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THE LEG UNVEILED
We went down to the orthopaedic office to have Robert's leg checked and re-cast. He chose red for this week's color. Next week he will have another cast and that one will be for five weeks; after that, he may get what they call a "boot".
I'll post all the pictures in the photo galleries, but here is one of the bare foot.
NORTH SIDE NUMBERS?
Well, I just saw what my granddaughter brought home from school regarding the pick-up procedure after school. According to this memo, parents/grandparents/whoever picking up a child will have and 8 by 11 "colorful" piece of paper to hold up with a number on it. A monitor outside the school will read and note the number and repeat it into a walkie-talkie. Another monitor inside the school will then summon the child with that number and send him/her out.
I am not sure about this. So the cars are all lined up and they read your number and - oops, that kid drops his books and it takes forever to pick them up and all the cars are waiting with no kids coming out? Or you forget your number, or someone devious counterfeits the "colorful" paper and picks up a child that is not his and . . . ?
I think this plan is overly rigid and almost un-American and will not work smoothly. So, we shall forget Summer's name and just start referring to her by her Orwellian moniker . . . or not.
HIBERNATOR ARRIVING TOMORROW NIGHT
Yes, Hibernator will be coming to Fort Wayne airport late tomorrow evening and then I will drive him to Kendallville up to see Little Ann, his sweetheart. I remember once when he flew into Chicago and took a rental car to my mother's, I met him there we drove back to Kendallville in the two cars. Little Ann rode with him and as we came down Riley Street, she stuck her head out the passenger window and her ears caught in the wind. It was as if she were saying, "Look, I'm with my Ron; he came to see ME."
UPDATED APPLE FESTIVAL WEBSITE
Okay, the title about says it all - you can find out what's scheduled by looking
HERE.
ANOTHER SICK ONE
Ack! Ack! Now Alison is under the weather. So we have Robert in the living room with his foot on a pillow and Alison on her way to the doctor. Will update. Okay, Dr. Corbin says it's a pulled muscle.
Although I don't care for Garrison Keillor's politics, I do like listening to the news from Lake Wobegon and have told Robert to lie back and relax while I play some of them for him. Today it listened to "Summer" stories and one of those was "Tomato Butt." I don't know if they have it on itunes . . . but it's pretty good.
A READING PARTNER
Cameron and I were in the library last week and he got a book by Jack Higgins, "Luciano's Luck." He has read it and passed it on to me. He remarked last night that reading was better than TV because "you feel like you are there." He gave me a look that asked if I knew what he meant and I gave him back one that said, yeah, I sure do.
I think he is reading "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown now, and then either his dad or I will be next in line. I guess the nice thing to do would be to let the guy with the broken leg have it .
I believe once in college we had a book three or four of us wanted to read, but it was quite long so we divided it into sections - it was a paperback - and just passed them down the line, sort of like a row, row, row your boat thing.
THE LEG SAGA
Well, I certainly would not like to be in Robert's position - okay, the lying back on a pillow is not bad in itself, it is the lying with a painful leg on pillows that is not cool, not to mention the fact that lying down ALL THE TIME is actually not something to be wished for. I have lain stretched out on a sofa with a book in hand and thought, "Oh, I wish I could lie here all day." I probably don't mean that. I can't imagine being dependent on someone to bring me my beloved peanut-butter sandwiches.
As one of the care-givers, I find there are some sounds that get my attention - such as that of a straw bringing up the last of the punch in the glass. That is usually an indication to wait for the sound of a bell, followed by a request for something more to drink . . . and then the call for urinal duty.
Last night, Summer took temporary possession of the bell. She would ring it and then I would hear her whisper to her dad, "Tell Mom you want some Hawaiian Punch and you want it NOW." Most of her bell-ringing and verbal prompts were punctuated with giggles. He asked her about the little boy who cried wolf, but she just giggled some more.
She has been very good about looking our for her dad's leg and would follow along as we moved him from bed to car and back, telling him, "Don't worry, Daddy, we'll take care of you."
