October 8 - 16, 2005
Another vacation week.
I guess it was the first Saturday I cleaned off the back porch at my house. Torn down the work bench frame. Hauled off some of the junk pile junk but not much of it. Seems like there was other cleaning up things done but I done remember much about it.
I did get that old plastic watering things off the wall in the middle back room and clean it out and clean it up. That's when and where I found the little mouse that had died. I guess that was what was stinking up that room for the last year and half.
I did some other house cleaning. Washed the blankets and curtain towels and stuff like that. Some of those things had never been washed before I think. One of the curtain towels, the black one in the main living space never had been. So when I got them out of the washer down at the clothes washing place by the creek, the stuff still had brown muddy places. I had to rinese out a pair of pants and an old shirt and that towel in the bath tub. It was a couple of weeks later that I took the blankets back to the washette and ran them through the washer again.
But the main event for this vacation was to scrap off old paint chips, wash the dust and dirt off the boards and then spread on some new paint. You know, just paint the house for vacation time.
Just a lot of work every day from Monday to Saturday. Climbing up and down ladders, scraping, washing and painting. I must have climbed up and down a 1000 foot ladder, it felt like. I got the paint from Bivens, Ed Hayes stills works up there some and he got it for me. It's another yellow color and looked really dark compared to the faded chip I took up there for comparison. Coming from Bivens it's probably some really cheap paint, but the manufacturer name says it's been around since the early 1800s.
I took the CD player back over to my house on day to listen to as I painted. Spreading yellow paint to the sounds of Bach, Mozart and Bethoven.
When I first started painting I used a small brush. I thought it was better for getting paint on the overlapped parts of the boards. Did the wall at the back porch and the east half of the front porch. Then I switched to the big brush. It made the painted areas look different, the small brush sections came out darker.
I guess there's not really much to write about painting a house. It was mostly just something to be active with and do instead of wasting away another vacation week. Most of the time was spent just being reflective about the house and painting it and when it was last painted and stuff like that. The important part was not thinking about the way things have been for the last five years.
I did get out a pair of my old green fatigue pants from the navy years. One of those green flight deck jerseys too. Wore them while doing the cleaning and painting.
Back to the smelly, stinky room. I got on of those air freshner things, the kind that kill bacteria, mold and stuff. I used it in that room and the other rooms. It really took the old, abandoned, musty smell out of the house. I've been using it regularly since then. I still need to wash the clothes that have been hanging it that room though. Some of the clothes date back to the sixties and seventies and eighties.
The boxes I use to keep in that room I've got in other rooms now. Every room has boxes in it now, including the main living space and kitchen.
Oh yeah, I straighened up the study room too. Desk is mostly empty now.
Sunday November 6, 2005
1:45p
The last week of October I took down the screens and put up the storm windows. That was a Sunday and it was when Dan and his lady friend got here. They were on their way to see Frances get married the next weekend. So Dan was here to help some with the window changing. I took in the air conditioner in the front bedroom then like I always do.
Last weekend I put the storm windows on the den windows. The first time that's been done in I don't know how many years. Took down the air conditioner in the room too and cleaned it up and put it in the outside storage room. I bet those windows haven't been changed since the early 1980s.
Dan and Mary stayed here from that Sunday they arrived to Wednesday. They slept in the living room on the floor. Mary did a couple of meals and bought Mom an outfit from Moore's. I think they rode around one day, down to Clemson. Other than that it was just sitting around and visiting. They left on Wednesday to be at Frances' for the rehersal and wedding which was on Friday. They were back in New York by Sunday.
Work has been some what more interesting that past couple of weeks. Mostly because I'm trying to do an analysis using LS Dyna, a metal stamping process. I haven't been wasting away time on the message boards as much now.
So anyway I spent today and some last night trying to write up what's been going on for the last two months. Now I'm off to make my usual Sunday afternoon ride to the cemetery.
Monday November 7, 2005
6:00p
One day back in September or maybe early October, it was after the grass quit growing so fast, I spent the day washing the wood work on the porch. It had been a really long time since I did that. I think it must have been about 1996 when I had that hernier operation. Uncle Elbert died that year too.
