Surfin U.S.A.

This is the outing David got to go on last week. Once a year Sea World San Antonio shuts down the water park and opens it up for the residents at the Rainbow House. This is the chair they designed for those whose head injuries prevent them or make it hard for them to walk. I just think this is so great and gives these people some sort of life and something to look forward to. It sure beats the nursing home he was in. David is starting to talk more in meaningful sentences instead of answering yes or no to everything. I think the stimulation f the Rainbow House is providing and the fact he has structure and is around people closer to his age has already proven to be quite beneficial. What a difference in a couple of weeks time.
Tom- the camel races are held in Virginia City, Nevada, second week in Sept.We are about 200 miles away from San Antonio.
The exercise and eating are going well. I'm into week 10 of C-7 and still have been gaining a little in my measurements. It will be time to check out a new routine for the next 12 weeks. I have a couple of ideas from some mags I'm interested in.
The french fry mobile is running well.I have put about 1000 miles burning used veggie oil. There is still a timer problem with the shutdown sequence. I have made an offer to Jason(Mr. Vegistroke inventor). You fly down from Oregon and diagnose the problem(and he's going to install an upgrade to the unit) and if I made a wiring mistake or it's an electrical prob with my truck, I'll pay for his ticket. If it's his problem well, as I told him, I have a mower with your name on it, lol. Haven't told him I have 17 acres in need of mowing either.
Well that's all I have for now. Have an awesome weekend guys!

Chicago, My Kinda Town

I really enjoyed visiting Chicago. The fun thing we enjoyed doing was hopping on the El and see where it would take us. This is one of the places we ended up at. It is Wiggley Field. We walked around the whole field to see if we could grab a peak at what was going on inside. We saw men in uniforms with these leather gloves on their hands and then thinking about the name could only assume it's a giant earth worm farm and they use those big gloves to catch those worms.We really couldn't get close enough to see the worms but we did see the men chasing things and catching them. I forgot to ask Erin about Wiggley Field but I figured some of you more seasoned travelers can fill me in.
Thanks guys for the responses on my post about David. He is doing well and we have only had one call concerning him. It seems one of the girls there has a fancy for him and they have been caught for partaking in a little hanky panky. They were told that this is not tolerated at Rainbow House, but of course 15 minutes later they have already forgotten what they were in trouble for. The staff isn't too concerned about it so I just hope it doesn't become an issue that could get him kicked out. I'm hoping it might make him enjoy the place and he'll behave.
The Vegistroke: well the verdict is still out. I have been having some electrical problems with it and now the control board has to be replaced. I got 700 miles on it so far but it has been hit and miss. I have to say though, that Jason, the inventor of it has been excellent in getting back with me and helping me diagnose the electrical problems. He returns every email and phone call promptly and has never lost his patience with me. He treats me with the utmost respect and that has alleviated any anxiety I would have had dealing with the problems I have encountered. Hopefully I'll have it running again in a day or two.
Well I have sold Hoss. It was a hard decision but one I think we had to make. When we had to leave several of the larger animals when we evacuated last year it broke our hearts. We can't do that again and it's not fair to them. We brought them here and it is our responsibilty to take care of them. He is going to Nevada where he will be racing with other camels. We will go see him in 2008 for the 50th annual camel race. It should be fun and I think he'll have a great home.
Other than that I'm back to good eating(except today I had a safety meeting and didn't prepare) but am back to working out after the week layoff. It's week 9 challenge 7 if you're counting. It's parrot time, got to go,
Later and have a great week,
Troy.

