Monthly Archives: April 2012

Politics

Below Ground With Medicine

Leave a comment

Spring                                                                Bee Hiving Moon

On errands today I went to Mercy Hospital, got lost in their basement–think rooms filled with IV poles, wheel-chairs, book cases and beds–finally found my way to our Credit Union, then retreated, again through the basement, but knowing where I was going.

On the way I passed the SEIU/Minnesota Nurse Assocation bulletin board.  On it were fliers to encourage documentation of management initiatives claiming to improve patient care, with the real goal of lowering staffing levels.  There was a very long document that related acuity of patient care with staffing needs.  There are struggles going on within medical care that are important for all of us, especially those of us concerned that folks have a decent wage and tolerable and safe working conditions.

As I continued on down the hall, I noticed an Employee bulletin board.  On it were notices of apartments for rent close to the hospital, various kinds of services and, most ironically to me, two notices of fund-raisers.  Fund-raisers for what?  For costs associated with medical care.  Think of it, hospital employees, many of them making minimum wage or just a bit better, gathering with friends to support, with their health-care based salaries, the very system that makes access to itself not only expensive, but in some cases, impossible.

Wandering around in various institutions is fun and educational.  Think I’ll hit the university next.

Family, GeekWorld

Video Phone a Reality At Last!

Leave a comment

Spring                                                            Bee Hiving Moon

Technological victory today.  Mary (Singapore at 10:00pm), Mark (Ha’il, Saudi Arabia at 5:00 pm) and myself (Andover 9 am) on the same video call.  Three little screens with our talking heads beaming in real time (or whatever you call time in the instance where all of us are in different times).  Skype premium at $99.00 a year allows for up to ten individuals on one call with no additional charge.  Even when separated by thousands of miles and the International Date Line.

(screen looks something like the pic above)

That was my entire nuclear family on one video call.  Remember when video-phones were sci-fi what ifs?  Not any more.  And, there’s no phone.  Nothing but net.

Over the last year Mark and Mary and I have moved closer together, seeing each other in person last July and now communicating more regularly than we ever have before.

Mark describes Ha’il as like northern Arizona, Flagstaff/Dine homelands/Grand Canyon/polygamist Mormon country.  Come to think of it Islam allows 4 wives.  Maybe it’s the weather?

Mary says Singapore is hot.  When asked how hot, she said, “Oh, I never know.  But it’s really hot.  I know that.”  According to Weatherunderground the current temp in Singapore is 81 with a dewpoint of 77.  That last is the kicker.  By contrast it’s 84 in Ha’il with a dewpoint of 14.  Just to be complete it’s 54 here with a dewpoint of  48.   Of course that’s a daytime reading for Andover, a night time reading for Singapore and an early evening reading for Ha’il.

Both Mary and Mark are at the ends of their terms, with exams and grading and all that fun stuff on the other end of the teacher-student relationship.  Mark has a classroom full of cement workers.  Mary teaches students at Singapore’s National Teacher’s University.   Mom would have been proud.

Forgot to mention on the call, but I have a tour for ESL students tomorrow.  Both Mary and Mark have ESL backgrounds.

Cinema and Television, Cooking, Family, Health

Kate is Home!

Leave a comment

Spring                                                              Bee Hiving Moon

The home is full again.  Kate got home at 7:00 pm.  Four of us were wagging our tails and I hugged her.  She took off for the doctor yesterday and never came home until just now.

Her arm looks better, not well, but better.  Her spirits are good; though she says she’s “going to play the invalid tomorrow and Thursday.  We’ll see.  She’s not too good in that role.

We had grilled chicken, chard (from last year’s garden) and whole wheat spaghetti with olive oil and butter.  After the meal we both scratched our heads during Tree of Life.

It evoked the era of my childhood so well:  kick the can, swimming, roaming in the fields, running down alleys, getting into mischief.  I pulled back from understanding and went with the flow, the feel of things.  I liked it.  Don’t know that I’d want all the films I see to take that form, but in this case, well done.

Tomorrow.  Some errands.

General

The Man and The Polar Bear

Leave a comment

Spring                                                                  Bee Hiving Moon

If you’re a dog lover, you’ll find this interesting.  Bears and dogs are of the order Carnivora and the suborder, Caniform, or dog-like.  Bear’s closest relatives are pinnids (walrus, sea lions, fur seals) and musteloids (red pandas, weasels, raccoons, skunks).  Still, after seeing this video, you might wonder.

 

Family, Health

Ah.

Leave a comment

Spring                                                          Bee Hiving Moon

A much better sounding Kate called a couple of times this AM.  The swelling has begun to recede which means she’s responding to the IV antibiotics.  Which, thank God, means it’s not one of the resistant strains of strep infections.  She will have her fourth IV infusion at 4 pm, then she’ll come home.

