What Every Woman Wants! (No, Seriously!)

It's due to the Dexamethasone of course. ('Dexy' to the trade.) Dexy
is one of those horrifically potent steroids that flat EATS cancerous
tumors. Along with everything else, alas. Which is why I've managed
to shed a few pounds, going from a chubbily pleasant 254 to a
cadaverous 171.

I've no way of knowing how much of that 83 pounds consisted of
tumorous tissue. And there at the start, following LAST New Years, I
promised myself it was time to shed a few pounds and did, which got
me into the 230-ish range, at which point I was diagnosed with
multiple myeloma and began the more serious business of chemotherapy,
which whisked away the pounds, along with patches of hair (it's coming
in CURLY, of all things!) and tumorous tissue.

But I now possess what every woman wants: To hear a physician say:
'It's time for you to put ON a few pounds.' And I thought of all the
women I've known without being able to recall a single one of them who
was not wishing just the opposite: to LOSE a few pounds, often with
EXACTLY the same life and death fervor I've felt with regard to the
cancerous tissue which has done such a swell job of digesting my spine
that it actually BROKE... from nothing more than a sneeze or some
other incidental stress. A compression fracture, so damaging that it
would be unwise for me to attempt to lift the amount of weight I've
now lost.

Put that all together -- the fervent ladies wish to lose as I have
lost, then to fracture what I have broken, and you must admit there IS
a certain element of humor... that struck me as the physician
delivered the good news, and I began to laugh. And still haven't
stopped. Not completely. But it certainly scared the hell out of the
doctor.

"Time for you to put ON a few pounds, Chief."

"Aye-aye, sir!"

And I began to laugh. Because it struck me that, whatever else this
cancer has done, it has given me what every woman longs for, as if it
were a topic of polite conversation, suitable for those awkward
moments when strangers are forced to spend a whisp of time together
and a polite smile simply isn't enough, as in the elevator between 1
and 12, or the check-out line at the local supermarket. First, the
friendly smile, then the casual: "I've got what you want," perhaps
with another smile, depending on the lady's physique. Then back to
listening to the elevator music or casually examining the contents of
her shopping cart, my eye peeled for ice cream and Danish.

It gives you a nice boost, knowing you have what they want. Makes you
want to flex your stick-like arms or show your turkey's neck to best
advantage. Yup. Things are definitely looking up. Which is why I'm
still laughing now & then.

-Bob Hoover

wrote in message
...

snippage of silver lining observations

And I began to laugh. Because it struck me that, whatever else this
cancer has done, it has given me what every woman longs for, as if it
were a topic of polite conversation, suitable for those awkward
moments when strangers are forced to spend a whisp of time together
and a polite smile simply isn't enough, as in the elevator between 1
and 12, or the check-out line at the local supermarket. First, the
friendly smile, then the casual: "I've got what you want," perhaps
with another smile, depending on the lady's physique. Then back to
listening to the elevator music or casually examining the contents of
her shopping cart, my eye peeled for ice cream and Danish.

It gives you a nice boost, knowing you have what they want. Makes you
want to flex your stick-like arms or show your turkey's neck to best
advantage. Yup. Things are definitely looking up. Which is why I'm
still laughing now & then.

-Bob Hoover

My wife is finishing up her last round of chemo and steroids, and gloats as
she climbs into jeans smaller than she wore in high school.

I went through the routine three times over the last eleven years. Got to
the point that a belt was totally useless; suspenders (braces, for subjects
of the Queen), overalls, or coveralls kept me decent. Anything was better
than the hospital gowns.

Now we both eat ice cream whenever we like, put whipping cream in our coffee
and butter in everything else.

Dale

Dear Dale,

Congratulations! My hat is off to you an Mrs. Dale. You will be
happy to know there are a number of people who share your feelings....
and at least two who do not :-)

Of those who did not, they felt my remarks were in poor taste. Of
course, they've never had cancer.

