Friday Morning

Well it was cold and breezy all day on Thursday despite the sun shinning brightly, now when I say cold for here in Florida it's nothing like the cold and freezing temp's in the mountains. But it stayed in the 50's most of the day after a 42 to start the morning. Once again those feathered critters started their dang crowing around 5'ish so I was awake for the day so I rolled out and started my morning routine all except for the riding out to the rec for pickle ball. Instead of pickle ball I headed to the VA center at Bay Pines to meet up with a counselor to hopefully rectify my situation with showing I was at one time or another in Vietnam some 47 years ago with the USAF.

I found the building after a cold windy walk only to learn the office didn't open until 10 AM as the counselors or case workers who helped Florida veterans was out in the hospital or nursing pavillons assisting Vets from 8-10. So I took a walk over to where my original orrientation took place back in January to inquire about a phone number(I was one number short) to update my medical status on line. Well that took about 45 minutes as it was clear across the complex and the strong wind had my nose and eyes watering, yikes the temps were cold coming off the water that surrounds the hospital.

I finally got in to see a case worker around 9:15 as one finished his rounds early so we spent the next couple hours going over my service record and buddy letters which really helped to get the investigation going. One of my buddy's had a set of orders dated back to the late 60's which had my name, rank and serial number. That clearly helped to establish I was an air crew member and part of my job description was the carrying of cargo, soldiers, med-evac and cadavers in and out of Vietnam during the period I was on active duty. We were not only exposed to this chemical agent called Agent Orange but we actually transported it on the aircraft. Several of my flying buddy's have developed some serious life threatning ailments and even a few have passed away as a result of the cancers that are associated with this agent. I wanted the VA to be aware that I was exposed to it but thus far seem to have no major ailments, thankfully.

Well I got back just before lunch and Amy, GG and Sam came to eat with us. We finished up the garden salad along with some chicken salad GG brought to add to it then the gals took off to do some shopping. I watched Sam and we were able to set out in the sunshine in the backyard where he played with the chickens through the fence. The wind was still strong but we were sheltered somewhat plus the direct sunshine kept it bearable as long as you had a jacket on. I caught up on some watering and reading while they were gone. Seems Sam was a mud puppy according to his mother, so Amy put him in the bathtub when she got home. I thought just a wash up of the hands would suffice but she felt he was too dirty to put in the car, oh well. That boy loves playing in the dirt much like his grand father did so he gets it naturally. After they left for home Nancy took GG to Publix and then home so I headed off to the library on my bike as they had a book for me.

I finished up a book I had on the shelves for years titled OMERTA and it was a good easy read about the mafia. This new book is titled STLL MISSING and the first few pages sounds as if it will be a page turner. I'm looking forward to getting into it later today. Well that was about it for Thursday except Nancy made a pot of Tortilla Soup which hit the spot for a cold windy evening. I made a nice Caesar salad from the garden and wow do I just love that salad for a change. Tonight(Friday) we are having a big crowd for chicken fried deer steak for supper. One of my favorite meals along with another fresh garden salad, LATER