Window Shopper

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Window Shopper is another of My wife’s earliest blogs (it was either the second or third, I’m not sure anymore). She enjoyed writing in it, sharing tips on shopping, saving money and passed on recall warnings and had a lot to say about things like the BS that’s been coming out of China in the last couple of years. Sadly this is the final entry that will be posted here. Shopping and such was her field, not mine.

This is so incredibly hard for me to write, so please forgive me if it’s more broken rambling than anything else.

My wife Lura went to be with the Lord last Tuesday, Dec 30 2008 at a little after 4:30pm central time.

I still can’t believe it’s true, I keep expecting to wake up from some nightmare induced by trying to sleep in the impossibly uncomfortable accommodations that White River Medical Center in Batesville provides for the family member who is staying with the patient. I suppose they might be passable for most people but I haven’t slept lying down for years because of sleep apnea (and before you mention it, I cannot tolerate CPAP, I’ve tried it.) and back pain, trying to achieve the sleeping position that I need was nearly impossible and always painful, never very restful. I didn’t get a lot of sleep and less rest.

She had fallen in a parking lot a few days before Thanksgiving when her cane slipped out from under her as she walked around the back of the car. She wrote several posts about that and a lot of what happened afterward on her blog “Off The Cuff” ( http://offthecuff.lurasbookcase.com/ ) and more posts on another of her blogs, “Window Shopper” ( http://shopper.purrfectdomains.com/ ) and in her last post on her Christian blog “God’s Topshelf” ( http://godstopshelf.com/ )

Even though she had hardly been scratched and as a hospital trip a few days later confirmed, had not broken anything, it caused her incredible amounts of pain. A couple days after that, along with the expected bruising, blisters started to appear about halfway between her left knee and ankle. The entire area was very painful and sensitive to touch. I had to “tent” the covers over the area so that nothing would touch it.

She ended up being taken care of mostly by me along with the folks from the home health care place who came out to check on her, take pics of the bruise and blisters.

The doctor had decided it was cellulitis and she was treated with antibiotics and strong painkillers. hydrocodone to start with and when that proved not enough, two 15mg MS Contin (morphine sulfate) pills a day. Other than that the only thing to be done was keep the leg elevated because of the risk of her having another blood clot like the one that she’d had last august. She didn’t have one at the time though, they checked for that when they took the xrays looking for breaks.

By the beginning of the 2nd week of December the home health nurse said she thought the blisters looked a lot worse and she took another set of pictures to show the doctor. Once he’d seen them he said that Lura needed to be in the hospital right away to get it looked at and treated.

On the 11th or 12th (It’s kinda blurred to me and I’m not sure of the exact day right now.), we called an ambulance to transport her to the hospital because getting her into the car to drive there would have been entirely too difficult and painful for her. Because the ambulance could not allow me to ride along with her because of something about their insurance and there wouldn’t have been enough room for me and what I had to bring along, my brother drove me to the hospital after they left.

Note: on top of all this, at that same time I had been dealing with crippling migraines and severe jaw pain for a couple of weeks or more and had a very difficult time with nearly everything because of them.

When I got to the hospital she was just arriving at the ER, after a seemingly interminable time for examinations and tests, they admitted her and we moved up to the PCU (progressive care unit).

I think it was the next day they took her to surgery. They had to not just open the blisters but it was necessary to clean out some dead and infected tissue. They applied something called a “Wound VAC” which is basically a vacuum pump that kept the wound (about 2 inches deep and 6 inches across) drained. I can’t tell you how much I hated seeing that hose coming out of the plastic taped to her leg, almost as much as I hated seeing that wound.

They then proceeded to take her back to surgery about every couple of days to check the wound, clean out any more dead tissue they could find and replace the wound VAC. The surgeon was actually pleased with how the procedures went as well as the progress she was making. Each trip to surgery had less junk to remove and they were satisfied that she was beginning to heal.

