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  • Writer's pictureRuss Newton

Do not get over confident, do not get overconfident, do not get over confident.


is what I am repeating to myself now. 17 days without a vocal fold closer, yes, some close calls but none yet. Just keep everything the same and you should be okay.


On other news, I have started using the Trilogy non invasive breathing assist machine after 18 months. I have been using it for about three weeks now. The technician finally got it breathing right for me with help from my doctor and I have master almost putting the *Rube Goldberg like mask back on after hydrologic pressure forces me from my bed. And I have to say, it has improved my sleep amazingly. I thought the fan was working but when I got to bed around 12:30am I was waking up at 6am and I was up. Of course I started taking a nap at around 11am for an hour. But the last two nights I have been awakened by my caregiver ringing the door bell at 8:30am. And I went to be early last night at 10:30pm too. So ten hours of sleep and the only change is the Trilogy. I am convinced. Like I always have said hard data will change my mine on any belief I have. And I have data and I no longer will use the fan.


Oh, and I very carefully went upstairs today to take a shower. The waterless showers I have been taking are good for the short term but after about a week I need a real shower. I will have to figure something out when I can't make the stairs any more. Sounds like a project, and I do love projects!



(for any readers unsure of my reference)

*Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadgets performing simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. The cartoons led to the expression "Rube Goldberg machines" to describe similar gadgets and processes. Goldberg received many honors in his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning in 1948, the National Cartoonists Society's Gold T-Square Award in 1955,[1] and the Banshees' Silver Lady Award in 1959.[1][2] He was a founding member and first president of the National Cartoonists Society,[3] which hosts the annual Reuben Award, honoring the top cartoonist of the year and named after Goldberg, who won the award in 1967.[4] He is the inspiration for international competitions known as Rube Goldberg Machine Contests, which challenge participants to create a complicated machine to perform a simple task.

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jerrywithaj
Mar 18, 2022

Excellent call on keeping confidence in check. Throughout history - sports, in particular - over-confidence changed the outcome of a lot of competitions and championships.


I'm fascinated with Rube Goldberg machines, and pretty much anything a bit avant garde. Which explains why I like "OK GO" videos so much. One version of "This Too Shall Pass" (link) is an RGM in a warehouse.

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shameen.motiwala
Mar 17, 2022

you are absolutely incredible!! thank you for continuing to teach me perseverance and resilience! hope that shower was amazing!!!!

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jerrywithaj
Mar 17, 2022
Replying to

When we'd get stumped on an idea, or "invention." or whatever we happened to be creating at the moment my stepdad would always say, "OK. What would MacGyver do at a time like this?" The solutions frequently resulted in a few excursions to Delaney's (across from the old Badger munitions plant) to really get the creative juices flowing.

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