Nov 25 2016 - Update on RV living.

10:00 Nov 24 2016

Thanksgiving Day

There are a zillion mosquitos flying around this morning. All over the RV windows and the cars.

Notice the word “cars”.

Next to the RV are my buddy's car he loaned me, and my other friends delivered my Metro from town yesterday. :-) I love my Chevy Metro. It is a great little car that gets great fuel consumption. But it is a manual transmission, and needs a left leg to push the clutch. :-(

It has been acting like a scarecrow in a friends driveway. To add to the impression that someone is home while she is at work.

There is something about me, that I am sure is not normal. When confronted with a possible action, I often think “Why would I want to do that?”

I analyze the “intention” of my actions.

It is not as if I need a “reason” to do something, but I do want to understand “why” I want to do something. Often when I do something to help someone, I do it because it makes “me” feel good to help them. I am not being nice because I want to be nice, I am being nice because it makes “me” feel good.

It is like my only purpose in being nice, is because I am selfish. Being nice, makes ME ME ME, feel good.

Yesterday, two of my friends brought my Metro out to the property. They both were very busy getting ready for a large Thanksgiving dinner and gathering, yet they took time to do something that was not pleasant, and time consuming. They did this for me.

I immediately question their motives. Why would they do that for me? What is in it for them? Do they also get pleasure from helping people? Are they just good people, and want to help others. Altruistic by nature. Motiveless giving. The world needs more people like these.

Having friends like this is a great thing, but I question my “worthiness”.

When it comes to being friends, I don't think I am very good at it.

--

I have many projects for the long weekend.

I want to install a wireless alarm. It will sound an alarm in the RV when ever anything goes through the property gate. The gate is about 100 yards/meters away from the RV.

I need to install 3 grab bars in the bathroom.

I have hooked up one of the living room lights to the voice controlled Arduino. I can turn on and off the living room light by voice now. I need to also hook up the hall and bathroom lights.

Wow! A hawk/eagle/big bird just attacked the bushes, it got a squirrel.

It's a hawk. Bare legs. Smaller than I thought. Bad luck for the squirrel, but good luck for the hawk. Life is not a “zero sum” game.

The biggest project for the weekend, is trying to figure something to do with the Metro. I spent a few hours online, trying to figure out some options. I want to be able to drive it, and tow it behind the RV.

Option 1. Make the Metro electric. This would cost about $5,000. Twice, what the whole car is worth. Electric cars don't need a left leg.

Option 2. Buy/install an electric clutch conversion kit. About $2000.

Option 3. Invent, and make a cable pulley system to allow hand operation of the clutch. About $200 for parts, plus lots of labor.

Option 4. Design and build a holder for the prosthetic foot onto the clutch pedal. Then use force on my stump to push the prosthetic foot, to move the clutch. $10.

Yesterday I tried to drive the Metro using my prosthetic leg to push the clutch. With the seat almost all the way back to minimize the angle and increase the leverage to push the clutch pedal. With correct placement of the prosthetic foot, I was able to push the clutch in, BUT...The knee locked. I was pushing the pedal with the prosthetic heal, so as soon as the leg went straight, it locked. I was jammed tight in the seat, and no way to release the knee lock.

I slid the seat all the way back, and used my cane to pry the prosthetic foot down far enough on the clutch pedal. Enough to put pressure on the toe, which broke the knee loose.

This solution will need lots of thinking, and planing to be able to use the clutch with the prosthetic leg in a fail safe way.

I also need to move the RV about 2 feet back. But first I need to fill in some holes. I dread shoveling sand into the holes. My balance seems to be the problem. I would make a lousy gardener.

--

I just learned that many Chinese stores, that specialize in women's things, have “man caves” for men to wait while their women shop.

--

Nov 22 2016 - The cost of doing things, has changed for me.

Sun Nov 20 2016 – 07:10

Brrr. 5C(40F) I am a wimp.