SUNDAY
Okay, the modem was fixed on Friday afternoon by a very nice man whose name I did not get, but he used to live on Dowling, not far from where I live. He asked about Sydney's breed (Australian Shepherd) and said he used to have a border collie - Consuela.
MODEM TROUBLE
The cable modem has been acting up for a few days and yesterday it was not functioning most of the time. The men from Mediacom are coming this afternoon to look at it and I am taking advantage of any intermittent connection to stave off withdrawal symptoms.
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
YEA!!! Oh, was that a little obvious? I took some pictures this morning, but with taking Robert to Dr. Warrener's for the pre-op physical and then making a trip to Wal-Mart, I haven't had a chance to post them . . . and maybe after I review them, I may decide to just pretend tomorrow is the first day of school and start over.
Colin is riding bus 48 with Marie to school and coming home with Peggy on bus 51. I have met both and they are really nice. He is home now and soon Cameron and Summer will be showing up from Middle School and the new North Side.
A HOAX!! BUT THERE WAS A SNAKE??
It turns out, according to this
ARTICLE , that the story about snakes in a theater during a showing of Snakes on a Plane was a hoax. Not funny, not funny, not funny.
SNAKES ON A PLANE
Click on
SNAKES to see a story about two diamondback rattlers released in a theater while Snakes on a Plane was playing.
CABIN FEVER IN KENDALLVILLE
It's not pioneer times, but I have cabin fever since Robert broke his leg and someone has to be here with him . . . of course, I imagine his cabin fever is much worse since he is in bed with his leg up and his only trips outside are painful wheelchair to car to doctor's office ones.
Moving him was much easier when he first came home from the hospital . . . weighing just over five pounds.
OH, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE
Read this
ARTICLE to see how really outrageous some things can be.
HINT: Here's the headline:
Sunday school teacher dumped for being female
SNAKES ON A PLANE
Is it physically possible for me to go see this movie in a theater without bolting?
Without screaming? I will probably wind up watching it from under an afghan and behind a sofa while it plays on a DVD.
AT THE STRAND - AUGUST 19
John Tucker Must Die Rated PG-13, 1 hr 27 min
Showtimes: 7:15, 9:15
World Trade Center Rated PG-13, 2 hr 5 min
Showtimes: 7:00, 9:15
SITTING WATCH
A WAKE UP FALL
I knew that people were staying shorter periods of time in hospitals and not being admitted from ER's to the degree that they had been a generation or so ago. I did not realize that all at once an untrained person could be expected to care for someone with a serious condition. The "all at once" phrase is important here, because it mean just what it says; it doesn' t mean all at once after some training or instruction.
Robert's leg is extremely bad according to Dr. Karr in at Fort Wayne Orthopaedics. He will not be able to bear weight on it for at least three months after the surgery - which is a week from tomorrow. And in the meantime, without stabilizing screws and a cast, he is in severe pain with any movement.
This is the situation we had on our hands Tuesday night. Getting him out of the car and into a wheelchair was awful, then getting him into the house, onto a sofa, positioning the leg, then moving him the next day to go to Parkview North.
We have no education on how to do these things. He weighs 275 pounds.
I think there is a need for the medical community to be educating the public on what may be expected of them in the era of shorter stays and more care at home situations. Maybe we should learn how to use crutches before we need them, take basic wheelchair operation lessons, learn how to do things without causing unnecessary pain to the patient.
I have interviewed Dave Hunter of Parkview Noble a couple of times about the hospital and the care it offers, maybe I need to talk to him about the care people are now expected to provide at home and an educational plan to that purpose.
PARKVIEW NORTH - Part One
As it turned out Robert did not go to Parkview North yesterday. He was sent home with crutches and we were told Parkview North would call him at 8 a.m. to talk about getting him on that day's schedule with a surgeon who specializes in ankle and foot fractures. Yes!! He was to eat nothing after midnight.
