HUNGARY ON A FULL STOMACH AND EMPTY GAS TANK

Word from son Andy is that they are "stuck in Hungary". Yesterday they drove from Budapest to the resort area by Lake Belaton. After finally finding a campground, they (I hope Kai car was driving and not Andy) backed over a stump and tore the fuel line. It is May day tomorrow (Tuesday) and mechanics are on a four day weekend. They will hopefully get it repaired on Wednesday. That gives them plenty of time to enjoy the beauty of the resort area. Downside is it is off-season and not much is going on. The are near the town of Siofok, Hungary.
Link: http://www.siofok.com/uj/index-en.php

His story of car trouble on vacation brings back memories of throwing a rod and having to replace an engine on a trip to Michigan. We were stranded on the freeway in the lower peninsula of Michigan. The tow truck took us to the nearest town which happened to be Gaylord, Michigan. Jon sat in the cab of the tow truck with the driver and Andy, myself and 24 yr. old son Dave sat in the truck on top of the tow truck. It was sort of a Beverly Hillbillies scene.
If you are going to be stuck, Gaylord was a good place. We checked into a motel. In the morning we moved to the Holiday Inn which has a Holidome with pool, hot tub and other amusements. This helped our eleven yr. old son cope. The manager let us use the hotel's station wagon.

We were driving a Ford Explorer with 37,000 miles on the odometer. The warranty on the engine was good for 36,000 miles. The damage report was $2800 to replace the engine--not on warranty. Repairs would take two weeks because they could not find a replacement engine in Michigan. I was puzzled. This is Michigan. They build Fords here. No engine? It got worse. Hertz did not have a rental vehicle available. We went to bed again for the night. Son Dave went out for a few, probably wondering what on earth he was thinking about vacationing with his parents.
We went to bed, but I could not sleep. I was two weeks post-op from a spinal decompression and had bronchitis. When the coughing spasms would start, I had to quickly brace myself against a wall to support my spine. Jon was snoring heavily. Dave was puking from the happy hour libations. Son Andy wrote a story about this for school in the fall. I still have the little book which his teacher had bound. Great memories of a stressful time.
I took a chair into the bathroom and read my Bible and prayed most of the night. By morning I had a peaceful heart and told my husband not to worry. Everything would be okay.
In the morning, Hertz had someone return a car which we rented. When we spoke to the dealer about blowing an engine on a low mileage expensive vehicle so close to the warranty, he talked to the District Manager. Ford agreed to install a rebuilt engine. No charge. None. We got in the rental and continued on the vacation. We lost two days but I gained a wonderful testimony to the God's provision.

Invisable Surgery

Attention grabbing headlines drew me in to read about surgeons’ unfathomable attempts to remove body parts through “natural body openings”. Their aim ? Less scarring and less pain. Claims are made that Drs. have removed an appendix through the mouth and a woman’s gallbladder through her vagina! They propose abdominal surgery may be done through the rectum. This is going to revolutionize nursing care. How to tape the bandage? I hope there are no men who need brain surgery. I don't think there is any connection between the brain and the remaining body orifice.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/04/29/scarless.surgery.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Spiderman? Superman? No, the Other Caped Crusader

Last week I received the annual newsletter of the alumni of my School of Nursing. The diploma school is no longer educating nurses, but the alumni remain active. I haven’t been active, but am still on the mailing list.
The newsletter made an appeal for volunteers to be part of a group that does funeral honor guards for deceased alumnus. They attend funerals of former grads in full uniform. That uniform consists of white dress uniform, cap, white shoes and stockings and navy blue cape. I briefly considered paying my dues so I could have this honor when I died. I emailed friend/ classmate Barb who said she would pass, but if I wanted the honor guard she would show up in a cape for my funeral. Add that to the procession by goat cart to the cemetery, and the funeral will be quite an event.
When I was a student there in the 60’s the school owned navy wool capes that we wore for “special occasions” like Capping and Graduation. When we graduated we were offered the opportunity to buy our own capes. Only one or two of my classmates did. The rest of us wondered what on earth we would do with a cape. I guess I did not anticipate the funeral honor guard duty.
One of the years I was in school, a physician thought it would be nice if the student nurses solicited door to door for Red Cross donations wearing full uniform and cape. We were thrilled. That getup was a 1940’s fashion statement. We wouldn’t have minded so much if he had added a Lone Ranger type mask so no one recognized us.
Three years ago we were in Rome and I saw nurses in full regalia on the streets: White uniforms, caps, and navy wool red-lined capes! My biggest regret---I didn’t take a picture. The concierge at our hotel told us they were religious “sisters” who were nurses. What a step back in time. Secular nurses dress in scrubs like their American counterparts.
I am frequently asked to go door to door collecting for charities like the American Heart Association, Leukemia Foundation, Kidney Fund etc. If I had my own cape I might get a better response. I would be a unique Caped Crusader.

