u/UJMRider1961

First off, yes I have a follow up appointment and will be discussing with my urologist.

64YO, diagnosed in 2021 with PSA of 6.5 and Gleason 3+4. Went through EBRT in 2022, no hormones or any other treatment. Just had my first PSA in over a year. Back in 2024 my PSA was below one, I think it was .7. At that point my urologist told me I didn't have to get another check for a year.

Missed my 2025 appointment due to scheduling but finally got around to getting a new doctor (previous one is no longer with the practice, which also took some time since we live in a small city that doesn't have a lot of providers.)

Just got the results in and it says PSA of 3.52.

That seems like a crazy high jump for an 18 month period, especially after EBRT.

My first thought is that the test isn't good and I did something to artificially inflate it. I had just undergone a surgical procedure to my nose (septoplasty) and was in a lot of pain. I noticed on my CBC that my white cell count was really high and I figured that might be a reaction to the surgery.

(Side note: Nasal surgery sucks. You have no idea how many nerve endings you have in your nose until you get cut on there.)

Anyway, as I said above I do have a follow up consult with the urologist and I'm hoping he says he doesn't believe the results and schedules another PSA test.

But since I'm a worrier and I have time, I thought I'd throw this out to the group: How can PSA jump that quickly in 18 months for someone who has (presumably) a dead prostate from radiation?

We have two dogs, a mixed breed cattle dog female (8 years old) and a mini aussie male (4 years old.)

Our Aussie is of course energetic and affectionate, very much wants to be around us (especially me, I'm definitely his favorite person.)

One thing he does is if I'm sitting in a chair or standing and he wants my attention, he'll sit for a few minutes and then gently reach out with a paw and touch my leg. It's like he's saying "hello! I'm down here! Pay attention to me!"

I've been around lots of other dogs and I've never seen another one do this. I've seen dogs push their heads or bodies against a person when they want attention, but never just the paw. I think it's adorably cute.

So does your dog do "the paw" for attention?

After 7+ years, it's New computer time. In the past I've always just reinstalled all my programs (from DVDs or CDs using an external drive) and then copied the data over. My goal was to make the transition more-or-less seamless so my new computer was just a faster version of my old one with (usually) more storage.

But I just discovered that the box with all my old discs in it seems to have disappeared with our move to a new home 2 1/2 years ago.

At first I was freaking out since many of the programs I've come to be comfortable with are not easy to find. I used an old version of MS office that I was very familiar with, an old version of Quicken to manage my money, and older versions of photo software.

But then I took a deep breath and decided to take this as an opportunity to do some 'digital uncluttering' because I noticed that I have a LOT of stuff on my old computer that I have literally never accessed or used. It occurred to me that now that I have a blank slate, this would be a good opportunity to think a little differently about reinstalling my stuff.

Unlike all the previous times when I got a new computer, I am now retired so I have more time to devote to the process as well.

My biggest issues are my biggest clutterers: Music and photos.

Music is the biggest one. I have been downloading music since the Napster days. I have at least 222 gb of music on one drive and 246 gb on another.

Two issues: First of all, if I'm honest, I only listen to a fraction of this music and I am long past the days when I cared about how much music I have access to. Second and more importantly, I would conservatively estimate that at least 25% of my music files are duplicates of some type.

So what programs are people using to spot and remove duplicate files? Seems to me there HAS to be something out there.

Then there's the issue of iTunes. I have painstakingly built up playlists over the years and I don't want to lose them, but with music in multiple locations I don't know if it's possible to keep them intact. Are there any tricks here I need to know?

As far as photos, I'll be going through those as well and deleting duplicates.

Any other tips as far as doing a new install? The good news is my "old" computer still works so there's no hurry in transferring everything over the to new one.

I'm trying to put together a trip of maybe 8 - 12 days (from Southern Colorado) that would happen in the Jan - Feb time frame. I love the Southwest deserts and have been looking at maybe doing a few days on the Bradshaw Trail in Southern California. Any other recommendations for that area? I'd like to see the Salton Sea and maybe the Anza Borrego desert as well.

I've already done Mojave road so no need to see that one again. Just looking for recommendations or cool places off the beaten path. Would probably just be me and one other vehicle.

EDIT: Forgot to add, I've been ovelanding (short trips mostly 7 - 10 days) since 2008 but I haven't been on a long trip since 2014.