The bear outside my RV doesn't seen to think the cold is unpleasant.

There were bears outside when I went to bed, and there is a bear outside now.

Last night I had a good shower. I made out of some shelving, a seat between the edges of the bathtub. I can slide from the toilet onto the shower seat. Now I need grab bars.

--

Monday 21 November

On my buddy's property where I am staying, there is a shower. A very rustic shower, but well made, and it even has an electric hot water heater. It is used by people that camp or hunt on the property. 

There is a WW2 re-enactment next week, followed by a huge DJ party. The shower will be used lots.

I decided to get the shower all clean for those people. 

The ground if covered with tree debris from the hurricane. Normal walking is difficult, and walking with a prosthetic leg is very time consuming. Because of the high grass and the thousands of branches laying around, my prosthetic leg seldom swings forward enough to lock. I use a walking stick to smack the leg forward to lock the knee. This requires balancing on my good leg while pushing the prosthetic leg into lock. At least when I fall, it is on soft ground. The property is mostly clumps of grass growing in sand. Now everything is covered with a few inches of pine needles and branches.

First 10 minutes was walking between the shower and the shed trying to find the key to the shower. 

Next 10 minutes was getting the hot water heater on.

The inside of the shower was all moldy, dirty, and full of little green frogs.

There is a hose pipe that looks like it has not been used in years. It is all kinked, and the temperature last night was 38F (4C) so the hose was stiff. 

It took me almost 1 hour walking back and forth to unkink the hose, to get the water flowing.

Then I went back to the RV to get spray soap, my grabber bar, and a sponge. I sprayed the shower, (and frogs) and used the grabber bar to hold the sponge, and wiped down the inside of the shower.

Now the shower is much cleaner, and so are the frogs.

All in all, I spent 2 hours doing a job that would have taken 20 minutes a few years ago.

All this hard work reminded me about the Russian Socialist movement of many years ago. They figured that a fair pricing of an item should be a reflection of the amount of labor necessary to make the item, or complete the service. Equal pay, for equal work.

So, if it takes 20 man hours to grow 20 tomatoes, then each tomato should be worth one hour labor. If it takes 100 hours to paint a house, then you can compare tomatoes to painting a house.

The problem was, of course, that if someone grows tomatoes in a computerized, hydroponic system, then each tomato only costs 10 minutes. So you had tomatoes at the market for 1 hour cost, right next tomatoes for 10 minutes cost. Both are fair prices, and both are worth what they are charging. But which would the people buy?

I used to earn about $100 an hour. So for cleaning of the shower, I should be compensated about $200. (R 2600). 

My buddy could have got someone to clean the shower for the price of a beer.

I struggled for 2 hours, and fell, and got wet, and probably got a blister on my stump, and all that effort is worth the price of a beer. 

Because of cancer, and an amputation, my labor has gone from being worth $100 an hour, to about $1 an hour.   

My labor is worth about 1% of what it used to be worth. 

Of course sometimes, the labor is worth it. Last night the football game was on, but my TV antenna on the RV roof was pointed the wrong direction. So in the dark and cold, and with the prosthetic leg on, I climbed up onto the roof of my RV, and re-pointed the antenna. This is something that 2 years ago would have required caution, and planning. But now it was exhausting and dangerous. 

I think that sometimes I get so fed up with being useless, that I just don't care about the risk, and do stupid things.  

This shows that I should concentrate my energies on thing that I can still do with the same effort as a few years ago. So instead of cleaning showers, I should be setting up DNS servers. :-)

--

Tuesday 22 November 06:30

Temperature inside the RV is 4C.(about 40F)

I no longer take care to be quiet in the RV just because there are bears around. They seem to be getting used to the noise.

This morning is a mother with one small cub standing under the big tree. I gave up trying to tell them apart. It could be the same bear over and over :-)

A small cub came by all by itself. I wanted to capture it and give it to a friend. :-)

I have 5 credit/debit cards that don't work. I'll sort out the ones I can today.

