Little Plastic Castles



goldfishtext

There is never a dull moment when you work with dementia patients. Some have good short term memory, but can’t remember things from the distant past, while others have the memory of a goldfish and can’t remember something that happened 10 minutes ago. (It’s fun trying to convince an Alzheimer’s patient who is certain she is being starved to death that she just finished eating every bite of her dinner.) 

Last night, one of my favorite patients, Louise, was desperately trying to get my attention as I was passing my supper time meds. 

“Doc! Doc! I need you!  Come over here!”  (Louise, being of a certain generation, sees every man in medical scrubs as a doctor. There’s no use telling her I’m a nurse, I have been and always will be ‘Doc” to her.) 

I stopped and stooped down next to her wheelchair and asked her what it was she needed. 

“I need you to make an appointment for me to have my new glasses made! My mother said I needed new ones!” 

I tried to explain to her that she didn’t wear glasses, that she could see just fine, but she was having none of it. Every time I walked past on my way to or from the dining room, she would call out for me to set up the appointment for the new glasses she didn’t need. Finally, I decided to humor her. Picking up the phone at the nurses station, I pretended to place a call, making sure to talk loud enough so that Louise could hear me.

I knew from experience that Louise would likely forget the whole thing in about 10 minutes any way, and wouldn’t know that today was Wednesday and that tomorrow was Thursday. Pretending to make the appointment was a quick way to make her happy and get on with my work. 

“Hello? “ I said into the phone, “This is Doc. I need to make an appointment for Louise to have new eye glasses made.  Thursday? Thursday afternoon at 2:30 PM? That will be fine!” I hung up from my “call” and turned to Louise. “It’s all set!” I told her. “We’ll go to the eye doctor on Thursday at 2:30!” 

Louise smiled at me and said “OK! So we go tomorrow at 2:30. Today is Wednesday so tomorrow is Thursday right?” 

Oh. Crap.  So much for my bright idea. 

 I guess that little plastic castle wasn’t that much of a surprise for Louise.  

Well, at least the ground here never moves....  

The weather in Ohio this past week has truly and honestly sucked. Between 90+ degree temperatures, (I HATE hot weather.) and torrential rains, Ohio is a muggy swamp. Areas to the north and south of Columbus are under water, and schools actually shut down this past week because of the heat. 

Columbus has been lucky for the most part, with most of the bad weather going around the city. But today it was our turn for some major weather suckage. 

At about 5:00 P.M. today, just as Steve and I were entering the grocery store, the tornado warning sirens went off here in Franklin county. We hurried up, picked up what we came for and rushed home just in time for this:  

As an adult, I can appreciate storms like this for their awesome beauty and actually enjoy watching them. That was not always the case however. 

When I was a small child we lived in a mobile home in southern Michigan, on the northern edges of what is known as "Tornado Alley".  

One summer, when I was around 6 or 7, I can remember my younger brother and I being whisked off to shelter in an old farmhouse near the trailer park. The house was owned by our next door neighbor's cousin. My cousin Jane, who was baby-sitting us at the time, decided to leave our family dog behind, telling me that "She'll be OK! Dog's always know what to do!"  as you can imagine, this does NOT go over well with a 6 year old who is already scared out of his wits by the prospect of a tornado destroying his home. Add to that the fact that my mother was at work, and (In my mind at least) wouldn't know where to find us, and you have what was one of the most frightening experiences of my young life. 

Continue reading Well, at least the ground here never moves....

Just Asking......

Do stupid people know that they are stupid? Or do they  just think that they are normal and that everyone around them is really really smart? 


Discuss.  

