During October and part of November I spent my time having radiation therapy at the J. Graham Brown Cancer Center at University (of Louisville) Hospital. I had two therapy sessions a day to my jaw and throat - at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and a total of 46 aggressive treatments. I will not go into the gruesome details other than to say the first 8 zaps were not bad, but the last 38 hit me hard.

Now I’ll talk about something other than cancer and radiation. Before the radiation got too bad we visited the Overlook Restaurant in Leavenworth, Indiana. Linda bought a sewing computer with many attachments and a serger (Ouch). We shopped Black Friday and bought a HDTV and bought another HDTV off eBay.

Outlook Restaurant

The 1937 flood wiped out the town of Leavenworth, Indiana and it relocated on a bluff overlooking Horseshoe Bend on the Ohio River. A café and grocery store were built over a chicken hatchery. After it became a Greyhound Bus Stop running water and a restroom were added and the restaurant flourished. Today the restaurant seats 225 people which is remarkable for a town of 300, but reservations are needed for meal time. The restaurant and grounds give a beautiful view of the Ohio River and barge traffic. They serve delicious home cooked food, but are known for their pies and desserts. We each stuffed ourselves with the meals and just had to have a dessert so we ordered one hot blackberry cobbler with ice cream to split. When the server brought our dessert we laughed and looked around to see if we were on Candid Camera. The blackberry cobbler was in a deep eight inch dish with a pint of ice cream on top. And that was one serving. Well, somehow we ate it all and left feeling miserable, but we will return.

Sewing Computer

Linda has always wanted a computerized sewing machine so she bit the bullet and bought a Bernina 440 sewing computer with an embroidery module for about $3,500 and then added many attachments ($$$) and carrying bags ($$$). But that wasn’t enough so she returned to the fabric and sewing store and bought a Serger sewing machine for over $1,100.

The Bernina requires a computer for operation so she connects it to her new laptop (cheap from Wal*Mart). She can make a design on the computer or download a graphic from a website and after setting up everything she can walk away while it turns out a beautiful embroidered whatever. Yes, I don't know the terms or how to describe all this, but I will have pictures in next month's travelog. Granddaughters Emily and Jill visited us and Jill wanted a mermaid costume for Halloween so Linda jumped on one of her sewing machines and turned out the costume in the picture. She thought Emily was old enough to learn to sew and she taught her how to make a skirt.

Black Friday (New Televisions)

Our 20" television in the bedroom was a good one, a Sony flat screen with a good picture, but it was mounted at an angle and was not quite big enough. We wanted something bigger than would fit in the opening, but decided we could sit a larger TV on the chest of drawers. I looked at 26" televisions and found for just a few dollars more I could get a 32" television with many more features.

I did about 16 hours of internet research and found a Philips 32" that was very highly rated. Thirty-six people had rated it on five different categories and the overall rating was 4.8 on a scale of 1-5. That was the highest rating I could find on a 32" HDTV. About everywhere I looked on line and in stores had it priced at $799.99 to $849.99 and then Wal*Mart marked it down to $756 so I thought I would buy it there.

Thanksgiving Day, Best Buy had an ad in the newspaper they were going to sell the 32" Philips HDTV for $599.99 on Black Friday and they had at least six per store and the price was good from 5:00 a.m until 11:00 a.m.. That was a big savings and that is why we were in line at 4:45 a.m. We got up at 4:15 a.m. and headed to the store. It was located in a large shopping center and the parking lot in front of Best Buy was full so we parked at the end of the shopping center where a few parking spots were still available.

As we walked up to Best Buy we noticed the line waiting to enter was four people wide and as long as we could see. We walked and walked until we reached the other end of the shopping mall before we fell in the end of the line. After a time consuming move up a foot at a time we finally reached the door and were allowed inside. People had camped in front of the store all night, a television news crew was there and a news helicopter was flying overhead. We never thought we would hit the circus atmosphere Black Friday at 5:00 a.m., but us retired folks on a fixed income have to watch every penny. Heck, I probably would have knocked over old women to get one for that price, but now that I think of it, I was the oldest person in that line of about 500 people.

I figured their “at least six per store” Philips 32" HDTV’s had been sold to the hundreds of people in front of us, but the sales guy said they had sold their bargain priced high end TVs and small TVs and few had wanted to buy the 32 inchers. So we bought the TV and a DVD player that had a suggested retail price of $199 and they had ten on sale for $75.

Their HDMI cable to connect the two was $80 and I told the salesman I would not pay that much. So we drove to Wal*Mart to buy their $30 cable. Wal*Mart was so packed it was impossible to walk the aisles without rubbing against some one every step. But we got the cable and then went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. As we were finishing our meal the sun rose and we were proud we has accomplished so much, so early.

We installed the new TV and DVD player on the top of the chest of drawers across from the foot of the bed and when we travel the TV is laid on the bed. I built a small table to hold the DVD player and the TV sits on top of the table. The picture is very impressive and we've even watched shows we normally don't watch just because they are in wide screen high definition.

Next I wanted to remove the 20" corner mounted Sony TV that came with the motorhome so we could use that area for storage. When we removed it we could not believe what was behind it - nothing. It was a large vacant area trimmed in cherry wood with decorative wall board like the rest of the motorhome. The area is not square. It is 42.5" deep on one side, 24" deep on the other side, 27.5" wide and 24" high. The opening is 25" wide and it is trimmed for doors. The way the TV was mounted in that corner we had no idea there was all that wasted space. I installed a shelf and had doors made and Linda laid claim to the new storage area her hobbies. Shucks, I knew Linda would claim the new area before I had a chance, but that is OK, she needs lots of room for her hobbies. She started filling the cabinet before I could make a picture. (I sent pictures of our cabinet doors to Carlyle Lehman, an Amish craftsman in Nappanee, Indiana. He made matching doors and shipped them to us and I installed them.)

Now that we were spoiled with the HDTV in the bedroom I decided to replace the front TV too. I measured the front TV cabinet and found most 26" HDTV's with bottom mounted speakers would fit in the cabinet. So I started days of researching again and came down to two sets with top ratings. One was a Sony and the other a Magnavox and both had been priced at $699.99, both online and in stores. I got on eBay and bid on the Magnavox and won it for $543, plus $39.99 shipping, but no sales tax. It was rated a 5 out of 5 and has a built in DVD player.

I removed the wood around the front 24" Sony flat screen television and removed the screws holding it in. The Sony weighed 72.5 pounds and was wedged in the cabinet so tight I had to use two large screwdrivers to pry it loose. It was still setting on the flat cabinet floor and I wanted to make a final picture of the television, then I was going to get a neighbor to help me remove it. Linda went inside and closed the motorhome’s door and I heard a loud bang followed by a scream. I knew what had happened and when I open the door I saw Linda laying on the steps with the television on top of her. I have no idea how the television fell off the flat level shelf, but apparently it was jarred by the door and somehow fell on her head and then her leg. Luckily, Linda was not injured except for a knot on her head and nothing in the motorhome was damaged, but the TV shattered when it bounced off Linda and onto the ceramic floor. I apologized to Linda and got her a Tylenol and an ice bag, but she was a trooper and said it was not my fault. (Love that woman.)

I built a wood frame in the cabinet and mounted the new HDTV on a pull out / swing out arm so we can use the space behind it for storage. There was a small gap between the television and the wood and I filled that area with black fabric wrapped around foam and glued it in place. It looks like a professional job I must say. But when we hit rough road the television vibrated forward even though it was secured with two spring-type clips. I resolved the movement problem by wrapping wires around the TV mount and a piece of wood in the rear of the cabinet. Now the TV does not move, but I lost the storage behind it.