Just Checking-In

Was sick as a dog all weekend. I think I slept for about 16 hours a day for three days. Feel much better but still a little congested. Hopefully I am no longer contagious as I have resumed elder care duties.

In fact I'm off to the store and then back to the elders...

Exile

Woke-up on Thanksgiving morning with a sore throat and a fever. By the end of the day it had morphed into a good ol' fashioned cold. Don't think I've had a cold in over a year - another good thing about retirement and the avoidance of those virus-laden workplaces...

In any event, my bug has put me into self-imposed exile - can't expose the elders to these things. Thus, I missed the family turkey extravaganza although I did send a carrot and sweet potato puree and a chocolate peanut butter pie over via cousin Sandra. Just as I was cooking-up my holiday bacon and eggs a big plate of turkey and all the trimmings was delivered to my door by Andrew and Samantha - my landlord's kids. Delicious.

I still feel crappy this morning - seriously into sniffling and snuffling. But I'm sure I'll be fit as a fiddle in a day or two.

In other news, Sarah Palin did not disavow the possibility of a run for President in 2012 in an interview on Fox. In fact, she coyly mentioned a dream ticket of herself and Glenn Beck. Where can I send a check to support the undertaking of this most excellent adventure?

In a similar vein and further circumstantial evidence that some of our Thanksgiving turkeys may have been spiked with some sort of powerful hallucinogen, Lou Dobbs continued to promote himself as a candidate for President in 2012. Indeed according to Politico, his interview on the Hispanic Network Telemundo was truly surreal.

“I want to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue and work with those who will work toward real solutions,” said Dobbs, who once falsely accused illegal immigrants of carrying leprosy into the United States.

Later in the interview, Dobbs made an impassioned plea to the Hispanic community, urging them to reconsider their previous views on him.

“Whatever you have thought of me in the past,” he said, “I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends, and I mean for us to work together.”

One hardly knows where to begin giving thanks for our blessings in the year 2009. Ain't America great?!!!

Baja Update

DATELINE CABO SAN LUCAS....THIS JUST IN....

First report from Dougie and Alison at the Cape:

Pretty good crowd here. A couple of cute college-age girls in front of us in the check-in line couldn't wait for the party to begin and ordered beer delivered from the lobby bar while they were waiting. And who says these kids today have no initiative?

Dougie was a victim of some good ol' fashioned flim-flammery:

On our walk we had the bite put on us in a new way. An American (of course) comes racing across the street at us, and in an out-of-breath voice insists that he needs 200 pesos to get his car out of impound, but he only has 180. He shows us a set of keys and a handful of small bills and change. He was sunburned, of indeterminate age (probably because he clearly wasn't wearing his dentures -which gave him that Walter Brennan look), somewhere bewteen 55 and 75. Anyway, it was a good act and 20 pesos is about $1.60, so I passed him a couple of Washingtons and off he went -- in the opposite direction from where he had earlier indicated his car was jailed. He was, however, headed in the direction of a sports book that I am acqainted with, and I had the feeling he was less intereted in his car than he was in the spread on the Monday night football game. In any event, it was a story and an act worth paying for and, as Augustus McRea once said, but in a slightly different context, 'If a man won't cheat for a poke, he doesn't want one bad enough'."

Sounds like tough duty in Cabo...

In other news, tomorrow is Turkey Day. I will be making side dishes - the classic green bean casserole, sweet potato and carrot puree, an auxiliary ham (auxiliary to sister's turkey), and chocolate peanut butter pie. Cousin Sandra is making a spinach salad and punkin' pie. Linda has got Turkey, mashed taters, gravy, stuffin', and cranberries. Good and good for you. Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

My Mother the Wobbly

Perhaps it's the Percoset talking, but nonetheless, I believe my mother is ambling towards the left-end of the political spectrum at a rate that frankly astounds me.

She's getting into a serious "tax the rich" frame of mind. I heartily applaud the sentiment, of course, but her vehemence is something to behold. On the other hand, I never had to go to bed hungry - and she did - which is a great equalizer in any debate one cares to have on this subject.

My mom was raised in rural Arizona. She did not get enough to eat on more days than she cares to recall. She lived in a shack. For most of her childhood there was no electricity. No running water. I think she had finished the 8th grade when she moved to Juneau in September, 1941. She was fifteen years old. She went to work at the Baranof Hotel - first as a dishwasher and ultimately working in the pantry. She made the sandwiches that one would eat when one flew out of Juneau on a Pan Am flight to Seattle.