I will also get my guns and spears from the shop.

I need to install my grab bars.

My mind is full of thoughts about my car. I tried to drive the beetle in Pretoria. It was not possible to push the clutch. I want to try to drive my Metro, but it has a foot clutch also. I love that car.

I might be able to build a hand operated clutch.

I might be able to make it electric.

My buddy has loaned me his car for a few days. I need to zoom around lots to get thinks done. His car is a Ford escape Hybrid. It is one of the very few automatic transmission cars that can be towed with all four wheels on the ground. I like playing with the electric drive part of the hybrid system.

The Escape get about 30 MPG (7 L/100km) which is good for an SUV.

Later

Nov 19 2016 - At Deland Fl.

07:07 Friday 18 November

I am listening to the Daytona Beach news on the radio.

I am safely in my RV on my buddy's property way out in the boondocks near Deland Florida.

The temperature is cold. About 6C (45F).

I was very fortunate, that the last night I spent in the RV, 2 years ago, must have been a cold night, because I had left winter sheets and many blankets on the bed. Very welcome last night. I was too tired to do any housekeeping. I did a quick cold water sponge bath and went to sleep. I slept 11 hours.

Sleeping in the RV is similar to camping. I usually have all windows open, I can hear all sounds.

It is so quiet this morning, I can hear branches breaking on the many trees. This property is magical. How my buddy can own this property, and NOT live on it is one of life's mysteries.

My buddy had the RV electricity plugged in, and the water and sewage hooked up.

The truck battery was bad, so he replaced it. Aren't friends nice? :-)

The two large house batteries are both dead. I will try to add water, but I think they are not recoverable.

OH!!!..A mother bear and 3 cubs just walked past. That must have been the noise of the branches breaking.! I love this place!!

The cubs ran and raced WAY up into a big tree.

It is amazing how paranoid the mother is. She jumps at every noise or sound, yet ignores the fact that the cubs are hanging from a branch way off the ground.

I can't see the cubs, they are way up a tree. The mother is just walking around under the tree.

The flight was long. I had the prosthetic leg on for about 38 hours. For most of the flight, I had the socket very loose, and pulled almost off.

Last night when I took off the silicone liner, I found 4 blisters. One is a blood blister. Today will be a rest day for my stump.

This morning my whole stump is sore. It was abused for sure.

The radio says that this weekend will be cold. Low about 4C (40F) and the high 20C (65F).

The cubs are still playing in the tree. Chasing each other around from branch to branch.

Delta Airlines was great. They assumed command of me the whole way. Traveling by wheel chair is very limiting. All their wheel chairs are built so the passenger can't get in or out of the chair easily, and the brakes are controlled in the back by the pusher. When they parked me someplace, they say that someone will come to get me, there is actually no option except to just sit. I did no shopping or anything fun on the trip.

The only way to pee was to ask the pusher to take me to a toilet.

The out bound flight from Johannesburg had 36 wheel chair passengers. This causes quite a problem for the airlines. I was talking to the Air hostess, and she said this flight is called the miracle flight. She said of the 36 wheelchair passengers that get on in Johannesburg, only a few will be in wheelchairs when the flight lands. The others will just walk off with the other normal passengers.

Sure enough, when we landed at Atlanta, there was a whole fleet of wheelchairs waiting, but only 8 of us used wheel chairs from the airplane in Atlanta. The other “patients” were miraculously cured during the flight. People take advantage of anything they can.

Handicap services is actually more of a “Fat and Lazy” services.

All the cubs are coming down from the tree.

They are running into and out of the thick brush. They definitely are NOT in stealth mode.

Does a wild bear shit in the woods? Absolutely, positively, 100%, without a doubt, a wild bear DOES shit in the woods. More precisely, a wild bear shits by the passenger door of an RV, that is parked in the woods.

