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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Wednesday, May 30, 2007 To Michigan and back Not sure what to post about the trip to Michigan. In one respect, it worked out well for me, but as a vacation it lacked a lot. Clarence ended up in the hospital again, and will almost certainly have to be hospitalized again here before long. He has a deep closed ulcer on one foot, which is bad bad news for a diabetic. It produced a blister the size of a hen's egg, which is why we found ourselves in the emergency room in Lansing at 10pm last Thursday night. The hospital admitted him, started him on IV antibiotics, removed most of the blister and then--apparently without asking him about it--scheduled him for transfer to a local acute care facility for long term wound care and antibiotics. We learned about this when I tried to track down the staff doctor who had seen him. When I told Clarence what was going on, he flatly refused to cooperate and demanded to be discharged immediately. I can't say that I blame him, but the problem is still there, I can't get an appointment with his regular doctor at all right now, and can't get an appointment with a podiatrist for at least a week. I suspect that before then, we'll be back in the emergency room. Clarence just isn't taking in the gravity of the problem. He can barely stand up on two feet, but we do manage to deal with public bathrooms one way or another. He can't do it at all as an amputee. So he would have to go into a nursing home. In some ways, that would make life easier for me, but his pension covers most of our living expenses right now. A nursing home would take the pension and leave me dependent solely on my income. I could handle that, but life would certainly be more financially stressful than it is now. In addition to running back and forth between the con and the hospital, I had to deal with a screwed up hotel reservation. Because I didn't get to the hotel until after 3am, their system kicked my reservation out, according to them (this despite the fact that I called them to say we'd be coming in very late). The desk clerk finally managed to reinstate the reservation, but it was somehow changed to only one day instead of four. So that evening when I returned, my key didn't work. Fifteen minutes of arguing with a different desk clerk finally got me a room again, and I thought everything was set. Nope. Next day it happened again. And again. I would have fired off indignant emails to the Choice Hotels customer service people except that when Clarence was finally out of the hospital, he got up early without waking me, tried to walk to the bathroom by himself, and landed on his rear on the floor. I called the desk to see if there was a maintenance or security person on the premises, and she sent a huge guy with trees for arms, who picked Clarence up and deposited him on the bed like he weighed 25 pounds instead of 250. I couldn't very well complain about the reservation screw-ups after that.So we're finally back home. My house is an unbelievable mess because I just hauled everything in from the car and left it in the middle of the living room. Everything I own needs to be washed, and tomorrow we have to go back out for an overnight trip to southwest Virginia. Shelley wants to borrow money, Nick wants me to work on his computer, and one of my computer customers is leaving increasingly urgent messages on my voice mail.I really need a vacation, sans Clarence, and it isn't gonna happen any time soon. posted by Liz @ 8:52 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Not sure what to post about the trip to Michigan. In one respect, it worked out well for me, but as a vacation it lacked a lot. Clarence ended up in the hospital again, and will almost certainly have to be hospitalized again here before long. He has a deep closed ulcer on one foot, which is bad bad news for a diabetic. It produced a blister the size of a hen's egg, which is why we found ourselves in the emergency room in Lansing at 10pm last Thursday night. The hospital admitted him, started him on IV antibiotics, removed most of the blister and then--apparently without asking him about it--scheduled him for transfer to a local acute care facility for long term wound care and antibiotics. We learned about this when I tried to track down the staff doctor who had seen him. When I told Clarence what was going on, he flatly refused to cooperate and demanded to be discharged immediately. I can't say that I blame him, but the problem is still there, I can't get an appointment with his regular doctor at all right now, and can't get an appointment with a podiatrist for at least a week. I suspect that before then, we'll be back in the emergency room. Clarence just isn't taking in the gravity of the problem. He can barely stand up on two feet, but we do manage to deal with public bathrooms one way or another. He can't do it at all as an amputee. So he would have to go into a nursing home. In some ways, that would make life easier for me, but his pension covers most of our living expenses right now. A nursing home would take the pension and leave me dependent solely on my income. I could handle that, but life would certainly be more financially stressful than it is now. In addition to running back and forth between the con and the hospital, I had to deal with a screwed up hotel reservation. Because I didn't get to the hotel until after 3am, their system kicked my reservation out, according to them (this despite the fact that I called them to say we'd be coming in very late). The desk clerk finally managed to reinstate the reservation, but it was somehow changed to only one day instead of four. So that evening when I returned, my key didn't work. Fifteen minutes of arguing with a different desk clerk finally got me a room again, and I thought everything was set. Nope. Next day it happened again. And again. I would have fired off indignant emails to the Choice Hotels customer service people except that when Clarence was finally out of the hospital, he got up early without waking me, tried to walk to the bathroom by himself, and landed on his rear on the floor. I called the desk to see if there was a maintenance or security person on the premises, and she sent a huge guy with trees for arms, who picked Clarence up and deposited him on the bed like he weighed 25 pounds instead of 250. I couldn't very well complain about the reservation screw-ups after that.So we're finally back home. My house is an unbelievable mess because I just hauled everything in from the car and left it in the middle of the living room. Everything I own needs to be washed, and tomorrow we have to go back out for an overnight trip to southwest Virginia. Shelley wants to borrow money, Nick wants me to work on his computer, and one of my computer customers is leaving increasingly urgent messages on my voice mail.I really need a vacation, sans Clarence, and it isn't gonna happen any time soon.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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