Gall Bladder

Early during the COVID pandemic, before there were any vaccines, while everyone and everything was in lock down, I had a health scare. Here's some email about what happened.

On Mon, Jul 6, 2020, 12:09 p.m. Reg Quinton wrote:

Hi David & Gail, Kate passed on your call from yesterday. I hope you guys haven't been too worried about me. I'm fine and will be done with this shortly.

I had a "down the gullet" procedure at Stratford hospital on Wednesday June 24 (gosh it's getting to be weeks ago now) and was home that night. I had been feeling punkish, beaten up in the rib cage, etc. for several days starting on Wednesday June 17. Kate noticed that my pee was turning color to a vivid yellow. By Sunday June 21 it had turned sort of a tea stained brown and I decided to call my doctor the next day (Monday). I should have gone to emerg that day. Anyways on Monday June 22 they did a bit of triage over the phone at 8:00am and decided I needed to come in and talk to a doctor at 10:00. That doctor asked me a lot about my symptoms (I had a bit of a fever and other symptoms flagged me as possible COVID). She decided I needed tests that could be done next door in the emerg at St Marys hospital. So I was there by 11:00.

At emerg they swabbed me for COVID (that's a big pain in the nose) and until results come in I'm flagged as -- don't go near him unless you're fully gowned! Nobody thought I had COVID, the gall bladder problem explains the symptoms.

At the St Marys emerg they did blood and urine tests and an EKG (I was thinking heart) and quickly diagnosed it as a blocked bile duct -- the bile is backing up to the liver and into the blood stream and out in the urine. This explains my color (I was getting yellow skin and eyes) and my upset stomach.

They wanted to do some imaging to see where the blockage was and found late that day that it was blocked right at the stomach where the bile duct comes out around the pancreas. They needed to send me to Stratford for imaging to determine where the blockage was. They were trying to get me into an ultrasound but ended up getting me a CT scan at 9:30pm. I went home in the interim, Kate took me to the hospital that night. Shortly after the scan the surgeon in Stratford explained things (gall bladder is on the bile duct and the source of the stones) and I was admitted to the hospital. There are two procedures to deal with this problem. Unlike Dad's surgery of many years ago.

The immediate problem is to clear the blockage of the bile duct. Bile is produced by the liver and the bile duct drains it into your stomach. Near the liver on the bile duct is the gall bladder which stores bile which can turn into stones. The ejected stones can block the gall bladder itself or get into the bile duct and block that. Often the blockage is at the end of the duct where there's a tight sphincter.

The down the gullet procedure is sort of like the up the bum procedure but with finer instruments. They knock you out but the procedure goes pretty quick. They go down your throat into the stomach to open the sphincter of the bile duct at the stomach wall, clear the stone and any gravel/garbage in the duct. I had that on Wednesday after my COVID test came back clean. They would have done it Monday night but for the COVID test. For several days I was in hospital in isolation. On a drip for anti-biotics and some nausea medication. Kate couldn't visit me, because the COVID test. It was frustrating that it took 48hrs for the COVID test to come back.

The procedure is: Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP): ERCP is a procedure that uses a camera and X-rays to look at problems in the bile and pancreatic ducts. It helps your doctor look for gallstones stuck in your bile duct.  

Post op I had an awfully sore throat and hoarse voice but that cleared after a few days. No drugs, etc. were required. I was just sent home.

The second procedure, which I am yet to have, is to remove the gall bladder. That's a day procedure where they knock you out, inflate your gut and go in with a couple of key holes on your belly to remove it. I've just talked to the surgeon about that and he hopes to have that sometime in August. They're only just opening things for elective surgery (it's not an emergency .... unless I get another stone blockage).

The procedure is: laparoscopic gallbladder removal. This is a common surgery that requires general anesthesia. The surgeon will usually make 3 or 4 incisions in your abdomen. They’ll then insert a small, lighted device into one of the incisions and carefully remove your gallbladder

Anyways, that's the story. I'm fine. I never was in a great deal of pain. Just uncomfortable with an upset stomach.

