Watch on YouTube (3:30)
Colorectal surgery for a non-malignant growth-when performed electively in a stable patient-has a survival rate exceeding 99%, making it one of the safest major abdominal operations in modern practice. It was a very long month.
Riley wasn’t sure about the new kid the first few days but finally started warming up to her. Here they’re relaxing after some vigorous play (video).
Pretend your life ended years ago, and you’ve been living in some sort of agreeable afterlife. You don’t have real problems anymore. There’s no stress, no war, no worries, no shame.
The only downside, if you would call it that, is that you don’t get to live in the world anymore. Despite all the troubles of worldly life, most of your afterlife peers feel a bit of nostalgia about “being in the thick of it again.”
The afterlife community, among other activities, holds a weekly raffle. The prize is kept private – only the winners know what it is, and they must sign a non-disclosure agreement.
One week, you win, and accept the prize. An administrator congratulates you, you sign the papers, and he touches you on the arm.
Instantly your surroundings change. Continue reading
From that same 1920 Kennett High School album. My favorite part: TELEPHONE No. 62. John liked: “We repair anything from a Motorcycle to an Airplane.”
Dodge Brothers Motor Cars was the name under which Horace and John Dodge began producing their own automobiles in 1914, after years of supplying parts to other Detroit automakers like Ford and Oldsmobile.
Founding and Rise – The Dodge brothers opened their first machine shop in Detroit in 1900, quickly gaining a reputation for precision-engineered components. They supplied Ford’s Model A with complete chassis assemblies and even held a 10% ownership stake in Ford Motor Company. In July 1914, they incorporated the Dodge Brothers Motor Company with $5 million in stock and introduced their first automobile—the Dodge Model 30–35 touring car—built in Hamtramck, Michigan.
Innovations – The 1914 Dodge car was marketed as a more advanced and durable alternative to the Ford Model T, featuring an all-steel body, 12‑volt electric system, and a 35‑horsepower four‑cylinder engine. These innovations helped the brand quickly achieve second place in U.S. sales by 1916.
Wartime and Growth – During World War I, the Dodge Brothers supplied commercial and military trucks as well as artillery recoil systems for the Allied forces. By 1919, production surpassed 400,000 vehicles annually, and the company introduced its first four‑door sedan.
Legacy and Ownership Changes – Both brothers died in 1920 due to complications from influenza, and without their leadership, the company struggled to maintain its early momentum. In 1925, their widows sold the firm to Dillon, Read & Co. for $146 million, and in 1928, Dodge was acquired by Walter P. Chrysler to become part of Chrysler Corporation.
Today, the Dodge brand remains part of Stellantis, continuing a legacy that began with the pioneering Dodge Brothers Motor Cars more than a century ago. (Perplexity)
I attended first grade in 1954 and my teacher was Miss Rella Wells. According to the newspaper clipping I found in my mom’s attic, she retired in 1955 after teaching for fifty years.
Miss Rella J. Wells was honored for her more than 54,000 classroom hours in the Kennett public schools Friday noon by the Kennett Lions Club. The Kennett teacher this year observes her 50th year in the Kennett school system.
Miss Wells, who started teaching the second grade in the Kennett grade school in 1905, is the first person ever to be signally honored by the service club, according to club officers. Presentation of a special certificate of appreciation to Miss Wells was made by Elmo Blakemore, Kennett Lions club member and a former student of the veteran local teacher.
Altogether the first grade instructor in the South school has been teaching for 52 years, starting her long professional career in 1903 in the old Thomas school, which is long known as the Hazel Grove school, located south of Kennett.
In 1905 she moved to Kennett and has been teaching in the elementary division ever since. Miss Wells estimates that she has missed less than a month of school because of sickness during the past 52 years.
Born at Marble Hill, she moved to Kennett when she was seven years old. Her parents were Jacob T. and Miriam Bullinger, whose family gave Bollinger county its name. Miss Wells attended Kennett grade school and was graduated from Kennett high school in 1903, the same year she started teaching.
In the early years of the 20th century, only two years of high school were offered here, but the Kennett teacher worked during the summer months on her bachelor of science degree. She attended both Southeast and Southwest State college, receiving her degree from the latter college in 1936.
Earlier today my friend John found the photo below in a 1920 Kennett High School yearbook. (Miss Wells is fourth from the left)
In a recent blog post Seth Godin linked to a company that’s using colonoscopy awareness in its marketing. (“Wear your ass on your sleeve. Every purchase helps fund colonoscopies for the underinsured.”) From their mission statement.
Colonoscopies prevent colon cancer, they don’t just diagnose them early. This makes them the best cancer screening EVER, hands down. Unlike other diagnostic screening tests, a colonoscopy can also remove polyps in the colon that can grow into fatal tumors. Super inspiring, right? But many people are wary of the procedure because of how it’s been talked about for 50 years: “invasive”, “hassle”, “awful”. And maybe that was true in the past, but today, it’s more like a spa appointment than a scary hospital visit: it’s essentially a fast, a cleanse, and a nap!
You can request laxative pills instead of the dreaded “colonoscopy cocktail.” Fasting can include gummy bears, and the end flush is often calm, comfortable, and non-dramatic. So given the choice between a mildly unpleasant doctor’s visit or a potentially fatal diagnosis, we will back that ass up every time!
I’ve had two colonoscopies in the last two weeks (one was a sigmoidoscopy) and the prep wasn’t pleasant but a small price to pay for a life-saving procedure. The GI doc removed a small polyp (non-malignant) and biopsied a small mass (also non-malignant). A week from tomorrow I’ll have surgery to remove that bad boy before he has a chance to turn badder. Stay tuned.
ChatGPT: Let’s spin this out as if we were pitching a serious film treatment. Not propaganda, not rah-rah, but something in the lineage of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, The Hurt Locker — war films that tried to wrestle with the essence of their conflict. Working Title: “The Sky Above” Continue reading
