Tanya and I did not have anything to do last night. I told her I had no objection to just jumping in the car and taking off. She suggested that what I was really saying is that I wanted to go for a ride. Since she was game, I asked Buddy if he wanted to go. He made it pretty clear he was up for it. My photo of the day for day 288 if on Tanya and I in front of a huge tree in Sequoia National Park.
When I was a lad, the running joke about hospitals was their food, and the quality or lack thereof. I remember visiting my dad or mom in the hospital 30-some years ago and they were serving decent food. For some reason, I seem to recall the person I was visiting being served lobster or something you would not really expect to get at a hospital. Today, I had to go in and get an MRI done. I was quite surprised to discover that my local hospital is now offering escort services. My photo of the day for day 287 is …
I guess in some ways I have been pretty lucky. One of those ways is that I have a really cool girlfriend, and even though we live 2,000 miles apart, we get to see each other pretty frequently. Today, Tanya came back to SoCal to visit with me for a while. The big question I seem to be getting hit with has been, so what are you guys doing this time? The answer, I have no idea. My photo of the day for day 286 is of Tanya and I standing outside the local Benihana restaurant. Tanya has become familiar …
It feels so good not to hurt. I can only imagine how much more pleasant my trip to Europe would have been if the idiot GP, Dr. Kalata, had spent more than two minutes with me and prescribed the proper medicines instead of the crappy pain pills she pushed off on me. I would have been pain free by the time I hit Chicago if she had a clue as to what she was doing. My photo of the day for day 285 is of my little friend, Teddy standing guard over the remaining tablets from my six day prescription. …
We humans, at an early age, are [usually] taught that it is not polite to stare. Unfortunately, this was a lesson that I seemed unable to convey to Buddy. If he was a human he would probably be considered fairly rude. I think he just can not help it. My picture of the day for day 284 is of Buddy, with his eye on a cute French poodle. He went up and introduced himself, but apparently she did not care for mutts.
Ever since I returned from Europe I had been forced to suck it up as far as the pain was concerned. I discovered I had another medical issue that would not be helped by my use of such pain killers as Ibuprofen. When the new doctor provided me with steroids and they were actually working, I was pretty elated. Last Sunday I had tried to carry a venti mocha from Starbucks back home. I was able to do it, but it was not easy. Today was my third day on the steroids and I pretty much felt invincible. Well, not …
Yesterday, Friday the 8th, I was able to finally get in to see a specialist. Although he determined that he was not the right kind of specialist for my injury, he did refer me to a neurologist and is getting things in motion for an MRI to be done. But best of all, he gave me some decent meds, Dosepak. No more of these dumb pain killers that have no effect unless you take several with a couple still drinks. Steroids, to actually work on easing the problem. Although I took my first dose late Friday, buy Saturday morning I …
When I take Buddy for his walks, a good portion of the time he is off his leash. 98% of the people we run into are cool with it. Friday morning we entered Columbia Park at the same time as an elderly Japanese gentleman was getting out of his car. I guess it would be safe to say, Buddy may have startled him for a moment. He immediately recovered, and spoke two words, “happy dog.” I smiled and nodded in agreement. We ended up walking the same path, with Buddy zipping in and out between us. The Japanese gentleman spoke …
As you have probably gathered by now, I have not gone anywhere or done anything fun since I returned from Europe with Tanya. I am doing a lot of walking, and too much arguing with medical professionals. Yesterday could have ended badly, but a hostage negotiator from Blue Shield talked me down from the tower. By the end of Thursday, there was a glimmer of hope. My photo of the day for day 280, October 7 proves it is darkest before the dawn.
Sometimes it is eerie how the day greets you with ample warnings. I guess the problem is that sometimes we ignore the early signs. Waking up to a rainy morning was one of those signs. After all, it is not supposed to rain here. My picture of the day for day 279 shows signs of impending trouble. I should have been paying closer attention.