On the way home last night, Alison and I looked at each other and she said, "We're going to need a wheelchair", so I stopped at Chronister's and, fortunately, they had one. Then we were faced with the fact that we had no training as to how to maneuver a man with a freshly broken broken leg that stuck straight out in front. How to get him out of the car; how to get him into the house, how to a lot of things.
I know I didn't handle it well, though Alison was a trouper. We got him settled on the sofa.
But this is not even the half of it.
The next day there was no call from Parkview North and when we called, they didn't exactly have a record of what was going on. They said for us to come at 2 pm and keep him on the nothing by mouth rule.
Okay, getting someone with a painful broken leg into a car from a wheelchair is even harder than getting him out - they even had trouble doing so a Parkview Noble, so I guess we should have anticipated it. Alison figured out a way to do it, but I was scared Robert would fall and slam his leg against the car and then the concrete . . . or just go directly down to the concrete - HARD.
He managed it, however, and my mother drove Alison and Robert to Parkview North while I stayed with Colin. I had told Mother to get on Lima Road and then it was just two left turns - one onto Dupont and one into the hospital itself.
However, right where Dupont and I-69 cross, right there just before you get to Parkview North - the road was closed for maintenance. Great! Just really great! Mother called to say that a very nice lady had helped them find the hospital after they were lost on side streets.
That is where we are now . . . or, rather, where they are.
It has been an eye-opening experience for me. I had it in my head you took a sick person to the hospital and they got them all just fine and then you brought them home to recuperate. I had no idea the modern medical world expected a nincompoop such as I to know how to move around a big person with a leg broken in three places, not to mention the tendon damage suffered in the ankle dislocation. (Not that I mind the effort, it is the fear of causing someone pain because I am not trained for such activity that upsets me.)
Alison tells me I am spoiled, that that is the way it is now. She is right; I am spoiled. I mean, doesn't the hospital know I am a baby boomer? That I expect everything to be "just right" for me?
But wait! Don't just look at it from my point of view.
Imagine being the person with the broken leg with me as a wheelchair pusher . . . not a comforting thought.
THREE BONE BREAKS - ON TO PARKVIEW NORTH
The x-rays showed Robert has leg and ankle bone breaks. He also had a dislocated ankle and it had to be put in place by pulling on the leg - with the broken bones. He is going to Parkview North today. Updates coming.
KENDALLVILLE EMS TO 310 N. RILEY
Robert was just hopping over the short picket part of the fence when . . . ack . . . his foot slipped and got caught between two pickets. He broke his ankle in a pretty dramatic angle so we called 911.
The crew was very nice and proficient and saw to his comfort level as well as his injury.
No, I did not run in to get the camera . . . It was in my pocket.
VIETNAM MOVING WALL TO BE IN ROME CITY
An article in the Kendallville Mall discusses The Moving Wall which will be in Rome City this week.
Here is the intro:
The Moving Wall will be at Kelly Park in Rome City during Chautauqua Days, August 17-20. It brings with it the history of a country and the remembrance of those who died from 1959 to 1975 in that conflict. It is a solemn subject, yet one right at home in at a summer festival in a Midwestern town.
It is a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and they both have an intertwined and compelling history.
You can read the entire article
HERE.
BIRD FLU - MISLEADING HEADLINE
On the homepage of CNN national news, I found this headline:
Reported U.S. bird flu no threat, feds say. But when I clicked on it, I saw this headline:
Reported U.S. bird flu probably no human threat, feds say. That seems to be a different meaning to me and I wonder how many people just read the linking headline and didn't go to the actual article.
KENDALLVILLE - GLAD TIDINGS GONE
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving down Main Street when a passenger remarked that Glad Tidings was no longer open, not as in "closed for lunch" but as in "gone, out of here, history." I believe the store is in bankruptcy. Not a good sign for Main Street.
CINDY SHEEHAN ON LIQUID DIET - TERRORISTS MAKE LIQUID BOMBS
This
ARTICLE about Cindy Sheehan makes me shake my head and give an exasperated sign. Ms. Sheenhan's son died in Iraq in 2004 and last year she gained national attention protesting in Crawford, Texas as President Bush vacationed.