We both found it frustrating that no matter what, it was expected to be a long process with as much as three or four weeks in the hospital with these surgeries going on before they thought that she might have progressed far enough to go home and back to home health care. It’s also true that because she was diabetic (technically anyway, more borderline than anything) the healing was expected to be slower than for other people. I was told that complete healing and recovery would probably take as long as a year and a half.

By Sunday Dec 28th, I finally needed to go home for at least a day to do some laundry, clean up, get some real sleep and tend to a few household things. I had nearly become a walking zombie due to lack of sleep and a list of aches and pains to long to mention. Despite this very real need, I hated the idea of leaving her there by herself even for a single day because there were things that I was trying to help with that the nursing staff, good hearted though they were for the most part, were just too busy to be as quick to do certain things as she needed.

By the time I got home it was obvious that I was more than just sore and tired, I had come down with a rather nasty intestinal flu complete with a 100 degree + fever, chills and what I call “Explosive Diarrhea”. Needless to say, my one day stop at home got extended by several days.

I kept in touch by phone and she was continuing to do better. By Tuesday I felt better enough that I expected to return to the hospital Wednesday. I spoke to her on the phone that morning. She was tired but otherwise feeling good. She was scheduled for another surgery late that afternoon / evening.

A few minutes after 4pm I got a phone call from the charge nurse. Lura had been out of bed to use the bedside commode. They were helping her back to bed when she complained of being dizzy and collapsed. She told me that they had intubated her and were moving her to ICU.

I made two phone calls to inform family and put in a prayer request for her. When I hung up the phone from the second call, the phone immediately rang. (this was roughly half an hour after the first call) I saw the caller ID was the hospital and expected it to be the charge nurse again with an update. My blood ran cold when I found out it was a doctor, they never call patient’s relatives themselves, they have their office staff do it. I knew this couldn’t possibly be good news.

He told me that she had she had coded for 30 minutes and they were not able to revive her. He said how sorry he was to have to tell me this and the rest of what he said faded into a blur as I hung up to make the same two calls I had earlier to tell them this impossible news.

The next day when I went to the hospital to pick up her things I spoke to the charge nurse that had called me. She told me (sounding like she had been present for most of it) that Lura had regained consciousness for a minute or two after she fell and was awake and talking. Her heart was going slower and slower until she finally lost consciousness again and they started CPR.

I haven’t seen or heard anything official about the cause but the rest of the family and I have what I think is a reasonable theory. While in the hospital she had to be taken off of the blood thinner she was on because of the central line they had put in, the repeated surgeries and the wound itself. Combine that with the fact that she’d already had a blood clot in her leg last summer and was at high risk for developing them and it is very probable that a new blood clot had formed and very likely had broken loose when she fell.

I know that she did not suffer other than the pain and embarrassment of falling, especially in that situation. She hated falling and it was something that she frequently was worried about, especially since she had the DVT last August.

I’ll be posting this story on a few email lists and forums that she participated in and on her MySpace and Facebook pages. I will also post it on all of her blogs after which I do not expect to ever post on any of them again with one exception.

She has an enormous amount of Bible study notes that she has written over the years, a lot of which she had intended to use to write either Articles for her Christian ministry page “Lura’s Bookcase” or her Christian blog “God’s Topshelf”. Because I know she wanted this stuff posted I intend to keep those notes and as I go over them, post them on God’s Topshelf.

I’ll be doing it partly as a memorial to her but mostly out of respect for the fact that she wanted to reach the unbelievers as well as help believers, especially new Christians, learn and grown in The Lord and His will. She knew that we are living in the last days and fully expected the days of tribulation foretold in Revelation and the soon return of Jesus the Anointed One.

She also would not want me to sit and waste away in mourning and grief. Rather, she would prefer that I continue her (and my own) work in the Lord and reach as many as possible while there is still time.