But anyway, I washed all the wood on the porch and made it look like it had been painted again. Did the same thing on most of the wood in the carport too. It was up and down the step ladder with a bucket of water and rags all day.
I need to think of some other things that have been happening around here. But it mostly seems like the usual things.
I took Mom to see her new doctor again and there was a trip over to St Francis to see her lung doctor too. Nothing out of the ordinary happened on either trip.
Mom did finally decide to buy the wheelchair we had been renting. I made an estimate that we paid about $270 in rent and another $280 to buy it. Should have went ahead and bought it 5 years ago but she didn't want to then. It's always save money by renting instead of buying something. And then eventually buy it in the end.
Aunt Edna died about a month ago. She had been bad off with diabeties and then had a couple of strokes. The last two or three weeks were bad for Bob and his family. Their two daughters came out for a few days a couple of times. Then they were both her the last week.
One of their grandsons came down from New York state where he was going to college. He was the only other one to be at the funeral, his brother and father stayed out in Coloroda. He was a pall bearer and after he and the others had carried the casket from the herest to the grave he stood with the other bearers for a few minutes till the director motioned for him to join the rest of the immediate family.
There were a few people there that I recognized. DM, Mickey, and Linda ... Leander, Susan and Chris ... Garvin Stewart ... some others I've forgotten who they are.
I just stood in the back of the small crowd and left early too. I had parked way on the other side of the cemetery and walked past a few graves I need, mostly Oliver Hughes' family and Julius Hughes.
There's some new neighbors in the ole Cady house. He's a retired merchant marine and his two yound adult children are there too. They moved up for Flordia but he said he had been in the Pickens area before back in the 1980s. Mentioned Ambler school and Midway community and such. I've only talked with him once when he was out burning some limbs that had fallen during the tornado back in the spring. I was driving by for lunch time and stopped to introduce ourselves.
Mrs Hunter had the big water oak tree between her house and Mom's house trimmed this summer. It looks really thinned out now. She had the one in the front corner of her house done too, they cut back all the limbs on it. I wonder how the cold wind and ice build up will be on the tree now.
Well I guess that's all I can remember for now. It seems like most of the other things aren't worth remembering and typing up.
December 3, 2005
11:30a
Twenty seven years ago this past Thursday, Dad died. It was Friday December 1, 1978.
Almost a month has passes since the last entry. I guess that use to be normal in the past, make about a month apart. But it's better than going a whole season without writing anything.
Last weekend was Thanksgiving holiday. I cooked a meatloaf for our Thanksgiving lunch. Fixed some boxes stuffing and some vegetable which I can't remember what it was now. Mom started fixing some potatoes for a potato salad. She peeled and cut them up but she got tired and had to sit back down. I cooked them and got them ready to be mixed with the other ingrediants on the kitchen table so she could sit there and finish them.
It must have been Saturday when I did the yard work of raking leaves. I put some in the back of the truck till it was full. Piled some around the pecan tree. Then I cut the lawn again to cut up the rest. I had raked some a couple of weeks before and put them up next to the propety line in back of the house. The last thing I did was rake some of them back down into the yard to run over them with the mower. I was doing that when I felt the left rear of the mower go down. I thought it was slipping on the leaves. I had made another couple of passes over the leaves before I realized the tire had come off the rim. So that was the end of that work day.
Come to think of it. I may have done the raking and hauling off of leaves the week before I did the cutting. But that's typical now too. I can't remember anything for very long.
Anyway it was after a really long day of outside work. I was in the bathroom cleaning up when my heart did its out of rythem thing. That hadn't happened in a long time. Probably not since I quit drinking coffee and getting up at three in the mornings. It lasted the rest of the evening. I got the heart and oxygen gadget out of the cabinet and used it. My rate was 103 and that was a couple of hours after it started. I went to bed like that. But the next day it was back to normal.
At least I got some use out of gadget I got for Mom. Her pulse is so irregular and weak it doesn't work on her.