On the other hand, I have received several private messages from
cancer survivors THANKING me for the article. Some even asked
permission to re-publish the article in their local cancer support-
group news letter.

So I hope you will understand my public 'thank you' to you, and
'Permission Granted' to them, even though it may not be in keeping
with the 'poor taste' crowd. But then, they never got the point to
begin with :-)

As for the gentleman who wanted to know just what the hell this has to
do with home-built airplanes, the best answer is: virtually
EVERYTHING, since we can't build airplanes and go flying in them when
we are rotting in our graves. Nor when we are wringing our hands as
we moan and mutter..... 'I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die... I'm gonna
die...' because when you get right down to it, ALL of us are gonna
die! The important thing is how we handle the time leading up to that
event.

-R.S.Hoover

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Jan 2, 9:43*pm, "Dale Scroggins" wrote:


My wife is finishing up her last round of chemo and steroids, and gloats as
she climbs into jeans smaller than she wore in high school.

I went through the routine three times over the last eleven years. *Got to
the point that a belt was totally useless; suspenders (braces, for subjects
of the Queen), overalls, or coveralls kept me decent. *Anything was better
than the hospital gowns.

Now we both eat ice cream whenever we like, put whipping cream in our coffee
and butter in everything else.

Dale

wrote in message
...
Dear Dale,

Congratulations! My hat is off to you an Mrs. Dale. You will be
happy to know there are a number of people who share your feelings....
and at least two who do not :-)

Of those who did not, they felt my remarks were in poor taste. Of
course, they've never had cancer.

On the other hand, I have received several private messages from
cancer survivors THANKING me for the article. Some even asked
permission to re-publish the article in their local cancer support-
group news letter.

So I hope you will understand my public 'thank you' to you, and
'Permission Granted' to them, even though it may not be in keeping
with the 'poor taste' crowd. But then, they never got the point to
begin with :-)

As for the gentleman who wanted to know just what the hell this has to
do with home-built airplanes, the best answer is: virtually
EVERYTHING, since we can't build airplanes and go flying in them when
we are rotting in our graves. Nor when we are wringing our hands as
we moan and mutter..... 'I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die... I'm gonna
die...' because when you get right down to it, ALL of us are gonna
die! The important thing is how we handle the time leading up to that
event.

-R.S.Hoover

Feel free to tell the "poor taste crowd" to go to the devil.

Oh, wait, that's redundant... they obviously already have...

Peter

wrote in message
...

snip

As for the gentleman who wanted to know just what the hell this has to
do with home-built airplanes, the best answer is: virtually
EVERYTHING, since we can't build airplanes and go flying in them when
we are rotting in our graves. Nor when we are wringing our hands as
we moan and mutter..... 'I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die... I'm gonna
die...' because when you get right down to it, ALL of us are gonna
die! The important thing is how we handle the time leading up to that
event.

-R.S.Hoover

My wife had always been a white-knuckle flyer. Now that we both realize we
are going to die sooner or later, and what will most likely kill us, we have
shed lots of unnecessary fears. I sold my last airplane when our kids were
in college, but now we're looking for another one to see the country we
haven't seen yet. Could be a homebuilt, could be otherwise. I doubt I'll
take time to build another. How's that for on-topic?

Dale


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Jan 2, 9:43 pm, "Dale Scroggins" wrote:


My wife is finishing up her last round of chemo and steroids, and gloats
as
she climbs into jeans smaller than she wore in high school.

I went through the routine three times over the last eleven years. Got to
the point that a belt was totally useless; suspenders (braces, for
subjects
of the Queen), overalls, or coveralls kept me decent. Anything was better
than the hospital gowns.

Now we both eat ice cream whenever we like, put whipping cream in our
coffee
and butter in everything else.

Dale

On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 15:17:17 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

ALL of us are gonna
die! The important thing is how we handle the time leading up to that
event.

-R.S.Hoover


you're doing a bloody fine job of it.