I can also confirm, without a doupt that bears don't like it when you make coffee in a microwave.

--

A friend just called. She is bringing over a picnic basket for me. Essential foods. :-) Aren't friends nice. :-)

Yesterday I drove my buddies car to WalMart for a quick shopping trip. My stump had shrunk lots, so I put on 2 stump socks while still in the parking lot. As I walked into Walmart, a lady came up and told me, “Your leg is too long, go see these people, they can help you.” She handed me a business card. Volucia County Amputee Support Group. Cool. I would like to try some of the Amputee training events. The have obstacle courses, and show you the best way to conquer each obstacle.

That would help me lots.

The mother bear just walked out of the bushes, then around the RV, then back into the bushes.

Her and the cubs were within 20 meters of the RV for over an hour and a half. :-)

--

11:10

Three grown up bears just walked past the RV. Not near as cute as the cubs earlier.

I have very limited cell phone coverage out here on the property. I usually have 0 bars, but everyonce in a while, I get 1 bar and stuff gets downloaded.

--

11:30 A big male bear just walked past.....I guess it is a male. It asserts itself like a male.

Wow 8 different bears in 4 hours.

--

21:15

Another single bear...Maybe the same one...it is hard to tell. I need a paintball gun, and then color code them :-)

18:05

A friend came over and brought some food for me. :-)

We chatted for a long time. She is a keen cyclist, and also does war re-enactments. In a few weeks a WW2 training re-enactment will be held on this property. It is German versus Americans and New Zealanders. She will be a German Nazi Bicycle message delivery expert.

I will be right in the middle of WW2. I need a Swiss neutral flag for my RV, or a big white flag. :-)

The news says it will freeze this weekend

--

Saturday morning 07:30

Brrr...

I see hunters are here on the property. It must be deer season.

There are many squirrels. I used to feed them.

Last night, my buddy brought by his car for me to borrow for a few days. I have lots of shopping and running around to do today.

I need to make some changes to the RV. Some things are very hard for me. I removed the shower doors, and the door to the bathroom. I still need at least 2 grab bars to be able to safely get onto the toilet. I want to build a seat across the bath tub to allow me to sit in the bathtub to shower.

I better get my leg on and start the day.

I'll mail this blog from one of the many wifi hot spots in town.

---

Nov 14 2016 - Leaving for America...Flight Cancelled....Now to Plan "B"

07:00
Up early getting things done. I am still waiting for authorization to get 6 months of medicines from the medical aid people. I fear I'll be going for 6 months, with only one month of drugs.

I just did laundry.

I should be at the prosthesis place in an hour. For a last check and tightening of everything.

I am finding the air bladders to be more uncomfortable than using stump socks. Stump socks distribute the weight all over the stump, where bladder only press where the bladders are. It is far easier to just pump the bladders when the socket becomes loose, or my stump goes down inside to far, than it is to put stump socks on, but there is more discomfort. The bladders are great for when I am in a store, or someplace that is inconvenient to put on another stump sock.
If I give a pump every hour or so, then the stump never gets too far into the socket, and when the bladders get uncomfortable, I release the bladders, and put on a stump sock.

Of course the whole bladder/stump sock thing is for when I am just walking short distances. On a long walk it would be different. If I plan my day for only short walks, then I can manage quite well. I have not used a cane for 2 days, and have been wearing the prosthesis for about 10 hours a day.

Every evening when I take off the liner there are blisters on the stump. The blisters go away over night, and by the morning they are usually gone.
Blisters can have many reasons for forming. But they form easier in hot and moist conditions. Like inside my silicone liner. I am paranoid about any chemicals inside the liner, and I wash the liner every time I take it off with special bacterial soap that has no added chemicals, and I rinse the liner well.
I don't think the majority of my blisters are caused by friction. Some are caused at the edge of where I put slippery lubricant. The skin gets a shear force where the lubricated area ends, and the sticky silicone begins.