Another reason for doing this is that over recent years my own efforts in this regard have fallen victim to many, many distractions, problems and even laziness that seem to flow like raging river through the need to get so many things done. Therefore I think that it’s reasonable to make an effort to at least set aside a few hours a week to be dedicated to getting back to doing the work that God has set for me to do.

I sincerely hope, pray and believe that her writings will touch the lives of many, bring the unbeliever to accept Jesus and bring Christians to a greater knowledge of Him and His Love and will.

I would also ask that when you speak of me and this situation, that you not say things like, “he lost his wife”. I have not lost her at all. I know exactly where she is and that I will see her again. Her pain is ended forever, mine will fade with time (a lot of it I think) and life will (*MUST*) go on.

As long as this is, there is much still left unsaid, however I have spent nearly the entire day writing this and my heart and mind are nearly spent for the day. It has been, without doubt, the hardest thing I have ever had to write yet it had to be written. She would have done no less.

in Him,

Edward Langenback

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Today is the best day to think about this. If you have not finished (or started) your shopping, you might want to consider going to places with wholesale prices. Now I realize that there are some areas that have lots of stores like that. Others have few and far between. Of course, you can always look online too. The main thing is to find what you are looking for at the cheapest price available. I do realize that there are people out there that do not have to consider this but we do. And most of us took a pretty good hit during the Wall Street down slide. The companies that went under or are being bailed out didn’t help either.

So, we have had to learn to change the way we buy items and products. One of the major ways to do that is to find all the discounted and wholesale items that you can find. If there are several in the same place, wonderful. All this helps.

Please do not forget the cautions though. Baby products are still coming from China. I received a sample product today that has China stamped on it. Also please be very aware of gift cards. Companies that are headed out of business might still sell it to you even though you may not be able to get the value from it should they go out before it’s used. In the same way, make absolutely sure that the gift card does not have a fee or penalty for not using it within a certain number of days after purchase. It is amazing the number of gift cards that have such limitations. As I understand it, even the big, international companies sometimes have this if allowed in that particular state.

Even with all the problems these days, please enjoy your Christmas shopping!

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It depends on the person. Period. Some people who work on the help desks are trying very hard to help you. Others are simply drawing a paycheck and could care less that you have a problem. The companies that hire these people should certainly screen them better, for one thing, and should monitor their progress for another. If they do not show that they have a clue, remove them. The frustration that comes with dealing with those people is huge. You know, I have read tons of those supposedly funny (some are hilarious) conversations from the point of view of a help desk person. Frankly, I would like to know where these people are when I need assistance. They seem to have a brain cell connected to at least one more. I am the customer and my conversations sound more like those but in the reverse.

Recently, I had some problems in my Paypal account because there were two unauthorized payments sent out for magazines we no longer take. The company that took the money is not familiar to me except for what I read about them. In fact, the company in question is a ripoff outfit. They take money from your account making it appear to be legitimate for magazines. If you do not catch it, they win and get your money too. They took nearly $50 from my account. OUCH! So, we called Paypal to see what could be done. The guy on the phone was great. He took care of the removing the transactions. My money was returned to me within a few days. Very nice. In addition, he advised that I cancel the current Paypal card and have them send me a new one. I agreed since it seemed like a really good idea to stop those folks from doing it again. He said that the card should be sent to me quickly. End of conversation. Very satisfying.

A few days later, I did receive the money back into my account. I have patiently waited on the Paypal card to be sent to me since I needed it for some last minute shopping for Christmas. Oh who am I kidding. I am DOING my Christmas shopping and definitely need my card since there are a couple of places, that’s all I can use. One of the most prominent will not ship anything without it.

After seeing the mail today and the card is still not here, I started getting a bit desperate. As anyone knows who buys at this time of year, it is sort of a crap shoot whether you actually get the items or not by Christmas so the earlier the shipping the better. But I still don’t have my card. So, once again, I called Paypal. Those extremely competent people at the help desk must have all been out to lunch. I talked with a young lady who was pretty hard to understand with a very thick accent. Without trying to offend anyone, I would really like to talk with someone who has English as their first language when dealing with such problems. There are too many misunderstandings this way.