Vehicles would be my F-150 Crew Cab 4x4 and my buddy's FJ Cruiser.

Spotted this long boi in my neighborhood.

https://preview.redd.it/4x0cmkxem6zg1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ddc0f63dc0d74466565af3287a2a833b54053b9d

Looks like the 10th gen (1997-2003?) Or maybe 11th (2004 - 2008?) I didn't think they offered this until the 2009 model, obviously I was wrong! Definitely not something common to see!

I'd like to plan a trip to New England with my wife and our dogs. We live in Colorado and have traveled all over the Western and Central US, and even the Southeast (down to the Florida Keys.)

We have a pickup with a 19' travel trailer (Rockwood Geo Pro 19BH.) Just the wife and I and our two medium sized dogs.

I visited Massachusetts briefly when I was in the Army 30 years ago, but neither of us has really spent much time in New England. Obviously, it's a long haul for us but we're retired so now we have the time.

Wife has an event she has to be present for the first week of November so I'd either have to plan a trip in early - mid October, or beginning in mid November and probably ending around Thanksgiving.

I'm just wondering when the peak "autumn leaf season" is in New England, and whether we need to be concerned about extreme weather. Here in the high country of Colorado, autumn leaf season starts in early September and is pretty much done by mid October, but I figured the lower altitudes of New England might make it a bit later there?

Also looking for input on places to stay. We don't really like commercial RV parks, we'd much rather stay at State Parks, Corps of Engineer sites, National Parks and Monuments, or even Regional/Municipal City park campgrounds.

We're both big history buffs and so of course we want to see the historical sites of the American revolution, Boston, etc. Open to other suggestions as well.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

My parents (both deceased now) were never really "audiophiles" of any kind. They both listened to classical music rather than pop or rock.

Sometimes (though rarely) dad would listen to some old, OLD country music (think Marty Robbins.)

Some time around 1970 we got the 5th Dimension LP with "aquarius." I'm pretty sure Mom bought that one. But generally we never bought "pop" records.

Anyway, the "system" we had was about as basic as you could get: An inexpensive receiver, a turntable and a couple of small speakers (we'd call them "bookshelf speakers" today.)

I don't remember when they got it but I don't think it was before about 1968 (when I was in 1st grade) and we absolutely had it by 1972, so I'm confident that it was acquired some time between those years.

Growing up I never thought much about audio equipment but I remember 100% that the receiver was a Marantz.

The only things I remember about the receiver was that it was on the smaller side - not very tall height wise, and I assume not very powerful. Typical 1970's look with wooden cabinet and a dark metal front (IOW it was NOT brushed aluminum) The backlighting behind the receiver's tuner dial was green.

Does anyone have a link to a catalog from circa 1969 -70? Maybe 71 at the latest? I'm just curious to see if I can find out what it was called. I'm certain if I saw a photo I would recognize it.

Given that my dad was kind of a cheapskate it was probably the "bargain basement" receiver of its day. As I said, he was NOT an audiophile. I'm not even sure if it had a tape input or not (wouldn't have mattered since we never had a tape deck, just the record player.)

No real reason, just idly curious. It would be fun to see a photo of one, bring back some (now very old) memories!

I was recovering from surgery so I missed the General Strike that Reddit called for in the West to take place on May Day.

So did we collapse the corrupt system and seize the means of production yet?

Follow up to another post of mine, but it looks like the dreaded 10R80 failure got me.

Truck is a 2018 Canadian-spec CCSB (XTR package.) 4x4, FX4 package, 302A package, tow package, 7000 GVWR package.

February camping trip to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ

I bought it in 2019 with about 18,000 miles on it. Currently sitting at 116,500 so I put just under 100,000 miles on it which has included pulling two different travel trailers all over the country. We live in Colorado so pulling over 11,000' passes is normal for a camping trip. I'd estimate at least 45,000 miles of just towing in everything from freezing weather to blistering heat, from Oregon to the Florida Keys, and Montana down to the Texas border. Off roading in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming and New Mexico.

