Itchy, itchy stuff

My rash came back with a vengeance. Almost my entire body is covered in a red, itchy sandpaper-like rash. The good news is that it wasn't the oozing mess on my face again. The doctor today said he thinks it's still an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and that the steroid I was on to fix that wasn't a long enough course of it. So he put me on a 10-day run on steroids. He said it should be better in a day or two and if not markedly better by Friday, then it's something else.
Although he's pretty sure it is a reaction to the antibiotics, he did say it is possible it's a reaction to something else -- a detergent, a soap, a food. All I know is that it has been driving me crazy. I can't sleep because the itching is so bad at night. I resorted to drinking Nyquil to try to fall asleep a couple of nights. I'm miserable most of the time from the lack of sleep and the itching and stinging. And the stress of life in general just makes the reaction all that much worse.
So I'm supposed to take these steroids, find ways to keep stress down and look for possible other things in my daily life that it could be I'm allergic to if it isn't a reaction to the drug.

In related news ... I've now been to see a doctor three times in the past month. That's more trips to a doctor in a month for me than in the past 15 years.

Thursday Thing-along

Crank it up....
Leave your worries behind and take a ride with me on "The Groove Line."



Here's more about Heatwave.

A little community service

On Easter Sunday -- after taking a drive to the liquor store before it closed -- I decided to swing by Russell and Wendy's house since Stephen and the kids were there visiting. I never actually made it to their house. While pulling into their neighborhood, I came across Russell at the community park getting ready to trim up the plants in the flower bed. Actually, he was standing there with a rake waiting for Wendy and Stephen to walk over. So I stayed and helped a little -- and filmed a little -- including driving them out to the entrance in my truck to do that flower bed.

Way Back When-sday

Since Mama and Pops decided to take off to Las Vegas for a week and didn't invite me, I checked my stockpile for a picture of them together having fun. This is what I came up with. This is from the late 70s, I believe, at the beach in North Carolina. Pops is showing off his almost naturally hairless chest -- except the five around each nipple -- and Mama is sporting her "come and give Mama some sugar" kissy lips. If Pops was just a tad bit whiter, you wouldn't be able to tell where his skin ended and the shorts started.

That should teach you guys about going to Vegas and not inviting me -- especially when Way Back When-sday is involved.

P.S. Pops called Monday night and Mama scored a pair of Elton John tickets from their casino host. Must be nice. Jealousy is rearing its ugly head.

Thursday Thing-along

I'm not a big fan of the video, but I am a fan of the song and the band.



This is Echo and the Bunnymen doing Bring on the Dancing Horses, originally released as a non-album single in 1985, I believe.

Way Back When-sday

This photo was with a bunch of photos I brought from Mama and Daddy's house. The trouble is, I don't know who the person in the photo is. I do know the photo scares me for some reason and I'm not really sure why. Maybe Mama, Pops or Uncle Tony will see it and can leave something in the comments saying more about this photo and the woman. Until then, let's have some fun with it -- let's do a caption contest. Write the best caption for the photo and you win a prize. Not sure what the prize will be yet.

A drive to remember

This is a video from a drive my dad, brothers and I took together to North Carolina. This is only a scene video set to music -- FM by Steely Dan. I'll be posting more videos and photos from the trip soon.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE: One final thank you among all the goodbyes and tears this week ... Uncle Larry.... Your passing and our trip to say goodbye brought our family together in a way it hasn't been in quite a while. Thank you and God bless.

Things that make you say ...

Ouch, that had to hurt.

Thursday Thing-along

Happy birthday Pops

I'll add more to this later but I'm running behind. Just wanted to say Happy birthday, Pops. Thanks for everything you've done for all of us.

Disco duck

It was sunny today after a couple days of rain.

Thursday Thing-along

UPDATE: Uploaded again after the last version was taken down.

Way back When-sday

The pictures at right from the mid-80s show why my parents never had a garage they could use for their cars. The garage was always full of motorcycles, ATVs and old cars being worked on -- sort of. Between all the bits and pieces of guy stuff collected by four sons, there wasn't any room to put anything else in there.




In the picture at top, my youngest brother rides a wheelie on the sidewalk. By the way. The three-wheeled style ATV in the top right photo is now pretty much obsolete. Too dangerous, they say.

Bang, bang ... you're painted

We were at our parents' house for Russell's birthday meal and this is what some of us did for fun.

Happy Birthday Russell

While I've been dealing with this oozing, swelling, itching rash thing, my brother Russell sent me some sympathy pictures he took of himself with their iMac. Little did he know I'd use his attempt to make fun of my odd appearance to wish him a happy birthday. The other ones are even better.