This week was rather rough.
Things in the ol’ emergency department have been busy lately. Lots of people seem to have minor problems that don’t need “emergency” care, but they have nowhere else to turn. I’ve had several patients come in just asking for medicine refills or asking to have their medications switched to something on WalMart’s $4 list. Kind of a difficult position to be in. On one hand, several people have a sentiment not to “feed the bears” because then the “bears” will keep coming back for more prescriptions. On the other hand, what are the patients supposed to do? Sometimes, I wish we could put legislators into the shoes of these patients.
Got behind in some work I needed to do because of emergency department shifts. Planned to catch up on everything yesterday. Woke up and had to drive two kids to school because they missed the bus. Then got home and the house smelled like someone hadn’t flushed the toilet. Went to check the toilets and they were clean. Then went to the basement to check the toilet. Someone had flushed. Unfortunately, the pump in the ejector pit had burned out, causing toilet contents to back up into the basement. Oh, and as a cherry on the top of this sewage sundae, someone also threw out a half-eaten apple in the bathroom garbage can. That apple had turned brown, had partially liquefied, and the non-liquefied portion had grown a white beard. I was going to post a picture, but between the smell in the basement and the looks of that apple, I damn near barfed.
Fortunately, I had a hand pump that I purchased a few months ago the last time that the ejector pump failed. I was able to pump about three gallons of sewage out of the pit and then the ever expanding smelly puddle started to recede.
Removed the old pump. Went to Home Depot to get a new pump and some PVC pipe. Got home. Damn. Forgot a plastic connector to reattach the pump to the sewer line. Drove all the way back to Home Depot for a 83 cent piece of plastic. Bought two of them just in case. Got home and got the new pump installed and working. Took most of the day to do all the cleaning and disinfecting.
So much for getting work done.
Oh, and if one more person says anything similar to “sh*t happens” and then laughs about it thinking they’re witty, they’ll be coughing up teeth … or maybe coughing up a brown bearded apple. I think I’m going to put that into a garbage can in the garage and see if it grows into a Tim Burton character.
The two youngest girls finally got to be in their stage play. They happened to be the best two performers in the show – not that I’m biased or anything. It did my heart good watching them enjoy themselves on stage … all three shows.
Oldest daughter is still having trouble with the bullies at school. In the past few weeks, not only have they gotten her last friend to turn on her, they also spread rumors about a teacher who has been helping her and now the teacher had to go to a private school board meeting to defend herself. I get frustrated watching her get depressed, but I also let her know we’re all there for her. May be filing legal papers against these miscreants.
Son goes to his first wrestling tournament tomorrow. He’s nervous because he gained 5 pounds from last year. Still, he can do 75 pull-ups and 100 pushups a night, so I think he’s ready to put some shoulders to the mat.
While decorating for Christmas, found out that the puppy doesn’t like any type of Christmas decorations. Stuffed animals are violently unstuffed. Garland vomit spots are in several areas of the house.
Found out I’m probably going to need more surgery. Running out of things to cut on in this body. Sucks getting old.
My wife and I try to go out of our way to help others. Over the past month, we both helped a family whose mother was dying from cancer. My wife went to their home and did home medical visits. I helped them fill out medical paperwork and power of attorney papers. The patient died this past week. We got a wonderful thank you note from the family. Totally unexpected, but much appreciated. Little things like that make such a big difference in our lives.
Finally, we went to our kid’s school for a Santa Workshop today. Kids go around to a bunch of tables and pick out all kinds of “low priced” gifts that they can wrap and give to their family members. Low price as in $10 for ratty stuffed animals or cheap costume jewelry. It was like an overpriced rummage sale. And it kind of ticked me off because it had a table just for gifts to “aunts and uncles” with $6 plastic screwdrivers that say “greatest uncle” and $8 ratty reminder boards that say “greatest aunt” on them. All the kids felt obligated to purchase gifts for everyone. Did get to have a lot of fun wrapping everything, though. Not one of them can keep a secret, either. My wife knew all of her gifts within about 10 minutes of our arrival home.
Gotta go, diary. Weigh-ins end at 7AM tomorrow morning, which means I’ll need to stop for an extra large coffee before we get on the road.