I post to these exchanges in the deliberate style of a pre-senile
dementia patient. it is so that you can enjoy rebutting the message.
I figure that the mental exercise is exactly the distraction you need.

btw why do you see building an engine as impossible? ...as opposed to
assembling one?
I am an erstwhile model engineer at times and I have done castings
from scratch. I've even made my own furnace and greensand.
making a casting is no harder than making the pattern and core prints
and they're done in wood.
the rest is just ramming up greensand, cutting ingates and runners,
then pouring in molten metal.
its a dark art but it isnt impossible.
controlling hydrogen embrittlement in alooominum castings isnt
difficult.
(no need to raise to this bait. it isnt in presenile dementia mode)
Stealth Pilot

On Jan 5, 5:33*am, Stealth Pilot
wrote:

(no need to raise to this bait. it isnt in presenile dementia mode)
---------------------------------------------------------

'sllright. Any msg from Down Under is assumed to be slightly fey
(notice the ASSUMPTION again)

But as a point of interest...

Casting aruminumm VW heads DOES require incantations and Black Art
babbelations to get one suitable for machining. But it would be well
worth your while, if you intend to fly behind a converted VW. Why?
Because the original heads are severely limited with regard to fin
surface-area, restricting their maximum SUSTAINABLE output. The heads
are NOT L & R but one size fits all, or L/R.

Thg reason for LIMITING the fin area is that the heads must fit under
the stock shrouding as used in vehicle engines. If you do not have
that limitation... if your cooling is due to RAM AIR and you are
building the plenum chamber yourself, you do not have that limitation
and my increase the fin area by a significant amount, allowing the
engine to produce a MUCH higher level of output under Standard Day
conditions.

Casting your own heads not only permits a higher level of output, it
allows you to ANGLE the roof of the chamber slightly, allowing the use
of larger than stock valves without having their center edges encroach
upon the spark plug, which is located slightly above the valve's
center-line.

By casting your own heads you may also modify the exhaust's OUTLET
PORT in the manner used by Porsche. Doing so will alleviate a host of
problems associated with the exhaust valves, the most common of which
is being forced to use valves having stems of small diameter,
precluding the use of large-diameter, sodium-filled stems.

Of course, you need to be a pretty good pattern-maker to begin with,
and have access to a pot of alloy of suitable temperature that has NOT
been in contact with steel or iron (ie, a silicon carbide pot, or a
steel pot lined with a ceramic coating.

Some years ago I EXPERIMENTED with VW head castings. To ensure the
proper alloy I simply used old, damaged heads as my donor metal. But
for the other details, as best I can recall I spent a lot of time
crying; dumping unsuccessful heads back into the pot, and wishing I'd
gone farther in seminary instead of deciding to Join the Navy and See
the World.

-R.S.Hoover

As for the SECOND point you've raised (although not the 2nd in
sequence), in which you said....

------------------------------------------------------------------
On Jan 5, 5:33*am, Stealth Pilot
wrote:

btw why do you see building an engine as impossible? ...as opposed to
assembling one?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the most difficult aspects of wrenching is convincing the
Average Joe that being able to ASSEMBLE an engine, as in, "Insert Tab
A Into Slot B..." is a very good first step in learning how to push-up
a tombstone, when that engine is powering an airplane.