She ordered grilled chicken breast and vegetables for dinner tonight.  The chef is on duty.

She has to keep her arm elevated at or above her shoulder, will have oral antibiotics, but, and this is the really important part, she will be able to go to Denver.  She would not have been a happy camper if she had been unable to see Gabe and Ruth (grandkids).

So.  A big whew here.

Family, Health

In the Hospital

1 Comment

Spring                                                        Bee Hiving Moon

Mentioned Kate’s cellulitis the other day.  Got worse.  She went to the doc today, her regular doc for over 30 years.  Kate called at noon, “I’m going to the hospital.  IV antibiotics.”  Oh.

This had me worried because not long after we were married Kate developed a very serious infection, it turned out to be her first ever herpes simplex to which her body way overreacted.  She damn near died with that one.

So, I’m relieved she’s getting full bore attention for this.

Only one problem.  She has our car.  We talked about my taking a cab in but decided it was too expensive.  I don’t have anything until Wednesday since I passed on the Woolly’s tonight.  If they can knock this back in a day or two, I’ll stay here and take care of the home front.

If she needs me, she’ll call and I’ll get in there.  I could take the Northstar in tomorrow or Wednesday morning.

An unforeseen occurrence in our one car plan.  Weird, huh?

She leaves Friday for Denver, at least that’s the current plan.  Hard to say now.

Weather +Climate

Book of Revelations

Leave a comment

Spring                                                     Bee Hiving Moon

Weather guru Paul Douglas (a Republican who accepts global warming and climate science) said this morning, “I feel like a weather forecaster for the Book of Revelations.  If the 7th day of my 7 day forecast doesn’t appear, head for the hills.”

(our cherry blossoms)

This because he had to assure us that the SNOW today would not accumulate.  Over the last two weeks I’ve gone from furnace to AC and back again twice.  Never before in my memory.

As I ate my delicious Swedish pancakes, thank you Kate, the snow blew and whirled over the bee hives, through the branches of our blooming cherry and pear trees and gathered on the tips of the onions stalks I planted a couple of weeks ago.

Interesting.  As my Norwegian brethren might say.

Aging, Memories, US History, World History

Just Another Miracle

Leave a comment

Spring                                                         Bee Hiving Moon

Polio in the news.  This month’s Scientific American has coverage on the bid to eliminate polio.  That this can be a serious discussion represents a literally unbelievable leap from 1949 when I had polio to now.

(I was a March of Dimes baby.  March, 1950, I think.)

Polio before Salk and Sabin created even more generalized fear than H.I.V.  It devastated millions.  Some of us, like me, had it, recovered and moved on.  Others still wear a brace, have a withered limb, a curved spine.

I’m left with the fading memories of a forgotten terror, a time when a child’s chill could be the precursor to paralysis.  As it was in my case.

It’s strange to have been a victim of a plague most don’t even know ever happened.  Think of those high school seniors I toured last week who were born in 1994.  1949 was 45 years before they were born.  When I turned 18 in 1965 45 years before was 1920.  And 45 years back from my birth date of 1947 was 1902.  It’s as if I had the Spanish flu during the great epidemic and survived.

A miracle, really.

 

Cinema and Television, Writing
Aside Leave a comment

Spring                                                             Bee Hiving Moon

Two weeks ago Kate and I went to see Hunger Games.  This afternoon I went to see Cabin in the Woods.  Not Kate’s kinda movie.  This is the most movies out I’ve seen in a couple of years.

Let me just say this.  If you’re a Lovecraft fan, and I am, you’ll love this movie.  Nuff said.

Humanities, Latin, Writing

Just Plain Fun

Leave a comment

Spring                                         Bee Hiving Moon

Kate has a tendency to get into work outside and not stop.  She just keeps going, head down, tasks to complete.  I admire that but don’t find it in me when I work outside, even though I enjoy that work, too.

On the other hand, when I get into Latin, my head down, keeping going button gets pushed. The next word.  The next phrase.  The next sentence.  Stay at it.  The puzzle part of it keeps me at it, pushes me forward.

Same thing happens when I do research.  One more item. Something new may be on the next page.  In the next book or web page.

Writing can go long, too, but it’s a bit different.  There, the imagination engine runs as long as its fuel gets dredged up, is there to use.  When it’s gone, it’s gone.  No explanation, no reason.  Just gone.

Yes, I can free write past that moment sometimes, that is, pick a different idea, go after it, dislodge a different source, maybe my off-shore oil or the North Sea fields, but just as often, more often, the well has run dry for the moment.

The joy here is that I still love it, all of it.  Latin, research, writing.

The outside work I appreciate, need in the same way I used to need meditation, contemplative prayer.  The inside, head work, is just plain fun.