General Musings

A collection of random thoughts, ideas or things that are interesting to others.

Too many volunteers? Or Too many cooks in the kitchen.

~ Ron Walker ~ 20 Comments

I was mowing a small section of the lawn Tuesday morning. It wasn’t real hot, but I hadn’t felt 100% for a couple of days. Didn’t take me 10 minutes, but it was really humid out there. I got through, came inside and checked my blood pressure and pulse. Pulse was 88bpm and I thought that was odd as I never run over 65-70 after exertion due to the meds they have me on to control my heartbeat. BP was slightly elevated. I decided to lay down for a nap. After an hour, I got up and felt awful. Shaky.

Pulse at that time was 120 and BP 191/102 way above normal for me (120/80). So even though I’m not one to complain, often waiting until it’s nearly too late to seek help, I decided to do it differently this time. I had Michelle call the paramedics to check me out since my heart felt funny and there was tightness in my chest and throat.

Keystone Medics, I’ll need a bigger yard.

Let me start by saying. I am a staunch supporter of medical personnel. They are the front-line defense in times of emergency. I am, however, very intolerant of inefficiency and stupidity. So I call it as I see it, as fairly as possible. I have blogged before regarding volunteer emergency services here in Alabama. I have given praise in the past and criticism as well if deserved. Sitting here, not feeling all that well, I did hear some of the traffic on the police scanner here on the desk. I thought it was a lot of chatter for one call to check out a person with chest pains, but didn’t think any more of it. I figured, either they like to talk a lot, or I must be a celebrity and didn’t know it. It sounded like an awful lot of radio traffic for one call. The first unit paramedic drove past the house which the address was plainly marked on the mail box by the driveway in 6-inch letters 4121. He thought the call was 4131, Michelle had to run outside and flag him back toward the house. Then the true Keystone syndrome kicked in. Three, count them, THREE ambulances arrive and fill the front yard. So we now have three ambulances and a paramedic truck. We told them on the phone it was chest pains, and that we needed a unit for assessment. So rational people would expect a medic unit and maybe one ambulance. However, the med units here also transport. Basically, I had four ambulances in the yard.

The men on the primary (first in the house) unit hooked me up and determined I was indeed in Atrial fibrillation status. Since I was ambulatory, and they didn’t transport to the city 10 miles from us, I opted to have Michelle drive me.

12 guys standing around.

I thought perhaps having moved some miles from our last residence close to a small city with it’s own fire department I wouldn’t be seeing volunteer units racing to each and every call. Apparently being just outside the city limits, we fall into the first arrive, first paid category. I have mentioned before, volunteer fire units get around $32 each time a member rolls and arrives at a call. So anyone and everyone within fuel tank range apparently decided to try to collect on my single medical call. What if, someone several miles away, had been in cardiac arrest or had a limb amputated and had to wait for one of these speed racers to leave my residence and get to them. I mean, really. Three ambulances and a paramedic unit that doubles as an ambulance for one call? Anyhow, once I was checked out, Michelle and I thanked everyone, which took a while with about 12 guys standing around. The neighbors next door came over. We rarely see them, but I guess it looked like a mass shooting might have occurred and people love to gossip.

I would then begin the adventure in the hospital that was overcrowded, but that will be the next post. Gives me a little something for post material, and keeps this one from being so long. Suffice it to say, I am back home after a 26-hour stay at the large hospital in the capital city, 10 miles from here. I’m fine now with the Atrial fibrillation under control but just worn out.

On the bright side, the “Chaplain Truck” didn’t show up. I might have suffered a cardiac event at the sight.

Correction: Michelle says there was a tanker fire truck and another paramedic truck. Total of 6 units in the yard.

Light at the end of the tunnel.

~ Ron Walker ~ 22 Comments

What a strange journey it has been. As I mentioned in my last post back in May, I was to begin a hormone therapy for my low energy level and just overall exhaustion. It took longer than anticipated, due to scheduling around here. I started a month later than intended, so this is just my fifth week of the weekly shots. Within three weeks (three shots) my thinking and moods had improved. Not sure if they were supposed to work that fast, but I can say I’m certainly glad.

Slowly fading away

Before starting on the treatment, I had reached the point of wondering if I would even wake up from the next nap. That is how weak and uninterested I had become, mentally foggy all the time. There were times I actually felt like I was just fading away towards some ethereal destination. No desire to do anything, No sign of creativity for blogging or posting to my own forum that I have operated for the past 13 years. I’m not sure what all the bodily systems are that get governed by this male hormone, but it was a feeling I hope to never have again. Just slowly fading away each day, getting weaker as time progressed.

Apparently, it was a subtle change

The flip side of this coin is more energy and desire to do things. Another condition I have noticed is my eyesight. I had gotten to the point that even reading glasses wouldn’t help me when on the computer for a long time. I realized over the last two weeks, that I am not wearing my reading glasses, or my prescription glasses to use my smartphone. Apparently, it was a subtle change, but a welcomed one. Sitting here now with the browser set on 90% zoom, where in the past months I had cranked it up to 110% zoom and that was with my reading glasses. Could it be that the hormone affected muscles in the eyes causing them to be weak and not focus after a short period?

Of course, a sudden renewal of energy tends to lead to overdoing things a bit. In the last two weeks, I repaired the washing machine, built an eight-foot workbench in my shed and stained it, fixed Michelle a she-shed area for her crafts, trimmed and fitted a door to the office here. This comes at the price of intense back and neck pain at times, but I can tell you it’s worth it at this point to once again feel like participating in the world. I’m looking forward to getting back in here and visiting all of you and trying to create things to post about.

“What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger.”

Not sure how to title this.

