After 34 years in the classroom and lab teaching biology, I'm ready to get back to traveling and camping and hiking. It's been too long of a break. I miss the outdoors and you can follow my wanderings on this blog.
I still got up congested and fatigued. I decided to take a Covid test this morning and it came back negative. What the test will not tell me is whether or not I have long Covid. I looked at the CDC site for long Covid and they listed a myriad of symptoms. I find I fit six of them: fatigue, coughing, pins and needles, depression, diarrhea, constipation. Even if I have it, there’s not much that can be done for it. Symptoms may last 3 months, 6 months, or years.
Another strange thing is the last few nights I have dreams where I either am angry in the dream or angry when I wake up. Normally, I have three or four dreams per night. I always think I will remember them but I don’t. I should jot the gist down in a notebook by my bed so I do remember them.
In any case, in every dream I am angry. It’s not that I don’t feel I have justification for the anger. My childhood where I was reared, sometimes, by alcoholic parents, my anger at the administration when I was union president, and breast cancer and chemotherapy. None of my dreams have been about those issues. It’s always something else.
Anyhoo, when I Google it, the websites that come up are a little iffy. They do suggest that it is due to anxiety or stress about past issues, current issues or potentially future issues, so maybe my justifications seem prophetic.
I was supposed to go to lunch with Joel and John today at Hatch. The menu looks good and I hope John and Joel give me an unbiased revue of the food.
It’s rained every day for almost a week and the next three days rainfall chances are 80%, 80% and 90%. I expect coffins to begin to float to the surface soon. It’ll be a good time to see old friends.
I got up this morning with congestion and felt like I was coming down with a cold. I also felt blah. As a consequence, I didn’t do my yoga stretches and didn’t swim. As it turns out, it started raining anyway. It seems this is one of my days feeling off. Hopefully, it’ll be better tomorrow.
I was supposed to go to Barb’s for lunch with her and Joel but I canceled that and movie night with Chris and Tucker. Chris promised to be gentle when she broke the news to Tucker. I’ve pretty much stayed in bed today except for a Publix delivery.
It’s really nice to look out clean windows again. I normally clean windows two or three times a year depending on how dirty they are. I can get used to having someone do them and me pay them. Even though I’m about 4 miles from the beach, I get some salt spray that sticks on them after a real easterly storm.
I finally threw in the towel and called my GP and asked for a prescription for physical therapy for my back. It’s been bothersome today more than usual and as I mentioned before, when I get fully prone or supine, it is excruciatingly painful. It’s marginally better than it was when I injured it on August 1st but now I need some professional help. Getting old is not a walk in the park.
Weather-wise, we are looking at low 90’s during the day and high 70’s at night. That’s a break from high 90’s during August. We are well on our way through the month of September and that means we might actually start cooling off in late October so I can start back morning walks.
Oh, by the way, there were two songs that Aunt Mabel liked to play. It was “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life.”
I did yoga stretches today but did not swim. The lightning had something to do with that. I still can’t lie on the floor on my back or stomach without intense pain but if I lie there long enough, it begins to ease. I may end up having to do physical therapy again.
The afternoon, at the moment, is fair but we are predicted to have some severe thunderstorms late this afternoon. The ground is pretty saturated so we don’t need the rain. At least I don’t have to add water to the pool.
I get up every morning and see dirty windows as I look out. I finally decided I couldn’t take it any more so I looked online for window washers. One came highly recommended with hundreds of completed jobs. His name is Juan and he said he could come out and give me an estimate today and if I agreed, he could clean the windows today.
Juan showed up promptly at 11 am and walked through the house and around the outside and gave me a quote of $280 for the job. I thought it was higher than it should be but when I thought about what he agreed to do (screens, tracks, and inside and out windows, I agreed to the price. He’s a hard worker and hasn’t stopped since he started. I do know that if I were physically able to do them (I’m not) that it would take me two or three days as it usually does.
