The song says some days are diamonds; some days
are coal. Yesterday was coal-ish while today leaned to the gem side. The good news
for the day was my regular wireless provider is back online so I’ll be able to
stream video. I would also like to thank DFBDCD whoever you are, for not
securing your wireless signal. It was a godsend over the weekend. You really
should password protect your signal but hold off on that until I’m out of here
in case I need you again.
The better news is that idiot, Maggie is not back
as my nurse. Today I have Regina. Regina is good but you have to listen to her
carefully because she has a heavy accent and she speaks very fast.
Today goes down as a good one. It started by a
“surprise” phone from a lovely woman from Nebraska, Nancy, with whom I
connected with on Facebook through a mutual friend. She thought I was joking
the other day about the price of our old house and was shocked to find that
ordinary houses in sell for a million dollars. Vancouver is in competition with
San Francisco for most expensive west coast city. We also discussed a bit about
our healthcare system versus theirs and just the difference in monthly
insurance was phenomenal. Thank you for calling, Nancy. I love you for that! And
just for the call I’m making my new goal, January 1 so I can cheer on your
Cornhuskers in the comfort of my own bed. :-)
While we were on the phone, Ruby, the nurse,
overheard me talking about housing prices in East Van and was agreeing as she
was working at the sink. She told me later that she and her husband had just
purchased a house near Nanaimo and Pender for $850k. So we have two new
Eastenders. While we were talking about it she told me that Sonya, the resource
nurse was another Templeton grad. Class of ’95. Look out world, we are
everywhere. Go Titans!! (I have a confession to make to all my East End
friends, I was born on the West Side.)
I received more good news via email. My Fortis
(natural gas company) bill arrived and my last month’s usage was about a fourth
of the same time last year. At least, I picked the best time of year of to
spend a couple of months to save money. I’m also saving a bit of coin by not
feeding Clarabelle while sits at home in the carport. I miss my baby. ;-(
Just before lunch, my friend and former Halloween
co-conspirator, Mona showed up with coffee and a surprise; one of her special
gingerbread Christmas trees. It looks so yummy I can feel my glucose levels
climbing half a point just admiring it. We sat and swapped hospital war stories
while I nibbled on my lunch and sipped my cappuccino. Mona, while discussing
the loss of modesty in hospitals, I told my nurse, Regina, your story about the
Demerol incident while she was doing her nasty nurse-ly duties and she burst
out laughing and then it was not as rare as people might think. Apparently,
narcotics do funny things to some patients. I won’t share the story here. That
one belongs to you. You’re a great story teller; you should start writing them
down. I always tell people that writing is easy; just pretend you are talking
on paper. Thank you again, Mona!
Before she left to go home to San Francisco, I
chatted with Katherine and gave her some professional advice on how to wear her
arm sling that would make it more comfortable. Twenty years in the medical
supply business has come in handy here. I also talked about how much she was
being charged for her extended visit in our lovely city. It was actually the
first time I ever heard a doctor discussing payment for services with a
patient. Her American insurance company wanted her to pay first and get
reimbursed. Dr. McConkey would have gladly accepted a direct payment from her
insurer. I’ll also let any Americans or other foreigners out in on a secret. If
you honestly can’t pay, our medical system will eat the cost. Katherine works
is a lawyer in a downtown firm so they have decent benefits. She did confirm
that although it was not cheap (roughly $6000 to $7000 for everything), it
would have been a lot more back home. She told me about breaking her leg
playing soccer while in law school and even though she foolishly waited until
the following morning to go the student clinic to avoid emergency costs the
hospital which the clinic was attached charged her what she called a “breathing
our air” fee for just walking through.
It was a Bay Area kind of day. Jennifer and a new
assistant, Adam, came in for my physio treatments just after Mona left.
Jennifer left Adam to do most of my therapy and somehow the subject of the San
Francisco Giants came. Adam was also a fan. It turns out he’s from Santa Rosa,
the home of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Peppermint Patty. (Yes, Rebecca, I
know Santa Rosa isn’t part of the Bay Area but close enough.) I then gave him
some things to check out next time he visits The City. I don’t know why I do
that it just makes me want to go back more and I won’t be able for awhile
because I’m sure my legs won’t able to take the hills at least until next fall.
The bonus about my therapy today is Dr. McConkey
witnessed part of my therapy while he was dealing with Katherine and he was
impressed.
One of the good things about being here so long
all the staff have become cheerleaders. They get excited when I show them
things like being able to lift my legs. They love my positive forward looking attitude. I keep looking on the bright side.
Alex’s friend Billy is living proof that even as
an isolated country, Albania, is definitely located between Italy and Greece.
He tries to charm every woman around even Graciela. He reminds me of a lot of the
guys I grew up with on the east side. I did another good deed today for Alex
and used my union contacts to find the proper department at WCB to help him in
his ordeal. I’m not surprised that Pizza Hut uses such sleazy employment
practises; I just found out the Aquillini family owns the BC franchise rights.
The old man was a slimy slumlord and the brothers aren’t any better.
I tried to do Alex another favour today with the
dinner fairy for some reason he wasn’t on her regular list so I had her write
down he wanted the salmon which the only serve every couple of weeks but he got
sent the chicken. No problem though his friend brought him in some food.
We got a new cellmate this evening, Anne, another
hip replacement patient; it sounds like she’s a repeat customer.
Okay, even diamonds can have flaws, Maggie showed
up as my night nurse. Luckily, night nurses aren’t as crucial for my normal
needs.
Three young people came into see Graciela and from
the cadence of their voices it sounded like they were saying Mass including
singing a couple of hymns in Spanish.
I was able to another good deed by putting my
great knowledge of Spanish when Graciela kept asking Maggie for “hielo” and
Maggie thought she was saying “yellow”. I finally stepped in and said “Hielo!
She wants ice. Hielo” The only problem is Graciela then started speaking
Spanish to me and I had to cut her off with “Mi Espagnol muay pocitto”
(Spelling and grammar don’t count)
So I finished of the night with Rachel, The Wire,
an orange and an oatmeal cookie.
To be continued....
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