Over the last number of days the weather here in Mobile, Alabama has been remarkable. the sky, for the most part, has been a beautiful ‘Carolina Blue’. Rain has fallen in proper measure leaving everything smelling clean. Cool days and very cool nights, though nothing what I’d call ‘cold’. Still enough ‘Mountain Man’ within me to know what real cold is. It ain’t here! 
Just as well, too. My body has become acclimated to the warmth. And I’m not complaining! With the titanium in my neck and all that scar tissue, warmth is a good thing. Yep, I miss my mountains, but I’ve come to truly appreciate life here on the Gulf Coast.
The ‘Board of Directors’ of my shooting club continues to work hard to clean up the mess left by the previous administration. May the Gods bless them all! What a mess they have. I have to give those guys credit. Despite the paperwork/financial carnage the range looks better than I’ve ever seen it and the general membership is finally doing their part to keep things going. I’m proud to be a member of the Pascagoula DCM! Sadly, it will be a couple of weeks before I can rejoin those fine men, women, and kids exercising our Second Amendment Rights…
Why is that? Well, I finally had the foot surgery I mentioned in a previous posting. On Tuesday, 24 Oct, I reported to the VA Hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi for pre-surgery screening. (The Bull had his world rocked during that visit, but more on that later.) After being X-rayed, ekg’d, and stuck in both arms, the chief surgeon over there told me that due to one (1) anesthesiologist being sick my surgery – scheduled for the next morning – was being delayed for several days. As Lady Beth had taken two days off from work and the scheduling difficulties of getting kids to school and such, I found this to be completely unacceptable. There was only one thing to do…
The Bull showed his pissed-off American ass!
I walked into Dr. David Countryman’s office and chewed him a brand new asshole. When he started backing up towards the corner of his office, I knew my surgery would happen as scheduled. At one point it seemed he was going to threaten to call for the security officers. I told him that if he said the word ’security’ he’d need ‘em! Further, I argued, I can’t feel my feet so why would I need full anesthesia anyway? The operation was moved up from 1200 on Wednesday, 25 October to 0800. Went off without a hitch.
The next morning, as I lounged about in the recovery ward, the surgeon told me that Dr. Countryman had called him after I left the office and had told him that he had feared that I was going to hit him with my carved walking staff for a moment. “Nah”, I told him, “I’d have never hit him with a stick. My fist, maybe, but never my stick.” That got a great round of laughter and applause in the recovery ward from both patients and staff. The head nurse came by my bed, gave me a hug, and told me just how happy she was that my surgery had gone ahead and that I had stood up for my Rights as a Veteran. “Most vets just take what they are told without question”, she told me. “Too used to taking orders at a time when they should be giving a few.”
Think about this situation for a moment…
ONE anesthesiologist, just one, catches a cold and half of the surgeries scheduled at the largest VA hospital on the Gulf Coast have to be cancelled or re-scheduled. What does that say about the state of affairs at our Department of Veterans Affairs? With the Nation at war, a war that will go on for many more years at least, our Nation is dropping the ball when it comes to the care of the men that keeps us safe. We are using up our young men and then forgetting them in a shyte pile of bureaucracy. Do not fall for the line that the VA has increased spending. If they have, the money has all gone into the pockets of dirty politicians of both parties. Look around for yourself and see the number of programs that have been cancelled, the lack of nurses, the deplorable lack of doctors in all fields. Many of the doctors we do have, especially the ‘primary care’ doctors, are just shy of being criminally negligent in the performance of their duties.
When will America step up and stand behind her Veterans? Will she ever? The Bull does not know.
Now you know where The Bull was for the past few days. Preparing for surgery and making sure that as much stuff was done around the Bull’s Pasture as possible. Now I’m stuck in a recliner with my foot in the air and my hind quarters getting bloody sore from sitting so long. Despite having little-to-no feeling in my feet I can tell you now that it isn’t just my rear that is sore. That right foot is mighty touchy right now. The six-inch pin entering from the tip of my big toe doesn’t help matters. Getting around isn’t much fun. It has been eons since I operated crutches and I’m finding out that the damage from my previous spine surgeries makes using those damnable devices no fun at all! Well, I’ve got four weeks to get comfy with my writing and to catch up on my reading. At some point I’ll be a bit more mobile and will hit the reloading bench. After all, I need to prepare for the day I can hit the shooting range once more. 
Oh yeah, I said I’d tell you what rocked my world so much during the pre-op physical. Turns out that at sometime in the not-so distant past, (most likely within the last six months), The Bull suffered a mild heart attack. Yep, a bloody, nasty, heart attack!
How is that for a kick in the pants?
Someone around here has got to get back into good shape PDQ. Either that, or I’ll leave Lady Beth as a widow far in advance of when either of us thought. I only hope it is not too late.
That’s all for now.
Reporting from the chair near the window,
Bull, out.
Thats not “Carolina Blue”. That’s “Gulf Blue”! Keep on keeping on.
It said that God is a Tar Heel fan. That’s why he made the sky ‘Carolina’ blue!