You can see he does a good job. The windows are crystal clear. I told him I’d probably call him back for Thanksgiving and Christmas since I will have guests. I hate dirty windows.
I guess I’m of the age that I need to stop doing most of the work around the house and hire it out done. I may be looking into a cleaning service since I’m getting more lax. I’ve put this off because I don’t think a service will clean like I would clean but at this age, who cares?
I still do the pool but I may be permanently handing that off to Denyse. Right now I can still lift the wet pool filter in and out of the cartridge but I can see the day that isn’t gonna happen any more.
It seems I’m a little maudlin today so it must mean it’s time to plan another trip.
I’ve always been a little slow on the uptake. Being subtle is not a good way to approach me because I don’t catch on to the hints or the innuendo. However, after a period of time, I do catch on. That’s why I almost always let something percolate in my mind before acting. An unusual noise in the house that I hear, I investigate but let it go for a day or two until I think logically about the issue and then correct it.
Today was one of those “Aha!” days. I was not thrilled with getting out of bed today to do the morning walk. You might say I balked. Then I remember something my friend Chip said to me. “Why not swim first?” Duh!
This morning, I got out of bed, had breakfast while scanning the news on the computer, pooped (Hallelujah!) and had my second breakfast while working the crossword, unloaded the dishwasher, added the breakfast dishes to the dishwasher and made my bed.
I then proceeded to do my yoga stretches – for the most part – and then headed to the pool to do my “laps.” They really aren’t laps because I swim in place with swim cords. I managed to do 300 “strokes” in the pool. That’s far short of what I normally do (700) but it was a start back in the pool. Thanks Chip! Sorry it took me so long to wise up. Walking in this weather is not a good idea. I’ll start morning walks again when it gets cooler in November.
A few years ago, Tom and Kurt “sold” me an outdoor table and chairs for my patio. I already had something but it was cheap stuff from Lowes. What they had in storage and offered me was a very substantially built set of some very hard, and heavy, wood. It’s not teak but something very similar to teak.
When I asked Tom how much, he said ten dollars. I said sold. As you might guess, every so often I would remind Tom and Kurt that I owed them money and every so often they would remind me that I owed them money. Kurt then got on the high horse demanding payment in Confederate dollars.
I decided to honor my debt today.
I found this on Golden Eagle Coins website.
I’m not really sure it is authentic, although the price for it was. It’s on very thin paper and looks like it was cut out with scissors which the Golden Eagle Coin website says exactly happened in the later stages of the Civil War when the South was nearly at an end.
I spent some time with Kurt at Holy Cross today. He looks much better and he really appreciated I had paid him in Confederate currency. Later, Tom came in and we had some good conversation. Hopefully, Kurt will be able to come home this week. It’s got to be tough on both him and Tom.
I was up at 7 and ready to do my morning walk when I checked the weather app on my phone and it said it was raining outside. I looked and it wasn’t raining yet. Then I looked at the eastern sky and decided not to do my walk along Riverland Road this morning. It was a good call because shortly thereafter, it began to pour down.
I met Tom at his place around 3:45 and we headed 0.1 miles to the offices of Island City Stage. That was, of course, after two idiots, in succession, blocked the keypad to get through the gates to Tom. I assume they were at the keypad waiting for someone to tell them the code.
At Island City Stage, on a specific Sunday, they have Mimosa Sundays with hors d’oeuvres for season ticket holders. If you are not a season ticket holder, you can pay to come. It was quite a spread.
Tom partaking of the buffet.
They had champagne, bellinis, and, of course, mimosas. Tom forced me to drink two Bellinis and we both visited the spread several times. It was a really nice greet and meet and we met Roberto and Kathy. I ended up sitting next to Roberto during the play and Kathy sat behind us. Tom had us front row.