David

This is Susan's brother David. Now before I go on with his story I would like to make a few comments'
Tom and Irene- I think we will be going to San Diego sometime next Aprilish. The whole intention of this trip is to visit the San Diego Zoo and a parrot place(can't remember the name) to again, see one of my all time favorite parrots, the Black Palm Cockatoo. And secondly, of course to meet blends, lol. Katie(KFM), maybe we can kill three birds and you can join us.
Also have you guys seen the new Jet Blue airline promotionals. From Houston to New York, 1 way trip, the price of a barrel of oil(yesterday it was 73 bucks). We were planning on Vegas in Dec. but we might be going to New York in Oct. or Nov.
This is a pic of David, Susan's brother when he stayed with us for a few days 2 Thanksgivings ago. In 1984 when David was 18 he was thrown from his friends car and suffered a severe closed head injury.Both the boys had been drinking and were in Galveston when the driver lost control of the car and rolled it. David from that point on had the mental capacity of a young teenager. He could do most things, but couldn't drive and had a lot of drug and alcohol issues. He would make money mowing yards and would ride his bike for miles to get him where he wanted to go. He was able to live in a friends rental house on their property and he was fairly independant. Susan and her mom had to handle his finances though. 4 years ago this December David went missing for a few days. This wasn't uncommon so we weren't too concerned until we got a call from the hospital. David was at Herman Hospital in a coma. He had been hit(presumably by a drunk driver) at night on his bike and left for dead on the shoulder of the road. It just so happened that a police officer heard a car run over his bike, which was still in the road from already being hit, went over to check it out and found David unconscious in the grass. He was identified through fingerprints and we were contacted several days later.After several surgeries and a host of other mishaps due to the second head injury, David now has the mental capacity of a 2 to 4 year old.Because of this he can no longer live on his own and has to be supervised 24/7. The only place he could be handled were the nursing homes and the Alzheimer homes. We tried other places but it didn't work out. He either scared the patients with his loud outbursts, or he was able to get out of the places he was in and his own safety became an issue. The Alzheimer facility is a great place if one is a lot older and suffering from that hideous disease. It is not a place for a 38 year old man. Susan has never stopped trying and for several years has diligently checked out every facility that could work with David. She finally got him accepted into the Rainbow House. It has about 12 residents housed in a former tennis club house in a subdivision in San Antonio.Their ages range from 25 to 60. They all have had some sort of brain injury, be it from accidents, strokes or disease. This place doesn't just stick you in a corner , shove food in your face and place you in front of a T.V. til bed time. They have daily activities and in two weeks, they will shut Sea World water park down and the residents have the park exclusively for them to water ski(the park made wheel chairs to fit the skis) swim and have a great day. They have several outtings a year like this. I think David's mental capacity will improve because of the stimulation he will be getting. I hope he will happy there. I'm just happy to see Susan so happy that David now has a some sort of life. This has really been tough for her, because 6 months before David has his first accident, she lost her other brother John, who was only 21 years old in an accident at work. I feel this is the least she would have done for David, and would stop at nothing short until she exhausted every avenue. I feel honored to share my life with this woman! I feel honored that I can call her my wife!
Good luck David!

My first blender!

So, Erin is the first person I got to meet and it was awesome. She is as pretty as she is smart and let me tell you she is about the smartest lady I have ever met, well except for Susan of course. We met at the Chicago Chop House, had dinner and talked about everything. She has what I call an old soul. She is young yet has the knowledge and wisdom of someone who has lived a lifetime. I was pretty nervous at the aspect of meeting her and I had the advantage of Susan being with me and my friend Pete who travels with us, but after a few minutes of talking with her I felt very comfortable and enjoyed our visit. I hope her and her husband will get to come down to Texas for a visit. There are so many more things I wanted to talk about and say but the time was short. It was so neat getting to meet someone I have learned so much about over emails, blogs, and forums. It is the ultimate compliment to a budding friendship that has a lot of similarities like health, where are origins are from and future goals.
I had to email Erin and tell her that I wonder if the next meeting of a blend will be a letdown, because one never forgets those firsts in life, like that first roller coaster ride or the first time you drive a car,lol. Well, next summer we are going to San Diego, so Tom, Will it be you? We'll test my theory about the second blend meetup,lol.

We're back.

We got back in town from Chicago Tuesday night. Meeting Erin was a blast and I hope we can meet again. Pics to come later. We had to go to San Antonio yesterday and got back today. We got Susan's brother into a new facility and are really excited about this. More on this later. I will be installing the Vegistroke this weekend, pics and more to come later. Have been enjoying free week, more to come later, but no pics,lol. I think I sold my camel to a place in Nevada that races camels. I was upset at first but what he did today to one of our other animals assured me I made the right decision, again more to come later. Hopefully when things settle down I'll post more later. Hope all is well with everyone,
Troy.
Later!

Off to Chicago

We're off to Chicago for a few days . We hope to get some sight seeing in, eat at some really good places and get to meet Erin. Our meet up with Erin will be at the Chicago Chop House. Since I'm on vacation I'll eat whatever I feel. For exercise, I think we'll get plenty walking around in. As for Erin, well I'll try not to encourage any bad eating behaviours for the evening, lol. I'll try to get some pics and will post when we get back.
And I hope by the time I get back, my Vegistroke unit for running my truck on veggie oil will be in and that I'll have it installed. Man I can't wait! I'm so excited! To meet Erin of course!
Have a great weekend y'all.