Getting back to normality

Greetings, readers. After two and a half days of lying flat on my back in the hospital, barely able to raise by right arm, I am happy to report to all that my recovery is coming along faster than I ever believed possible. I hardly have any pain, and my range of motion, believe it or not, is almost back to normal. It is hard to believe that my surgery was one week ago. How time flies.

I had a private room with a gorgeous view. It was near the helicopter pad and Life Flight did take off once while I was there. Bless the person whom they were rushing to help. The morning I left was beautifully clear and I got to see a hot air balloon fly in the sky. Although they always look beautiful, standing in a little basket is something that is not on my bucket list. I’ll just take pictures from my window.

Speaking of normality, I got back to watching Penn State football and the NFL. Boy, did the Pittsburgh Steelers lay an egg; I don’t think they have a coach that knows how to fire up a team to beat a champion caliber opponent. Saquon Barkley was one of the only New York Giants who had a good game vs. Dallas. I am an Eli Manning fan but I think his time has come and gone. The best game of the week was the first Monday Night Football game. Houston at New Orleans with the Saint’s last-second field goal. It was a true nail-biter right to the end.

One a serious note now, prayers go out to all the victims and families of Hurricane Dorian and the several mass shootings that took place during my convalescence. I’ve only ever experienced the outer fringe remnants of a hurricane-type storm, and believe me, it spooked me. I can only imagine what those poor people in the Bahamas and the Carolinas went through. My heart goes out to you.

Until next Wednesday (Sunday blog will begin soon), have a wonderful week, take care, love one another, and happy reading.

OUCH! I HURT!

Greetings, readers. Yesterday at 7:15 my friend Smith and I went for morning coffee as per usual. We were on the way home from coffee and errands when the unlikely happened. I passed out, fell right into her, knocking her over, and the ambulance was called, setting in motion the seven and a half hours away from home. Both of us were treated at the ER for our minor bumps and bruises. That I expected. What I didn’t expect, since we came in together, was that it took almost all day for either one of us to find out any info on the other. I guess you can chalk that up to the HIPAA law. Needless to say, she was just as worried about me as I was about her.

Around 2:00 or so we got discharged and by some miracle the first bus we needed was arriving just as we walked out the front door. It was one of the first things that went right all day. Then we transferred to a bus called the White Loop, which dropped us off near our front door. I came home, turned on some TV, sat down, and slept through three people knocking on my door. I was exhausted. I felt bad about that, but as many people have told me, I must have needed the rest.

I ate a light supper, took my first dose of antibiotic for a slight sinus infection, which is the only thing that they found wrong in my blood work, and was in bed by 8:30. Sitting down was not fun, even on the mattress … and still isn’t. Once I laid down on either side, no problem, I slept fine. The two big injuries for me are my hurt backside, and my pride. My friend walked away with a few bruises. She has already had one concussion in her life, and I was so afraid that number two would have been caused by me. I feeling a little bit sore today, but I am sitting on a comfy pillow given to me by Smith.

With that out of the way, I shall talk briefly about the not so super Super Bowl. It was the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever, with the final score 13-3 Patriots. The third year Rams starting quarterback, Jared Goff, looked quite frankly scared to death on the sidelines. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great young quarterback, but when it came to the big game, his knees were a-shakin’. The Rams defense was stellar, holding New England to a mere 13 points. If it had been any other game, people might have called it a classic. I’d be willing to bet you though, that most people want to see high scoring Super Bowls.

Even though I watched this game, I found myself dozing off a couple of times. Not even the broadcast team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, whom I like a lot, could save this snoozer. I would love to see what the TV ratings were. I doubt that they were very high.

Reflecting on the Super Bowl and sports in general, I ask myself this question: Are all of the final games of a sports season that boring? Absolutely not. Back in the Chicago Bulls heyday, they had wonderfully exciting championship playoff series’. The same can be said in the NBA years ago when the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers duked it out many times. Football is too punishing of a sport to do this, but I wish that instead of having a Super Bowl game, they would play for the best two out of three. Just in case that a team has an off day, they would have at least one more chance to equalize.