Die, Mommie Dearest! is what I would call a farce with overly emoted characters, often pausing for effect. To be honest, it was more entertaining than the movie that I saw years ago. There were some great one liners by the cast members and the audience really got into the performance laughing at all the right and wrong places! I’m even thinking of getting season tickets just for the Mimosa Sundays!
After the play, Tom headed to see Kurt at Holy Cross and I headed home. It was a great evening and I had a good time.
The morning walk started with a light sprinkle. As I was heading home, it turned into rain and I had a wet hat, t-shirt and pants when I finished the walk. I made 1.2 miles but actually felt better during the walk compared to the other two days.
It’s been a busy day. I washed, dried and folded clothes; cleaned a little in the house; changed linen on the bed (still the most strenuous of my tasks) and cleaned the pool filter again. The pool had a build up of calcium and the pump is just now clearing it out so I washed the filter to rid it of the calcium it had from Thursday’s cleaning.
Since I purchased a yearly membership in Instacart, I ordered groceries from Publix again. I ordered them around 10:30 this morning and they were delivered before noon. That’s efficient. The shoppers must be running full speed through the store. I suspect the prices are higher than in the store with Publix. With Whole Foods, I think you are getting the regular price when they deliver.
I had a phone call from an old friend from Tupelo. I met Steve when I taught at Itawamba Community College (née Itawamba Junior College). His Dad ran the cafeteria and Steve was enrolled at the college. We became fast friends. I keep up with him on Facebook but we used FaceTime today to have a better conversation. He runs the Haunted House in Tupelo every year and he showed me backstage. I gave him a tour of my house.
Steve went to Europe with me in 1985. We also used to go camping while I was at the college and he’s thinking about getting back into it. He and his wife have two daughters and five grandchildren. It was great to catch up with him.
Jim seems to be recovering nicely from his surgery and I’m sure he and Holley needed a lot of sleep to compensate from the stress of yesterday.
Tomorrow I go with Tom to see Die, Mommie Die! a comedy at the Island City Stage. A friend of mine, Greg, is president of the board of directors. The play should be a lot of fun. It’s an intimate playhouse and there are no bad seats. Tom usually has front row seats there.
During this morning’s walk I felt as though it was hurricane weather. It was 80°F at 7 am with no breeze and a lot of humidity. I managed 1.2 miles but was pretty soaked through with sweat and very tired. I still haven’t gotten my strength or stamina back. You’d think there’s not much difference between yesterday’s 0.9 miles and 1.2 today, but believe me when I tell you it was.
After getting my second breakfast and second cup of coffee, I showered, shaved and headed to Hollywood Memorial Hospital on Johnson St. Jim was having brain surgery today to correct a malfunctioning catheter in the vesicle of his brain. Memorial is a massive complex and the halls are maze you have to figure out. I finally gave up and saw a guy who looked like he had just come from completing a surgery. He led me left, right, repeat several times and pointed at a door and said “Go in there.” Of course, it was for personnel only but I bravely went in.
Three nurses immediately welcomed me in and took me through another maze to where Holley and Jim were. While there, I met two of the operation theater nurses, his anesthesiologist, and his surgeon (who looked very young). Hollywood Memorial is known for their neurosurgeons. Miami sends people to Hollywood.
Jim explaining why he wouldn’t let me wear his blue cap. My head was cold. Notice there were no specials for the day.
When it was time for him to go into surgery, Holley took me across the street to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital for lunch at their cafe. Several nurses told us to go there instead of the regular hospital cafe. Holley, of course, paid for my meal but not for the reason you think. In my hurry, I forgot my wallet and driver’s license.
You might ask, how did I get in to the hospital without my license? I had a photograph of it that I showed the security desk.
Anyhoo, Holley and I returned after lunch to the Surgical Family Lounge which had quite a few people waiting for their surgeon to let them know how things went. Jim’s surgeon, Dr. Buttrick, came in soon enough and told us that everything went smoothly.
By that time, Tom arrived and we waited with Holley until Jim was “officially” in recovery.