She was very helpful as far as she could go. She had no idea about the Paypal card and when it was sent. That sounded somewhat ominous to me. She put me on hold for over 10 minutes. No clue what was going on. When she returned, she told me that the card had been mailed out YESTERDAY!!! Now I had assurances from the other guy that it would be sent out much sooner. And then when I told this to the young lady, she said something that only hit me later. But it was so stupid that I cannot even fathom why she would say it. Perhaps you can catch this?

She said “Ms L., the card was sent out yesterday. If you look on the back, it states that it would be sent out within 4-6 weeks.” Anyone catch that?

And now that I have had time to think about it, I wish I could be back on the phone to talk to her again. However, I will suffice it to say that THIS experience is more in line with what my usual help desk experiences are like. I know you will get the problem here. So I will just say that I hope your shopping is going better than mine.

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Now there’s a title for you. I was thinking of the title Last Time I Saw Paris, the country not the woman. In August, I was so disgusted because I went into the hospital and could not really manage my droopy hair. It just went wild, stunk, was way too long for me, in short it was nasty. And I vowed then that I was going to get it cut before something else happens. After that, the first chance I got to go out, off came the hair. It’s incredibly short now and I love it. Why? Because I am sitting here with a leg problem again and I have SHORT HAIR!!! Not hard to take care of at all. HA!

While we were at the salon that day, a few very different people came in to get hair cuts and styles. One that struck me as strange was this one lady who got her hair coiled up in little ringlets. You know all those guys with comb overs? Very obvious try at faking out people as if you could not tel it was a comb over? Well, this lady and several others I have seen since have what I would call coilovers, there is nothing else I could call it. Little ringlets all over the head and then scraped over on one side. Very strange, very strange indeed. One would think that there are foreigners among us. And that, folks, was the last time I saw my hair.

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Despite my wonderful charm and influence, I found myself inside an ER again. And while I may be getting up in years to some, I am still a vital person. Unfortunately, I fell on my leg a week ago Saturday. It developed some SERIOUS pain and swelling. By Tuesday, I could hardly walk. Decision time. My experiences with hospitals in general and the ones around here have been like night and day, the ones here being the night side. This particular ER is new to me since we avoid places that used to be bandaid stations in the expectation that they still might be that. It was where the ambulance dropped me off.

The doc there was pretty good, seemed like a nice guy, seemed to have a clue what’s up. After the check in, I was treated to a few xrays to see if I had a broken leg. Nope. Then they wanted blood. Now I have to admit that my veins are a nightmare to some people. They roll, collapse and every other thing possible. It makes blood draws such a nice thing to go through. They tell me that this girl that looks like she belongs in high school applying acne care products instead of trying to start an IV in me is something of an expert at this. Wrong. She blew it. Someone finally started one in my left hand which, by the way, hurts a lot. Usually they don’t once they are in. So what I have is one on one side putting in an IV and the other side is someone taking blood. Nice.

They give me an IV of antibiotics because the doc says I have cellulitis which is an infection of the skin and muscle tissues. Then they give me a pain killer. Not bad. I was sort of out of it for a while. The doc finally comes in and lets me know he can’t justify me staying in the hospital even overnight. The agony of this infection is awesome. At home, I can hardly walk to the bathroom and back, at no time without help. And they want me to go home. The bed they put me in cannot go down enough for me to put my foot on the ground. When they get me up to shoo me away, I have to step down over a FOOT to the floor. The incompetence screams at me.

Eventually, we went to get the prescriptions at the local pharmacy to the hospital. We lived about 30-35 miles away and would not get home in time to get them filled there. While the doc wrote out a prescription we could not get, my husband was inside getting someone to call the doc back. Took 45 minutes. I was sitting in the car in shorts, tshirt and shoes. It was 40 degrees. Nice. Now I have a nurse coming out a couple times a week.