Ps. I ought to have gone in sooner. I just put the discomfort down to too much sun, too much work in the garden, too much wine, etc. The pee change really pushed me to do something. I'll be more aware should there be a next time between now and the removal.

Facebook Pretenders

These days Facebook is an important social medium. I use it a lot. Kate says I use it too much.

For reasons which escape me I've had a number of occassions where someone pretends to be me -- they copy pictures from my profile, set up an account under my name, populate it with minimal data and then ask my friends to become their friends. They have not "hacked" me, they're just "pretending" to be me.

Many mistake the friend request as coming from me, after all the profile picture looks like me, and they accept the request without thinking further. Others, having been bitten by this before, don't accept the friend request and instead either ignore it or better, send me a message asking "have you been hacked?".  There's more you can do to help me and protect others.

What I do when notified that someone is pretending to be me is to start by looking up their profile on Facebook. To do that:

1. From the Facebook search bar I enter "Reg Quinton". You'll get a list of people, posts, mentions and much more.
2. Of all the results back I select for "People" rather than posts, videos, etc.
3. If there is one or more of me I check each one. Any recent additions to Facebook using my picture are people pretending to be me.
4. Click on the person pretending to be me (by clicking the name or photo) to see their profile.
5. Verify that profile is recent, the history is abbreviated and it doesn't include my postings over the years.
6. On their profile banner to the left side you'll find "Add Friend", "Message" and a "..." pull down menu.
7. From the "..." pull down menu select "Report Profile" and go through the effort to report them as pretending to be someone you know. Namely me!

Facebook will quickly act on a report, especially if they get several reports. A report from me, and reports from you who the pretender is scamming.

What you can do when you receive a friend request from someone pretending to be me is to click on their image or name in the friend request to get to their profile and follow steps 5-7. You should also send me a message letting me know that you've done so. If you're already a friend of mine you will not receive a second friend request from me.

Should you get a friend request from anyone you really ought to investigate a bit before accepting the request. There are a lot of scammers out there. Click on their image or name, investigate their profile and make an informed decision. I will sometimes e-mail or phone people to confirm that it really was them who made the request. You should do the same at least some of the time.

If you accept a friend request you are exposing profile information that is restricted to friends only, you're exposing postings that were private to your friends and, this is important, you are exposing your list of friends!

I have recently editted my security settings to make sure my friends list is not exposed to the public. You ought to do the same. See this Profile Tip from Facebook on how to keep your "Friends" list private.

My Dad

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The following article was prepared by Paula Niall for a Grey County Historical Society newsletter back in November of 2012. I'm not sure when it was published or what came of her work.

I'm copying it here for friends and family on the occasion of dad's birthday -- he was born April 19, 2014.

MAURICE WATSON QUINTON

1914-2012

Maurice Quinton is remembered by Norman Seabrook as a very strong, active man with a good memory, who contributed a great deal to his community of Walter’s Falls.

“He loved to talk about the history and he had a sharp memory, in fact, much of what I learned about the local history I learned from him,” Norman told me over the phone. He was his neighbor and worked along side him for many years. “He sold me my first and only driving mare when I was 18 years old.”

Maurice was the great-grandson of John Walter (1804-1867) and Elizabeth Payne (1804-1883). John was the early miller, who emigrated from Somerset, England with his wife, claiming almost 800 acres of land from the Crown and founding Walter Falls in 1852.  

Maurice’s fraternal grandmother was Elizabeth, the second daughter of John and Elizabeth Walter. Elizabeth married Thomas Quinton March 30, 1858. Their son, Richard, Maurice’s father, was born June 21, 1861.

His father, Richard Quinton married Alberta Carney. Alberta was the daughter of Sidney Carney and Sarah (Watson) Carney, making, making them Maurice’s maternal grandparents.

Sidney was the brother of Richard Carney (1802-1885), who was the first Sheriff of Algoma, the First Warden of Grey County, the First Mayor of Owen Sound, later became the first owner of the Owen Sound newspaper, The Times, “Quite a distinguished connection,” Norman pointed out.

