My activity on RC Groups became sporadic and then non-existent for many months and several guys messaged me wanting to know if I was okay. I want you guys know that I appreciate your concern and thank you for checking up on me.

My last blog entry was last Spring 2022 when I was trying to get my left knee surgery done. It was a total knee replacement. While I wasn't really looking forward to it, I wanted to get it over with.

I got the surgery approved and went to see an orthopedic surgeon. He told me I had to get some pre surgical screenings done before the surgery. One of them was an EKG. He scheduled my surgery 2 weeks out. I had the screenings and EKG done.

The day after the EKG was done, I got a call from the doctor himself. He said he wanted me to go see a cardiologist immediately. He canceled the surgery and said he couldn't reschedule until I saw the cardiologist and got a cardiac clearance from the cardiologist.

I asked the doctor what was wrong on the EKG but he said he couldn't tell me because he wasn't a cardiologist. So I went to the hospital and got a copy of the EKG. I figured since I used to work on the stuff I could probably read it and get an idea what's going on.

Turns out I had Afib. But I also had an extra heartbeat and my QT was too long. QT is the time it takes for the CS nerve that sends a signal to your heart to beat to recharge after each beat. Mine wasn't recharging fast enough.

My wife of course was scared but I told her not to worry it'...Continue Reading

Well, 2020 was a bust. And 2021 wasn't much better. This year, 2022, has not started out very well either.

Got thrown through the air by a large horse.
Hit my head when I went down and ended up with a concussion. And now need full knee replacement surgery, on both knees!

I'm starting to feel like an old Chevy that needs it's suspension replaced or rebuilt! Lol

What really bites is that I'm so used to being active but now I can hardly get around. Even simple trips to the post office that used to be routine and now a major event! Lol

But hopefully soon I will have my new biotic knees! That is if the VA can get it's act together. I've heard the stories from other veterans how poorly the VA takes care of their vets. I'm starting to experience it myself. Now even Obamacare is starting to look good! Lol

Hopefully it will not not have to much longer and I can get back to flying! Then 2022 will be a great year! Lol

Don

Sometimes I think that 2021 was a repeat of 2020!

2020... Wow... What a crazy year!

As I look back on the year, it's sometimes hard to get too excited about it! With these crazy politics, the lawlessness and then covid on top of all that, it's hard to believe I'm living in the United States of America. And what things just start to get you down, you walk out into you pasture and poof, there is a newborn baby calf looking it up at you! Three times this year!

It's so thrilling that I almost feel like a new Daddy or new Grandpa! They are cute as buttons and so much fun to watch grow up. Don't get me wrong though, it's still a lot of work. Lol.

Yeah, that's right, John Denver lied to us! It's not quite as easy as he sang about! But I sure wish I'd have done it a lot earlier because we really love it. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my career as a Biomedical Systems Engineer and all the travel, adventure and excitement that went along with it. But gosh it sure is nice not to have to get up at 4:00AM, get dressed and rush off to the airport!

We've come a pretty good ways with our little farm. We replace a lot of the old fencing with new wood and some crisscross wood fencing. We started the remodel on the pole barn using the old fencing as siding for for a distressed worn look on the inside. We have a big raised garden built. I started digging a pond with my little John Deere tractor and backhoe. I used the dirt that I dug up to raise the garden about 10 in above normal level.

Our little herd of...Continue Reading

It's been over 2 years now since the Harvey flood destroyed our home. Several have asked how we are doing and if we have recovered.

We have been blessed beyond our expectations!

Everything we lost has been restored several times over. Even the oak trees! We lost 2 live oak trees my wife loved. We now have 15 oak trees and 5 nice pecan trees.!

We spent seven months in a hotel and actually survived each other! Lol

Out insurance company came thru and did not give us a bit of problem on our claim.

Everybody around us had problems with their claims. The insurance adjuster came in, looked around, got us a small check to get us going, And within 4 weeks of the inspection we had the final check.

They actually paid for all my lost airplanes and radio gear too!

But we decided not to remodel a second time. We sold the house to an investor.

As many know we were flooded the year before in 2016. We had just completed the remodel when the Harvey flood came.

While in the hotel we looked around in different areas to find a place to settle down. We looked out in Brenham. We looked up in Tomball and Magnolia. We went up to Tyler Texas.

I even found a nice home on Palestine Lake with a hangar and a runway for a full-scale airplane! But it was $750,000!!!

We didn't get THAT much from the insurance!

We settled on a small 2 bedroom brick home up and Livingston across the road from a small lake. So we have a lake view out of our front living room and family room windows. But without...Continue Reading

They said the hurricane probably wouldn't hit us.
It turned just enough to get us.

They said we would get 2 feet of water.
We got 9 1/2 feet in the street.. About 7 feet in our home.

The hurricane devastated Houston Texas.

A short videoof our house is on my Facebook page at;
https://www.facebook.com/don.daniels...0846228302266/

As powerful as Hurricane Harvey was, as overwhelming as the flood waters were, nothing was more powerful and overwhelming than the outpouring of love and support we received from family, friends and people we didn’t even know.

Over 30 volunteers came out to our home on Saturday, including a Battle Buddy from California who came all the way from Sacramento to help his friends. In one day they had all of the debris out of the house. They had all of the walls, doors, cabinets and wood work torn out. It was amazing

We have a bunch of Angles visiting us Saturday! And other Angles brought food. Street tacos, pizza and even some food From Jason’s Deli. Watermelon and pineapple for desert too!

Several members from RC Groups donated airplanes, radios and accessories to help replace the trainers we had built for the Boy Scouts. A couple of members even sent enough to set me up with a coupe of planes to fly.

It just isn’t possible to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of these volunteers. You know who you are. Know also that we love and appreciate you more than we can ever say.

Thank you and God bless you.

Don and Diane

(PS: It ain’t over ya’ll! We will overcome!)

A bit about me?

Well, I don't really like to brag about myself.

Oh ... who am I kidding! Of course I like to brag about myself!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So ......Continue Reading