I cannot tell you how much I am beginning to hate living where I do. The reality is that I used to like it here when there were no medical issues. But now……….Just a small clue. Even if you do not have medical issues, check out what is around you. Make sure when the time comes, you have adequate and hopefully more than adequate medical care.

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If you have any charges on your credit card, debit card, Paypal card that do not belong, be sure to dispute them. Do not allow them to get away with this. What am I talking about? Recently, I received two charges on my Paypal card which, by the way, dips into my bank account if there isn’t enough money in the Paypal account. Up to now, that has been a very handy thing for me. However, at this time, it is difficult since my economy has pretty much gone the way of the country economy. We have a problem.

What I am talking about here is a company that is pretty much a ripoff outfit. They are called TWX NSS magazine subscription service. Where they come from, I do not know. But here is what is clear. We do not buy magazines usually. I did buy two for my nieces but they are no longer interested. I allowed the subscriptions to lapse. That happened a couple of months ago, if I recall correctly. Then a few days ago, I noticed a charge in my Paypal account that was something like this (not the exact transaction):

TWX*@@@@@@*READERS DIG 800-927-9578 NY

There were actually two of these with different magazine subscriptions. Between them, they drained my account and went into my bank account. The phone number that is included is simply a place to give you a robot getting you to buy more from them. They are definitely ripoff artists. I did get another such charge about a year ago. I don’t recall what happened there. Not sure I disputed that one though I should have.

In my case, we called Paypal, which is much easier to do now. I talked with an agent who helped me very much. Their suggestion was to cancel my debit card and issue me a new one. I loved the idea. They are doing that. If, however, you have a problem like this, it may be in your credit card or bank debit card. Those are different and need to be handled through your local bank or your credit card company. The main thing is DO NOT allow these people to get away with this. They are simply preying on people who do not know better or, at least, do not want to go through the hassle. If you do not stop them, they will continue to grab money from your account. That is not an option in my case. They have already caused us problems with our bills now.

Do not allow them to win!!!

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Computers seemed to be a hot item today. That has little surprise in it although I think if I had gone out today, it would have been for other items as gifts for Christmas. I do realize that people save enormous amounts of money on a day like this assuming they actually get their items. I suspect that many people went home with only some of what they were after and others went home disappointed altogether. We would have not faired well today at the store. We, that is my husband and I, are quite slow these days. I think we would have to have hired someone to do the running for us.

Now there’s a thought. People who are young, speedy and able to grab hold of the preferred items would be handy, very handy. Of course, you would likely spend the money that you had otherwise saved in hiring said people. However, it is a thought. That could be someone’s new line of business. I can think of so many products and items that we could own if only we were much more speedy of foot ourselves. Computers do come to mind. Lots of computers are much cheaper on the shelves only today. And now I have to admit something. I have never in my life owned a Mac computer. I have no clue about Mac memory, Mac notebooks, Mac hard drives, Mac anything. It is a total mystery to me. All I ever heard was that they were different as night and day from the standard PC and laptops. I have no clue.

Should I now try to find out? I have no idea.

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During this time of year, there are lots of places that will try to get your attention to donate items and money. This is great because almost all the causes need it especially when the economy is in such dire straits. However, some are well noticed while others are not so much.

I encourage you to give to those places that need food items. The food banks are really hurting right now. With the holidays coming, it is vital that they be able to respond to those who need it most. Food banks are almost always in need and it is so simple to donate. If you do not have the cash or would rather donate food items, you can do so by simply going to the food bank office and telling them you are doing that. Much of it is tax deductible. But here is the kicker. All of those places that need food now also need it the rest of the year. Did anyone notice that while these places are able to help right now with giving out a full meal at Thanksgiving and Christmas, they need the food the rest of the year too since people do eat more often than just during the holidays. Lest you believe that they are wasting their money or food on people who don’t need it, think of those who have recently lost their homes either to some disaster or to financial difficulties. Those folks will need food and help. It is impossible to help when the money is gone.