A man at work who had kept in contact with Randy Hein sent a email with some recent commuication with him. I wrote my ole friend Randy an email one day this past week. So after two of three years of not keeping in touch I finally got started doing that again. He's job worried like most of us and doesn't know how much long his job will hold out.
It's strange sort of too. About Sunday or Monday night I dreamed of my other ole friend from the Navy years, Chuck Robinson. It felt like he was or had been trying to contact me off and on for the last ten years too. Just like I use to find him. Then it was Wednesday or so when I wrote Randy for the first time in years.
I've been busy at work instead of having to wait for something to come along to work on. Doing an FEA on a couple of parts and have been trying to learn how to get LSDyna to work on another part. The LSDyna thing was getting interesting but then along came some other work to do. That turned into a lot of work since the geometry wouldn't mesh. Had to fix that and then do the analysis the old way in ANSYS. It ended up I did one of the analysis on the wrong part and now I have to do that part over again. I think I mess up things subconsiously most of the time while I worry about how I going to mess up while doing the work. Self fulfilling prophecy thing.
I did get up in the attic and put cardboard over the roof vent openings one day these past weeks. Did that last year to keep the cold air from being pulled through the walls and out the roof. At least I like to think that helps.
I still go up to Woodies grave on the weekends. That message in a plastic bottle is still there. It had been moved from the small marker where I left it into the front of the headstone. But that lasted on a couple of weeks and it's been back where I left since then.
A former marine was buried at the cemetery two weeks ago. I had to park in the church parking lot that time. I saw a van pull into the church parking lot and one of the marine guards got out and started walking up to the grave site. The funeral procession came a minute or so later and he had to run up the drive to get into his place. I got out and stood by the truck during part of it. Heard the bugle play and then saw another one of the guards walk pass Woodie's grave. He probably didn't even know who else was buried there. A little later I saw the other two guards and watched them get in the van and leave.
[I was going to write something here that I had thought of while writing then next line. But now I can't remember what was suppose to go here.]
I guess I will try and do some Christmas shopping this afternoon. At least drive around and pretend to shop.
Sunday December 11, 2005
12:15p
Last Saturday, the day I wrote I would go shopping, I did that. Stopped at Moore's at the shopping center down by the creek. Bought Mom a house coat and me a pair of shoes and a pair of pants. Had them wrapped there too, there were two elderly ladies doing the wrapping and that made me think they were having to go extra jobs to make money. It took several minutes so I looked around a little while waiting. Saw that Moore's had some BellSouth cordless phones which was kind of odd since it was mostly a clothing store. Except they had other none clothes stuff too anyway. So I looked at them and decided I would look for cordless phones at Home Depot in Easley. Made some small talk with the ladies and a customer while they were wrapping stuff. I had seen it was suppose to sleet, ice and snow Thursday and I mentioned that. About the time they finished with my stuff another lady and her husband brought up a lot of things to be wrapped. I knew it would be a long time for them to get all those done. The odd thing was that the lady was well passed middle age and her husband looked a lot younger like maybe thirty something.
I drove on down to Easley and straight to the Home Depot place. Found the phone shelves and about all they had were cordless. I had thought about a wall phone for the kitchen since it was messing up sometimes but they didn't have one. It was all new cordless stuff. I got a Uniden with two phones, one for the front bedroom and one for the kitchen and Mom could leave them in the bedroom and bathroom during the day without having to carry one around when she moves from place to place.
I guess sometime the during the previous days I had made up my mind to get a new computer no matter what. So I drove on to Staples to see what they had, even though I had told myself that I would never go there to get a computer again. They had a HP machine and was looking at it and talked with one of the sales representatives. It seemed to be the better buy with more stuff and faster than the Gateway they had. But of course when I decided and he started looking for one in the lock up room they didn't have any left. He looked on their interstore network and found some in Senca and Greenville but I didn't want to drive that far. So I end up getting the Gateway which probably meant I wouldn't really like it. The rest of the time was getting all the paper work done and checked out.