Of late, she has been on a hunger strike of sorts, eating no solid food for 37 days until doctors in Seattle insisted she do so before they would release her from the ER. Ah, yes, you want to protest a war in which your son died and so you declare war on your body, your life. I don't understand your logic.
Just this week, an extensive terrorist plot to murder people flying across the Atlantic was thwarted. They were going to use liquids to effect an explosion. Terrorists caused planes to crash into buildings on September 11, 2001 and they want to do something like that again. Could that be why we are in a war against terrorism? Why we are in Iraq?
Ms. Sheehan's son was a soldier. So were all the men and women who died fighting against Japan and Germany and Italy in the Second World War . . . The parents of soldiers killed in Vietnam visit a wall in Washington to run their fingers on their child's name . . . And Cindy Sheehan protests and goes on a hunger strike - Well, at least she is free to do so - Other people's sons and daughters fought for that freedom . . . and some died.
PICTURES FROM THE BACKYARD
Well, we mowed today, Robert and I, and then Summer and I clipped a vine away from the rose bushes that was threatening to kill them. We also watered . . . and somehow Summer managed to get very wet. We also took pictures and the album is above in Photo Galleries.
Earlier Cameron and I watched Doom - the movie - but I have no pictures of us sitting on the sofa staring at the TV, with afghans at the ready in case we have to throw them over our heads to protect us from the creatures on the screen.
LOOKING AT SKECHERS FOR SUMMER
Look in Photo Galleries above to see the girl shoes Skechers had for sale.
Getting drinks at Marathon station.
Colin and Alison at Goodwill
Colin and Alison checking out with SCHOOL shoes
Cameron's Shoe
Colin gives a thumbs up.
CATHOLIC RUMMAGE SALE - KENDALLVILLE
Ack! I took my camera to one of the best semi-annual events in Kendallville and forgot to take any pictures. I did buy and old bar cabinet from another era for only $20 and will post a picture of it later. It will look nice next to the antique radio in the dining room - and will provide needed space for storing dishware. Woo-hoo.
Tomorrow is Bag Day and Summer and I will be going. We have a lot of fun seeing just how much stuff we can jam into one bag - and then we give an extra donation so we don't come off as tight-wad bozos. It is just a lot of fun to make a game out of filling every cubic inch of the bag. And when you unpack it, people think you're a magician.
LaVon Jansen was there - I have seen her at most of the church's rummage sales, but didn't realize who she was until Doug Jansen mentioned her work there at a dental appointment for my grandson. So when I arrived on Friday morning, I kept my eye out for a genetic resemblance and when she smiles, I thought, "That's got to be the Jansen boys' mother."
Next up is Trinity Methodist's sale - another whiz-banger of an event and tradition.
9/11 - WAS TODAY TO BE 8/10?
Looking through the news coverage of the thwarted terrorist attacks on planes heading from Great Britain to the U.S. and then looking at the calendar, I wondered if the date was significant in relation to the September 11 attacks. I don't know how close they were to carrying out the plot or if they were even aiming for 8/10, but if there were and had they succeeded, it would have been a real psychological coup as well as a physical disaster.
AFTERNOON DVD
I watched
Inside Man this afternoon and thought it was not bad, not bad at all. It received a B+ rating from both critics and users and my main comment - aside from the fact that I thought I had seen the last of The Third Reich movies - is that it unfolded a bit slowly and you could guess where it was going . . . slowly.
HIBERNATOR TO RETURN TO SAN DIEGO SANS LIQUIDS
"Due to the nature of the threat revealed by this investigation, we are prohibiting any liquids, including beverages, hair gels, and lotions from being carried on the airplane," a DHS statement said.
The irritating inconvenience of the "no liquid" policy is minor . . . the tactics and strategy of the terrorist groups are unacceptable. Maybe we should put all those opposed to the War on Terrorism and what it entails on planes and let them fly all day, every day.
Read the current part of the developing story
HERE.And here's a quote:
The plot was "intended to be mass murder on an unimaginable scale," London's Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said.