To the Patriots’ fans, congratulation. To the Ram’s fans, I know you will be a powerhouse for a number of years yet. Don’t give up on quarterback Goff.

Until Sunday when I will put up another dictated blog entry via the voice recognition program, take care, have a great few days, and happy reading.

Yesterday’s injury could have been a lot worse

Greetings, readers. After a successful work shift, I met Traci at Panera, as I normally do. While I was there, I realized I needed a jug of milk. There is small market down the block from where we were. Traci and I finished eating and visiting around 5:00. I started on the down slope for what was going to be a quick trip for my grocery. Our area had a strong rain storm in the morning, and the sidewalk was still slick. I walked halfway to my destination when I felt my left foot start to slid on wet leaves, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I kind of twisted on the way down, leading me to believe that I had either sprained my knee or leg, or the worst case scenario, broken my hip. Young college kids came running to my aid and told me to stay down, stay down. I was gladly willing to comply.

After I got over the initial embarrassment of the whole situation, I gently tried moving things, to see what might work and what might not. I was overjoyed when I could lift my left leg without screaming; no broken hip. One of the college kids called an ambulance for me, which I knew had to happen, but I also knew that the rest of my evening was going to be lost.

In the emergency room, I was given warm blankets and made as comfy as possible. Nurses and doctors came in, asked me for my name, rank and serial number and all the mundane things that happen at the ER.

Then it was off to X-ray. I could actually walk from the gurney to the X-ray table. I gave the technician a thumbs up. After all the pictures were taken, I was wheeled back to my ER room where I laid, and laid, and laid. After what seemed like forever, the doctor came in with the good news that nothing was broken and I was going to be discharged.

I began to walk very slowly to the ER entrance where my cab was waiting and I started to shake. I thought to myself, “This is not good, folks.” I asked for a wheelchair, and I was whisked away to the front door. I asked the cab driver to take me to a convenience store so I could finally get the jug of milk that the was the beginning of this whole fiasco. I asked him to wait for me, which he did, then he finally drove me back home.

I turned on the heater so I wouldn’t shiver, if I was still indeed in shock from the pain I was experiencing. After taking two Advil, I was able to get to sleep, then the alarm went off at 5:00 this morning, and I asked God just let me be able to walk on the foot. After hobbling on it a few steps, it seemed to loosen up and I could walk better on it. I consider myself lucky that I really don’t think I broke any bones. I truly believe all I have is a twisted knee and a pulled muscle or tendon in my foot, though I have some swelling on the top of my foot that I wonder about. I can rest my leg today and tomorrow, as I have days off from my fast food job anyway. Work will need me this weekend because of the Penn State home football game this Saturday. I can’t let them down. I will admit, I might have to ask for a chair before my shift is over.

As is becoming a weekly message, I once again send my prayers and good wishes to all those effected by extreme weather this week; the flooding in Asia, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the fires out west in the United States, and Hurricane Irma, which is in the Caribbean today and heading for Florida.

Well, there you have the grim news. As I said last week, I am taking a personal day tomorrow and Rebecca’s blog topic is a great one; I’m sure you will enjoy it. Until I write again next week, take care, have a great weekend, and happy reading.

I think spring has finally sprung

Greetings, readers. I actually have my window open today and was running the air conditioner earlier. These are two classic signs that spring is here. I live on the top floor of my apartment building and have a great view. It is so nice to see the trees blooming again, for one of my favorite colors is green. I love green grass and bushes and of course the tall trees. The only bad thing about being a spring and summer person are that my allergies kick up from time to time.

Yesterday we hit 81 degrees F, which was only two degrees off the all time record. Okay, maybe we went from late winter right into summer. But that won’t last, the temperature is supposed to drop into the 60s tomorrow. I can handle the cool and the rain, for I know it is just a short matter of time before warm days are here to stay until October.

A quick update about my fiancé Traci. She is in the hospital right now, so your good thoughts and prayers would certainly be appreciated. I feel confident that the doctors can solve the issue within a couple of days, and that she will be home again as soon as possible. I have been up to visit every day since she went in, and will be up there again today and tomorrow. It’s just not the same around the apartment building without her. One of my favorite times of the day is to visit at her place and listen to relaxing music. We’ll get back to that soon enough.