I started using my credit card at Moore's and then Home Depot and then at Staples. They all scanned the card and have those electronic signatures devices. I had wondered on the way down to Easley if I would be asked for a picture ID sooner or later. I seldom use my card and figured using it three or four times close together would trigger some response. So it did, the check out lady asked for the ID after scanning the card. I guess that's good, it means the card company's computer system senses when something out of the ordinary is happening.
I just drove straight back to Pickens after getting the stuff. I did sit out in the truck at the shopping center place where Staples is before leaving. Oh wait. I drove straight up to Holly Springs and sat there for a few minutes before getting back to Mom's house.
Seems like I stopped at Burger King for a hamburger between Moore's and Home Depot too.
So most of the week I've spent getting the new computer going and getting familar with it. I did go back to Staples Wednesday to get a McAfee securty package and ended up getting a USB to parallel and USG to serial cables. The new computers don't have any of the older type connections which go to the camera and Iomega drive. There's always more stuff to buy when getting a new computer after 7 seven years.
Mom had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday. I had been running the car some to get it ready. Drove it down to get gas and air in the tires the Sunday before. The doctor's visit was just normal and mostly for prescriptions. The doctor talked with Mom some about the usual things but Mom just won't take any new medicines or do anyting different. So anyway that's over with for till March, at least with her regular doctor. She still has to go see the lung doctor in January if she can get an appointment. But that won't make much difference either since all he does is just say everything is the same.
At work I've must have used the iexplorer browser too much. It's broken now and won't connect to webpages. That's good since I really need to stay off the internet at work anyway. I waste too much time there especially when there's no project to work on and I don't really know what to do when that happens.
Mom's neighbor in front had the man who does her lawn work to vacumn up the leaves out of Mom's yard one day last week. I had cleaned up the yard the weekend or two before but then a big wind came and blew more into Mom's yard. So she wanted to have them cleaned from this yard too. But now more leaves have fallen and I was thinking about running over the yard with the mower this weekend but I haven't. It's still windy and leaves are blowing everywhere again too. There's still leaves on the tree at Mom's other neighbor on the west. So why bother.
Maybe it's cause the last time I used the riding mower the tire came off the wheel. I got that fixed this past week too. I had taken it off the mower and put it in the back of the truck days before. When I finally got around to getting it somewhere the tire had mostly fixed itself. All the tire tech man had to do was put air in it. He didn't charge me anything either.
The truck needs new tires on the front too. I've worn them out by not rotating them. The truck pulls to the right but I thing it's always done that since it was hit from behind before I got it.
I'm tired of writing now and can't think of much of anything else to write even though I'm sure there's lots I should write about.
Friday December 23, 2005
6:40p
Wednesday evening, December 14, the forecast was for freezing rain over night. That didn't happen till after I got up Thursday morning about 5:30. It had just started and the weather website radar showed more would be here soon. Out on the porch for my first cigs of the day I could hear it coming down. The neighbor's big tree was already starting to fall apart. Off in the distance I could hear trees snap and pop and crash. By 7:30 the power had flickered a few times and then went out.
Mom had gotten up a little earlier than normal too. We watched the early morning news for weather reports till the power went off. I had already turned off the oxygen concentrator since it was trying to keep going when ever the power flicked back on. I got the big tank in the corner of the den going. I think she went back to bed soon after the power went off.
I don't remember if I had already done my morning hair washing and face shaving but I guess I had. There wasn't much to do far a while except sit, pace and go on the porch to start the waiting. Most of the freezing rain had ended by 8:00 but the damage had already been done.
The other neighbor called about mid morning. She talked about Ingles being open and serving hot food. I got the impression of going down there about lunch time to get them and us something. But later when I called down there to see what they wanted, she had said someone else had gone down there and got them a late breakfast. That's what she was hinting about when she called me but I didn't pick up on it.
