Far East Cynic

And……we’re back!

I have finally gotten to the point where I can sit in front of the computer for a while. The surgery went well-and was very different from my expectation. The folks at Landstuhl from the nurse who saw me first in the pre-op room, " Quit fighting the eye drops-I'm going to win. We both know this."-to the team in the operating room to the folks in the post op area. They were all superb professionals and my gratitude towards them is immense. They really knew how to allay your fears on the way to the OR-and keep you talking about something else besides the fact that you are about to have the lens in one eye replaced.

The surgery was very different than what I expected. The numbing drops and the anesthesia relax you, but yet you re still awake. You can feel the motion around your eye-but nothing else. The doctor was very good about telling me about what he was doing. He asked me up front if I wanted the "play by play". I said no, "just give me the high points-and for God's sake don't use the word :OOPS." He complied with my request.

After they released me, wearing a guard over my eye that made me look like Cyclops-the S.O. drove me back to the VQ at Ramstein. Where I slept and slept and slept. The instructions after the surgery are simple. Don't touch your eye, use the drops 4 times a day, and what ever you do, don't bend over! Don't pick up anything heavy, and don't strain yourself. A blessing of sorts because I could get the S.O. to do everything-and I still got to watch all my favorite TV programs.

The other blessing has been I missed most of the political news. The debate between Romney and Obama has been beaten to death by the pundits. What parts I watched-I don't think the President did so bad, he was trying to act restrained and not call Romney a cocksucker-which he probably should have. Jim Leher deserves nothing but scorn for failing to keep Romney in his box. More on that to follow.

What probably escaped most American's attention was two things: Israel shot down a drone. ( Origin unknown) and Turkey authorized the use of military force against Syrian. Both are events that should scare most cognizant Americans. Unfortunately, the morons among my fellow citizenry are too busy worrying about Romney's bullshit proposals to kill Big Bird:

  1. Glad you are okay.  I remember how bright everything seemed after I took my eye cover off.  To this day I reach for sunglasses when i go outside; even on overcast days.  And, boy can I see on the golf course now.  My game has improved drastically due to being able to see the greens and read them. 

  2. NATO is of course obligated to help Turkey and of course we have air assets there but Turkey should not need anyones help. Syrias air force is no match for Turkey, even without the US.
    and the drone? why??..everyone has drones now. Its no big deal. More worrisome are the thousands of rockets Hezbollah has..but thats OLD news.
    Americans  know about this but what do you expect them to do?
    Glad all went well with the op.

  3. By the way, did you happen to read the latest Gallup poll?
    5 MILLION Japanese would move to the US if they could.
    I can't believe it..leave PARADISE!! What the hell is wrong with those people?
    Well maybe they couldn't find the right "blood" partner to marry or a "bagel head"!!!!

  4. Skippy,
    With my back up against the DOD 5 year overseas rule, my SO has stated that it is time for us to move to the USA.  Actually, her family is hoping I can land in Hawaii since they all seem to want to get out of Japan too.  I think it is the whole Fukashima incident, and they finally have had enough of the spin the J-gov gives them over things.  I think the fact that my SO went to college in Canada may make her more willing to move to the USA, but one thing she said to me recently really struck home.  We are expecting (I have my answer ready, no that's not my grandkid by my own), and she doesn't want our kid to go to a Japanese school.  Reason being, she knows how her people are and a mixed race kid would face more problems than it is worth in her opinion.

  5. I really do not get it…my wife, a KN, loves it here, except for the hot Texas summers.  She could care less abourt heading back to Asia…it is me that wants to go back as I lived there almost 20 years on and off.   

  6. A good point-however there is the tradeoff of having to deal with our brand of prejudice here-depending on where you live. If you were to end up in Alabama, you have to make real location decisions based on where the good schools are ( or are not).

  7. The S.O. loved having a house with a yard and she loved flea markets and thrift stores. That said-she looked down her nose at American things, believing them to be inferior to Japanese. This was especially true of our neighbors who she viewed as fat and selfish.

    (Which she was not exactly wrong about either. 🙂         )