I had bloodwork done the other day and got the results this morning.
Good news:
Thryoid levels good
HDLs good
LDLs good
VLDLs good
Bad news:
Total cholesterol high at 244 (>240 is considered high)
Triglycerides "borderline high" at 187 (200-499 is considered high)
At this point they're at levels that don't warrant medication, so she said to start taking a fish oil supplement, watch my diet & exercise, & recheck in 6 months. She calculated my risk percentage based off of my age, systolic blood pressure, total chol, & HDL chol and got <1%, so I'm not real concerned about it. I have no idea what risk we're talking about here though...heart attack? No clue.
So that was a big reality check. I guess we'll see what kind of deal I can strike up with my body in the next 6 months.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
"Transportation Overseas..." Part 1
We got on a troop train at some railroad station out in the California desert. They hauled us there by truck and we loaded in the dark. For about 10 days to 2 weeks they hauled us in every direction across the United States, mostly in and out of places like West Virginia, Pennsylvania mountains, and places passenger trains don't go. At first it looked like we were going to Alaska, next it was Canada, then South America. They had us confused--as bad as the Germans. Finally, we stopped at Hampton Rhodes, Virginia--near Newport News--with no troop ship in sight. They had to let us off the train so it could start back for another load, so they unloaded us into a large vacant lot where we waited, and waited.
Finally, they marched us to a dock where we boarded a Liberty Ship. They had canvas bunks stacked 5 high. I got one the third from the bottom, which was my home for 30 days. We were in the center hold of the ship, one story down from the main deck, with the bathroom upstairs on the next level. Meals were served on our bunk level out in the next compartment. We had to line up and pass through alley ways. Garbage cans were placed in the center of the area, above the decking of the next lower hold. I say all of this so you can imagine what a mess we had when the ship got to rolling during a storm three days later, and the garbage cans turned over. Everybody was sick and vomiting in their metal helmets. Some of us were near enough to the stairs to carry it up to the latrine. Others just emptied them in the nearest garbage can. I will not try to describe the odor we had to stay in. If you were not sick before this state, you really were then.
Finally, they marched us to a dock where we boarded a Liberty Ship. They had canvas bunks stacked 5 high. I got one the third from the bottom, which was my home for 30 days. We were in the center hold of the ship, one story down from the main deck, with the bathroom upstairs on the next level. Meals were served on our bunk level out in the next compartment. We had to line up and pass through alley ways. Garbage cans were placed in the center of the area, above the decking of the next lower hold. I say all of this so you can imagine what a mess we had when the ship got to rolling during a storm three days later, and the garbage cans turned over. Everybody was sick and vomiting in their metal helmets. Some of us were near enough to the stairs to carry it up to the latrine. Others just emptied them in the nearest garbage can. I will not try to describe the odor we had to stay in. If you were not sick before this state, you really were then.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
"Draft Board and Military..."
According to my grandmother, my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 16 years ago. My uncle transcribed his memoirs & gave each immediate family member bound copies. The following is an excerpt:
"I spent a year and a half working in New York. The draft board transferred my address to New York, so when I was inducted, I had to report to a New York address. I was inducted in the Air Force at Camp Upton, New York, October 20, 1942. They put us on a Long Island train and then to another train to Miami Beach, FL. About the time we got to Miami, we discovered we were in the Air Force. We learned that men from the mountains, East Tennessee, and Kentucky ended up in the infantry or artillery. Men from northern cities were put in the Air Force because they had never learned to shoot a gun before. That's how I got in the Air Force.
During basic training we were all separated and classified according to our civilian experience. The Air Force was invading Southern Italy and needed equipment operators to build air fields. We had one guy with us who could not write his name, but he worked in a steel mill stamping out the plates that go under railroad rails. The machine that did that was called a Bull Nozer. When they asked if anyone could operate a Bulldozer, he held up his hand. In 10 minutes he was on his way to the Corps of Engineers--overseas. I learned right then to listen closely to what they say and don't volunteer for anything.
All assignments for duty, such as K.P., guard duty, latrine duty, and yard cleanup were done alphabetically. Of course, I was first in everything, and before they got around to everybody, we would move and start over at the beginning.
They gave us Air Force Machinist Training at Kansas City, MO. That was easy for me because of my work at New York. Upon completion of the training, I was classified as Machinist 114. Then they placed us in a staging area so we could be ready to go overseas, when a need for machinists came about. While in this area, I discovered I had a planter wart on the ball of one foot. I could hardly walk and a long march was out of the question. I missed three shipments overseas because of this. Of course that was OK with me, but finally the officers had to ship me with my sore foot. We were at March Field, San Bernadino, California, at this time. They got order to ship about 900 men overseas. They only knew the classifications needed which included about 24 machinists. They didn't know where we would be going or exactly when. This was all kept quiet because of German spies alerting submarines."
To be continued...
"I spent a year and a half working in New York. The draft board transferred my address to New York, so when I was inducted, I had to report to a New York address. I was inducted in the Air Force at Camp Upton, New York, October 20, 1942. They put us on a Long Island train and then to another train to Miami Beach, FL. About the time we got to Miami, we discovered we were in the Air Force. We learned that men from the mountains, East Tennessee, and Kentucky ended up in the infantry or artillery. Men from northern cities were put in the Air Force because they had never learned to shoot a gun before. That's how I got in the Air Force.