Now, while I have focused on food banks and what they can do, I have a sis in Texas who does other things as well. She loves to work on craft items and clothing. She is quite good at it. In fact, it is a ministry for her. She makes caps and hats for those who are undergoing treatments for cancer and kidney problems. Chemo takes a great deal out of a person including losing their hair. Anyone watch Robin Roberts on Good Morning America? It makes them susceptible to many things including being cold, especially during the colder days. Having a good hat or cap on will help to keep the cold out. That’s just one thing that is possible. Don’t forget those who are on dialysis. Their bodies are undergoing a treatment that also takes the energy out of a person. They need your help. Not just now but also at other times of the year as well.

Won’t you take the time to find out what you could do to help these folks. Maybe it’s simply giving a couple of cans of food at a food drive. Just don’t forget those people when the food drives are over. Possibly it’s a person that just had a cancer treatment. They are so weak and in need at that time. Could you please support them in any way possible? If my sis can think of ways to help and people can give a couple of cans of food, so can you. If you are a crafter, think of how your craft can help. If you make toys or some type of kids items, please consider donating to a children’s hospital or local charity. It is all worth it!!

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For those who have no clue what I’m talking about, these two sites supposedly bring together those who are looking for long lost members of usually their high school graduating class or the college graduating class. Often you get emails telling you that someone from your class is looking for you. They send out thousands of emails with that same line. In this case, both sites are wanting to match you up with your class. Both make sure you give your information before they give you theirs. What is wrong with this picture?

What they are looking for is for you to pay them to see who is looking for you. Now, if you are desperate to find someone from that class, by all means, go ahead and get the upgrade they offer….with a little caution here. Remember why they actually sent you the email in the first place.

More often than not, there will not be anyone that has tried to contact you. I am not saying that no one is looking for you but both those sites send out emails stating that someone is trying to contact YOU. That is the incentive to buy their membership. Oh, they tell you that you can be a member for free. However, any relevant information that you want on those people from your class will not be there until you pay out money to be a gold member or whatever they call it. At some point, you realize that they are not all that but you already paid your money. They will not refund it.

Warning here. When you have paid out to be a gold member, check the options on your profile page or your account page. There will be an option to do an auto pay or manual pay. Do yourself a huge favor and select manual pay. Trust me, they will bug you about your account. You do not have to fear that they will cut you off from their site. But please put in the manual option. Why? I did not do that until the last month of my membership with Classmates. I had bought a year which was okay. I did get together with a couple of old classmates but I also ran into some guy who was a total stranger to me. It’s a trolling place for people too. But since I did not take the option until the last month, apparently their software did not notice that option and charged me the whole year’s membership at a time that I really did need the money. I argued with them about it. They did see the light for me. I received my refund in about four days. That is not the case with most of the people or so I assume since I saw several forum comments concerning them.

On Reunion, I simply kept getting the messages about people looking for me. When I clicked on the message to go to the site, I found myself at a place where they expect you to sign up for the paid membership. If you do not, you cannot see who is looking for you. The fact is, it is more likely that there is no one looking at that particular time. They simply want your money.

I am not against these sites. But I am warning people against their tactics concerning money and memberships. If you like the membership, that’s great. I did see some people on the site that I used to know but it was not the big deal I thought it would be. For one thing, most people do not visit there every day. In fact, sometimes they took a week or more to answer me when I wrote them. These folks are otherwise busy. Classmates is not a high priority in their lives. Neither is Reunion which is not as popular as Classmates. In both cases, they expect you to be curious enough to sign up for the upgraded membership to find out. Now you are warned.

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Have you ever had that opportunity? You can sign up online to become a Nielsen family for several things. But we got a call from the Nielsen folks a couple of weeks ago asking us if we would like to be one of the families to do a television diary for them. Of course, we loved the idea and told them yes!! The man on the phone assured me that they were grateful and that it would be for “sweeps week” which is really exciting too.

