Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Ernest Aingely. . . . I sit tethered to my bag of Rituxan® as it slowly moves into my right hand and into my body. This is my first chemo in the infusion room of Texas Oncology at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. I think I should start a chain of chemo infusion facilities — there is more than enough chaos here to convince me (again) that this growth industry — cancer treatment — needs to grow up and join the 21st century. . . . The PET scan done a few couple of weeks ago came out “looking good,” but I have no details beyond a voicemail from my new oncologist. We are to discuss the results later, when that is I’m not sure. . . .
Alma mater, USC,
threatening to leave LA Coliseum after 80 years — seems the Coliseum Commission, a succession of political appointees who have been Scrooge-like in their care for the 
historic home to two Olympiads (1932 & 1984) are in no hurry fix up the many elements of wear and tear. The bathrooms are still the tight afterthoughts I used as a
10-year-old going to SC games with my Dad. And that was half-a-century ago! If USC moves to the Rose Bowl (power ploy to get pols to act) as they threaten, it will be a sad day indeed. . . .
On a far more significant note, the poor continue to get a shorter and shorter end of the American stick. Food banks across the country are perilously low, energy costs hit poor the hardest, and for all the hoopla about management layoffs, it’s always the working poor who take more hits. . . . Meanwhile the televangelists being investigated by the U.S. Senate ride in their private jets, sit on their $23,000 toilets, and talk about how God wants you to be rich. Jesus threw the moneychangers (virtual thieves preying on visitors from small outlying towns) out of the Temple, what will He do with these charlatans? They may be well-intentioned, but they bear no resemblance to the Man who never had a home, walked everywhere He went, slept outdoors much of the time, and was given a burial spot only because He was put to death after a sham trial. Is that the Jesus they say they represent? Makes me sick to think about them. . . . While I’m in the area, whatever happened to “compassionate conservatism”? Add the thumbing of White House noses to social and education programs — which touch the poor most directly — to the budget deficits run up by GWB and I think it is safe to say that the elephants in Washington are neither compassionate nor conservative. . . . I am reminded of the humorous but 
sage-worthy comments of my old friend, Dr. Tony Evans: “The
next time Jesus comes to town He won’t be riding a donkey or an elephant!” . . .
Cowboys-Packers tonight — big game in Big D — lo
ts of ice has melted since the Ice Bowl win by the Packers on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in Green Bay. They said that Tom Landry’s Cowboys couldn’t win the big one. Well, the infamous “they” was wrong. Pundits say winner of this game has inside track to home field advantage for NFC playoffs. My bet is that there will be unforeseen stumbles by one or both of the combatants that will make this game less than pivotal. But it should be fun to watch. Brett Favre makes aging fun again. . . .
If the bag of Rituxan ever empties (it’s looking full as it was two hours ago) I will try to head across the street to the Ewing Rehab Center of Presby Dallas — one of the few places on the planet where I actually lower the average age. Progress toward overcoming what is now nearly a 2-1/2-year cycle of chemo
is painfully slow. The inset cartoon gives you a glimpse into the life of senior gyms. . . . Reminded, as I continue on the challenging path to spiritual maturity, of the statement by the late epic filmmaker, Cecil B. DeMille: “Most of us serve our ideals by fits and starts. The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.” . . . And then there was the young geek who went into computer work full time because people kept telling him he was mousey.