100 Things About Me

1. I was born on January 1, 1965. Which makes me either one of the last           baby boomers, or one of the first Gen. Xers depending on how you count such things. 
2. As a child, I preferred the company of adults to other children. 
3. When I was small, I had an imaginary friend named Homer. 
4. I was born in Toledo, Ohio. 
5. I grew up 30 miles north of Toledo in Adrian, Michigan. 
6. I hated almost every minute of school. It was boring. 
7. I read 1984 in the 7th grade for a book report. 
8. I read Animal Farm the same year. 
9. I suffered from cystic acne from the age of 11 until my senior year in high school   when I was one of the first people to take Acutane. 
10. The tattoos on my arms and shoulders are covering the worst of the acne scars. 
11. I have only ever actually kissed one female. 
12. I didn’t like it. 
13. My first male / male kiss was at the age of 17 with a man twice my age. 
14. I liked it. 
15. I played the bassoon in the high school band / orchestra. Once I graduated, I never played again. 
16. I’ve been to college, but do not have a degree. 
17. I have worked in the following industries: health insurance, health care, office supplies, training and development, IT, food service, retail and chemical.
18. I have lived in the following cities: Adrian, Mi., Toledo, Oh. Cleveland, Oh., and Columbus, Oh. 
19. Best place I ever worked: Gov. contracting job for the DoD. (Got to travel a lot!)  
20. Worst Place I ever worked: CareWorks of Ohio. (Toxic work environment.) 
21. I have been to Japan (4 times), Korea and Germany. 
22. I lost weight in Japan. (Ate sushi and sashimi every day.) 
23. I gained weight in Germany.  
24. I REALLY like German beer. (See #23) 
25. I’ve been to San Francisco twice, but never been to New York City. 
26. I could never live in San Francisco. 
27. I changed careers at the age of 38. 
28. I now work as a nurse. 
29. I like my job for the first time in years. 
30. I do not like working with dementia patients. 
31. I want to eventually open my own clinic. 
32. I am afraid of heights. 
33. I am afraid of growing old and ending up alone. 
34. I hate hot weather. 
35. I’d rather drive in snow than in rain. 
36. My favorite season of the year is fall. 
37. I don’t really have a favorite color.
38. I enjoy cooking. 
39. I am an Alton Brown fan. 
40. Favorite comfort food: Meatloaf and Mac and Cheese. (It’s a tie.) 
41. Favorite Dessert: Anything chocolate
42. I like both coffee AND tea (Earl Grey tea is my favorite) 
43. I prefer red wine to white. 
44. Liquor of choice: Bourbon. (Makers Mark thank you very much) 
45. I like science fiction. 
46. I am a Star Trek fan, and can hold my own in a conversation with any rabid trek nerd. 
47. I like going to Renaissance Fairs
48. I do not LARP, but my brother does. 
49. I am a history nerd. 
50. I like classical music, country music, and all kinds of dance music. 
51. I do not like to dance. 
52. I have owned 5 cars. First: 1979 Subaru Brat pick up truck, Current: Ford Focus. 
53. I will NOT buy another Ford. 
54. Politically, I am a left leaning libertarian. 
55. I was raised in the Episcopal Church. 
56. When I was in high school, I wanted to be an Episcopal priest. 
57. I no longer consider myself a Christian. 
58. My spiritual beliefs can best be summed up as Neo-Pagan-Buddhist-Agnostic-Humanist. 
59. I like dogs. 
60. I am indifferent to cats. 
61. I like to go camping. 
62. I like being around large bodies of water. 
63. I like hiking in the woods. 
64. I like going to zoos. 
65. I like going to museums. I once visited the Smithsonian the day after a blizzard  in D.C., had the entire Air and Space and National History museums nearly to myself. Heaven! 
66. I hate crowds. 
67. I like going to bars and hanging out with friends. 
68. I don’t feel like I have enough friends. 
69. I can be a major bitch if provoked. 
70. It takes a lot to provoke me. 
71. I never notice people hitting on me. 
72. I was single until I was 33 (See #71) 
73. I collect Fiesta Ware.  
74. I am an IKEA junkie. 
75. I am a Target-a-holic
76. I HATE Wal-Mart. (I get physicaly ill just walking in the door.) 
77. I am a control freak. A benevolent one. 
78. My partner and I have been together for more than 10 years. 
79. The first movie we went to together was Lost in Space. (Our relationship was a bigger hit than the movie.) 
80. We dated for nearly 2 years before we moved in together. 
81. Breath Right strips saved our relationship. 
82. We both get along with each other’s families. 
83. I’d rather watch a movie at home than go to a movie theater. 
84. Favorite movie of all time: The Lion in Winter 
85. Other Favorites: The Women, Big Eden, The Fifth Element, too many others to add. 
86. I have never seen E.T.
87. I am a cynic. 
88. I usually expect the best of things and people, but rarely get it. 
89. I don’t like people who do not have a sense of humor.
90. I don’t like people who whine.
91. I don’t like people who make bad choices and then expect the world to fix everything for them. 
92. I don’t like people with big egos. 
93. When no one else will offer you a healthy dose of reality, I will. 
94. I do not suffer fools gladly. 
95. I do not like stupid people. 
96. I have a VERY warped sense of humor. 
97. I like bad puns
98. Bugs Bunny cartoons still make me laugh. 
99. I know all the words to “The Wabbit of Seville” 
100.I quit smoking on December 4, 2006.