Saturdays Air.

[eric byrne]

Good Morning Everyone,

Its 9.00am here in Scotland,its another fine sunny day,and I am on holiday until Tuesday,hooray,I met Jennifer in Glasgow briefly yesterday for a coffee and a blether,she is filming this weekend at Glencoe,its a follow up to a pilot Science Fiction Film she was in earlier in the year,which has gone down well in the world of S.F.Nerds,she was at a Science Fiction Conference in the Braehead Centre in Glasgow recently promoting the pilot film (in character)and was being asked for her autograph by an assortment of Vulcans,Klingons, Ferengi? and other strange creatures,this world has gone mad?Glencoe is a stunning,wild and desolate part of Scotland not far from Ben Nevis,it was where the Campbell clan slaughtered the MacDonalds during a bitter cold January night,it was a particularly nasty attack since the MacDonalds had freely offered to share their homes with them to shelter from the cold.Anyway such wild scenery will play the part of an alien planet nicely.

Set off for Manchester,on Wednesday at lunch time,there were six of us,we had to change trains at Preston,stopped at this station Robert passed me down my case from the rack,then retrieved his own,standing on the platform I waited for Robert to alight,no sign of him and I couldnt see him through the carriage windows,the train step retracted and the doors closed at then left the station,I thought maybe Robert got out the other exit,with my companions but he wasnt with them either?We appealed to the station manager to stop the train at the next station,said it couldnt be done as the train next stop was London,he was very helpful though and arranged for someone at London to meet with Robert and escort him to the next train train bound for Manchester,Robert was restored to us about six hours later,bright as a button and full of smiles,he explained as he tried to get off the train he was swamped with passengers pushing and shoving to get on,he couldnt reach the exit door in time.

Arrived at the hotel,got showered and changed,a wine reception was arranged for us before dinner,and a name label was stuck onto our chests to ease communication,long story short super dinner and evening spent meeting all the other Advocates and lots of wee drinkies of the Whyte and Mackay variety,the were people there from every part of the UK,all lung cancers or carers,including Oncologists and other medical professionals,as well as the founding members of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Org.Everyone I had conversation with I mentioned LUNGevity.

Rose a 6.00am Thursday morning feeling bright and excited,showered,dressed went downstairs for breakfast,registration and coffee wasnt until 9.45am so I went for a nice walkabout Manchester,bought a newspaper,read it until my buddies arrived for breakfast.Conference opened with a wecome address by Dr Rosemary Gillesbie,Chief Executive,followed by Professor Raymund Donnelly,Founder and President,next we adjourned to a room with seating arranged for speed dating,one row stayed put,whilst the row facing had to move one seat to the right every two minutes,to converse with the person opposite,we were all a bit apprehensive,but it really worked a treat,breaking down all the shyness barriers everyone had a great laugh by the end of the session.

We returned to the lecture room,for further talks on a diverse range of topics relating to new developments in lung cancer and the current work programmes for the foundation,I was down for being the last speaker in the morning,under the headline "Getting involved in the Foundation"my introduction given by Susan Christie,was really flattering,I felt like a dog with two tails.I opened with holding up to the audience my hand written speech on several sheets of A4 and said I had written all this a couple of nights ago,but I have changed my mind,I would rather speak directly to you,unless I have a pregnant silence moment I may refer,I didnt have to,gave a brief resume of events until completion of treatment,mainly my talk was focussed(as requested) on my activities writing my story for the Roy Castle magazine,my power point presentation at college anti-smoking message,the Healthy Working Lives Video,My Evening Times feature for Glasgoals,to encourage Glaswegians to smoke one million less cigarettes over the coming year.The idea of the message was to encourage the Advocates into becoming more pro-active in supporting Roy Castle aims in whatever ways they would feel comfortable with.Finished with if we can all work to-gether we can make a difference to improving funding for research,changing the general publics attitude to victims of lung cancer who smoked.

After lunch I attended workshop one,Emma Gundy,Head of Communications,(ex-journalist)given us tips on how to deal with interviews with the media,newspapers,magazines,radio and TV.each one of these had their own little conventions and aims,so it was very educational for me.Emma spoke to later and gave me her card,said she has some future plans in the pipeline for me?.Oh a photographer was on scene throughout,snapping away like billy-0,she asked me to stand holding up a large white sheet to my chest,I asked if this is a reflector fot the pic,no she replied,later we were shown details of a new lung cancer publicity campaign,in it one picture shows Ricky Gervais hold up a white card to his chest,showing a x-ray of lungs,also Alex Ferguson a Scot and manager of the biggest Soccer club in the world is going to fully participate in the campaign,both these celebrities have lost parents to lung cancer.

Gosh I better stop now,I did go on a bit didnt I,but it was a good cause and I really wanted you to share the event with me.Hope I didnt bore the sox off you,speak to you later.

[Joppette]

Eric, you could never bore the socks off us. That was a great story, and great rendition of what must have been an extremely exciting conference. I love how you advocate for lung cancer.

