookin' pretty good.

My Most Amazing Post.

I lay around on my dead ass watching, all together, too much T.V. It came to my attention the other day while watching some, pre-digested, dreck on the tube that the word "amazing" has become the most popular word in the English language. Everything is amazing. Celebs roll their eyes in rapture while describing their latest boy/girl friend de jour as being just the most amazing person. I was watching an ad for something or another and the voice over said, "My baby started walking today. It was amazing". What's so frikken amazing about that, you nitwit?!?! If the kid had sprouted wings and started flying around the room, that might have qualified, but guess what? All kids start to walk at some point unless there are physical problems. Amazing! My dog is just so amazing, I have the most amazing job, the cheeseburger that I had for lunch was so amazing. I'm amazed at the, obvious, fact that people are lemmings. They see or hear someone of great value and intelligence like Paris Hilton or K-Fat or some other celeb, Jersey Shore, douche say or do something that's....... well, AMAZING, and they feel the need to emulate them so they can be elevated to a higher plane of existence. Who will be the first to name their kid, "Amazing"? Hmmm, "Amazing LaFong". Has kind of a nice ring to it

Barkeep, Gimme Another Belt

I received the belt from Grainger Monday and, sure enough, I miss measured and it was too short, So, back I go and sheepishly admit to the clerk that there is something wrong with my tape measure. Boy Geniuses™ don't make, simple, measuring errors. I return to The Fongderosa with the new belt clutched in my sweaty fist and we have a winnah. I fire up the bike. Parenthetically, I have to give props to my Odyssey battery. I haven't ridden the bike or charged the battery in, at least, 2 months and it fired immediately and without hesitation. I allowed the bike to sit, running, until it came up to operating temperature. No leaks, no apparent problems. It was a cool day and it sat at 180 for 15-20 minutes with no air flow over the radiator. The fan never kicked on. A good run on a hot day will come later. I have surgery in two weeks and there will be a protracted period of recovery. By the time I'm back on my feet, warmer temps will be here and I can give it a baptism by fire. There is no reason to believe it will not work perfectly. I didn't keep a pile of receipts, so I'm not entirely sure of the cost. The pump was about 40 bucks, the belt was 12, I bought a handful of copper fittings and a boatload of charcoal briquettes for my furnace. I probably spent more on those than anything because of the numerous casting failures.
I can now cross Jabsco off of my list of people that I will no longer have to concern myself with. I'm sure they're great folks, but it's not an item that you can just swing by Wally World or Pep Boys and pick one up. This pump has a lifetime guarantee and I suspect that I will never have to replace it.
Now, there is that noisy, sometimes troublesome electric fuel pump. Too bad there is no room for a mechanical pump....................or is there????