Three Down.......

Hard to believe that it was three years ago that I took the plunge into the blogosphere and began exposing my internal thoughts to others. Not only did I make the time to vent my frustrations at RovinsWorld but found that there were others that shared my views on conservative thought. And "they" were far more polished at conveying the issue of the day than I ever dreamed of.

The list of those who inspired me most over the past three years to continue my diatribe is not extensive, but the ones I chose to read with frequent vigor (almost daily) provided the enlightenment that said "yes, now that's what I was gonna say" many times over.

Special thanks go out to Captain Ed Morrissey (and the First Mate's tribulations) at Captain's Quarters for the inspiration (and patience) to allow me to comment on his site over the years. Ed has come a long way over the past three years in his quest to be a large part of a blogosphere that (at times) serves as a "check and balance" to the written print media. Many times it is more of a total contradiction to the interpretation of facts portrayed by our "mainstream media". It was Rush Limbaugh in the radio media that perfected the promoted the idea that simply repeating much of the lefts very own words produced the absurdity of their motivations and thereby exposed their true agenda. The commentary that followed often exposed the asinine and sometimes out of touch with reality that mainstream America could not accept. Mr. Morrissey goes far beyond this "correction" process with his own brilliant insight and analysis.

Also special thanks to Dafydd ab Hugh at Big Lizards for allowing me to comment and gain much knowledge in his writings. To Jay Tea, Paul, Kevin, and Kim at Wizbang for their support. Also the folks at Powerline, Patterico, Sister Toldjah, Wretchard at The Belmont Club, and later Curt, Mike, and the gang at Flopping Aces for the excellent reading enjoyment. And my blogging partner James at SF Moonbats.

Final thanks to my friend Dana at Common Sense Political Thought who came along later, but also has not strayed too far from common sense and conservative thought. Dana has some top notch guest posters on CSPT. (And I might add, has linked RovinsWorld much more that the "big guys" mentioned above). Dana has given me credit for pushing him into rebuilding the comment segment on his blog, but I think he would have eventually achieved this progression with out my help/nudging. Although Dana's "number input" configuration for comments keeps his spamming under controllable conditions, I believe it may also slow down the flow of commentary when a heated argument develops, but the rest of the configuration is a sheer delight in its ease of use. I would like to extend my very best wishes to Dana and his family in the coming year.

Start here Leese
2007 was anything but normal for me personally. In early May, I finally succumbed to a sore shoulder that demanded medical attention. It was this initial meeting with a doctor Ellen Taylor that most likely saved my life. She suggested that other than an obvious x-ray on the shoulder that I do a blood workup (that had not transpired for more that thirty years). The results were both settling and shocking. While the test proved negative for prostrate and HIV, (which I knew would be negative, 'cause you gotta have sex or share a needle to get HIV) both my red and white blood cell counts were at an alarming level. After a month of more test to rule out leukemia, (worst thirty days I can remember), my now specialist/oncologist/hematologist had diagnosed PRV, (Polycythemia rubra vera), which in laymen’s terms is a condition where the marrow over-produces red blood cells. While this condition is not curable, it is correctable and (maintained properly) is not life threatening nor disabling. So, for the following seven weeks I had a pint of blood removed (Phlebotomy) to reduce the iron levels that allows the marrow to produce red blood cells. I went to every other week for another two months and now I'm down to once a month. The process has reduced the marrows over-production to acceptable levels where when I was originally diagnosed, (which was later explained to me) I was a "walking stroke or heart-attack". So, you see Dr. Ellen Taylor saved my life by her "nudging" me to do the blood workup. For that I will be forever indebted to her.

For any of you out there that have not done a routine blood work-up and you are over fifty, make it a New Years resolution to see your doctor and GET 'ER DONE! There are too many loved ones out there that would prefer you hang around for a while longer, and as you can see by my story, medical miracles do happen.

2008------the doc won't wait! Make the time-----and get in line.

Happy New Year!

Rovin

Editors Note: I reserve the right to revise and extend within the context of this post simply because its my site...... :)