“Richard had a brother, Charles Carney, owned a store in Walter’s Falls, a tannery in Meaford, and a good number of mills in the area. The Carneys were a great pioneer family,” said Norman, whose own pioneer family, walked up to Grey County in 1853 with their three-month-old baby. 

Maurice was born on the family farm in the former Euphrasia Township just outside Walter’s Falls on April 19, 1914.  This was at the beginning of World War I.  He and the rest of the family survived the swine flu epidemic of 1918.  His mother died in 1933 when he was only 19 years old.

Maurice was the youngest of six children; four girls and two boys. “His elder sister, Hilda Puddicombe of New Hamburg was born in 1910.  Now 102 years of age, she is still quite spry,” according to Maurice’s son, Reg Quinton. 

A Carney descendant, retired RCAF Colonel, Donald Carney, has written, The History of the Carney Family.  “Don lives in North Bay,” Norman explained during our telephone conversation, “and he gave me a signed copy of his book as I helped him gather some of his facts.” 

Until the late 1940s, it was the responsibility of the land owners to keep roads reasonable in the winter.  Maurice and his neighbors did so with a team of horses.  Later in his trucking career, he plowed roads for the township using modern equipment.

Maurice started out farming, but moved to trucking gravel in 1949, and then went into transporting in 1950 owning and operating Maurice Quinton & Sons Transportation, Ltd. 

His son Anthony was his partner. “He loved driving,” said Norman, “he was always driving.”

His son Reg confirmed his father’s love of driving.  He wrote that his father drove the ‘big rigs’ throughout Ontario for local businesses, (Hallman Lumber and Walter’s Falls Milling), local farmers (grains, apples and fertilizers), culverts and steel from Stelco in Hamilton and, more often than not, road salts (Allied Chemical in Windsor and Sifto in Goderich) for road maintenance and construction.  He drove these rigs until he retired to Owen Sound in his 80s. 

“In his final year, with his mind failing, he often talked about tending to his horses, his car parked out back of the Retirement Home, or a truck trip he had made that morning.  Trucking defined his life.  When he was no longer able to drive at the age of 96, it was a tragedy for him that he was never able to accept,” Reg wrote from St. Mary’s Ontario.

Maurice married Margaret Dixon on June 11, 1938 at St. Philip’s Anglican Church in Walter’s Falls.  Margaret was born and raised in Walter’s ‘Falls. Her parents were Russell and Nellie (MacKay) Dixon. Russ Dixon operated a garage in Walter’s Falls.  He also did custom threshing with his steam engine and late in life managed the Grey Lodge in Markdale.

Maurice and Margaret Quinton had seven children; one girl and six boys. They were: Ellen, Larry, Anthony, David, Reginald, Dale and Paul.  He was a grandfather of 10 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. “Today, his descendants are spread all over Canada,” Norman said.

“Maurice and Margaret were very active in the community and in St. Philip’s Church, where he served as warden, secretary-treasurer for forty years and contributed in many other roles over the years. “He loved to laugh, Reg commented. The humor in a song made famous by George Formby, When I’m Cleaning Windows, would always get him chuckling.  Often, he was called upon to act as master of ceremonies at weddings and other events, where he would tell jokes, recite poems and give Irish blessings.    

On September 24, 2012, at the age of 98, Maurice was laid to rest beside his wife, Margaret, in the cemetery of the Church he loved so well. The charming stone church sits atop a knoll at the north end of Walter’s Falls, so reminiscent of an English Parish Church from whence his ancestors came.

Paula Niall

                       

Ripe Limes

Ripe Limes

When we were in Austin this winter we got a bag of ripe limes from our cousin Jamie and his wife Vicky when we visited their home with Judy. They have a lovely home on Lake Travis and a lime tree by the pool that over produces. They have so many they have to toss them.

In the picture at left these are limes from their tree that have ripened -- usually one wants to pick them when they're still green. They look like lemons, but they're limes. They're quite large, some the size of an orange. In any case from the dozen or so limes we squeezed out about a quart of fresh lime juice. And from that.....

The Perfect Margarita.