Little blisters on the end of the stump are caused by the suction sucking water out of the skin. Those go away in a few hours when the suction is reduced.

The worst blisters are at the edge of the air bladders. It is like the increased force of the bladders makes that skin slide less than the skin right next to the bladders, and that shear force causes blisters. They don't go away so quick, and can sometimes still be there the next morning.
--
Nov 15 2016 - Tuesday 08:10
I got up early, and re-re-rechecked my suit case. Made coffee, then checked online for mail. First thing was a letter from Delta Airlines saying my flight for today has been canceled. The incoming flight didn't happen because a truck hit the plane while loading the baggage in Atlanta.
They rebooked me, but there is no "wheel chair" accessible flights available this week.
I sent a mail to my travel agent, making it her problem. Now I wait.

Yesterday I spent 4 hours with the prosthetic people. They were great. I got tons of spares and foam, and tape, and glue, and screws, and bolts. They showed me how to do every thing to repair the prosthetic leg if necessary.

The Medical aid came back saying that since my medication was on their Oncology plan, I could not get advanced medication. I can only do that on "Chronic" medications, so they are transferring all my Oncology medicine to Chronic. This can take a week, so I was leaving today with only one month of medicines.

I will have to eat out till the next available flight, because I ran my house out of food, planning on leaving the fridge off and open from this morning.

--

In the old days, the only thing in life, that was out of your control, was nature.
It used to be that a person worried about the weather, getting eaten, volcanoes, meteorite strikes, and earth quakes. Now a person's life is affected by SWAT teams, legislation, traffic congestion, bureaucracy, and corporate greed, in addition to nature.
I guess that is why some people prefer to live in Northern Alaska or Canada. There you only contend with nature.  What a refreshing thought.

--

16:30

Delta just called and said they will give me the same seat and wheelchair access tomorrow. So maybe I'll only be a day late.

--

Nov 10 2016 - Visiting the Oncologist.

Yesterday I did a blood test.
Then, I did X-rays of the chest and abdomen.

I fasted last night, and today I did a sonogram of the chest and abdomen.
The sonogram lady was cute. She measured all my organs, and checked for tumors.

Then I ate a huge breakfast, and read my book.
Then I went to the hospice. They have a good used book store, and lots of cheap "junk". I bought a book and 2 steak knives.

Then I went to the local library. I have not been in there for 10 years. It was so empty. They had one computer for people to use, but it was "un-serviceable".
I sat and read about Windjammers. Big old sailing ships. Cool things. The big ones had 1.7 acres (.68 hectors) of sails.

When leaving the Library a woman and daughter came up to me and asked if I could explain to them how the prosthetic leg works. I love talking about my leg, so I chatted till they kept saying goodbye over and over. :-)

Then I went for my appointment with the Oncologist lady. She looked at the X-rays, blood test, and sonogram. Then said that there is absolutely no indications that I have, or ever had cancer. She said that I am in remission. That is the first time she has used that word. She then cautioned me that AngioSarcoma is a sneaky cancer, so I am best to be vigilant and a little paranoid.
She then looked at my foot and leg. She said that it is swollen and the toenails are falling off. Duh!
She then said that she thinks is more likely from the Toxal chemo than from diabetes or cancer. She said that AngioSarcoma likes to grow in stressed parts of the body, so I should work at keeping the inflammation down in the foot and leg, with massage or compression stockings.

Then I went home. The rainbow socket worked great. At the oncologist my stump started hurting up near the groin, but when I inflated the air bladders, my  weight was distributed different, and I made it home with no problems. This rainbow socket is not very comfortable, but it doesn't hurt.