We received the diary a couple of days before the big start which was last Thursday (November 13th). All we had to do was list all of the channels we could watch, who is in the house, how many televisions we have (they send out a diary for each set regardless of whether it even comes on or not). And then the big day came. Of course, Thursday is not the greatest day for us since we often don’t watch anything but Stargate SG-1 on the Sci-Fi channel. Friday, ditto. Saturday and Sunday are great days to watch movies that we already own or others that are rented. Sometimes we do rent though not very often.

But our brightest day, television wise, is Monday. Those shows are awesome. We always either watch or tape to watch later. And we love the shows so much. Whoever would think of a secret agent working in an electronics store in the mall? Chuck is an intersect, called that because his so-called best friend (who is secretly…what other kind is there???…a secret agent) sends him a disc. He plays it on his computer and all of a sudden has the top secrets of the country in his head. The disc then was destroyed in classic Mission Impossible style. Now Chuck is being guarded by two agencies of the government, the FBI and the CIA. One is a guy and one a lady, both very good at their job. We love this show!!!

Next up is what I can only call a strange but really fun show called Heroes. An eclipse happens and suddenly some people have abilities they never had before, some quite harmful, others good. You are allowed to see into the lives of some of these heroes. Actually, not all are heroes as you soon find out. Some are villains with evil in their hearts those abilities help them with their evil deeds. They are in the third season. Excitement is still high. We still want to know what is about to happen next. Both of those shows are on NBC.

Finally, we look in on Boston Legal. For years, we have watched as Denny Crane and Allen Shore take on the world, so to speak. The combo is good with William Shatner in the role of Denny Crane who has “mad cow” disease. He has little trouble telling people about it and less trouble showing it. The reality is that he might have Alzheimer’s disease, his worst fear. His comedy sidekick, though he announces that he is the star of the show (they do that whole “fourth wall” thing which is totally hilarious), is Allen Shore who is a brilliant attorney who takes a different road. He definitely does not do the normal. If I had a lawyer like that, I would have sued at least a couple of places and people in my life and won! Backing up those two are some sane lawyers who also have unconventional ways but tend to win their cases. All in all, a really good show. The sad part is that ABC has canceled the show at the end of the season. We disagree and say so on the diary. We are assured that the network people look at that.

On to Tuesday where we have one favorite show there called Eli Stone. This show is in it’s second season and I hope it runs for many years. Another lawyer show, this one is highly unusual in that Eli has found out he has an aneurysm in the brain that, apparently allows him to see future and could be future events by putting him into the vision. At first, he thought he was in the activity in the vision but realized, somewhat after ducking an airplane that wasn’t really there and acting in court like he saw things that were not there, that those were future events and not reality. That changed his life. Seeking help, he finds a man who does acupuncture. The really strange part of that is that the man used to be a friend of his father’s who also had such visions. This is an awesome show and I hope they don’t take it off the air for a lot of years.

Wednesday, the reprisal of Knight Rider with Kitt, the car that talks, brings all the technology with it and puts it into the car. Updated abilities of the car and the new characters are what make it as exciting, and often more exciting than the original show we loved so much. Knight Industries have come a long way, baby! Kitt and company are up to their fenders in dangerous missions each week. Kitt now has the ability to change his appearance so much that you would not know it’s really a mustang. He can change color, change into an SUV or an attack vehicle. Just say the word. But he has his “human” side too or is trying to learn it. That is somewhat reminiscent of Data on Star Trek, The Next Generation, the android that wanted so much to be human. Kitt does not take it that far but is trying to understand humans.

So, on Wednesday night, we will finish up the diary, seal it and send it off to the Nielsen people. We will have our say in what people watch. I love that. Haven’t you sat there watching a show you wish they had never made? Or watching one you just know they will cancel but wish they wouldn’t? We can hope that our opinions matter.

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