During basic training we were all separated and classified according to our civilian experience. The Air Force was invading Southern Italy and needed equipment operators to build air fields. We had one guy with us who could not write his name, but he worked in a steel mill stamping out the plates that go under railroad rails. The machine that did that was called a Bull Nozer. When they asked if anyone could operate a Bulldozer, he held up his hand. In 10 minutes he was on his way to the Corps of Engineers--overseas. I learned right then to listen closely to what they say and don't volunteer for anything.
All assignments for duty, such as K.P., guard duty, latrine duty, and yard cleanup were done alphabetically. Of course, I was first in everything, and before they got around to everybody, we would move and start over at the beginning.
They gave us Air Force Machinist Training at Kansas City, MO. That was easy for me because of my work at New York. Upon completion of the training, I was classified as Machinist 114. Then they placed us in a staging area so we could be ready to go overseas, when a need for machinists came about. While in this area, I discovered I had a planter wart on the ball of one foot. I could hardly walk and a long march was out of the question. I missed three shipments overseas because of this. Of course that was OK with me, but finally the officers had to ship me with my sore foot. We were at March Field, San Bernadino, California, at this time. They got order to ship about 900 men overseas. They only knew the classifications needed which included about 24 machinists. They didn't know where we would be going or exactly when. This was all kept quiet because of German spies alerting submarines."
To be continued...
Grandaddy...
...passed away last Friday, July 2nd. We miss you & love you.
Jan 22, 1921
Jul 2, 2010
Grady Allman
Jan 22, 1921
Jul 2, 2010 Candler – Grady Worth Allman, 89, passed away Friday, July 2, 2010 at his residence.
A lifelong resident of Buncombe County. He retired in 1982 from American Enka Corporation where he served as an Engineer of Central Engineering following 34 years of service.
He was a member of West Asheville Baptist Church where he was a Deacon and served on numerous committees, including Property & Grounds, was a member of the Men’s Sunday School Class-Dept. #2 and was a charter member of the “Joyful Noise Band”.
He was also a member of the Western N.C. Pilots Association of which he helped organize, was a member of the “EAA” Experimental Aircraft Association and was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran during WWII.
Mr. Allman was a son of the late Loans Egbert Allman and Fonella Josephine Davis Allman.
Surviving are his wife, Lois Faye Coates Allman, whom he married September 1, 1948; sons, Col (ret) James Dean Allman, USAF, DC & wife Karen of La Crosse, WI; Tommy Wayne Allman & wife Carrie of Clyde and Gary Lee Allman of Candler; sister, Celeste Wilson of Weaverville; brother, Roy Allman of Mars Hill; six grandchildren and two great grandsons.
Funeral services will be held 11 AM Tuesday in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home with Rev. Stan Welch officiating. Burial will follow in Pisgah View Memorial Park with military honors of the presentation of the American Flag by his son, Col (ret) James Dean Allman, USAF,DC and grandson, Capt James Allman, USAF.
The family will receive friends 9:30 to 11 AM Tuesday at the funeral home and at other times, the family will be at the residence.
Flowers are appreciated or for those that wish, memorials may be made to West Asheville Baptist Church Building Fund, 926 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC 28806 or to CarePartners Hospice, PO Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813.
A lifelong resident of Buncombe County. He retired in 1982 from American Enka Corporation where he served as an Engineer of Central Engineering following 34 years of service.
He was a member of West Asheville Baptist Church where he was a Deacon and served on numerous committees, including Property & Grounds, was a member of the Men’s Sunday School Class-Dept. #2 and was a charter member of the “Joyful Noise Band”.
He was also a member of the Western N.C. Pilots Association of which he helped organize, was a member of the “EAA” Experimental Aircraft Association and was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran during WWII.
Mr. Allman was a son of the late Loans Egbert Allman and Fonella Josephine Davis Allman.
Surviving are his wife, Lois Faye Coates Allman, whom he married September 1, 1948; sons, Col (ret) James Dean Allman, USAF, DC & wife Karen of La Crosse, WI; Tommy Wayne Allman & wife Carrie of Clyde and Gary Lee Allman of Candler; sister, Celeste Wilson of Weaverville; brother, Roy Allman of Mars Hill; six grandchildren and two great grandsons.
Funeral services will be held 11 AM Tuesday in the chapel of Anders-Rice Funeral Home with Rev. Stan Welch officiating. Burial will follow in Pisgah View Memorial Park with military honors of the presentation of the American Flag by his son, Col (ret) James Dean Allman, USAF,DC and grandson, Capt James Allman, USAF.
The family will receive friends 9:30 to 11 AM Tuesday at the funeral home and at other times, the family will be at the residence.
Flowers are appreciated or for those that wish, memorials may be made to West Asheville Baptist Church Building Fund, 926 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC 28806 or to CarePartners Hospice, PO Box 25338, Asheville, NC 28813.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
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