I went out got Mom and me a lunch from Ingles. I sat in the bedroom to eat with her. That afternoon I went out again to see what I could learn about the power. At the Blue Ridge Electric they said it was really bad and was going to be two or three days till power was back on. When I got back I told Mom she should start thinking about going to the hospital. They let people on oxygen go there when the power is off. But she wouldn't have anything to do with. That upset me even though I knew she wouldn't go. It was going to be a long hard cold ordeal to get through.
Called the Air Care people and made arangements for more big oxygen tanks. They brought one in that evening, or rather he did on his shoulder. Those things are five feet high and weight at least two hundred pounds. So at least the oxygen was taken care of for another twenty four hours.
I slept in the den every night the power was out. It was off from Thursday morning to Saturday morning about 10:00. I didn't sleep much the first night, woke up about 11:30 after about 3 hours sleep. I would sit in the den some, go out on the porch some and look at the lights on the other side of the Vickery house, sit in the truck some, lay on the sofa some, all the time thinking about the cold and oxygen tanks and Mom not wanting to go to a place where it was warm and they had plenty of oxygen.
About 2:00 or 2:30 Friday morning I go for a ride around to see what's happening. There's lights on about a half mile East of Trotter Hill Road. Back tracked to Trotter Hill road and drove down by DM and Mickey's, they didn't have power. Got up town and there were lights on the South side of Main Street but not the North side. That looked strange. The Town Creek Plaza had power. I learned later they have some sort of dedicated power line. Went back to Mom's house to sit and wait for daylight.
Friday morning I made a couple of trips to town to get biscuits. The first time they weren't open by 5:30 like they normally are. The second time about 6:30 it was drive through only. That was the first time I had gone through their drive through. Mom had eating her usual bowl of cereal. She ate one of the biscuits and sipped some of the coffee I got for her.
Friday was spent making trips to town for hamburgers at lunch time and pizza Friday night. I think, I can't remember for sure about the pizza that night, it may have been something else. Mom stayed in bed all the time. I sat in the den or paced about on the porch. I made another trip to BRE to check on the status of things. They weren't even half done with repairs.
There were phone calls from - to different people, DM, Leander, Lucille. I talked with Lucille once to she how she was doing. A short while later she called back wanting me to get her some kindling. I mentioned getting her a pizza too the first time. So Friday afternoon I went to Ingles to get the kindling and stopped by Pizza Inn for the pizza and then drove out to her house. We sat in her living room for a few minutes and talked. I thought I had done my good deed for the storm. But Saturday afternoon she called and said she had to go to the emergency room for a virus of some kind. Then later on Sunday she called and said she was in the hospital because of some kind of blockage in her intestants. So much for me doing something good for someone, it turns out to be bad karma.
Friday night about dark time Mrs P called wanting me to come down to get the vent on their fireplace opened. So I go do that. Another neighbor, Mrs A. came in while I was there to tell about the hospital being open for people on oxygen. She told about the elderly couple neighbors hardships. I had called them once but the phone was busy so it was good they were at least talking with someone. Someone took them down to Clemson for Thursday night but they were back in their house Friday and Friday night. I finish lighting the was log for the Ps and then came on back up to Mom's house. A little later she called and said their son was coming to get them and take them to his place on the other side of Greenville.
Friday evening the Air Care guys brought two more big tanks. I had talked with them earlier and it sounded like I would have to go there early Saturday morning to get a lot of little tanks for the weekend. There were two of them this time, one was the guy from Thursday evening. Friday night I cleaned up some and changed clothes. I actually slept most of the night and only got up once or twice to go out on the porch.
Early Saturday morning I see a utility pickup drive around the block. A little later I go out for a ride to see what's happening. I get down to the highway and see four or five utility trucks driving up the highway from Pickens. That's when I finally broke down and cried. Relief had finally arrived. Out the Ridge they were working in some places too. I drive by DM and Mickies and they had power on down that road. I get back to Mom's house and tell her it shouldn't be much longer. Then I go take the trash off and while I'm gone the power comes back on. I sat out the in the truck for a while wanting it to be on when I go in.