Waldo is Still in Budapest Part 7

Early morning checking from son Andy who is traveling finds him still in Budapest. While he is impressed with Budapest he found Belgrade "more exciting". I am not sure those words are reassuring to a mother. They visited a War Museum in Belgrade and he found it unnerving to see artifacts from captured American Soldiers from the 1999 war! Usually when we see our soldiers mentioned in European war memorials there are many decades to soften the memories. We were very recently at war with the Serbs. Andy liked being the only tourists. People stared at them but were very friendly he states. There, as in many countries and some of our cities, they are crazy drivers. Wait until he sees China where I do not believe they enforce many traffic laws. If there is an accident, the involved parties hash it out at the scene and decide fault. They then pay cash to the claimant on the spot. I thought St. Cloud was going to seem dull to him for a while, but then I remembered the drivers in Stearns county!
Next stop: Lake Balaton, Hungarian resort area 60 miles from Budapest http://www.ohb.hu/city/balaton/index.en.html

SNOWFLAKE

Picture sent to me by my sister. Could it be the original NBC peacock when they were a black and white broadcasting network?

Where's Waldo - {Part 6

The briefest of e-mail from son Andy confirmed he is in Budapest today. He described it as an "intellectual" city. As of now, he stated the highlight of the trip was the time they spent in Belgrade.

We had planned to visit Budapest last October but changed our plans after Jon's stents in favor of more "western" European countries. Thought we would be closer to cardiologists if need arose. In retrospect, Budapest would have probably been better than some of the rural places we stayed in western Europe. We know an American couple who are missionaries in Hungary and headquartered in Budapest. She was born and raised in Hungary and escaped when it was communist years ago. They were drawn back to minister to the poor and Roma (or Gypsies).

Today is another wonderful spring day. We actually have much earlier and a longer spring season than we used to. Don't tell anyone how nice the weather is in Minnesota or everyone will want to live here. Good weather and 15,000 lakes. Awe, life is good. Our neighbor is swimming in her pool today on the April 28. That didn't happen years ago.

PS: I am still "at it". -35 but it is harder to stay on track. Didn't do any exercise today and that is the first time in months I have to say that. Did hit Curves 4 x this week and walked enough for the week plus a little bicycling. Today I will consider a day off. Back at it tomorrow.

I'M A BELIEVER

I was reluctant for a long time but new evidence has swayed me into the column of believers.
At Easter, granddaughter Mina and I discussed the Easter Bunny. She was having doubts. Hard to believe he really could hop to all those houses around the world carrying baskets. It is a stretch. She did affirm that Santa is real, however.
Now I am a believer. Recent evidence has me almost certain there is a Superman. They may have found Superman's home planet. Scientists have recently announced they have found a planet 5X the size of Earth that may support life. It has water and is a solid mass, not just a gasseous planet. The temperature ranges from 34 degrees to 104. (Minnesotans could tolerate an even wider temp. range. We have experience surviving from -34 to +104.)
Now I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions with just the planet's discovery, but news yesterday reveals scientists have also found Kryptonite! Better yet, they found the Kryptonite in a mine in Serbia. My son is traveling in Serbia today. I am not sure what that has to do with anything, but it is a strange coincidence.
I am on a new campaign. If we are to rely on Superman and scientists to save the world, we need to preserve more of those old phone booths. Perhaps we could get Al Gore on board to help with the effort. Or, we could just spend more time on our knees praying to the one who can do something about our problems.

http://www.llnl.gov/pao/news/news_releases/2006/NR-06-01-08.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6584229.stm