Me and Tom in the Surgical Family Lounge. Notice Tom has two badges to my one. His partner is in Holy Cross so he’s been busy traveling between the two hospitals today.
Hollywood Memorial has an interesting system to let you know where the patient is. You are assigned a number and the nurse hands your loved one a card with a color code on it. That’s projected on a tv screen in the waiting room.
Holly was allowed back to see Jim and Tom and I chatted a while. Then Holley came out and said they are ready to discharge Jim. Holley walked us down through the rabbit warren to the main entrance where I bummed three bucks to tip the valet – I didn’t realize I didn’t have my wallet until after I valeted.
As soon as I got home, I climbed into bed and read a little and then napped for an hour. Jim and Holley are home – who goes home the same day as brain surgery? The doctor said it was fairly simple and routine and he would do better at home than in hospital. Also, they didn’t have enough beds.
I wish a speedy recovery to Jim. Holley and Jim have always been there for me and Tom and Kurt and everyone in our group. It was simple enough to pay it forward – with love.
It was my turn to choose the movie last night and I went with Rose Marie starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. This 1936 black and white movie holds up very well and is one of my favorites for several reasons.
For one, it’s obvious that a lot of the scenes were filmed outdoors (Lake Tahoe). Yes, several were filmed in the studio and you could tell because the background often was another movie screen. The green screen hadn’t really been invented yet. Secondly, it reminds me of my childhood in an interesting way – more about that later.
MacDonald plays an opera diva, Marie de Flor who learns her brother has broken out of prison and killed a mountie. She flees to the wilderness with an Indian guide to find him and becomes entangled with Nelson Eddy, who plays Sergeant Bruce of the RCMP, who always get their man. He eventually does but not before he figures out who she is and then falls in love with her.
The movie has an early role for James Stewart as the brother and David Nivens [Sic] as a suitor. Apparently, later David changed the spelling of his last name.
Two songs stand out in the movie. “Rose Marie” and “Indian Love Call.” You first hear the baritone of Nelson Eddy sing “Rose Marie” and later hear the duet with MadDonald of “Indian Love Call.”
My childhood memory is not of the movie. I didn’t see that until an adult when channel surfing late one night. It’s of the song “Indian Love Call.” My Aunt Mabel had a piano and a lot of sheet music. One sheet was of that song. If my memory serves me correctly (iffy these days) she would play it and she, Jimmie and I would sing along. Of course, after a while, Jimmie and I began to exaggerate the love call and I think Aunt Mabel gave up on us.
If you click the link on Nelson Eddy above, you’ll find out that he and MacDonald had an extended affair and she had numerous miscarriages of Eddy’s babies.
My second favorite movie with Jeanette MacDonald is with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey in another 1936 movie San Francisco. She, of course, sings the title song.
I slept poorly last night (4 hrs and 43 mins) probably due to the two glasses of wine I had. I did manage to get out of bed around 7:30 and do a 0.9 mile morning walk.
Along the way, I saw another huge night blooming Cereus.
I was early enough these had not closed completely.
I really like the pistil of this plant with the multi-lobed stigma sticking right out at you.
It seemed to be the week for them. I found another a little further down the road.
This afternoon, I had a two hour nap. I know it doesn’t really replace lost night sleep but I surely did enjoy it. Tonight is leftover pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.
Stay tuned and meanwhile, enjoy “Indian Love Call” from YouTube.
I got a good night’s sleep. I insured I did by taking a sleeping pill. Even so, I had, what I think, three of the longest farts of my life as I was reading before bedtime. I’m talking about 6-8 seconds each. That doesn’t seem like a long time until you count it off. It seems I let out all the air they pumped into my colon. It was a relief!
I also got the test results back from the biopsies. He apparently went a little deeper on the endoscopy than I realized because the first pathology report to appear was on the duodenum. It read “No pathologic diagnosis. No evidence of malabsorption.”