I had turned the furance off Thrusday too, didn't want it to try to start running when the power was turned on and then flicker off and on. So after I'm sure it going to stay on I turn the furnance on and the thermstat up from 47 to about 53. I let it get up a few degrees and stop for a while and then turn it up more.
I'm not sure what I did the rest of Saturday. Just put up the extra covers and move stuff back into the front bedroom and stuff like that. I empty most of the stuff out of the refrigrator and freezer and took it to the dump. Went down to Ingles to buy more groceries. Saw Mrs H there and talked a few minuties. She was another one who left the neighbor hood to go stay with daughters both Thursday and Friday. I did drive up to the Holly Springs cemetery that afternoon.
I fixed hot dogs for supper Saturday night.
Sunday was suppose to be a good day. I cooked a ham and bake a cake. Fixed some stove top stuffing and mash potatoes too. But Mom said early morning that she hadn't urniated good in two days. So I called Mrs A but she had already gone to church. Mr A had had an operation
Monday December 26, 2005
4:45p
Continuing from last entry. Mrs A called during the later part of the morning after the church services. She said 24 hours was the latest you would want to wait for urniation. She said to drink fluids which I told her Mom was already doing and to call EMS about 3 or 4 at the latest. She's a nurse and said she could go up to the hospital to get what she needed to do a cathertor thing. Leander called soon after noon time and I told her what was going on. She talked with Mom some and then me again and said pure cranberry juice was good to help the kidneys, bladder and urination. So I go down to Ingles to get that and Mom starts to drink that. About 2:30 or 3:00 Mom starts to urintate again. I call Mrs A and Leander and tell them the latest. So that crisis was over with.
Also during Sunday morning Lucille called and told about having to go back to the hospital. Well after I left her Friday when I took the pizza to her she had to go that evening. They thought it was some kind of virus and sent her back home late that night. She couldn't find any of her family and had to call EMS that evening too. So Sunday she called and said she had to go back to the hospital because the doctor thought the xrays and tests should something else going on. It could be somekind of blockage like DM had a few years ago. But hers turned out to be an infection in the digestive tract. That was the last I talked with her till this past Sunday. She was back home again and having to take medicine for the infection and start eating better food.
Last Monday was the first day back at work after all the ice storm, bladder problems and infection problems. It was mostly a regular work day. I did have to go out back to help Scott do a sound test. That did happen like it was suppose to because the trimmer engine was running slow and rough. We just sat out back till Scott got some answers from the man wanting the test done. He used his cell phone to call a thousand yards up to the offices and down to the Anderson plant. We just packed the stuff back up into his truck and went back to the lab.
Tuesday morning I woke up about the regular time. My back was hurting and I figured it must have been the way I slept or something like that. Tuesday afternoon I help Scott and Earl do the outdoor sound testing. Doing the lifting and carrying and moving around made my back worst. I should have just quit and told them I couldn't do it anymore but I kept on doing stuff.
My back has bothered me every day since then and now it will a week since it started. Sometimes it would feel better but the next morning it was start hurting again. Scared and tensed up that when I move it's going to hurt which makes it worst. Couldn't bend over at the sink and wash my hair, couldn't bend over to put my socks and shoes on, couldn't hardly get up off the floor in the mornings. I used the heating pad a few days especially a lot yesterday but I quit that today. Bought some Alleve and used a few of them. I had one good night and thought it was all over with, that was Thursday I think. But it came back.
I've about decided it was sleeping on something hard, I can't sleep on my blanket mat on the floor anymore I guess. And the matteress bed use to make my back hurt. If I lay flat on my back it eventually goes away but when I turn or twist over or something like that it causes that first shape pain like somethings going to happen. Of course I'm tense and moving slow trying not to cause that. I read in one of my medical books that disc problems cause sharp pains down the legs or arms but nothing like that has happened yet.
And during these last few days I'm worried about getting to where I can't do what's neccessary around here to take care of Mom. Will I be able to lift oxygen tanks, or the wheel chair, or do anything to help her off the floor if/when she falls.