The plot involved hiding masked liquid explosives and detonators in carry-on luggage, Chertoff said. ('Untold death and destruction' planned -- 2:37)
One government official said the terrorists had hoped to target flights to major airports in New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations.
Passengers "were not yet sitting on an airplane," but were very close to traveling, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told The Associated Press.
LITTLE ANN HOME
Little Ann who had a growth in her mouth removed at the Tri-State Veterinary is back home this morning, seeiming to be in fine fettle. The assistant who brought her out exclaimed to a co-worker, "She finished off the cat food!" That's out Ann.
WELLSPRING FIDDLERS AT APPLE FESTIVAL
I received this email from Amanda Taylor in response to a question bout the Wellspring Fiddlers. I'd say it's good news!!
"Yes, the Wellspring Fiddlers will again be performing at the festival. They will be performing on Saturday at 11am, 2pm, and 5pm and on Sunday at 12pm, and 4pm."
The group is extremely pleasing to listen to and also to watch. My mother really liked them last year and we will be sure to catch at least one of their performances this year.
PRIMARY IN CONNECTICUT
Long after the Indiana primaries, Connecticut is in the national spotlight with the Lamont/Lieberman contest which the latter lost. In this
ARTICLE, two sets of figures stand out:
Lamont, an antiwar supporter, won with 52 percent of the vote, or 146,061 votes, to 48 percent for Lieberman, or 136,042, with 99 percent of precincts reporting.
and
In the run-up to the primary, 14,000 new Connecticut voters registered as Democrats, while another 14,000 state voters switched their registration from unaffiliated to Democrat to vote in the primary.
28,000 new voters in the primary, half of whom switched from unaffiliated and the result has apparently set up a three-way race for senator. Hmmmm . . . .
CAT PASSES AWAY
My mother's cat, Lucy Lib, who came to her backdoor on Christmas Eve, 1998, just a few days after my aunt died, passed away Saturday night, August 5th. Sydney and I went up but Mother has already buried her early Sunday morning in a special spot. We put a couple of brick patio squares over the area and Mother is going to add some rocks from Lake Michigan.
This picture is not Lucy, but another cat, who lives outside and comes up on the deck for a snack.
AUGUST 7,2006
Today Summer turned 10 and you can look at a bunch of pictures in the Photogalleries above. Oh, the dogs also got a bath and their pictures are there too.
AN INTERESTING THEORY ABOUT THE RED SEA PARTING
I am very grateful to technology which has allowed many things and places to be researched, including the Titanic, and I am very happy that the Discovery and Learning Channels are on cable. Just recently I watched a program about the possibility that the legend Atlantis was derived from the destruction of Minoan civilization by a volcano off Crete. Now, this
ARTICLE is looking at the possibility that the repercussions of this eruption might be of Biblical proportions.
BED BUGS ARE BACK!!!!
Well, this is a nice little
ARTICLE to give you some pause on the way to bed at night.
SUMMER'S BIRTHDAY
Tomorrow Summer will be 10 years old.
AT THE STRAND - AUGUST 5
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals Rated PG, 1 hr 23 min
Showtimes: 2:00, 7:00, 9:00
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Rated PG-13, 1 hr 50 min
Showtimes: 2:00, 7:15, 9:15
LITTLE MISS LIMBERLOST CONTESTANT
Some of us got to see a Little Miss Limberlost contestant get ready for the competition. She was in at Smart Style in Wal=Mart to have her hair curled. The pageant is at 7 pm but her mother said contestants had to be there by three.
FORGET KRYPTONITE - TRY BUTTER
"Cow, Superman sculpted from huge butter wad." That is the headline on a video news item on CNN. Actually, I am annoyed when only a video form of an article is offered and haven't looked at it yet. The title has been enough.
A cow and Superman in butter? Can't you see vandals with pieces of toast wiping them on Superman. Then instead of fighting crime, you could say Superman was buttering up the hooligans. That was a ridiculous pun . . . I suppose . . . but, gee, a big old wad of butter and somebody carves a cow and and Superman?
