Changes since My Birth

Growing up and even recently I have heard from those older than I tell me about how much things have changed over their life time. So I decided to look at  just what has changed since my birth in 1959. I could write reams on the advances in health care, automobiles and technology.  So I have picked out a few items that I feel are important to mention in the space of this blog entry.

What was going on 54 years ago? At the start of  my birth year, Television programs included "Rawhide", "Bonanza" and "The Twilight Zone", movies included "Some Like it Hot", "Ben Hurr" and "North by Northwest". Alaska is admitted to the union and becomes the 49th state and Hawaii is admitted to the Union and became the 50th State. The Boeing 707 Jet Airliner comes into service and little girls love the Barbie Dolls made by Mattel. Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba.

Since 1959 we have seen a lot of develops and tragedy. The St. Lawrence Seaway was official completed and links the Great Lakes to the rest of the world.  The last musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein “The Sound of Music” opens on Broadway. The charted plan transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board. The tragedy is later termed “The Day the Music Died” popularized in Don McLean’s song “American Pie”.

The Microchip and the computer modem were developed in the USA.

The first kidney transplant was in 1963. The first heart transplant was performed in 1967. The first artificial heart was installed in 1982. The first heart and lung transplant was performed in 1987.

The laser was invented in 1960. In 1964 it was used in eye surgery for the first time.

Meanwhile the invention of fiber optics in the 1950s made possible the development of endoscopes in the 1960s.

The 1960's were years of unrest in America over the Vietnam War.  We saw the start of the hippie movement.  It was a time of awakening, a time of rethinking old methods, and the computer was becoming a part of this new world.  Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL) was developed by a team drawn from several computer manufacturers and the Pentagon. Thomas Kurtz and John Kemeny created BASIC, an easy-to-learn programming language, for their students at Dartmouth College. The first industrial robot was built in 1962.

Cuban Missile Crisis On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy instituted”quarantine" on the shipment of offensive missiles to Cuba from the Soviet Union. He also warned Soviet Union that the launching of any missile from Cuba against nations in the Western Hemisphere would bring about U.S. nuclear retaliation on the Soviet Union. A negotiated settlement was achieved in a few days.

Hewlett-Packard entered the general purpose computer business with its HP-2115 for computation, offering a computational power formerly found only in much larger computers. The Apollo Guidance Computer made its debut orbiting the Earth on Apollo 7.   AT&T Bell Laboratories programmers Kenneth Thompson and Dennis Ritchie developed the UNIX operating system on a spare DEC minicomputer. Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the Moon; Internet (ARPA) goes online.

The first pocket calculator was sold in 1971.

Evacuation from Vietnam. On April 3, 1975, President Ford reported U.S. naval vessels, helicopters, and Marines had been sent to assist in evacuation of refugees and US nationals from Vietnam. South Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, President Ford reported that a force of 70 evacuation helicopters and 865 Marines had evacuated about 1,400 U.S. citizens and 5,500 third country nationals and South Vietnamese from landing zones in and around the U.S. Embassy, Saigon and Tan Son Nhut Airport.

Treatment for infertility also improved in the late 20th century. The first test tube baby was born in 1978.

In 1980, the medical field was able to have Smallpox eradicated and in 1981, Scientists identify AIDS

 

In 1989 we experienced the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

We went from 0 computers in the home to 311 million in less than 30 years.

Now as I stated in the beginning of the blog entry, this is only a fraction of what we have experienced and the advances that have been made in the past 54 years. I can’t wait to see just how far we will progress in the next 54 years.

Keep Dancin’ Larry B.

 

Trying to Prevent Cancer

Finding out my mother had cancer was the most devastating day I can ever recall in my life. The second most devastating day was learning my Best Friend, Luke Henry had stage 4 cancer. Both days are forever ingrained in my memory as two of the worst days I have experienced. Family and friends support was the biggest thing that assisted all of us in dealing with the process of accepting and helping our loved ones. Since my Mother’s Diagnosis, I have read so many books and articles on cancer prevention and dealing with the disease.

I researched everything I could to assist Luke in his fight. Anything I could find to make his experience more comfortable, less stressful and any chance of helping, I read, printed and discussed with Luke. We tried all home remedies we could to help with side effects from chemotherapy. I became a strong advocate to ensure he received everything possible to assist him in his fight.

Discovering that you or a loved one has cancer can be utterly terrifying. All the same, once you comprehend the causes of cancer and learn how to reverse those causes, you or your loved one may have more than a fighting chance of beating out cancer. Regrettably, these techniques can't help everybody survive, but if the individual utilizing these strategies has enough time left so that they may start to work, rather often they reverse their cancer.

Even if you're taking the standard medical treatments or just trying not to ever get cancer, you are able to safely improve the effectiveness of what you do.  According to the National Cancer Institute, roughly 1/3 of all cancer deaths may be ascribed to our diets. The advocated diet isn't elaborate or expensive. There are a lot of foods and even spices that may very well help in the fight against cancer. Some authorities' claims that a lot of healthy food choices will help reduce the possibility of contracting cancer, and may shrivel up tumors.

Fresh research affirms what nutritionists have stated for years: consuming lots of high-fiber foods is a capital way to protect your health. That may sound like a steep claim. But according to investigators conducting the biggest-ever study into the relationship between diet and cancer, it's the facts.

 

Toxins and Pollutants are brought into our homes day-after-day through water, food, dirt, dust and household cleansing products. For instance, the serious toxin phenol may be detected in a few disinfectants, antiseptics and even air fresheners. Continued exposure to phenols and additional toxins might have injurious effects on our nervous and respiratory systems also induce cancers. It's crucial to educate yourself to enable you to cut down your risk and exposure. When you start to educate yourself about the chemicals and toxins on the labels of the products in your house, you might prefer to substitute some of the toxic agents you discover with non-toxic options.

