Whitney, on transmitted diseases

So we are sitting around playing CatchPhrase and the phrase is “Mononucleosis”. The clue given from Whitney’s team is, “The Kissing Disease!” Whitney, in all her wisdom, shouts out…
“HEMROIDS!!!”
Only if you’re kissing ass, Whit. Only if you’re kissing ass…

Whitney, on test scores

So we are sitting around talking about I.Q. scores and I mention that the GT Score from the military ASVAB is supposed to be close to your I.Q. Whitney asks if that stands for “general test” and I reply it’s more of a general knowledge score. Whitney, oh so intelligently, replies,
“Shouldn’t that be “G.N.” score, then?”
Mom snaps her head around and says, “No, Whit, that would be “G.K.”!”
Way to go there, Ace. Spelling FAIL.

Uriah is in the Apple Harvest Parade

Thought everyone would like a little update on Uriah.  He’s doing remarkably well.  So well, in fact, that he’s going to be in the upcoming Apple Harvest Parade this Saturday here in downtown Martinsburg!  Here’s the Journal article about it!

Soldier to Ride in Parade

Whitney, on ancient foot practices

So we are sitting around talking to Bryon’s brother, Evan, about the shoes he wants to buy. Whitney spout off this gem:

It’s like what those Chinese-Swedish people would do. They’d cut their feet off so they could fit into clogs!

Wow. Just… wow. I’m not sure where she get her information, but just for the record, there definitely was no foot removal going on to fit into clogs. Ever. Wrapping of feet, sure. Little bit of difference. Anybody else see a trend here? Whit seems to have a little trouble defining the difference between minor alteration/surgery, and the extreme other side, which is complete removal. LOL

Can you say, “Surrogates”?

Oh sure, this is how it starts…

Thought-controlled Robot Avatars Provide New Help for the Disabled

From the article:

In the end, robotic avatars could become part of everyday society, as accepted today as a wheelchair and handicapped parking. Sawyer says the only gating factor is whether society accepts them.

I feel like I’ve seen the future of this technology.  It seriously is pretty remarkable, though.  I commend the scientific community for making this sort of advancement.

Whitney, on Jurassic Park Martinsburg

So Whitney drives downtown to pick up mom for lunch.  As they’re nearing the junction of our King and Queen streets, Whitney comments on the reconstruction effort going on there at the city square.

They’re making Martinsburg prehistoric again!

Just so everyone knows, you should probably steer clear of downtown Martinsburg.  There might be a Tyrannosaurus Rex running around with a goat chain hanging out of its mouth.  Or maybe a pack of Velociraptors.  Don’t hide in your kitchen… they can open doors.

Quilters Honor Uriah

This past Tuesday, I had the honor of watching my brother, Uriah, be presented with a Quilt of Valor from a local quilting group.

Look at that thing!  It’s beautiful!  You really need to see it in person to see just how nice and high-quality this quilt is.  The nice older lady standing on the left-side of the photo is Sue Moats, who presented the quilt to Uriah.  The Journal was actually present at this award ceremony and did a very nice write-up about it here:

Quilters honor soldier

As she has done with all the previous articles, Jenni Vincent did another great job with this one!  It was so nice to see Uriah on the front page of the Journal (above the fold, I might add) again.  If you’re reading this, Jenni, thank you from all of us.

Thank you, Silencerco

I had the privilege of delivering a care package to Uriah yesterday.  Now, this package wasn’t from friends or family, or even our church or another veteran’s organization.  This package was from an awesome suppressor manufacturer from out in Utah, Silencerco.  Let me set this up for you.

Back around the beginning of July of this year, Silencerco asked on their facebook page that if anyone was going to be doing any shooting with their suppressors over the holiday weekend, to take some pictures and then post them to their wall.  Well, I did end up going shooting with a buddy of mine, and took my 9Osprey with me.  I also decided that since I was going to post to Silencerco’s facebook wall with the pic, I should sport one of their shirts, too.  I chose the “Game Changer” model, which features the same phrase on the front of the shirt and has a vertical picture line-up on the back displaying images of “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Suppressed Pistol.”  Not long after changing my profile picture to display an action shot of me shooting… actually, here’s the pic.