Thursday, the last half work day before Christmas, the computer at worked died. One of the guys there had more memory to put in it after it quit working the week before. After he swapped the memory it wouldn't boot back up, it would just sit there and beep. It's going to be Thursday this week before they get a replacement. I won't have much to do tomorrow and Wednesday.
Friday was an off day. I drove down to Home Depot and got the vanity cabinet, sink and faucets for Mom's bathroom. I just went ahead and did that even though my back had that constant dull type of pain. There wasn't much joy in doing anything this Christmas weekend. I just went though the motions.
I got the Christmas stuff down out of the attic before the ice storm. Most of it is still sitting in the middle bedroom. I didn't put up the tree or set out any of the decorations except the manger and churchs and the wicker bells. That's was all the Christmas look about the house.
Christmas morning started out ok, it was one of the good mornings when my back didn't hurt much. I sent out the Christmas morning email greeting and that was about all I did on the internet. Went and got my morning grooming stuff done. Then I started cooking the sausage and eggs like we always have Christmas morning. Dan and Mary sent down some of her breads and a pack of bacon. I decide to cook some of it also. It smokes up the house so I opened the right side kitchen sink window. That went ok. Then I reached up to open the left side window. My spine just crackled about 7 times. So that was the end of the good morning.
I had the window open and the door opened to let out some of the cooking smoke. That was when Mom came into the kitchen. So I closed them and finished doing the cooking. We ate breakfast and then opened the presents. Mom's never too enthuased about anything anymore. Her comment about the faucet and vanity was she didn't understand why just a washer couldn't be replaced. We had gone though that back in the Spring when the plumbers couldn't even get the fixutures apart to replace the washers.
There were the usual Christmas phone calls, execpt Robert didn't call. Leander called and talked about getting Bob and Elizabeth to come up to Mom's house that afternoon. So that was what happened. She brought sandwiches and a pecan pie. We had some of the bread that Mary had made. But mostly Mom, Leander and Bob got to be together on Christmas day. Again Mom did her usual complaining about having a get together. But while it's going on she seemed happy enough. So again her complaining about things is just meant for me to hear and be sad about it.
This morning I laid on the bed for a couple of hours. It still made my back stiff but not as much as being on the floor and having to get up. Sitting in the chair in the den seems to be good for it especially since I quit using cushions.
This afternoon I went down to Moore's and bought a new, lonnnnnger belt, another pair of pants and some walking shoes. Then I went over to my house and laid on my couch with the plywood bottom. It still made my back stiff when I got back up. So it's just the way my back is going to be now. Can't sleep on anything hard like I have been for decades, can't sleep on any matteress either.
I fooled around there for a while. Then I bored a hole in my new belt because it wouldn't buckle up snug in the first hole. My new walking shoes are too tight, should have gone with the 13s instead of the 12s and they don't make wide ones anymore either. Of course the pants of too big but I had rather have them that way than too small like the last ones I got. That would be the ones I got last Christmas and didn't start wearing till two or three months ago.
Well I've wrote about everything I could think of to write about. But I'm sure there's lots more I could have written about. I guess everyone is like Randy and don't really want to read about anyone else's bad news life anyway. I've been washing the new clothes and some of Mom's bed covers and dish cloths and such today too. Got to go hang some of them up and then eat supper.
Oh yeah, I'm going to start eating less too. It's just not right for me to have a 42 inch gut.
Saturdy December 31, 2005
9:00a
The back pain continued on into Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week. There were a few times when it would be a really sharp pain. And when I would get up in the morning my back would stiffen and tense up so that I could not even bend over to put on my pants, socks, shoes. It was scary to even get stood up after laying down all night. It was like some kind of feed back thinking thing, once the muscles started tightening up that made me get more tense which made my muscles tightening up more.
I slept on the bed Monday and Tuesday nights. That made it even worse. Tuesday morning I couldn't get started standing up without those back muscles going into spasms. I remember having to crawl into the bath room Tuesday morning. I don't know why I even thought of trying to sleep on the beds. That made my back hurt five years ago when I didn't have any back problem.