My mom has the heart of a lion and is as tough as nails.

Neither one of us understands the health care debate. How can our elected representatives be so stupid? So oblivious to the obvious?

Mom says "tax the rich" - I think she's on to something...

Most Fun in Weeks

A pretty fair day. Did physical therapy on/for mom twice today and I could see a measurable increase in her knee mobility. Think we're up to around 80 degrees...from no more than 70 two days ago. And she's more cooperative...

I was finished with my last PT gig by 4 PM and headed to town for cocktails with Laura Beason, Dougie, and Shelly and John Manguso. Most fun I've had in weeks. Doug was at his debonair best, Shelly and Laura as cute and vivacious as they were 30 years ago, and John witty and amusing.

OK...perhaps I exaggerate just a tad...but it was sure nice to enjoy the company of my contemporaries for an hour or two at least.... Friends are good!

The most amusing story of the evening was last week's winter trek by John and Shelly on North Douglas where they stumbled across a deer begging to be shot. John was carrying a rifle - more for bear protection than for deer hunting - but when they spotted the deer Shelly gave permission to fire. In fact, she was apparently filled with something approaching blood lust - hungering for fresh deer heart and liver. Who would have ever thought?

Unfortunately for them - and fortunately for the ungulate - John's rifle was not equipped with a scope and the sites were ice-encrusted - the deer just stared at them quizzically as John squeezed off four or five rounds.

But it's snowing tonight so perhaps better luck this weekend if they are so inclined...

In other news, I will be ferrying Dougie and Alison to the airport tomorrow as they depart on a two week vacation to Cabo San Lucas. Perhaps Dougie will furnish us with amusing tales from Baja...

One Step Forward...

...and one step back. A tough day yesterday. Mom had both a physical therapist's and doctor's appointments at the Juneau Bone and Joint Center. Cancelled. She just didn't feel well enough to make it. The fundamental problem is that she has been practicing medicine without a license - as she has been doing ever since I have made her acquaintance - decided she didn't need the stool softener as directed. Big problem. So we spent yesterday getting that squared away - the breakthrough came early this morning... She seems much improved today although she still feels queasy.

I am worried about falling behind in the PT department. I put the odds at 50/50 that she will ultimately have to go back to the hospital and under anesthesia to have her scar tissue broken up. She will not like that. Neither will anyone else in the vicinity. But that may well be the course we are on... The physical therapist from home health will finally be able to see her on Thursday. We can only hope that she will be able to make-up for lost time.

Dad is doing fairly well. And he's being more-or-less cooperative. Can change at any moment, of course.

My cousin, Sandra, is in town for ten days so she gets to argue with Auntie. Good luck with that, cuz.

Oh yeah, and today is mom's birthday - 83 years young.

Well, chores are done at the elder's. Gonna check my email and then head to the store. Gonna make a shrimp saute.

The Wind Blew and the Shit Flew

YIKES! A serious shit storm in Juneau last night. Southeast wind and heavy rain caused tree falls, mudslides, and the traditional power outage. Power was out at my place for almost three hours from around 6 AM until shortly after 9 AM. I coped in the most sensible manner I could think of - I stayed in bed.

Two elderly ladies who live down the street from my folks and who are participants in my informal meals on wheels program had a tree fall on their trailer about 4 AM. Fortunately they were not injured and the tree removal guy was there early this morning and a general contractor was working on the crumpled roof before noon. They did not have to move out. This evening I am taking them a dozen oatmeal scotchies for consolation...

Downtown was apparently a mess today with several slides on Gastineau Avenue which also closed South Franklin. One house damaged. A number evacuated. Nobody hurt.

Dad recalls a very serious slide in the same area back in the 30's. He was working for the AJ Mine and had gone to a movie. They paged AJ employees during the movie to get to their equipment to help dig out houses - the slide came all the way down to the beach where the Juneau Cold Storage used to be. That whole hillside in unstable. You can tell where the old slides were by looking at the vegetation.

As for the immediate climatological future...it's snowing at the moment and the prediction is for rain, snow and mixed rain and snow for the foreseeable future. And did I mention dark?

Later kids.