The hearing protection was for everyone else shooting, not me.  I certainly don’t need hearing protection while shooting this pistol/suppressor combo.  Anyway, Uriah comments on my picture that he’s going to steal my shirt.  Fast forward to Uriah being in the hospital.  I shoot Josh (Silencerco CEO) a short email with a link to my blog about Uriah’s incident and ask if I could get another “game changer” t-shirt for him.  I got an email back within an hour saying they’d send me something for Uriah.  A few days later, I get a box in the mail from Silencerco.  I decide to not open it and instead let the contents be a surprise to both Uriah and me.

Josh, we can’t thank you and Silencerco enough.  You went above anything I expected!  Inside the box was a Silencerco hat, a sticker pack, some patches, and THREE Silencerco t-shirts, one of which was the “game changer” one that Uriah really wanted.  Let the pics below tell you what Uriah thought about this extremely thoughtful gift.

Josh, both I and my family thank you very much.  This really brightened Uriah’s day.  Silencerco’s customer service record has never been anything other than extraordinary, and I can assure you that you have made a customer out of me for LIFE.

Whitney, on medical procedures

So the other night, I was hanging out with the family up at Bethesda hospital while visiting Uriah.  Whitney proceeds to tell us a story about an incident she witnessed while down at Virginia Beach last week.  Now, the incident itself was really pretty horrible, but Whitney’s response was priceless.  She tells us she saw a guy (who was standing) elbow a woman (who was sitting down) in the face.  Apparently they were having an argument.  Now, Whit probably would have done something about this, except she was in the car with friends on the way to a church function.  Here’s her reaction:

If I was that woman, I’d have circumcised him right there!

Now, because of the speed with which Whit was telling the story, it took us a minute to realize what she had actually said.  When my girlfriend, Ashley, pointed it out to the group, we lost it!  In between our laughter, we asked Whit if she meant to say, “castrate” instead of “circumcise”? Whit, bless her heart, said,

Whatever, they’re pretty much the same thing!

Tell that to the guy having the procedure done, Whit!  If I take my little boy after he’s born to be circumcised, and the doctor castrates him and says, “Oh, well, they’re basically the same thing,” I can tell you there will be hell to pay!

Uriah is healing nicely

I know it’s been a while since my last update about my bro, but that’s because there really hasn’t been a whole lot to update on!  That’s a good thing.  Here’s the latest news about Uriah.

On Tuesday Uriah had his orthopedic surgery to pin the fractures in his femur and hip.  He was in surgery almost three times the estimated amount of time.  When he came out of surgery, the doctors told mom and Rhi that had Uriah been much older or in not as good condition as he was, his injuries would have required an entire hip replacement.  Just another way that God has been good to Uriah in this ordeal.  This surgery was pretty serious and required extensive repair to the major bones in his leg/hip area.

After the surgery, Uriah was running a fever.  The nurses came in and took blood cultures and found some bacteria.  Uriah has been being given antibiotics since then, and it seems to be helping.  We were assured that this is commonly found in wounds like his and that it’s no big deal.

Also on Tuesday the removed two of his fluid drain bulbs from his side, so now he’s just left with the new one for his leg/hip surgery and the one for his liver (which may come out soon, itself).  He doesn’t have any chest tubes anymore either.  He is VERY happy about that.  The doctors have been telling us how great Uriah is doing and how well he’s healing, so prayers are working, people!  Keep them up!

Uriah’s chest wound is healing nicely.  Stitches and scarred area look very good and are a nice color.  Since his leg surgery, he has actually started swinging his legs over the side of his bed and adjusting himself to be more comfortable.  Won’t be much longer and he’ll be mobile!

I just got a text message from mom saying that Uriah is currently on the phone with his unit in Afghanistan!  They called him to see how he was doing.  The keep passing him around to the different guys, including the medic that saved his life.  So far they’re up to like eight or nine guys, maybe more.  Apparently one of them told Uriah he really needed him back there in about 12 hours or so for his guard duty shift!  LOL

I’m going up to see him tomorrow with my sis, Lindsay, and my nieces, so that should be a fun trip.  He’s been asking me when I’m coming back up because he knows I’ve got a little something for him.  Haha.  Figures, he only wants me to come back because I’m bearing gifts!  Brat. 

We DO know that once he is done with all his surgeries and ready to start rehab, they’ll be moving him back to his home unit at Ft. Bragg, NC.  It made the most sense to have him up here at Bethesda for the time being because they have everything there he needed to get well again.  However, Bragg is more than equipped to handle his rehabilitation.  He’ll be transferred to a Warrior Transition Unit there, and that’s where he’ll stay until he’s discharged.  We’ll miss him, but it won’t be too long before we get to see him again.