With all the oncology out of the way, I can start packing seriously. This time next week I should be in the RV watching bears with my Florida buddy. :-)
--

The U.S. elections are over. HRC lost. I think America dodged a bullet there.
Most people I talked to didn't vote "FOR" Trump. They voted against the high debt, against big government, against the corrupt politicians (that is called a redundancy), against slack immigration policy, and against silly wars.
If anyone can sort out the U.S. finances, it should be Trump.
I like that he is a corporate negotiator, and may prevent hot wars by negotiation, I just hope he doesn't create trade wars.
Good Luck America.
--

Nov 07 2016 - New Rainbow socket

I spent a few hours at the prosthetic place today, and finally, got my new              "RAINBOW"

socket.

It fits tight. Good tight. Not perfect, but the best fitting socket I can remember, and this is number 11.

It has 2 air bladders. Both on the left side, one above the other. The top one will be for when my stump shrinks, and can be used instead of putting on more socks. This means I can make a plan for a shrinking stump without taking the leg off.
The lower bladder is for better feel. (proprioception) The socket was designed to be tight, but not over tight. It does exactly that.
If the bladders fail now, I could still walk quite a ways without pain. My last white socket with the two bladders I had put in, was such that, I needed to inflate the bladders to be able to use it. Those bladders took about 10 pumps each. My new socket takes 1 or two pumps till it is tight. That means my stump can shrink quite a bit before the bladders will become ineffective.
Bradley, Bi and I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the leg today. I finally told them to go stop fussing, because I couldn't find anything that they could possibly do, to make it any better. They have done a wonderful job.

It is a very clean and pretty socket, compared with my last one.

I still have to figure out the best way of stowing the tubes for the pump.
You can see them sticking out in the top picture.
--
For my trip next week, to the States, airport security wants a letter from my doctors confirming I have had my leg amputated.
They say that, "Absence of a leg is not considered proof."
That statement gets lots of laughs.
Then I got online, and found that their concern was if a terrorist is willing to blow himself up, then he would also be willing to have a leg removed, so he could fill the empty socket with explosives. I guess a terrorist would be too stupid to also fake a letter from a Doctor.

I have a busy week. Appointments with the prosthestist, the Oncology lady, the Surgeon, blood tests, and x-rays.
I have not even thought about if any test is bad, and I have to cancel my flight. If that does happen, then loosing the money for the tickets will probably be the least of my worries.
--

Nov 3 2016 - Power Failures and Failures of Those in Power.

Nov 1 2016

No electricity power here since yesterday morning. 36 hours now. Also no water. I guess they could not pump the water up into the towers.

Lack of power also took out all cell towers after their batteries ran down. So no electricity, cell service, water, or internet.

Most houses can't open their security gates. Dead batteries. Also all home security systems batteries are down, so many people aren't going to work, but staying home, because robberies are way up from 2 days ago.

My house is solar powered, so of course MY gate works, :-) and MY food is cold, :-) and MY security system is up, :-)  and I have 70 liters of drinking water if I need it.

A hot shower would be nice though. :-)

Today's high temperature is 36C (97F). Low last night was 29C (84F) in the house. 

I had my ceiling fan on all night, so it wasn't so bad. :-)

I just drove 20 km to an open shop and bought lots of food, that I don't have to cook. (mostly health candy bars)

I could run my micro wave off of the batteries, but I am trying to conserve the batteries for important things.......like refrigerator, computer games and TV. :-)

I live in a gated security village. When the power goes off, the security firm doubles all personnel, so within our little area, there was no crime. But outside of any security areas, saw a big increase in break ins.

It turns out the problem with the electricity was more complex than I had thought. I live in a suburb of Centurion, which has grown into, and joined Pretoria (now renamed to Tshwane).

The municipality shut down a large sub station for planned maintenance. Centurion (Pop. 250,000)  was to be without electricity from 06:00 to 12:00. 

During this time some cable thieves raided an off line substation in my neighbor hood, and stole some cables. They break into the substation, 

and cut the cables,

 then hook a big truck to one end and drive away. 

Pulling the cables from the ground. 

 (These are some pictures of a cable theft from last year.)