For the stomach, it read “No pathologic diagnosis, Negative for H. pylori bacteria.” Hurray! No ulcers!
For the colon, it read “No pathologic diagnosis. No evidence of colitis.”
That’s great news but it still leaves me with the question of why I had three severe bouts of diarrhea in one month’s time. He might make me swallow the horse pill with the camera.
I’ll be honest. I was very worried about the potential results. My mind went all the way to colon cancer and everything else in between, so these results are a little freeing.
I actually feel pretty good today to the point Chris, Tucker and I will be doing movie night tonight. I also feel good enough to make a pot roast for dinner. It’s been a very long time since I’ve wanted to cook anything (other than sweets) and definitely a long time to cook that much meat. I suspect the left over aroma will drive Tucker wild tonight.
I might even get in the mood to start planning another trip. Stay tuned!
My long personal nightmare is over. I never have to have a colonoscopy again! I have it in writing. Although, I’m a little taken aback by the wording. It says “No repeat colonoscopy due to age.” I guess I am now a geriatric case.
After the last prep at 10 am, I pretty much visited the bathroom every hour on the half hour. I was still “outputting” when I left the house around 8:20 when Joel showed up.
They took me back at exactly 9:15 and in a first, the nurse actually filled out the forms she needed for me. All I did was answer her questions.
Just prior, she coyly asked if I needed the restroom (Yes!). Her name is Christine (she goes by Casey) and she was very good putting the IV line into my hand. After she made sure everything was hooked up and running, she handed me off to a nurse who rolled me into an endoscopy room.
I met Dr. “O” who was my anesthesiologist. He ran through the procedure and soon after Dr. Feldman walked in. I get the feeling he’s not one to joke in the procedure room. The same could be said for my previous gastroenterologist in Hollywood. Maybe it is a personality trait all gastro’s exhibit.
Dr. “O” had me take some deep breaths and that’s all I remembered until I waked in the recovery room.
Both tests came back as normal. There were no polyps in my colon but Dr. Feldman took a biopsy to see if he could determine why I was having bouts of diarrhea.
The endoscopy, which went all the way to the stomach, reported a hiatal hernia (I knew about that) and he also took a biopsy of the stomach to check for Helicobacter bacteria which causes ulcers. He did find some inflammation of the esophagus but that’s old news also.
By my count, I’ve had three endoscopies and five colonoscopies. I celebrate that I will never have another colonoscopy. The prep for endoscopy is a piece of cake – not food or water after midnight.
Dr. Feldman mentioned he might want to take a look at my small intestines by camera. I’ll swallow a large pill-like device that will traverse through my GI taking photos along the way like a tourist. He said he’ll be in touch.
The only side effects of the procedure so far is a little residual pooping and gas. They pump air into your colon so they can get a good look. They actually gave me pictures!
Now you know all about the real me! The report also said my prep was “adequate.” I resent that. I usually get praise for how well I’m cleaned out. Of course, I cheated on the last prep and only drank 5 of the 6 glasses. Who knew I was going to be marked down on my clean out evaluation. Now I know how some students feel.
Here’s a tip – never mix the MiraLAX with Crystal Lite. That stuff is tooooo sweet. It’s like Southern iced tea – so sweet your teeth ache.
Joel picked me up after the procedure and we met Barbara at Mom’s for lunch. I had the country fried steak (I used to call it chicken fried steak from the Gulf Cafe in Morton) with mash potatoes and gravy with veggies. I passed on the overcooked veggies but everything else was great. It was good to catch up with Barb from her recent trip.
When Joel got me home, I tried for a nap but it doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Instead, I actually feel like cooking tonight and may make a pot roast to round out the country fried steak. I still may lie down for a nap anyway.
Right now, movie night is on with Chris. I usually am fine after a colonoscopy albeit a little more loopy than usual due to the residual effects of anesthesia.