The fact that a part FITS has very little to do with proper
assembly. (Simply select a batch of parts that are on the LONG side
of spec and everything will go together like a German toy.) It will
even Start. It even RUNS. But with those kind of specs the poor
thing is already about half way to being worn out. Seriously. Some
specs on the VW engine are pretty wide. As in PRETTY W I D E. Side
clearance on the rods... where the big-end fits the crankshaft... are .
010mm to .040mm... with a wear limit all the way out to .070mm fer
crysakes! The tricky bit here, as in several other critical 'fits' on
the VW engine, is that big-end side-clearance is also a factor in your
OIL PRESSURE, and for that reason what you want to shoot for is the
SMALLEST allowable clearance, or .010mm ( ie, about four thou ).
Symmetry also plays a role here, and shell-type bearings such as used
on the big-end of VW rods are never symmetrical... they do not form a
perfect circle. YOU must see to that, by 'releaving' the torqued
tension in the big-end. How? By hitting it with a hammer! (Okay,
okay, so we just tap it... and not with just any hammer, but with a
soft-faced hammer having a weight of a quarter-pound or less. And how
do you tell that you've releaved the bearing? You hold it out
horizontally then let it DROP.. under its own weight. It should take
about THREE SECONDS to fall to a purely vertical position. Sounds
kinda iffy, eh? Well, it is. So just make sure that ALL FOUR of your
rods have EXACTLY the SAME 'drop-time' and the engine will run
sweet... assuming you haven't shot it in the foot somewhere else along
the twisty path of Crankshaft mantling.

The problem here, and the reason I spend a lot of time screaming at
the newbies, is they have exactly ONE ENGINE'S-WORTH OF PARTS from
which to assemble an engine. And Reality simply don't work that way.
Oh, he'll end up with an engine. And the thing will even run. But
it won't run as good as it should; it won't be as efficient as it
could be. (I've had to sort through as many as EIGHT SETS OF RODS to
find four that satisfied ALL of the specs. And there's quite a few.
Interestingly, a lot of those specs are BEST checked by touch ( or by
FEEL, if you will). I can SHOW those things to a Newbie but since
he's only got ONE SET of parts to play with, it will be a waste of
time and effort. Odds are, he'll just slap the thing together and
hope for the best.

The answer to your questions is really very simple and has to do with
what the assembler must do when they're one engines-worth of parts
does NOT fit or does NOT run. Because you can spend some of the best
years of your life shipping junk parts back & forth until your
patience wears out along with your warranty.

-Bob

On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 15:17:17 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

Dear Dale,

Congratulations! My hat is off to you an Mrs. Dale. You will be
happy to know there are a number of people who share your feelings....
and at least two who do not :-)

Of those who did not, they felt my remarks were in poor taste. Of
course, they've never had cancer.

Keep up the good work Bob. Some people just got no sense of humor.
Having something eating at your precious bodily parts, or watching
things you use every day start shutting down before your eyes can give
a person a whole new outlook.

On the other hand, I have received several private messages from
cancer survivors THANKING me for the article. Some even asked
permission to re-publish the article in their local cancer support-
group news letter.

So I hope you will understand my public 'thank you' to you, and
'Permission Granted' to them, even though it may not be in keeping
with the 'poor taste' crowd. But then, they never got the point to
begin with :-)

As for the gentleman who wanted to know just what the hell this has to
do with home-built airplanes, the best answer is: virtually
EVERYTHING, since we can't build airplanes and go flying in them when
we are rotting in our graves. Nor when we are wringing our hands as
we moan and mutter..... 'I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die... I'm gonna
die...' because when you get right down to it, ALL of us are gonna
die! The important thing is how we handle the time leading up to that
event.

One of my main goals was to be able to fly again which pushed me
through 3 to 4 months of PT where I'd come out soaking wet from
perspiration. But I made it to over 300# on the leg press and 50 reps
on lat pull downs. There is a bit of asymmetry as the lat on my right
side is as large as my hand, but the one on the left is a quarter that
size. Still the strength is similar. The left side just tires out
sooner.

I never thought I be proud of being able to tie my own shoelaces twice
in my life.

Roger



-R.S.Hoover

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


On Jan 2, 9:43*pm, "Dale Scroggins" wrote:


My wife is finishing up her last round of chemo and steroids, and gloats as
she climbs into jeans smaller than she wore in high school.

I went through the routine three times over the last eleven years. *Got to
the point that a belt was totally useless; suspenders (braces, for subjects
of the Queen), overalls, or coveralls kept me decent. *Anything was better
than the hospital gowns.

Now we both eat ice cream whenever we like, put whipping cream in our coffee
and butter in everything else.

Dale