Take one fresh lime, cut it in half and squeeze the juice from each half. Measured juice (should be about 1.5oz) but whatever it is, that's your "measure". Slice one of the rinds (toss the other), add juice and rind slices to a shaker with plenty of ice (about 5-7 cubes), an equal measure of triple sec and a double measure of tequila. Shake vigorously and pour into a large glass. Sit back and enjoy.

Some like to salt the rim of their margarita glass. I don't, you might.

Variations and notes:

1. I like to use the lime rind, others prefer a slice on the side. 
2. Shaking with the rind releases the aromatics. 
3. Don't strain the lime juice. The pulp that you have is tasty. 
4. Prepared lime juice in a bottle is ok but fresh is always better. 
5. When you develop a taste for margaritas you'll recognize the fresh plump limes. 
6. You can substitute simple syrup for triple sec but then it's not a perfect margarita.
7. Never, ever add soda water. Blasphemy! 
8. Any tequila will do, top shelf Tequila and Grand Marnier make a "Cadillac Margarita". 
9. If you add a splash of orange juice then you have a "Morning Margarita". 
10. If you blend some mango chunks with lime juice you have a "Mango Margarita".
11. If you add a splash of brine from your jar of olives then you have a "Mexican Martini". 
12. If you substitute Mezcal for Tequila you have a "Mad Dog Margarita" 

P.s. National Margarita Day is February 22 — just after my birthday. But you can have them any time you like.

John Prine

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Yesterday, Tuesday, was for us and many of our generation truely the day the music died. The news is that John Prine has passed away from COVID-19 complications in Nashville. He was 73 years -- we are of a similar age so it hits hard.

We only got to see him a few times over the many years in spite of being die hard fans. Mariposa '91 at Ontario Place in Toronto was a notable time. The picture at left is a signed copy of his CD "Diamonds in the Rough" that we bought at the festival  -- click on the image to see some scanned photos of John from that event. There's a story there.

We had picked up a couple of his early CD's that had recently been re-released at a "merch tent".  We were replacing much loved LP's  (this was a transitional time between analogue and digital media). We bumped into John having lunch (or perhaps his late breakfast) at a sunny outdoor patio and had caught his concert in the Forum the night before. I approached him to ask if he would sign the CD's and had a brief conversation. He was surprised to see these early albums on CD and told me he didn't have them. Really? How can that be? He went on to tell me that his first records were still the property of the record companies and he hadn't, as yet, been able to buy back his rights to them. I offered to give him the CD's and he said something to the effect of "Oh no, don't be foolish". He happily signed them and I returned to our friends.

When I told Kate and our friends this story we all agreed that John ought to have his own CD's and decided that we'd buy another one, sign it our selves as loyal fans and give it to him later in the day when we were to see him at a workshop with Jimmie Dale Gilmore. We did -- I went back stage and gave him the CD we had signed. John, and Jimmie too, had a bit of a laugh about it. We really hope he appreciated this token of our affection for him and his music. It can't be often that your fans give you their autographs.

Here's another funny story from the same event. At the Friday night concert in the Forum there was a drunk in the audience who kept yelling out, "Play Sam Stone, play Sam Stone!". After a bit, in response, John replied "We play no song before it's time." He had a set list and he was working his way through it. Sure enough, "Sam Stone" was on the set list and John did sing it after a bit. However, a few tunes after that the same drunk yells out, "Play Sam Stone, play Sam Stone!". John rolled his eyes and everyone had a good chuckle. The joys of playing live music to an appreciative audience.

We hope John is in Paradise, chewing some fat with Jesus, maybe hammerin' some planks with his grandpa, meeting up with that Angel from Montgomery, Pamela from the 4-way stop delimma, Donald & Lydia, and all those other rich characters we know so well.

Finally, at Christmas we always first play our "Christmas in Prison" mix-tape collection. This year we got a pair of "Sitting on a Rainbow" T-shirts from the Oh-Boy record store to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Because, after all, "we're the big door prize". We'll miss you John.