Okay, I think I'm ready to view the video.
Ah . . . it's at the Iowa State Fair and here is an
ARTICLE from the Des Moines newspaper.
Here is a the butter statue of another "superman" from the 1999 fair - John Wayne. The sculptor was "Norma "Duffy" Lyon, who the paper describes as "the fair's famed sculptor for more than 45 years."
Duffy began a phased retirement in 2002 and her apprentice Sarah Pratt is doing the statue of Superman.
FRAILTY - THE MOVIE
We watched a dark thriller tonight that kept us on the edge of of seats and at least one of us with her head under a blanket. It is a film I highly recommend for people who like good storytelling and clever plots. But beware . . . it involves an axe and the using of such weapon.
NEW ORLEANS
Their is an interesting article
HERE about the state of things in New Orleans, both psychological and physical.
An informative paragraph:
To make matters worse, the city is suffering from a dearth of mental health services. By most estimates, a little less than half of the city’s pre-Katrina population of 450,000 has returned. But there are only a total of 20 psychiatric beds available in the few New Orleans hospitals that have reopened, compared to about 300 before the storm. By last April, the report says, only 22 of 196 psychiatrists were practicing in the city, shifting a good portion of mental health treatment to the 140 primary care physicians, out of 617, who had returned. With 96 inpatient psychiatry beds, the Medical Center of Louisiana — better known as Charity Hospital — was once the city's biggest mental health care provider. Now, it dispenses emergency care from a makeshift clinic housed in a former Lord & Taylor department store. The heavily flooded hospital may never reopen.
SUMMER'S STORIES BOOKSTORE - WEBSITE
Summer's Stories in Kendallville now has its own website: www.summersstories.com. You can hop over there by clicking this
link. I especially like the quote that popped up in the sidebar when I visited:
Random Quote:
" You don't have to burn books to detroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
Ray Bradbury
However, the following quote has me wondering, Ice Weasels?
"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."
Matt Groening
BLOG ENTRY FROM BICYCLIST ABOUT KENDALLVILLE
Last week, a group of bicyclists travelling from Seattle to Washington D.C. reached Kendallville and spent the night out at Bixler Lake Campground. I vaguely knew this, but what I didn't realize was that they were here on "The Thursday Evening of Torrential Downpours."
HERE is a blog post from a journalist who is travelling with the group.
In fact, they were happy to reach Ohio, as documented in
this post.
WEATHER CHANGE - WE HOPE
Today is the day the heat is supposed to break; I have been waiting for it. The high is still supposed to be 91˚, but cooler air is on the way, right around the corner - well, actually, it is probably in Wisconsin now . . . but it's coming.
I think I can sense it. The breeze has been up - off and on - last evening and this morning, and the air isn't as stagnant nor as greenhouse heavy as it has been.
Things always seem easier when there is an end in sight. I almost hear myself humming "On Wisconsin."
THE LITTLE GREEN CAR IS HOME
I picked up the LGC from Vorderman's Motor Werks late this afternoon and the ride home was great. The Jetta I had as a loaner was really nice too, but the cars are different - obviously since I ran into a Wal-Mart pole with the LGC and it is a diesel and the Jetta is a gas engine. I like my Little Green Car.
A BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATION
BLUE GRASS FESTIVAL
If August is here, that means the Blue Grass Festival is just a month away.
Labor Day Weekend Aug. 31, Sept. 1-3, 2006
Abrams Brothers, Forge Mountain Diggers
Jimmy Bowen, Boohers, Hunger Mountain Boys
Danny Paisley & Southern Grass (Th only!!)
Foggy Hogtown Boys, New Found Road
Diamond Hill Station, Now & Again, Wright Sisters
Rock Bottom Mining Co., Lonesome Country, Suzanne & Jim
ARTICLE ON AUTISM
There is an interesting
piece on autism on the CNN Health Site. It is refreshing that it talks about how much professionals do not know about the condition, as well as what they do know. It also acknowledges that parents are experts, because they live with a child so affected 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