Even my wife asked me (when I told her what it would cost to get a new transmission), "Do you want to consider getting a newer truck?" I told her "no" and here's why:

First off, cost-wise, it just doesn't make sense. I was lucky to get this truck in 2019 before the Covid inspired inflation. I paid under $35,000 for this truck with 18k on it. A comparable F-150 these days would be at least $45,000 and IMO even that is wildly optimistic - I think $50,000 is more likely. And of course that's assuming I could find one that has the stuff I need: the 36 gallon tank, the heated seats (wife insists), trailer brake controller, and e-locker.

And when counting costs, sometimes people forget to consider that both sales tax and property tax are assessed - even with a trade in, my out-of-pocket taxes would likely be over $3000 on top of everything else.

My guess is that by the time I factor in the cost of the truck, all the things I'd have to get for it (topper, floor liners, seat covers, etc) and taxes, I'd be looking at close to $60,000.

And I doubt I could get much for my current truck with its transmission woes. Even if I did a trade-in at a dealership I doubt they'd give me even $20,000 for the truck as it sits, which means likely $40k cost to me total (vs. $9000 for the new transmission.)

Second: It's taken my 6 years to get this truck to be exactly what I want it to be. My truck has a topper on it - which is a necessity for the way we travel - and could possibly be re-used if I got a new F-150 (I THINK the bed and cab are the same but I'm not 100% sure.) But even if I was able to re-use the topper, I've also put different wheels and tires (went from 18's to 17's because I like a beefy sidewall), put in a DC-DC charger which required me to drill a hole in the cab floor, added heavy cables for an SB-175 connector to an inverter, got seat covers, floor liners, and fender liners. SOME of that stuff might be able to be transferred but not all of it, so there are more expenses right there not to mention the time it would take to get it done.

Granted, I'm retired so I have time, but I'd rather not spend it re-inventing the wheel.

And the thing is, I LIKE this truck. It's enjoyable to drive, it has things that not all modern trucks have like a column shift (don't get me started on console shifters and how much I hate them.) I don't need a big screen TV in my dashboard, my current 8" screen is just fine. We rarely use the middle of the bench seat but it's nice to know we have it if we need it.

Third: I simply don't like a lot of the "nanny" features new vehicles have. I don't need a warning to keep my eyes on the road and my hands up on the wheel (I can just play the Doors song "Roadhouse Blues" through my iPhone.) I don't need or want lane assist or active cruise control or any of that other stuff. That just strikes me as more stuff to go wrong.

There's also a part of me that gets annoyed by the "throw it out and get a new one instead of fixing the old one" mentality that seems to exist with so many consumer products.

So anyway, that's my rationale for fixing the old vs buying the new.

Wondering if I'm an outlier here. I love the look of the old vintage receivers with their brushed aluminum faces, wood (or fake wood) cabinets, backlit analog tuner and of course the VU-meter.

Vintage speakers are also cool, with their quality wooden cabinets and meshy foam screens.

But I'm not that crazy about "vintage media", i.e. non-digital media like LP records, cassettes or 8 tracks.

At 64 I'm old enough to remember when all that stuff was the only way to listen to music (other than the radio) and I don't miss it. The pops, the scratches, the fact that every time you play an LP you are reducing its life and diminishing its sound quality. Changing cartridges on turntables, having the special brush to keep the records clean and making sure you stored them in a way that didn't damage them.

I got rid of my LPs in 2003 (after probably at least 10 years of never once listening to them as I had already made cassette tapes of the songs I wanted and I preferred to listen to the cassettes.)

The one thing I do miss about LPs is the art. There was always something special about listening to a record and then reading the big record jacket (or opening it up if it was folio-style or a double album.) Jewel case art (CDs) just isn't the same.

If I had to do it again I'd have gotten rid of the records themselves but kept some of the record jackets and put them in frames.

I got rid of my cassettes in 2014 and my only regret there was that I didn't make sure I had digital copies of all the music (there were a few obscure songs I was never able to find in a digital format anywhere.)

8 tracks were pretty much already done by the time I started buying my own audio gear in the late 70s. My parents never even had a car with an 8 track, we went from AM radio only to AM/FM to AM/FM/Cassette by the mid 1970's.

Reel-to-reel tapes were considered old and weird when I was in high school in the 70's.

Putting together a "vintage audio" setup I think I'd settle on just a receiver and a pair of speakers. Maybe a turntable for the look or to play the occasional record.

Anyway, just a random thought I'd throw out for discussion to see if anybody else likes the old style receivers but is happy with the quality, simplicity and durability of digital media.