G-Man Named Top Ten Super Hero

 

Internet powerhouse Blogspot.com released the results of its year-long study covering all of the great Super Heroes of the last two centuries.  As expected Superman and Batman were at top of the list.  However, local Super Hero, G-Man was included on the list for the first time.  A spokesman for Blogspot cited G-Man's accomplishments as being on a level with all of the better known Heroes.
He said, G-Man preferred to work in anonymity.  His habit of giving credit to others for many years had kept his accomplishments low key and mostly unrecognized. 
Upon hearing of his recognition many well known personalities praised his achievements.

Queen Elizabeth was quoted to say, "Sir 'G'" is truly a remarkable man.  One of the most dependable and effective supporters that I have ever known.      

 

The Duke once said, "G-Man made what I am"











Top Gun and Sneaky Mom, both sometime nemesis of G-Man acknowledge that G-Man was a fierce competitor.  They expressed relief that he had retired, but were still concerned about facing him in the competitive Fantasy Football league.




The entire staff of blogspot.com is pleased to recognize the outstanding contributions of
G-Man.  His work with aspiring Super Heroes and the popular Super Hero Fantasy Camps will continue to make impacts on the world for many generations.  Our staff would also like to endorse the local efforts to rename Hwy 105 to Super Hero Highway.  An appropriate tribute to one of the ten greatest Super Heroes of our time.

 

Long Live G-Man

Doctor Reality

Four knee replacements, two hips and about one dozen other surgeries

In the summer of 1961 I had surgery to remove two torn meniscus from my right knee due to some football injuries. Two years later I had the same surgery on the left knee.   My friend, Bob Katz, had similar surgeries about the same time.  Before we turned 21 neither of us had any cushioning between the femur and tibula.  Once the bone covering wore off, arthritis was sure to set in.  By the time we graduated from college, we both knew that at some point in our lives we would have joint replacements.  The questions would be when to do it and what physician to use.  It would be 40 more years before these questions would be answered. 

It just recently occurred to me that there is no easy way to find these answers.  Every year in March the top 64 basketball teams play a single elimination tournament to find out who is the best team.  The NFL culminates its championship with the biggest sports spectacular in the world, The Super Bowl. 

American Idol, Dancing With The Stars and Big Brother have selection process to pick the top person in their field of endeavor.  There are Top Ten C&W songs, places to retire,  dividend paying stocks, best seller books and Pulitzer Prize winners.  There is the Motor Trend Automobiles of the Year.  Fantasy Football leagues rank the players by position. 

It seems that you can get some idea of the "Best of the Best" in most every fields of expertise except physicians.  How do you really know what doctor to select to perform cataract surgery,  repair a torn rotator cuff, treat your gout, perform a root canal, diagnose a pain or, in my case, perform knee replacement surgery?

With the popularity of TV reality shows, I suggest that one of the major networks start a surgeon competition.  The first series could be doctors performing knee and hip replacements.  Each week one would be "cut".  The second week the patients would be the judges and the viewers would vote off one until one is declared the Top Saw Bones.  Then we would know.

Kick the Can Down the Road

Lately, I have been hearing our President and many other politicians talking about "kicking the can down the road".  I am wondering just what does that mean?  I know in my youth it was an activity. 

When I was young in Grapevine, Texas, as kids we usually walked where ever we wanted to go. Main St was the location of the Drug Store, Dime Store, Wilhoite's Filling Station, the Picture Show and THE Snow Cone stand and one was always the destination. Some kids would kick a can as they walked along the road. Sometimes a small group would take turns kicking the same can. Once you reached your destination, you would leave the can at the curb and kick it home on the return trip. In any case, our "kicking the can down the road" had a purpose. Entertainment! Competition


It was an inexpensive form of entertainment.  All you needed was to find a empty can in some one's trash.  Well, at my Grandfather's house on the corner of Worth and Dooley was an old Bois d arc tree.
At some point in time Mother Nature had caused that tree's trunk to lay on the ground and turn up toward the sky at it's end.  The bois d arc tree grew an inedible fruit that we called a "hedge apple" or "horse apple".  These hedge apples were about the size of a grapefruit.  They were perfect substitutes for "the can".  It was a simply ritual.  Go outside, pick out one already on the ground and start "kicking it down the road"  They rolled very well.  Only problem was after repeated kicks they emitted a sticky white substance that got on your shoes or feet if you didn't have any shoes.  Since they were biodegradable, they could be left anywhere.

I don't know how long that old bois d arc tree was when I live there.  I do know after 67 years it's still there and producing hedge apples.

In rural America in the fifties, kicking the can down the road entertained pre teen kids.  After three or four years we out grew that activity and moved on to more sophisticated diversions.  I hope this country can out grow "Kicking the Can" and move on to more sophisticated activities in 2012