November 1, 2007

Let me tell you about one of medicine’s modern miracles: After becoming increasingly crippled this past year due to an old injury that caused post-traumatic degenerative arthritis in my left ankle, I am now the lucky possessor of a brand new total ankle replacement. I had to travel to Duke University Medical Center in Durham , North Carolina for this procedure, but now I know first-hand what world-class medical care is all about. For one thing, there is NO waiting! And, this is a biggie: the doctors actually call you back.

Dr. James DeOrio is the orthopaedic surgeon who accomplished this miracle for me. He said I was a perfect candidate for the Salto Talaris ankle so that is what I got. Surgery took about two hours. I spent one night in the hospital, and headed home the next day. The next three weeks were nearly total bed rest and elevated leg; my sweet husband had to do everything to keep life going for us. The time passed quickly as faithful friends were so good about stopping by every day and taking my mind off my big heavy uncomfortable cast.

I’ve since made another trip to Duke and had that monster cast and the stitches removed and replaced with a walking air cast that I can remove myself. I am now walking on my new ankle for little bits and each day is better than the last. One more trip to Duke in several more weeks for Dr. DeOrio to take a last look and then I believe I’ll be good to go. This has not been a painful procedure. After big painkiller drugs for nine days after surgery, I switched to a Tylenol for two days, then nothing was needed for pain. This seemed to be pretty amazing for orthopaedic surgery. I may not be up and running for Christmas, but I’ll definitely be UP!

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While I was laid up, I got hold of Alan Greenspan’s book, “ The Age of Turbulence.” It reads like a textbook, my friends, but is full of thoughtful human insights about the politicians in this country that Dr. Greenspan has served as Chairman of our Federal Reserve, as well as the other movers and shakers around the globe. The book is an excellent economics primer and one every single politician ought to read, as well as everybody else. It is highly likely that some of these politicians haven’t got the first clue about market forces and what moves them. I am going to ask each candidate for office if they have read Alan Greenspan’s book. If they have not, no kiss for them! If they have, then we’ll talk.

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DLC Management Corporation, Tarrytown , NY , has recently acquired one of our shopping centers over here in Peachtree Corners, Peachtree Parkway Plaza . That is the location of everybody’s favorite Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant, which has been a neighborhood gathering spot for years. Goodwill and Dollar General are also located in that strip center. This management outfit leases a portfolio of 77 open-air shopping centers totaling over 15,000,000 square feet in 24 states.

The United Peachtree Corners Civic Association keeps up with landlords on the parkway because of the mowing program on the parkway medians that has been going on since 2004. Each property owner with linear footage on the parkway is asked to voluntarily contribute a fair-share amount based upon $1.71 per linear foot to support a yearly landscape contract. However, every year a fair amount of property rolls over to new owners; some support the project and some do not, as you might expect. We hope DLC will climb aboard the Peachtree Parkway Improvement Project and do their part.

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Is anybody interested in disgraced Falcon Michael Vick’s gaudy lakefront Sugarloaf County Club home that is for sale for $4.5 million? I would say a low-ball offer would likely be successful as Vick appears to be in a heap of trouble and any reasonable offer might look good to him. I’m thinking the new owners might want to disinfect the place before they move in. How do you get rid of all that bad karma anyway?

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I am anxious to see our next water bill from Gwinnett County to see how our family’s conservation efforts are working. We are saving as much “gray” water as we can to pour on the few bushes we really hope to save until the rains come. It seems like we have reduced our water usage quite a bit, but the water bill will tell us the real story. We aren’t the only folks with water woes. Western states have been in the throes of water conservation issues for some time. We ALL are going to have to get used to making do with less water usage than we were previously used to, as the experts do not seem to think this dry cycle is likely to change significantly wetward in our lifetimes. (I believe I have coined a new word.)

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Since the little creek behind our house has dried up we don’t see our deer friends anymore. They are staying close to the Chattahoochee in these dry times. I miss them.

Hope all is well and thanks for reading.