~ Ron Walker ~ 27 Comments

Forgive me for the idiotic title, but I honestly couldn’t come up with one that wouldn’t embarrass me. It seems, my esteemed doctor has finally taken the time to notice something. He is a great guy, but like many doctors now you see his “assistants” and not him. Apparently, he noticed something in the recent myriad of blood tests they take, when they’re not trying to find phantom things to charge my insurance for.

It would seem that due to the medications I’m on, and my mileage and age (69 next month), that perhaps my Arnold Schwarzenegger chemical (Testosterone, there I said it), is nearly non-existent. Normal levels are 12-13 according to him, but mine is .8

After some Q&A I learned this can cause all sorts of problems such as concentration, extreme tiredness, moodiness, loss of muscle mass, and lack of interest in the world as a whole. Nice of them to finally find something possibly connected to my multiple reports of these symptoms to them, instead of listening to them tell me what they think I may need to be tested for. I’m betting that is why I have no desire to do many other things like blog, come up with good content, go places, and unable to concentrate once I sit down at the computer wanting to think of something to post. I used to come up with fairly witty and fun posts in the past, but for a year now thoughts have been like an empty landscape with the occasional tumbleweed drifting by.

I’ll start treatment the first of the month, so hopefully, I will get motivated once again to blog, with actual formulated content. That is if my eyeballs don’t fall from their sockets, or an arm falls off from the side effects. I haven’t bothered looking into them, as I don’t even want to know. It’s rough when you start to do something, then your brain and body just say, “Nah, give us a moment and this feeling will pass.”

So here’s hoping for energy, brainpower, and a drive to do more things this Summer. Thank you all for being a part of my blogging world. -Ron

Busy week. Rescued Kittens, Hawk attacks Weather Rock installation.

~ Ron Walker ~ 18 Comments

Terror from above

The week started off with a bang, or should we say a swoop. Gizmo, our male Chihuahua was in the backyard doing his business. Max the German Shepard was out there with him to supposedly ward off any sky born predators we have. Max began barking aggressively, and I went to check on them. Gizmo was not in the backyard. I went to the front where he is sometimes found running around if he finds a way out of the yard. He was on the porch at the door quivering. I noticed a spot on his side, and figured he had punctured his skin getting out of the fence.

Closer inspection would reveal a long tear in his skin. No large amount of blood loss, but a large long clean looking tear or cut. We rushed him to the Vet, had him sewn up and he was home the next day. We told the vet that the injury may have been caused by the top of the chain link fence. She asked if we lived in the city or county. She stated that it looked more like an injury from a large bird such as a hawk. We have plenty of those. There was a puncture to the flesh where the injury started, but just the slice or tear upwards from that. The vet thinks he was grabbed, but was too heavy to hold, and it ripped his first layer of skin from the super sharp talons of one foot of the hawk. That would explain why he came straight to the front porch and got close to the door, instead of running the yard exploring as he usually does. He’s doing fine now and on medication, if we can just keep him still, as he is straining the stitches.

Smitten with Kittens

The week would also discover a kitten in a non-operational pickup truck across the street that has lumber and parts in the bed. We have rescued it, and it is healthy and happy. The mother cat, had disappeared for two weeks, someone must have caught and carried her off, and she just returned after the recent storm. We then discovered another kitten. After checking with the neighbors of the area, we were told they had seen five kittens initially with the mother by a shed. They think a large owl that lives across the road may have carried off the other three, before they were moved by the mother to the bed of the truck, under the lumber.

Midnight

“Midnight”, or Rottie mix has decided they need motherly love. She is actually producing milk like a false pregnancy. She sits at the puppy gate in the living room, and whines till we let her in for a moment to clean on them and roll them around with her big nose. Maybe she’s just checking to make sure they haven’t lost any parts. She hasn’t allowed them to nurse though.

Weather Rock Time

I’ve grown tired of the inaccurate forecast of the paid talking heads on the weather stations locally. After some joking on the general discussion forum, I decided to install my own Weather Rock. This is the resulting post on The Country Depot.

I’ve gotten tired of the forecasts by the paid Weather Guessers changing every few minutes to the hour. I think I can do as good as they do now days. So with that in mind, I have installed a micro mini Weather Rock here at home (The Country Depot Forum). We even have some fancy initials for it. TCDFWR.

Weather Rock (TCDFWR)
Manufactured by: Mother Nature.
Location: The Country Depot Forum  Millbrook, Al. USA
Over 1 million years of accurate service.
Dependable and weather resistant, will last a lifetime.
Various sizes available. This is the micro mini version. Larger one supported by twine or rope on order.
Easily replaceable.
Disclaimer: Although much more accurate for up-to-the-minute conditions than a paid “Weather Guesser”. The Weather Rock should not be relied upon for long range predictions.
Note: Accuracy based on location of installation and mounting methods.

Weather Rock Indicators as installed in this location.

Dry: No Rain
Wet: Heavy dew/light rain.
Dripping wet: moderate to heavy rain.
Sparkling appearance: Temp below 32F or frost
Soft white coating: Snow. (or bird droppings)
Repelling hard shiny objects from above: Hail.
Icy covering: Ice storm conditions.
Rock Movement Perceptible in any direction: Heavy winds
Rock Missing: Possible Tornado. Or as we call them, “Naders”.
Rock covered by house debris: Refer to “Naders” above.
Rock and mount missing: It’s all over.
Dark shade on rock/contrast with background: Clear Skies.
Rock changes from bright to dark: Partly cloudy.
Rock still dark 1 hour after sunrise: Very Cloudy/Overcast.

Manual tactile indicators
Rock Warm: Pleasant Temperatures
Rock Hot to touch: Hot as H**l
Rock very cold: Yea. It’s cold.
Rock melting: Global warming apocalypse?

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So, how has your week been? Stay safe. Comments always welcome.