I do the same here with Gilda's Club, but it's on a much smaller scale.

What a story about Robert! That's quite the detour on the train ride!!!!! How exciting about Jennifer and the S.F. film she is in. Glencoe sounds like an exotic and beautiful place!

Now.............

You ask about our American words and slang, and I must do the same.

What the heck is a blether. I know what coffee is, but blether???

What on earth is a Whyte and Mackay? I have never heard of such a thing.

Anyway, it sounds like you had an amazing time. Loved the description of the speed dating interviews and how much fun you all had with that.

What a delight you are Eric. Seriously. I so enjoy your posts. Keep them coming. Your zest for life makes my heart happy.

Not doing so well as you. Been having horrific spasms in my feet and calves the last couple of days. No reason for them. Did nothing to deserve it. Just random spasms that keep me up all night, and leave me exhausted and so sore in the muscles afterward.

I try my best to stay positive, but today I just felt defeated. It's a Saturday morning. The sun is shining. I want to go to this fabulous Art thing called Art Prize. Google it. It's huge. I so want to explore it. But the only way I can is if I rent a wheelchair. Darn it! I'm not ready to resign myself to a wheelchair!!!! I want a medical diagnosis that tells me I have to be in one.

Anyway, I guess I won't go to the Art show. I have a birthday party for my nephew this afternoon. I guess I'll just go to that and sit.

Sometimes I just think life sucks.

Sorry.

Judy in MI

[jaminkw]

Morning All! Supposed to cool down in NJ over the next couple of day. Thank goodness, whew.

Thought I was losing my mind (or posts again) when I didn't find one on Friday's Air. Seems I posted (yesterday I thought) on Almost Friday's Air lol.

Donny, I think it's a great idea to try the Zanac. I was wondering what was triggering your panic when you had trouble breathing. Almost drowning twice. Yeah that will do it.

Eric, not a bit boring. Sounds like a grand event and you did us proud as I knew you would. They will surely keep finding places for you to serve. But forgive my feeble mind, who is Jennifer?

Am feeling calmer about all I planned doing in the coming week. I keep reminding myself that each plan is not for ALL day. I will rest in between.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Judy in Vincentown, NJ

[Bud Baker]

Good morning, everyone!

It was 69 degrees at dark-thirty this morning as I rolled out of my driveway. I had intentions of riding 50 miles, but the rain that's been hovering just north and west of us moved in too early for that. I cut off the route and arrived home after 30 miles, soaked to the gills.

Donny, I meant to respond to your post where you said you worry too much when you can't breathe. I'm thinking that there's no such thing as worrying too much when you can't breathe. I hope the doctors can get a better handle on it.

LOL, Ann, that's a great quote: "NORMAL is just another setting on my washer and dryer." I may use that. But, the Sunday night premiere that I'm most interested in is the new season of Dexter......LOL.

Eric, that sounds like a great conference and a grand adventure, and it sounds like you fit in events like that much better than I ever would. Keep advocating for us!

Rose is coming home early from work today, and we're driving to Oklahoma City to visit my sister. Then, tomorrow morning, we'll leave and drive to near Shawnee to visit Ronnie and Pam. Ronnie was my best friend for years back when I lived in Oklahoma, and the only time I've seen him in recent years was early last year, visiting his twin brother, four days before he died of melanoma. It will be nice to visit under better circumstances.

Have a great weekend, all!

[eric byrne]

Hi Everyone,

just back from Costco's,now about to to sit outside and enjoy reading a new book I bought yesterday,Anthony Beevor's D-Day,he is a terrific WW11 writer ,nearly as good as Martin Gilbert.

hi Judy MI,thanks,yes the conference was most enjoyable.Let me clear up the Scottish word blether,this is simply a conversation between two or more people usually said in the context of latest gossip,not slang but of the Scots language.Ah Whyte and MacKays,this is the result of many years of arduous research undertaken by myself,to discover the most congeniel blended Scotch Whisky to my taste buds(works best when mixed with American Ginger Ale and Ice)now I know there are far more illustrious brands available particularly in the Malt Whisky ranges,but this one suits me fine,and has never left me with a sore head in the morning.I am really sorry to hear of your spasm problems also causing you to miss a visit to the Art Fair,hopefully this can be solved without resorting to a wheelchair.

Gosh everyone seems to be having health problems just now, Donnie no wonder you are having anxieties during your breathless moments,anyone would,really hope your Bronchoscopy can identify the cause,and lead to a successful treatment for it.

Hi Judy KW,thanks for your comments,Jennifer,shes my daughter,you can Google her website,type in Jennifer Byrne,shes the actress from Glasgow.Have a great weekend in Vincentown,(back to my Times Atlas time,to find out where on earth you are).

Hi Bud,hope your dogs paw is seeing some improvement,have a great time in Oklahoma,love the musical,I have been on stage,singing songs from the show.Is Shawnee,so called, as thats where the Indian Tribe live?,can you get any pictures of them in national dress?.

See you later everyone,enjoy your weekend.