The Enemas

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The Enemas were a Guelph college/punk band who we saw a few times at the Cedar Lounge in London Ontario. I really liked them — they were outrageous. The group was Greg Jarvie (drums), Oliver Kellhammer (vocals), Derek Graham (guitar), Blaine White (guitar) and Brian Lambert (bass).

 Brian Lambert, who played bass in the band and later in a group "Nach dem Tode", was from London and we became acquainted in later years. Recently Brian posted a YouTube video of the band performing "Joe Wyatt" using and crediting some of my photos from that time. Many thanks.

I have a CD I digitized from a C90 Brian had given me. It includes this tune and more. I've shared it with a few friends over the years.

If you're interested in more pictures of the band click on the image at left. These are all the pictures I have from that era — they have not been edited down to a "best of" collection.

See also my blog of 2012 on the London Graphic Underground — there was a gallery showing, a book released (Brian Lambert & Mike Niederman) with some of my photos and a reunion concert where the Enemas and several other bands played Call the Office in London.

It's nice to see history preserved.

P.s. Brian has also posted a version of the Enemas "Gang War" on YouTube. Another great tune.

Home amid Corona Virus

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We packed up all our gear, our bikes and our cats into our Honda CR-V to return home after seeing Whitney Rose at the Continental Club on Tuesday the night before. It's about 2,500km (1,500mile) or 25hrs of interstate driving and we've done it many times now. We left Austin TX on Wednesday March 11 and were home by Friday March 13 with overnight stops in Little Rock AR and Indianapolis IN.

The trip was pretty uneventful apart from a nasty hail storm near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. There had been a nasty tornado through Nashville only a few days earlier that had done considerable damage so for a moment it was more than a little distressing. But the bad weather passed and it was smooth sailing there after. Clear roads, warm weather and no snow -- well a tiny bit in the shaded north side of some ditches here in Ontario.

Our three cats -- Piscine, brothers Radar and Little Moe -- are not comfortable travellers. Piscine spends hours wandering the car and screaming that she's not happy. But she usually settles down and goes to sleep for at least some of the day. Radar and Moe are just terrified by the whole experience and hunker down quietly hoping it will all end soon. And it does, after 8 or so hours driving each day.

They like getting out of the car and exploring our hotel rooms. They're happy to be fed and climb on our bed in the night. But finding them in the morning can be a bit of a struggle. If there is a place to hide they'll find it. And if they find it you will have trouble finding them. On the morning in Indianapolis they had wormed their way together under the bed (Kate thought that there were critters in the night under the bed) in such a manner that we had to dismantle the King bed and box spring in the morning to get them out. In any case, they, like we, were glad to be home.

We crossed the Blue Water bridge at Port Huron MI. At the Canadian Border Services in Sarnia we were pretty much the only car crossing and got immediate service. They asked us where we had been, how long we'd been away, what we were bringing back, how much liquor, any tobacco and so on. They weren't interested in the cats; they never are in spite of us waving the required paper work. We were sent over to the "search your car for any drugs" area and were not at all keen on the idea of having our car torn apart. It's hard enough to get everything packed away and the cats loaded as well! In any case, the border services there were just concerned to make sure we were well and that we hadn't been to any other place other than the US. We were quickly sent on our way.

Back at home in St Marys, ON we discover that there's been a COVID-19 case in town -- we are not aware of any cases in TX during our holidays. The patient here is in critical care in the nearby Stratford hospital and the town has started lockdown procedures. The town day care had been shutdown first on very short notice from the province. Now the town has voluntarily locked down the library (Reg is a board member), museum, town hall, arena, pool, seniors center, Pyramid Resource Center, etc. Restaurants have voluntarily closed. Board meetings are cancelled or held by phone. Doctors and dentists have shut their offices.

We have been in self imposed exile distancing ourselves from friends and family on the slim chance that we might be carrying the virus (alternatively that we might meet someone who is). We have, nevertheless, been out to the Post Office, Drug Store and Independent Grocer but will keep out of circulation for a couple of weeks. At this writing we've been in social isolation for one week.

This may be the end of the world as we know it, but I don't feel fine.