BobHegwood wrote:As far as I know, Don Goyette is dead. I have e-mailed him, tried to get him on the phone, etc. No luck, and sad 'cause he was/is a good friend.
Well, I'm definitely still alive Bob, though some days I wonder
. Not sure why an e-mail wouldn't get to me as I've been using the same address for 12 years now.
Howdy everyone!
Sorry I dropped out of existence. Yes, health problems ... Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis, medication side-effects, and complications (for 28 years now), along with new problems from a serious injury 23 years ago that was re-injured in 2003/2004 ... keep me from doing much of anything anymore <sigh>.
We tried for nearly 1-1/2 years to sell our 120 acre ranch in the country, while living in an apartment in the city, 50 miles away (I have no immune system and get very sick very easily), but with no luck. All in an attempt for us both (my wife and I) to be closer to doctors and medical facilities. That's probably why our phone number didn't work.
We are once again living on the ranch, but with no way of taking care of it ourselves, aside from hiring everything out <sigh>. BUT, we thank God we still have the property and it's not going into foreclosure like so many others here in the US right now! What a financial mess the world is in ... all created by a couple of greedy US mortgage companies <grrr>!
My wife is also now permanently disabled, since 2005, so I've had to take on a lot of responsibilities she used to handle. Which means no "free time" anymore. As of April, I will have been on permanent disability myself, for 13 years <frown>.
Just found out from an orthopedic surgeon last week that the majority of my physical disability is the result of mis-diagnosed injuries sustained in a racquetball accident from 23 years ago, and has continually been mis-diagnosed by 10 to 15 different doctors in various US states during this entire time <grrr>.
They've all told me it was bursitis and disease progression from the Rheumatoid. In fact, it has been torn rotator cuffs (shoulders), dislocated joints, ripped and torn muscles, ligaments and tendons, etc. ... all along. After 23 years, the only option is joint replacement, which I can't have done for many reasons <sigh>.
The end result is that my joints have no cartilage thus are bone-on-bone. I have severe pain 24/7 and am on narcotic pain killers 24/7. I'm not able to stand or walk for more than a couple of minutes, without excruciating pain in my hips and numbness in my legs, due to lower spine nerve damage.
Can't lift either arm above my shoulders, due to disintegrating shoulder joints. Get lots of extra pain in my hands, wrists and shoulders, and numbness in my arms, when typing for more than a few minutes, due to nerve damage in my upper spine. Will be trying the latest version of Dragon Dictate (speech recognition software) soon, but it doesn't look like it would work for programming or working on web pages.
Along with a host of nasty side-effects (lung, eye, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, stomach problems) from being mis-medicated for the past 28 years.
In 2005/2006 I had a torn and detached retina in one eye that required emergency surgery. The vision out of that eye is now permanently distorted but at least I can still use it. Also had lumbar spine surgery (L4/5 Discectomy), in hopes of easing the lower spine nerve damage ... which causes the pain and numbness in my legs ... but with no luck. So I basically just "exist" from one day to the next.
Between the constant pain and the narcotic pain killers, my mind is no longer able to focus on anything other than simple, basic every-day tasks. No more web pages, no coding, nothing that requires any kind of concentration, aside from paying bills, making a meal, eating, surfing the web, etc. <sigh>.
I left my Celestia page up on our web site in case anyone had links to it. But have not made any changes or updates to anything since it was created ... sorry. Not sure why my name is still listed in the Celestia developers list on SourceForge, as I've not been active there for a few years now.
So, that's the reason I'm no longer involved with the Celestia project. Sorry gang <frown>. I kept hoping some doctor would find the reason for my so many physical problems, and be able to fix them ... but it didn't happen. Rather, the opposite happened.
I hope you are all doing well and the Celestia project continues to progress, for the benefit of everyone, everywhere on Earth
.
Cheers and God's Blessings to each and every one of you. It was FUN working (and playing) with all of you in this wonderful "sandbox" that Chris created.
!
! It does make for a very difficult existence, where friends and family seem to keep their distance because they simply don't understand how hard normal things are to do, or just don't want to be dragged down into our depressing and frustrating reality.