Wednesday I made an appointment to see Doctor Douglas and it was fortunate that it would be for the next day, Thursday. Actually the rest of Wednesday seem to be getting better since I had finally decided to get something done about it.
Thursday morning was hard to get started again but not like after getting up from the bed. I thought it might be a good day. There was a sharp pain shoot across the top of my buttocks while sitting on the toliet. I got ready for work like normal and went on to work. There are lots of empty offices in the old office section and I went looking for a better chair. I found one and rolled it back to my office. Then I had printed out my notes about what's been going on with me to show/tell Dr Douglas and was walking back to my office when another spasm attack happened. I just barely managed to make back to my office to sit down.
4:25p
I sat there at the desk for a few minutes while deciding whether to wait till the doctor's appointment at 2:40 that afternoon or try to make it to the emergency room. I didn't want to drive myself, didn't want to have Mom hear about me being at the emergency room, didn't want to stay at work expecting it to get worst. I finally called Scott at his office and told him he would have to help me get to the hospital.
We got up there about 9:30 and was there till 12:00 noon time. Scott just had to sit out in the waiting room most of the time. It was a busy morning for them too and I had to wait my turn. The doctor came in and I started telling him about what's been happening with me the last ten days. He saw me looking at my notes and asked what was that. I handed it to him. After he looked it over for a couple of minutes he said I had just about nailed an injured muscle description.
Of course he had xrays done anyway. There was some more waiting and then the nurse came in. I had to get into one of those hospital gowns with the opened back. She got me a blanket to cover up with too. She worked at Oconee hospital and said they wouldn't do that but that she would like patients have some sense of modisty. It was a wheelchair ride to the xray room. She went fast too and some of the other workers up there said they knew to get out of her way. I had to lay on the table for the xrays and had to turn over on my side for one of them. But it all got done without any problems.
Back at the exam room there was more waiting while the doctor looked over the xrays. Everything was in place and no bad discs. It seemed like it took another 45 minutes before I got to leave.
Scott took me back to the plant to get my truck. I drove on up to Mom's for lunch about the normal time. Scott had already called her about 11:30 to let her know what was going on. She thought Scott would be bringing me and had tried to have something done for him to eat. She always makes things more complicated than she has too. That's why I don't like things to get out of a normal routine.
I stayed at her house till time for the doctor's appointment. So the afternoon was spent doing more waiting to see a doctor. It was a typical visit to the doctor, wait in the waiting room, wait in the exam room, talk with the doctor a few minutes and then leave. I told him much the same as I told the other doctor. He looked over the prescriptions the emergency room doctor had wrote up and told me about them again. Told me some exercises to do while sitting at the office. He said me sleeping on the blanket mat on the floor was the best anyway. At least he approves of my sleeping place. It was a typical friendly visit with Doctor Douglas. Told me to come back if it hasn't gotten better in a week or so.
Thursday night I caused my back to start to hurt when I was cleaning up. My foot slipped a little and the twist to keep my balance caused the back to start again. It wasn't as bad as before, I had taken two of the medicine pills early so maybe that kept it from getting really bad. Anyway the night was mostly laying awake even though the medicine was suppose to make me sleepy.
Friday I stayed at mom's house execpt of a couple of hours. I went in to work and fill out my time sheet. Stood around and watched three of the guys do a lab test that involved dropping a weight onto a shock absorber and measure the impact force and acceleration. I took the trash off to the recycle place sometime this day too. Friday night was one of the better nights since it all started. I guess the pills have started to make the hurt stay away. I know the muscle is still injured though.
Saturday has been mostly normal. Washed clothes in Mom's laundry room and then took them down to the place by the creek. Fixed some eggs on toast with some of the bacon and ham that's been here. Drove though the old neighborhood for the last day of the year ritual. Then went up to Holly Springs. Stopped by my house and cut my hair, I think I do that the last week of the year now too. Other than that it was lay around the house and let the medicine put me to sleep.
So the computer's been on all day for me to get this wrote up. And I still need to write a note to Daniel and Robert about my back problem.