When Traci gets home and gets her strength back, I intend for us take nice walks together, and neither of us likes to walk in cold weather. We are also big fans of having days with more hours of daylight.

To finish up this blog entry, I’ve been fighting with the game My Summer Car and have concluded that my laptop simply can’t run it. What a shame. To buy a new laptop for one game would be absurd. I promised myself, my accountant, and Rebecca that we would use the current laptop until it died. I guess my gaming experience with My Summer Car will have to wait.

I’ll be visited Traci in the hospital tomorrow, so Rebecca will write the Thursday blog entry, and then I will edit and post it when I have a chance. I’m not sure what time that will be, but it will be tomorrow. Rebecca doesn’t know the topic yet, but I have faith in her.

Until tomorrow, take care, have a great day, and happy reading.

Girlfriend is back in the hospital

Greetings, readers. I found out that my girlfriend Traci is once again having heart issues, so playing on the side of caution, she went to the ER to get checked out. I know we said this was going to be a From Rebecca blog day, but the computer went wonky and slowed her progress down. She will finish that blog entry and will post it on Wednesday.

Within the next half-hour I will be off to the hospital to see Traci and try to cheer her up. She likes when I make her laugh. Hopefully this is nothing serious, but I did agree with her decision to have it checked out. Her heart doctor should be on the way there now.

On a brief other topic. I was watching a documentary last night about a possible conspiracy theory dealing with the Titanic and her sister ship the Olympic. Could it have been the Olympic that sank that night? That very well might be next Friday’s blog entry. Usually I don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but I will admit to you that this one intrigued me.

So sorry for the short blog entry today, much more next week. Take care, have a great weekend, and happy reading.

Sorry about not having an entry up yesterday

Greetings, readers. An interesting week my friends are having. Rebecca is under the weather and Traci has been in the hospital. I have been visiting Traci every afternoon, trying to cheer her up. She loves it when I make her laugh.

Rebecca will be back either today or tomorrow and Traci will home this afternoon after three. Yay! 🙂 I’ll get back to my regular work next week. We’ll try to have three blog posts to make up for yesterday’s miss.

Until soonest, take care, have a great day and happy reading.

 

Well wishes to family of local construction worker

Greetings, readers. Something was on my mind this morning and I just had to share it. I found out yesterday that there was a power outage near where I live. The local Panera Bread, across the street, went dark for half an hour. I found out later that the loss of power was caused by an unfortunate accident down the street.

A construction worker at a site nearby was electrocuted. From what we can learn in today’s local newspaper, the Centre Daily Times, he did survive. If this is incorrect, I will update this entry. The power had to turn off the power to extricate the man from the building site. He was life-flighted to a hospital.

When I learned of the severity of the situation, I admit it really distressed me. I was not certain rather that person had been killed or just seriously injured. I started to think what it would have been like if it was one of my relatives or even me. It is such a violent thing to go through and I can only imagine the long-term effects that a body would suffer after such an accident.

Again, my thoughts are with the family. If any of my local blog or Facebook readers know the family, please do let them know I am keeping them in my thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

Until tomorrow, take care and be well, and happy reading.

Yesterday’s visit to Lisa went well

Greetings, readers, and happy Thursday. I wanted to follow up on yesterday’s hospital visit to my friend, while the events were fresh in my mind. I arrived at the hospital around 3:45 in the afternoon, but I had to stay in a waiting area while technicians put in a fresh I.V. When I finally walked into her room, she beamed a big smile. Lisa was very happy to see me.

Much to my surprise, she had another friend already in the room. He was a guitar player and occasionally dressed up like Ace Frehley from KISS. That blew my away. Very cool. He left shortly after I arrived.

But back to the visit. The nurse brought Lisa her dinner and asked me if I wanted some coffee; I told the nurse thank you, it would save my life. In my back pack, I had brought my computer with songs from iTunes to sing to. I told her I was going to do that. I was trying very hard to cheer her up. I plugged in my computer and showed Lisa a couple of videos from my memorial KISS show for my friend Erin. She loved them.

