Jasper Jones

This was probably the nicest weather over the weekend that we’ve had all year. The sun was shining, there was a nice breeze, and it was cool enough at night to open the bedroom windows to let the fresh air in.

Alex spent the day with his parent on Saturday and then they all went to brunch this morning before his parents had to leave for the airport. Alex is doing OK now and his parents really helped out this past week by getting him food and other things to make him more comfortable and settled in with the leg cast causing him so much inconvenience.

Of course, I worked last night and have to go in tonight. But I was outside for the better part of both days and enjoying every minute of it. I think the only thing that would have made the days any better at all is if I had a big black labrador with me.

Well Alex is going to be on crutches for at least 6 weeks. He had surgery yesterday and I brought him back to the dorm last night so he could sleep in his own bed. It’s really hard to sleep in a hospital - too much activity and noise.

His parents flew in from California yesterday and I stayed with them in the surgery waiting room till the doctor finished putting four pins into his leg and stitched him up. His parents are going to stay over the weekend and spend some time with him. He’s lucky they could drop everything and rush out here. I’m sure my folks would do the same, but they are just a 2 hour drive away - not a 7 hour flight away.

Anyway - he looks great and the worst problem he has right now is an upset stomache from the antibitoics and pain meds that he’s taking.

Of course, these crutches and the cast are going to put a big crimp in his Halloween costume plans. We’ll have to figure out something real creative to work around that cast.

Alex had to stay overnight at the hospital so they could keep him on pain meds and have an Orthopedic Surgeon look at his leg first thing in the morning.

It doesn’t look as bad as I was afraid it would look, but I know it hurts.

I’ll be checking on him in a few.

Well, our softball game has been called off due to rain. I don’t mind getting wet, but the idea of standing out in the middle of a field while there’s lightning is just not a good idea.

There are people killed by lightning all the time. It’s a real threat that people must take seriously. Even if a storm has passed, there is a chance of lightning strikes for up to 20 minutes after it stopped raining.

My Auntie Ann lost her husband to a lighting strike about 5 years ago. He was just standing outside on the deck to have a smoke during halftime of a football game. It wasn’t even raining but a bolt came out of nowhere and struck him dead instantly and caught the deck on fire. It was a terrible thing to happen and my aunt has never totally gotten over it - she never goes out on her deck anymore, not even for a minute.

So if we have to postpone our ballgame it is OK with me. I can catch up on some homework and do a little surfing on the internet before I have to go into work.

Last night I aksed one of the ambulance drivers where he bought his tactical pants that he wears on duty. I like the way they are heavy duty construction, meant to last a very long time under extreme conditions in the field. They have lots of pockets, with a specific purposed in mind when they were added, like the loop for a police issue flashlight and the cell phone pocket. These pants were designed for guys who work in rescue and military operations and that’s what I want.

So he told me about a web site called “LA Police Gear” and that’s where he gets most of his gear. They have all the sizes and styles, different colors and shorts as well as long pants, with the best brands, like 5.11 Tactical. So that’s where I’m doing my shopping tonight after the softball game.

Read about Fibromyalgia last night when we got slow at the hospital. It’s a disease that leaves its victims exhausted all the time, and they suffer from a lot of aches and pains.

There is a new web site for people dealing with Fibromyalgia called FibroCenter.com I’m pretty sure it is sponsored or underwritten by the Pfizer company.

The site has useful facts and practical tips for managing this disease. They also have an action plan you can download. Their support group lets you read other peoples stories about how they cope and you can participate in that by writing your own story to share with others.

I’m still learning about how the pharmaceutical companies participate in the non profits and support groups for different diseases and conditions. I’m not sure it is always a good thing, but as long as they have a disclosure on their sites and their advertising or marketing efforts, I guess it is good to have some help - from whatever the source.

At work last night one of the med techs was telling me that she’s taking classes to become a massage therapist. It started out with a little teasing because my shoulders and neck were really sore from the softball game Wednesday night. She wanted to give me a neck massage but was afraid that if she did that while at work that someone would cause trouble for us. Touching another employee is not a good thing as far as management goes - they don’t want to have a sexual harrassment lawsuit or anything. So I didn’t get the neck massage, but I wanted one!

When she finishes the massage classes she will probably move out of the area and get a job at a resort or large spa. There’s not much of that in Chattanooga.

The closest big city for us is Atlanta. It’s about a two hour drive south of here. I don’t know if there is a lot of demand for massage in Atlanta. We were talking about that possibility and did a search for Atlanta Massage and were surprised to find so many listings. We found these using a special search directory called Clicksmart. This directory lists professional in categories like:

Contractors
Florists
Home & Office Services
Massage Therapists
Mortgage Brokers
Real Estate Agents
Weddings and Events

For a special treat, once a week we go to Starbucks in the morning for breakfast. They have just started serving oatmeal in the morning and it’s really very good. What they recommend is a cup of Starbucks vanilla latte plus protein and a cup of the new “perfect oatmeal.”

To be honest, it’s a little too expensive on a college student’s budget to do this very often, but it is a really nice way to start the day with a couple of good friends. I like the oatmeal and they have a really good apple bran muffin if you like muffins better. But now that the mornings have a little chill to the air, the oatmeal is a nice warm way to break the fast.

Taking a break from my “duty desk” at the admissions department tonight. It’s been really busy at the hospital tonight. A lot of accidental injuries, from one source or another.

One case was really bizarre and we had to call the police about this one. A woman stabbed her husband and then drove him to the ER crying about how sorry she was and that she didn’t mean it. None of that made any sense to me, but we called the police and they can sort it all out. The old guy is going to be OK after surgery but I don’t know if the wife is going to be charged with something or not.

I can’t imagine my parents getting into any physical altercation like those two did. Sure they have arguments, but picking up a kitchen knife and stabbing someone is extremely wrong. I just can’t imagine doing that or letting anything get to that point of anger that anyone would think it is OK.

So here I am at the hospital ER taking insurance information from the woman who stabbed this guy. How weird that was for me and everyone else in the ER acted like it was just another case.

While working the admission desk last night at the hospital it got pretty quiet and boring around midnight. We only had a handful of people in the waiting room that needed attention, so I sat at the desk with a college textbook and got caught up on some reading for my Psych class.

For a while I got the chance to chat with an elderly gentleman, who was glad to have someone to talk to outside of the nursing home where he’s been living. He was an interesting guy, served in WWII and came back home to be a farmer. He owned a lot of land and about 10 years ago he sold it off for a huge amount of money and all of a sudden all the little old ladies around here found him to be very attractive.

He confided that he’s had a more active social life in his 80′2 than he had in his 50’s. He even pulled out a Viagra pill from his pocket to prove his story! Now, I wasn’t real happy talking to this guy about sex in your 80’s, but I was stuck at the desk and had to be polite. He was eager to tell me that he buys his Viagra online because it is cheaper than at the local pharmacy and the place where he gets it will mail it to him so he doesn’t have to worry about driving or finding a ride to the pharmacy.