When the planned maintenance was finished, Centurion came back online, but my suburb was still off. They then spent a day fixing the damaged substation for my suburb, only to find another sub station near my house was damaged as well.
Over all, there was about 200 houses without electricity for 36 hours.

During the first scheduled shut down other cable thieves also stole cables in another part of Centurion. This suburb has the water tower in it.

A few years ago, they started color coding cables. They made fiber optic cables a different color so thieves wouldn't remove and steal fiber cables, only the copper ones. Then some "brilliant" idiot in government decided that since thieves never stole Green cables, they should make the new copper cables green also. Now thieves rip out all cables. Duh!

------

Nov 3 2016

Yesterday,I spent 4 hours at the prosthetic place, trying to get the new socket right. 

Today, I spent 3 hours at the prosthetic place trying to get the new socket right.

It seems as if the addition of the air bladders has compromised the shape of the socket to my stump, and we are unable to get a suction to hold the leg on. 

Once again I am on the socket that I put the bladders into. I think everyone at the prosthetic place is embarrassed when I wear the leg into their place. Usually they make very nice artistic sockets.

But by FAR the most important thing about this ratty socket is... It does not hurt!

---

Later

 Nov 3 2016

This morning the "State Capture" report was released here in South Africa.

Did I hear you say "Huh?"

South Africa has some very good things, that most countries lack. I am thinking specifically about the Office of Public Protector. 

Wiki says:

The office of the Public Protector has the power to investigate any conduct in state affairs and any level of government, should there be any allegations of maladministration. The Public Protector is the only institution that has the power to take appropriate remedial action against any impropriety or prejudice made by government.

I think the American people would benefit greatly by a Public Protector.

Thuli Madonsela has been Public Protector of South Africa for 7 years, and she has changed South Africa for the better. 

I remember something she said in the past, something like, "If I can't say something as a fact, I won't say it."

She retired today, after handing in her latest report about allegations of "State Capture".

Wiki says:

State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage through unobvious channels, that may not be illegal.

The South African government often makes decisions that aren't in the best interest of South Africa, but favor a few rich people. The "Few" are usually big corporations. 

One of the big corporations is headed by a guy named Gupta. Thuli Madonsela's reports into allegations his family had captured key politicians and civil servants to ensure government tenders went their way.

The Treasury was a "stumbling block" to the Guptas' business ambitions and the family asked Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas to sack its Director General, Nene. This was done, and sent the Rand currency plummeting.

Here are some quotes by Thuli while interviewing President Zuma during the preparation of her report:

Thuli Madonsela to President Jacob Zuma:

“We want honest answers that are coming from your heart, not prepared answers.”

“This is not a criminal justice process where you have the right to remain silent.”

“I am concerned though that President, you are the President of the Republic of South Africa and you are employee number one. Normally when we are dealing with people who are responsible for the State, we deal with them and the lawyers they come in where necessary. It is you who is accountable, Sir. It is you who are employed by the State as its most important employee.”

“What difference would it make between today and any other day in how the President recalls these issues? If we are starting with, for example, why did you remove Minister Nene, why do you need somebody to legally advise you, because that is a decision you took yourself without legal advice? You took that decision, exercising your power as an Executive.

“ No, but it is a decision you have already taken, so you don’t need to be advised why you took it, because it is a decision … somebody advised you, you accepted their advice, you have already executed it, sir. So now you just have to tell us why did you take that decision? Now why do you need a Lawyer to be able to tell me why you removed any of those Ministers?”

Madonsela to Zuma’s lawyer Michael Hulley:

“No, Sir, you are here to support Mr President, but President Zuma is the one who is employed by the State of South Africa in this capacity. You are employed as his advisor, but not as his mouth. Mister President, I am requesting that we proceed with the answers you can give.”

“No, sorry, sir, the President has a right to legal assistance, not legal representation. You have made that representation. I have now made a ruling that we are going to proceed, but we will focus on the things that the President is going to answer. I’m sorry sir, I cannot be bullied by you.”