She made a phone call to another friend, whom she wanted me to meet. I told Lisa I would wait to sing until he arrived. It took her other friend about a half hour to get there. We all chatted a while but then Lisa wanted to hear me sing the theme from The Love Boat. I must say it wasn’t my best effort but I made up for it by doing an excellent job on Billy Joel’s Worse Comes to Worst.

Lisa got some good news during my visit. She was being discharged after five days. She couldn’t wait to go home to her dogs. I know from personal experience that after a few days in the hospital you are antsy to go home.

Around 6:00 I wrapped up my visit, gave Lisa a hug, and went down to the coffee shop to have a breakfast food dinner. My cab was scheduled to pick me up until 7:00, so I had some time. I must admit I was exhausted by the time I got home, but I would do it again in a minute, for it made a dear friend of mine happy. I was always taught to treat people the way you wish to be treated. Live by example.

Tomorrow there will be that top ten list. Today’s entry was just a little surprise. Until then take care, have a great day, and happy reading.

Friendships deserve a little extra effort

Greetings, readers. The last few days I have been quite worried about a dear friend of mine whom I have known since seventh grade. I won’t mention her last name but Lisa and I have been very good friends from tenth grade on. The last few days she has been in the hospital with what sounds like a rather serious condition. I have found myself thinking about her almost constantly.

It is true that we are not as young as we used to be, but even as I approach fifty years old, I still think of myself sometimes as a big kid. So when a friend around my age has a possible life-threatening condition, it frightens me to the core. It makes me realize we are finite. Folks my age have more years behind us than ahead of us, barring some medical breakthrough.

After work hours today, and after a quick bank run, I am off to see dear Lisa at the hospital. In my hallway closet, I have several small stuffed animals which I won at a carnival a number of years back. I think one of them will cheer her up. Occasionally friends do have to go that extra step to make others feel appreciated and loved. I’ve learned first hand not to take anything for granted. Friendships, relationships, and sometimes even life itself, can be over in a split second.

Sorry if this blog entry today sounds a bit morbid. I’m not depressed, just a bit worried. That is how I get.

On Friday, I’ll have a top ten list for you, topic still unknown.

Prayers and good thoughts out to the folks suffering from the floods in Texas.

Until Friday, take care, enjoy spring, and happy reading.

Ouch! That nasty flu bug bit me

Greetings, readers. I am finally home from the hospital, after a two-and-a-half day stay that felt like a week. My first six hours were spent in the ER, having blood drawn and IV needles inserted. What I thought was going to happen was: I would go, get my IV fluids, feel better, and come home. If I knew the doctor was going to admit me, I would have packed my backpack with my computer and a few other niceties from home.

Sunday was a complete wash-out. Monday I felt a wee bit better. By Tuesday I knew I was ready to come home because I was getting antsy. I was back to my spunky self.

As I was lying in my hospital bed, I watched a little TV, listened to some music, but mostly I slept and used the restroom. My biggest inconvenience was that I had to ring for a nurse every single time because the IV stand had to come with me into the bathroom. The nurse had to unplug that from the wall and make sure I didn’t damage the IV connection in my arm with an abrupt movement. On Monday evening I felt strong enough to take a walk in the hallway up and back; my nurses felt that was a very good sign. One of them said that they were going to suggest that anyway. She explained that they like to get the patients up and moving sooner rather than later to avoid stiff muscles or bed sores.

On a personal note, I wish to thank Rebecca and Darren for not only visiting, but for getting me home late yesterday afternoon. I got back just in time to feed Keekee, who missed me immensely, and to prepare myself something very light to eat. I’m still taking things rather easy. Keekee was happy to see me. She seemed very hungry so I immediately gave her half a can of moist food. I never have to worry that she will starve, because I have her feeder always filled and she can nibble on that as needed, and her water dish is nearby also. This came in handy when I was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital.

I’m going to wind up this rather short blog entry because Rebecca and I have to work on a kitchen cabinet which needs to be emptied and taken down to maintenance. This morning, as if the Lord was laughing at me, I pulled the front of the drawer right off when the nails gave way. One more thing to add to my to-do list before Dave arrives in a week’s time.

Until Friday, stay healthy, best wishes if you are ill, take care and happy reading.