Trinda's Eye Exam

"Nothing serious to worry about...", he says, "It has been 10 years since the last exam so a few months won't make any difference. If we are planning on the Philippines next year, just wait and go then. No problem."

So we think that we heard that he can't tell if they are getting worse without the "now days, normal 4 tests" which he doesn't have the machines for. He couldn't figure out her old doctors papers because, "They're in this same form most Americans used to use. The exam results are mostly subjective, depending on which Dr. looked at them."

Trinda will continue to take the eye drops for a month and go back. He got all the info for flying to Manila for 3 days. Total cost there would be about $545 for all 4 tests, 3 days for 2 in a hotel, and taxi to/from airport, but the catch is it would be $2000 each to fly there!

He said the holes the guy in Seattle made are still open and fine. Her pressure was up a little at 17 last week but 14 and 15 today. 10 to 21 is normal without glaucoma and they want to see below 12 for post treatment glaucoma.

I think he was just playing it safe. He can send the Marshallese to Hawaii and they get it for free, so that is his standard practice for glaucoma checkups.

I think we'll go to Manila by boat some time next year.

Generator - watermaker working again

It only took 2 1/2 days to get the new pump installed, but it is working again. It should not have taken so long, but I decided to move the pump a few feet and that meant new hoses and wire to the pump. I had the generator working I thought. Then I turned on the high pressure pump for the watermaker and it sucked full of air! The last half day was trying to find the air leak in the new hose. I first thought that it must be an automatic, electric valve had quit, so I took it apart and cleaned it, but no, it still leaked. It turned out that I didn't tighten the hose clamps tight enough.

Trinda has had a rash for the past couple of months. She thought it was just heat rash. It finally got bad enough that I convinced her to go th the doctor. She was right, just heat rash. He did give her a steroid cream to use for 10 days though. Only $17 to visit a private doctor in a clinic. She asked about her prescriptions too. He couldn't give her the medicine. Said she had to go to the hospital. $17 for a hospital visit also. And they filled her 3 prescriptions free. It is curious that the prescriptions had the price on the label. One month of each is all they give at a time, but they added up to $117, but we didn't have to pay it? I guess it is a sort of socialized medicine.

She also asked to have her glaucoma checked. They have no machines here, not even the little air puff one. That is the result of socialized medicine! They also have a barometric chamber, for treating divers with the bends and burn patients. They have had it more than a year, but it has never been installed properly so it can't be used yet. No one will come here and finish the install because they bought it with grant money, but half from two different companies. They have very little in the way of facilities, for all the millions of dollars that US and foreign tax dollars have been donated.

The doctor was shocked at the state of her glaucoma damage. He wants to see the reports from her specialist from 2000 in Seattle. We have a copy here on the boat, so no problem. Since he has no equipment he suggested we go to Hawaii or the Philippines for a complete exam. After he reviews her papers next week we'll see what he thinks then. He did say that the "extra holes the drilled" were still open and clear, but he put her on eye drops in the mean time.

We thought we were on the other side of the world, but the Philippines are still 3000 miles further west! Hawaii is 1800 miles east and Seattle is 4000 miles east. Of course there are no cheep airline seats anywhere from here.

