Prostate Cancer

One of my neighbors recently came back from his prostate cancer surgery and I'm reminded that prostate cancer is a curable disease if caught early.  He is only 52 and I've a feeling that his was not found as early as mine was and that his prognosis may not be as good.  The thing that bothers me is that I still read that testing ( psa, free psa and rectal exams) is still not fully recognized as statistically saving lives.  It is true that most men, something like 80% will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives and for most they will die of something else before the cancer gets them.  I guess I don't care much about statistics.  I'd rather see lives saved and suffering reduced even if it means that some needless biopsies will be done and there will be some added costs to the medical system.

Men get tested after age 40 and women make your men do it.  For me I'm still prostate cancer free after 3 years and living a totally normal life and glad I asked my doctor to prescribe the tests.

The Beach at Cecina

Just going through some pictures. Somehow this reminds me a bit of California.

Our tenth anniversary trip in 08.

Posting these pictures of our trip and stay at Fattoria Poggio Alloro
for my Facebook friend Leslie.

The kitchen redo is finished

We have finished the redo of our kitchen. It's still not up to
American kitchen standards but for us it's a big improvement. We
moved the frig into the bathroom that is at the end of the kitchen and
now use that area for a pantry/storage area. New wood counter tops
and finally an oven have made it all come together.

Our little kitchen remodel

It's not really a remodel just some changes to make it more
serviceable. We bought new counter tops and moved the frig to the
little storage/bathroom, moved in one cabinet from the other apartment
we occupy and the whole area just got much bigger as far as useability
goes. One challenge was creating a small eating area in the kitchen
which it seems Italians can't live without. After a lot of thought
and some compromise I came up with this extension to the counter that
rolls out to make a place big enough for two. The chairs will get
replaced with some small stools.

Tommorow I hope to do the counter at the sink area, then add an oven
which we have never had and one more of those white shelves on the
wall.