Happy Veterans' Day

Our day started pretty much like any other. Dahey went to work and Bubba went to school. I had the day off.

I got a lot of things done around the house, made phone calls I've put off, and even went to the doctor for my well woman exam.

And as I was making a coffee this afternoon, I realized that I am so very lucky. I have a house with running water (that's potable, too) and plumbing. Many women and girls can't do laundry, take care of themselves, their families or even chores because they lack those very things.

I also realized that many women today are not allowed out of the house alone, or they're too afraid to go out, because of rules, or worse, living in a bad neighborhood where crime is commonplace or war is at your doorstep, or you're just a woman.

I thank my lucky stars every day that I live in a country so advanced to have basic necessities, because I know it's not the same everywhere. I can get into my car and complete all these errands on my own in relative safety, because there is no war going on in my neck of the woods.

So today I thank our military veterans, men and women, like Dahey, who answered the call to serve Uncle Sam here and abroad, on submarines, PT boats, tanks, destroyers, or Strykers.

I raise my glass to you. May you have much health and happiness, and safe passage in times of trouble. You pay the ultimate sacrifice and I reap benefits I can never repay.

Peace and godspeed.

A lazy afternoon

At least it was for a moment. I got most of the errands done, however, I had an additional one after the neighborhood flock of robins decided to attack my car only on the driver's side, right near the door handles.

I'm convinced they read this Far Side cartoon.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday wherever you are.

Exercise, errands and sleep deprivation

Sure, a staycation is fun, if it doesn't involve cramming in as many things as possible.

Recently, Bubba and I finally made it to the eye doctor, after a couple of misses due to doctor being trapped out of town and some scary weather. We were at the office for a while (in the middle of the most beautiful day so far this year) but Bubba was reasonably happy and passed his vision tests. He's getting a new headache med, too, so more fun.

He was, however, not thrilled that he had to get a blood draw, due to some other issues. I had to hug him from behind while two phlebotomists held him still. Just touching his arm made him jump. Finally, we got the job done with a butterfly (which is one of the few things they let us have at the Hotel for our clientele).

Most of my errands got completed. I also got a wonderful deal on some tires for the family truckster after shopping around. This was a good thing since we were 1/32 away from having bald tires (at least that's what the indicator says). Outside of that, the truckster is lubed, adjusted and happy.

Bubba and I have had fun at our local rec center. I finally caved in and joined, so the whole family can get in on the fun. It also helps that membership makes Bubba's summer camp experiences cheaper (and pays for our summer membership months). Now, I've just got to make time to go over and exercise. There are a few classes I like: kickboxing being one of them. I haven't taken one of those in years, so I look forward to it.  It's a great stress reliever, especially from the Manglement shenanigans at the Hotel.

My day is winding down, so we'll be visiting our orthodontist. I'm hoping soon we're to the point of less visits (getting really close). Cross your fingers!

Fritterin' the day away

I had an enormous task today: entertain Bubba and keep him out of trouble on his spring break.

Our task list:

1. Eat breakfast at McDonalds early in the AM. No kids were on any of the Playland equipment. Run, dance and sing in there with reckless abandon. Why not?

2. Go on errands with Mom, which included checking out all the spice blends and providing commentary for other customers: "Oh! Mom, this Greek one sounds interesting." as he read the information on the shelf.

3. Visit the library AND the bookstore. We went out of the way to a different library, so this was a fun diversion. The bookstore moved some of his favorite books, so we went searching for them, and he's been reading it all day.

4. Go to lunch with Mom, don't order anything, but eat about half of her lunch. "Wow, salmon is pretty good."

5. Visit relatives who also happen to be off. Fun times when your retired great aunt gives you the remote control and you watch every cartoon you can.

I enjoyed that, because I could talk without interruption.

6. Come home and help Mom make dinner and dessert.

I didn't do all the things I wanted today (or this weekend), but I did do one thing. I had fun with my family.

Stay tuned...

Things to do on your day off

1. Get kid a passport. Bubba can't go see Uncle Fester's neighbors in Canada if he doesn't have one. It doesn't take an Act of Congress, but you do need both parents, random identity documents and about 105 bucks.

2. See old friends. Giacomo needed an excuse to play hooky from work on a January thaw kind of day, so he stayed and had coffee with the crew today. Gave me some excellent pieces of advice. Also told lots of stories. Many good laughs were had by all.

3. Run around and do errands. I had to do a few things I don't normally do, so I got them done.

4. Prepare for the all-out monster party for Bubba, since we had to postpone the last one due to snow. I'm just glad he left the goodie bags alone...for the moment.

EKG...

Check. Titers, check. All I need now is an assignment for the volunteer corps.

Back to studying for this week's test. After all the excitement of dealing with Dahey's car and running around town with a rental, I barely touched a book.

This is going to be interesting....stay tuned.

What happened?

I wonder this often when I work and when I see things such as....

...the urine bags that are always full.
On our unit, everyone is assigned patients, including the nursing assistants. In many places in our grand state, those assistants could be delegated to by folks such as the LPNs and RNs. Our assistants regularly refuse delegation, and often neglect their own tasks, such as this, that seem too "demeaning" or "boring". Or my personal favorite...they'll only do the task for you if they "like" the patient.

One of my patients was assigned to the escapist assistant I mentioned before in this blog. Again, his Foley bag was getting ready to explode. If only the boss paid attention...maybe I can ask Santa for that for Christmas.

...a new patient assessment that is not done at 2345.
This patient arrived around 1130AM and said nurse supposedly did all his documentation. It's not unusual for some of the paperwork to be floating around on people who arrive at 1500 or later, because our daytime people leave not long after that, so we on evenings, finish up whatever they don't do. This nurse didn't do much. We had two lowly notes for the patient: one the H & P from the admitting doc and the generic "patient arrived at xx time" one for the admitting nurse. Not a nice surprise!

...that someone who refused a shot got one.
This is what one of our elderly patients told C. tonight that the med nurse (same as the admitting one mentioned above) gave him a vaccination that he did not want. I guess she missed that class on assault and battery in nursing school.

My trainwreck came back from dialysis in a happy mood. He barely rung his call light all night.

Off I go for off-day errands...back later!