Cancer is a disease that touches on a lot of individuals. Many cancer-causing agents have been discovered by researchers. Most forms of cancer can be prevented by making a few primary life-style alterations, such as exercising and eating healthy, averting sun exposure and refraining from tobacco use.

It takes an effort to ensure you are improving your lifestyle to a more healthy approach to life. I know I still have to work hard to cut out some things in my life. I made a promise that I would concentrate on doing that and I will keep my promise. First I have to grief my losses and put my life back on track to honor those I have lost. One day at a time to a healthier you and me...

Keep Dancin’  Larry B

 

The Man Behind the Scene

Everyone has heard and read about my Best Friend, Luke, but I have not written much about the man that has been by my side for the last 15 years. The man that stepped back and allowed me to focus on taking care of our friend for months. Luke told me that he knew I would be okay after he was gone because of this man. This man who knows me better some days than I know myself. The man that has been there every day for the past 15 years and my support during the loss of Luke.

 This man knows how to keep me sane and also drives me insane. He has always been there when I felt the world was totally against me. He knows when to comfort and when to let me rant.  He is the calm when I am the storm and always knows just which buttons to push. The man I trust with my life, my mental stability and I know I would be totally lost without, my partner in life, Paul. 

Paul and I came into this relationship knowing we both came with baggage, both strong willed and definitely set in our ways. I mean after all we were not in our twenties and it was not our first rodeo when it came to being in long term relationships. Paul was married for 22 years and I was in a 17 year partnership.

Paul has two children, so that was a big adjustment for me. I mean it is difficult enough to start a new relationship and learn each other’s little idiosyncrasies. Then you throw in having a teenager on the weekends. Oh My God! Yet we both learned how to deal with this added pressure and grew together as we did.

We came from totally different back grounds and extremely different lives yet it has been one of the most fulfilling experiences for me and I hope for Paul as well. I can't speak for him although he would argue otherwise but that is what makes our friendship/relationship work. 

We are totally opposites in so many areas of our lives yet that is also what makes us a good fit. We don't try to hold each other back or feel guilty doing what we enjoy. We support each other even if we don't understand the draw the activity or subject has on the other.

What we have most in common is our commitment to family and friends. I think it was one of the things that drew us together; we both had a strong connection with our families and had a group of lifelong friends.

It has not always been easy for Paul to live with a crazy hillbilly who is stubborn as a bulldog and as protective as a grizzly. I am the first to admit I am not an easy person to live with or to deal with 24/7.  Yet he has persevered, even after retiring from the Post Office, moving away from Florida after 39 years, leaving all his friends and being totally together with me a true 24/7 for the past 2.5 years; he is still my rock and my biggest supporter. He is my cheerleader, my counselor, my friend...

I have been told recently that as a couple we bring life, energy and comfort to those in our life and those we encounter. I think that is the best compliment I have ever received and says a lot about how well we complement each other as partners.

 

I would not be where I currently am in my life without this amazing man. He completes me in ways I never realized that I needed to be completed. Paul, I am blessed to have you in my life and look forward to the what the future holds for us,

Keep dancin' Larry B

Good Bye Valmarich

Our Ms. Honey (Ellen Valinski) and I attended an all-day seminar over 5 years ago on starting a web based business. The two of us along with Paul decided to create VALMARICH. We came up with the name by using parts of each of our last names.  So we became Valmarich, LLC, a Florida based company. We purchased license for the website and I became the web master.

Our first site was SurpriseArrivals.com; this was a Gift basket and Unique gift site. We developed contracts with several suppliers and did quite well our first two years. Honey and I developed a Blog to accompany the site that featured articles on party planning, recipes and daily life events. Then the economy took a turn and being a small business we could not offer the free shipping that the larger sites could offer. Our great little business started losing money and we decided to close SurpriseArrivals.com.

We then took our company name and revamped the site into an Educational and information based website, Valmarichllc.com. We had links to a vast array of educational sites for professionals to earn their continuing education credits. We purchased licenses to eBooks and other educational material for purchase through the site. We continued our Blog and incorporated educational articles along with our weekly rants from recipes, party planning and just everyday life.

The site has continued for the past 2.5 years making just enough to offset some cost of operation but not a true money maker. VALMARICH then developed a new site 2 years ago called LineDanceNews.com. This site is an education/Information site for the dance community. We now host Stella Cabeca's website and offers its own blog entries on entertainment, dance, music and Stella's life story just to mention a few topics.

Ms. Honey passed away earlier this year and writing the blog was just not the same for me. I floundered along most of this year but the spark of building a web based business was not there. My friend Luke inspired me to write again but I still was not able to focus on building the business.

After much reflection, Paul and I have decided to dismantle VALMARICH, LLC as of December 31, 2013. Valmarichllc.com went off line as of September 1, 2013.  It has been a great experience and I have learned a great deal about operating a web based business. Unfortunately, we just have not hit upon our sweet target product. 

Although the dream, Ms. Honey and I had back 5 year plus to build a web based business is being put to rest. I will always remember her zeal for trying something new.   Valmarich may be going away but LineDanceNews is not. I will focus on further development of LINEDANCENEWS.COM and continue being Stella's webmaster for her site.  Luke showed me how to live life and inspired me to write. I will continue my weekly ranting on the blog which will now be LineDanceNews and Larry B’s Blog.  NEW ADDRESS www.linedancenews.blogspot.com

It is now time to follow Luke’s example and live life to its fullest. Full steam ahead and first step accomplished for me by taking dance classes.

So we say good bye to one dream and work toward the future. Who knows our next great thing may just be around the corner but unless you are willing to move forward  you will never know…

Keep dancin' Larry B.