Obituary for my Dear Uncle Jim Williamson

A memorial service conducted by family and friends is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 19th, at the First United Methodist Church in Portales to celebrate the life of Jim Williamson, 96, a Roosevelt County pioneer and rancher who died Wednesday at Roosevelt General Hospital. Following the service there will be a reception and time for visiting in the fellowship hall at the church.
Jim was born October 18, 1912, in Pecos, TX, to Asa Lee and Lucy Betty Hunt Williamson. At the age of three, he came with his family via covered wagon to a homestead in the sandhills of south Roosevelt County, joining other family members who were in the area.
Jim spent three years in England during World War II working as an aircraft mechanic with the Army Air Corps. Except for that time and his early childhood in Pecos, he lived all of his life within a few miles of the original family homestead in south Roosevelt County.
On November 26, 1957, in Cleveland, Ohio, he married Nancy Godwin with whom he shared his life for nearly 52 years. They honeymooned their way back to New Mexico as only Jim would, visiting the stockyards in Chicago and Kansas City along the way.
Although Jim's family farmed early on, it was raising and feeding cattle that became his true passion. He devoted his life to learning all he could about the cattle business. Besides doing everything he could to continually improve his herd and his ranch, he loved buying cattle from all across the southeastern United States to commercially feed.
He was a natural born salesman, and for several years in the early 1960s, he helped set up aerial spraying for brush control with ranches all over southeastern New Mexico.
Jim and Nancy had three children, and he was a devoted and involved father, driving countless miles to attend rodeos, ball games and academic events. The year he turned 83, he was thrilled to gain two granddaughters within seven months of each other.
Being involved in the community was very important to Jim. He was a longtime active member of the Portales Rotary Club and the Masonic Lodge, and served on the Roosevelt County Fair Board, the Roosevelt County Soil and Water Conservation District Board and the Dora School Board of Education for many years. In addition, he and Nancy enjoyed many years of light-hearted travel with the Conestoga Good Sam Club in Portales.
He had a special fondness for Mexico, having spent considerable time as a young man visiting a favorite uncle who ranched there. Many family vacations were spent in Mexico over the years, and he was proud to be one of the people who helped the Portales Rotary Club set up a sister-club relationship with the Rotary Club in Delicias, Chihuahua, many years ago. He cherished his Mexican friends on both sides of the border.
Throughout his life, Jim enjoyed dancing, rare steaks, the "House Special," and the chance to sit and tell stories and laugh. He loved being in the midst of social gatherings of friends and family members. His Fourth of July sandhill picnics were legendary for more than 40 years. Many people, both locally and from around the country, remember being taken by Jim over bouncing roads at dawn to watch the prairie chickens booming in the spring, then coming back to the house for a big breakfast cooked over an open fire in the yard.
He was a lifelong avid reader. As his vision blurred, he turned to books on tape through the New Mexico Library for the Blind and had listened to more than 900 books in the last few years.
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters, Jo Harvey and Katie Littlefield, and his brother, Jack Williamson. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, of the family home; two sons and daughters-in-law, Stewart and Toni Williamson of Portales, and Gary and Christine Williamson of Reno, NV; a daughter and son-in-law, Betty Williamson and Milz Bickley of Pep; two beloved granddaughters, Chloe Williamson of Reno, NV, and Katie Bickley of Pep; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of wonderful friends.
Because of Jim's lifelong love of learning and education and ranching, and his belief that good causes should be financially supported, in lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions may be made to any of the following (or the cause of your choice): The New Mexico Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (Friends of the NMLBH, 1209 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87507); the Portales Public Library (218 South Avenue B, Portales, NM 88130); the Eastern New Mexico University Foundation (1500 South Avenue K, Station #8, Portales, NM 88130); or the Ranching Heritage Association (P.O. Box 43201, Lubbock, TX 79409).
Arrangements are by Wheeler Mortuary of Portales, 575-356-4455. Published in Clovis News Journal and the Portales News-Tribune from August 16 to August 17, 2009
Please visit the Obituary for Jim Williamson

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pntonline/obituary.aspx?n=jim-williamson&pid=131411656

Click on the link above or cut and paste the url into your browser's address bar.

I try not to take too many sunset pictures, but I couldn't resist this one. This is in the lagoon at Majuro, looking west from the anchorage. There are always several purse seiners anchored here. They fish till full, 70 to 100,000 tons of tuna, then unload them into a freezer ship (left) then backout again. Many have a small helicopter for searching or the big schools of tuna. But they make for an interestiing sunset.


Patlyn and her sister, Rajiene and a friend came to visit Trinda with birthday presents. Saturday I went to their aunt's house here where they are staying and fixed her sewing machine. It was just dirty.

Monday I tried to fix another sewing machine. I twas for Davide and Louise, missionaries from Tennessee. It had stripped the gears and they put in new ones but needed help with the re-timing it. Unfortunately they had stripped one more gear than they thought. I got it timed, but the feed gear doesn't feed the cloth. They'll have to get another new gear.

Slowly getting ready

Today I bought 70 gal diesel to replenish the tanks. If you buy more than a barrel, 55 gal it is only $2.73/gal. I had 35 delivered today and expect the rest tomorrow.

Patlynn, the wife of the Iroje from Tobal, Aur came to see Trinda twice since we've been back. Once with a friend and her sister. They brought a necklace, earrings and bracelet for Trinda's birthday.

Not much else happening.