I've been watching this house on porter near Kleinhans slowly be consumed by the elements. I hope no one lives in it. It's been like this for so long and seriously looks like it's about to collapse. I wonder if it's abandoned? Anyone know the story behind it?

The Nokia N97 and I have been waiting for like 2 years for is finally here. The problem is it costs $699 and I am not paying that. Several years ago I might have but right now there are enough smart phones like my stupid iphone that work ok for $199 with carrier discount. I mean the iphone costs about the same if you buy it without a contract. It just does everything I want and it has a keyboard and it is nokia, and I still love them. Having a keyboard would make me mobile blog a lot more. Read this comparison in specs with the iphone



I wish they would team up with a mobile carrier here in the US so I could get a break on it. I want it so bad.

This is the walk I wrote baout in my previous journal (e:paul,48621).

[box]Take Steps for Crohn's & Colitis is our annual walk dedicated to finding cures for these digestive diseases. Our goal is to raise $80,000 on Saturday, May 30 at the Buffalo Zoo & Delaware Park. The walk registration starts at 5:00 pm and the walk kicks off at 6:00 pm. After the walk, everyone is invited to stay and enjoy some food and music by The Frontline. For more information and to register, visit

Nearly 10,000 Western New Yorkers suffer from Crohn's Disease or ulcerative colitis-400 of whom are children. With the support of communities nationwide, CCFA has raised much needed funds that, through research, have brought us closer to a cure. For those who live with these chronic diseases, life is a roller coaster of active and remitting disease. However, the opportunity to make life more manageable for patients who live day to day with intense pain, the threat of long term hospital stays and multiple surgeries, has never been greater.

More than 80 cents of every dollar raised through our Take Steps Walk campaign goes directly to fund research and patient programs in Buffalo.[/box]

I was contacted by the Jeanenne of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Buffalo because my journal came up number one for "crohn's buffalo" and they are having some walk on May 20th. I will post more about it when they send me the info.

In light of the ranking, I figured I should post a positive crohn's post for any other crohnies out there look for positive inspiration.

The truth is I don't think about it much anymore because I don't have any symptoms anymore since I had my appendix out last year in April (e:paul,44050). You can tell because I haven't posted about it since.

During the last year I have also been taking Lialda a form of mesalamine. It has no side major side effects for me so far and is a million times more manageable than when I was on asacol. With the asacol I used to take 3 pills, three times a day. I would worry all the time about remembering the pills and thought I needed to take them with food so it messed up my whole schedule. I think the worrying made it all worse.

With the Lialda I take 3 pills once in the morning with water before breakfast. Nothing to worry about all day.

The great news is that either I am just doing better minus the appendix or the Lialda is a freakin' miracle. My life is totally different to when I think about my life during that flare up I had in January of 2008. I really thought I was gonna die.

During the year I also wen tto the gym a lot, put on like 20 pounds and eat really well.

The only downside is the Lialda costs $900/month. Luckily, I have really good health insurance that pays for all but $15 of it. I mean it seems worth so much if it is in fact what is making me better but at the same time that seems like such an extreme about of money and cost prohibitive for so many people.

I keep wondering if I can go off the medicine since it has been a year since I had symptoms. I should probably go and see the doctor but the last time I saw him he told me I would need to take it forever and as long as I have health insurance, that is okay with me.

But my life has been a series a computer programming tasks, followed by home repair tasks - back to back, 18/7. I am ready for the part of summer that has things like food festivals and hiking.