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/statecapturereport-hard-hitting-quotes-from-the-madonselazuma-interviews-20161102

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/statecapturereport-live-the-public-protector-has-been-ordered-to-publish-the-state-capture-report-20161102

South Africa will miss her. A very sharp, intelligent and moral person. 

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Oct 30 2016 - Yellow toenails and failed ParkRun.

Oct 30 2016
On Friday I spent 5 hours at the prosthesist trying to get my new socket to fit. We totally failed, and I ended up walking out with the old socket that I had put the two bladders in. I really wanted to use the new socket to do another 5km Park Run. That was not to be.

I had planned to do the Park Run with some friends. But with this older socket, I seriously doubted if I could do 5 km. I sort of wanted to cancel, but my friends wanted to go anyway, so we went, and pitched up in plenty of time for the start.

My friends started walking with me, and we watched everybody else zoom off into the distance. At about half way, I stumbled a few times.  I was gasping and wheezing, and having problems with my cane arm. I was not able to get the cane forward enough to help with balance. Maybe from my sore wrist. So with a heavy heart I quit.
We slowly walked back to the car. I was sad. Total distance walked was 3.1 km.

At home I showered and went straight to sleep for 3 hours. I have numerous blisters and am sore everywhere. My right shoulder and wrist are the worst.

My good foot is always swollen. Everybody asks if I have diabetes. I massage it every day, and keep it elevated. There is a problem with the circulation, and the foot is always cold.
I have also been worried about my toenails. They are turning yellow and flaking off. 

At first I thought they had a fungus, but now I am sure that it is "Yellow nail syndrome". Our "google friend" says:
Many of the symptoms of yellow nail syndrome are commonly associated with malfunction of the lymphatic system including yellow nails, lymphedema, and breathing (respiratory abnormalities). The lymphatic system is a circulatory network of vessels, ducts, and nodes that filter and distribute certain protein-rich fluid (lymph) and blood cells throughout the body. Researchers believe that in yellow nail syndrome, lymphatic fluid collects in the soft tissues in and under the skin (subcutaneous) due to obstruction, malformation, or underdevelopment (hypoplasia) of various lymphatic vessels. Researchers have also speculated that abnormal of leakage of fluid through very tiny vessels (microvascular permeability) may also contribute to the development of lymphedema in yellow nail syndrome.

I see the Oncologist next week. I'll ask her about the foot and the toenails.
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I have been thinking a lot about double above the knee amputations. I believe in the near future, it will be the norm to take off both legs, not just one. Until then, I will gladly keep my one good leg. :-)

With a little bit of electronic aid, there could be certain advantages to being a double amputee.

---Imagine a car mechanic with knees that bent the wrong way. He could easily spend all day bent over the hood of a car.
---Or if the knees would bend all the way backwards, and had motors to control how far they bent, then with feet flat on the floor, as the knees bent, the body would lower, So a painter could lower himself to the floor to paint there, then raise himself up to paint the ceiling.
---Put on real long legs, and you could take huge steps while walking. Or work on house gutters all day without ladders.
---With extensions to the sockets in the rear by the ass bone, and a longer shin, shorter thigh,  and an ankle that bends about 120 degrees, it would be possible to fold them all so it would form a seat like structure, made up of your legs. That would be great for people that get up and down from sitting all day.
---How about a fish tail suit to make you look like a mermaid, or merman. Some ex Navy seal just swam 300 meters underwater on one breath, with a fish tail.
---How about combat aircraft pilots. Less place for blood to flow during high g maneuvers. Or astronauts needing less nourishment, and room during space travel.
---Maybe build legs that could split from the knee to form 4 legs with feet. This would be very steady for sailors working during rough seas.
--- And my favorite. What about two sockets bolted onto a Segway. A wheel chair that keeps you eye to eye with others, and can't fall over.

My Birthday is coming up soon. :-)
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