Article From Shreveport Times

Helen Rigg: Work on 8^th Air Force Museum pays off

11:17PM, Nov. 17, 2011

During a ceremony aboard the battleship Missouri on Sept. 2, World War II veteran Bruce Heilman said, "Honor the veterans while we are still alive." A member of the Greatest Generation Foundation, he spoke from the heart.

Buck Rigg honored all veterans for 30 years at the 8th Air Force Museum. Named for the 8th Air Force of the World War II era, he was especially proud of the fliers during that time. Having Buck's hard work and dedication continue with expansion and connection to the Cyber Innovation Center was his dream for the future. I'm so glad to see all of the work and plans of Buck and his loyal volunteers continue.

- Helen Rigg

Note: Thanks to Mary Palmer Strange for providing this article.

Note From Mary Lynn Tuminello Johnson

Friends,

Thank you for your wishes and prayers. They worked.

I had my surgery on Friday, November 11. Everything went very well.

I took no pain medication, i.e., morphine (button to push) or oral pain pills. I didn’t feel that I really needed it. I was more sore than in actual pain.

Although I was scheduled to stay in the hospital for two days, the doctor released me by 3 pm on Saturday. Then we had the inevitable wait for paper work just to leave.

My plastic surgeon became the primary doctor and he said I was as far along as some women after a week. The pain part I guess.

Of course I am to take it easy this week. So I have just washed a few dishes with my RIGHT hand, not my left! I can pick up clutter too—mainly paper and catalogs which are beginning to come in ten at a time.

Phillip has been my doctor on-site; he has the unenviable job of emptying my drain bottles and making sure the drain lines are open. Then he dresses my wound at the site of the drains. The actual cut on the breast is not doing anything but healing.

I did get an expander placed in the breast (what’s left of it) and that’s why the plastic surgeon becomes the primary doctor now. He added some saline (?) to the expander and will keep adding it over a period of time until he feels that the skin has expanded as far as it will go.

Is this too much information?

I go for my check-up with the plastic surgeon this Thursday and, if I am lucky the drains will be removed.

I will have no need for radiation or chemotherapy since the cancer was at stage 0 and they removed the offending tissues. This story is almost identical to my first mastectomy 16 years ago. I am truly one of the lucky ones. He attributed the “good luck” to the mammogram. Are you listening, ladies? There were no spots showing last year.  There was nothing to feel in a breast exam. Obviously, the earlier one catches the problem, the more positive the outcome.

Phillip says I am a tough bird. I think that is a compliment.

I do get a little tired after a little too much activity. However, the doctor stressed that I should not lie down for long. He wants me up and moving. I can do that!

Again, I appreciate your expressions of care and concern. All is well.

Mary Lynn

New Tradition For 2011 American Christmas

Mary Lynn Tuminello Johnson provided this. I think its an excellent idea. Hope you do too.

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Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plunking down the “Benjamin's” on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a gazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what  about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big national chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for Mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day. My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes. Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre. Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about  fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow
their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition for 2011.

Spam News

I received an email earlier today that supposedly was from a classmate. The tone of the email was cordial and invited me to click on a link in the email, but provided no details regarding where the link would take me. And you couldn’t tell any of those things by looking at the link. I noticed in the list of addressees there was at least one other classmate who received the same email. Contact with that classmate revealed she had not had any contact with the other classmate in several months.

My email provider had marked this email as SPAM, but sometimes they do that to a good email. So what do you do in a situation like this? If you have no other options its best to delete that email. If you have another email address for the sender you can prepare a totally new email to that person and ask if they sent the suspicious email. Or, if you have a phone number for the person you might call them. The phone call is the least risky since it would be less likely to be compromised in some way.

Bogus emails are at one of the highest levels I can recall. Stay alert and don’t respond to any email just because it has a classmate’s name on it. Evaluate the contents of the email if you can read it without opening it. And if there is any doubt about it’s authenticity don’t open it, or respond to it, or click on a link in it. If you have no other options to safely contact the classmate just delete the problem email. If that makes someone mad at you that’s easier to deal with than a compromised email account. Just ask anyone who has had their email account hijacked by a spammer.