Once upon a time I tried to kill my husband. Now this is a true story but perhaps not in the context that you’re thinking. To be fair to me I warned him but he didn’t listen. Now the shoe might be on the other foot.
The original story is about twenty years old and not one that I have shared very often for you see it puts me in a bad light. Although I think in a court of law I would have probably gotten off as I did warn him.
It had the prologue of a couple of days work as making chicken soup from scratch takes time. You have to make the stock cool it skim it and then make the soup. I’m quite certain that it was the call that stage that I blew. I finished up the soup and served it for lunch. I took one bite and said “don’t eat it, it’s bad”. He consumed two bowls. He was sick, really sick for about 36 hours. I said I was sorry about 50 times.
Now today he pulled out fish from the fridge and cooked it on the BBQ. Fish in the fridge always smells bad to me but cooked it smelt ok. He thought not and told me “don’t eat it”. I proceeded to eat it as my first two bites had tasted fine. He threw his out. We shall see who was right. If you don’t hear from me in 36 hours maybe check on me!đ
So here is yesterday’s post today. Seems yesterday become some rather random other stuff Zzzzzz. This is what I was actually working on when I hit publish.
My best time is 9 minutes flat, my longest about 30. Now that’s not Formula One pit change speed but not bad for a middle aged woman alone.
Now that best time has to be put into context plus perhaps the subject! The jack and tire were still out from the flat 5 days before. I might add that a guy sat in his vehicle waiting for someone and watched me the whole time. Whatevs as the kids say.
My worst time was probably this past winter when it was like -35 and I had the new truck. I couldn’t get the handle in to let the tire down and had to call my son in law for help, which I might add, he gave very graciously and didn’t make me feel like a wimp.
I’ve had a few awkward tire change situations. A Suburban full of meat and the spare tire accessible only if I moved most of it. Two dogs in the back of the station wagon and it happens on the freeway.
The longest tire change was the old farm truck on a gravel road in the middle of no where in the rain. Only one very unquiet vehicle went by. He didn’t stop the first time but the second time he did and asked if I needed help. I wasn’t all that polite when I told him I was finished now but if he’d bothered to stop the first time help would have been nice. Whatevs.
My dad taught me to change a tire and expected me to attend to it myself. Remember the context there as well though. Cell phones hadn’t been invented and I was a farm kid who drove back roads to get places. So it was walk for help or do it yourself. 95% of the time I’ve done it myself. Once i was even attired in a long dress!
In case you don’t know how I included a How to Video. You never know. Driving on the rim isn’t an option and sitting there all night in an area with no cell coverage could happen to you. It’s pretty easy even if they do the lug nuts up tight. You just put the tire wrench horizontal, hang onto the roof and stand on it till it gives. Easy peasey especially if you get lots of practise like me seems I am a flat tire magnet.
I love the big holidays as they are family time but perhaps my favourite personal day of the year is today. Anyone who follows the blog knows why!
That golden orb comes up at 4;45 and doesn’t set till 21:30 (9:30 for all you non medical sort). I know, in my head, that the days start getting shorter now, but I like to live in denial that summer has only long days like today!
I had a Facebook post from a couple of years ago lamenting the fact that on the summer Soltice it rained all day and we didn’t even get a sunset. We awoke this a.m. to open windows and rain at 4:05 so I wasn’t exactly hopeful for today but I did have a plan for a blog post if the weather did cooperate.
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My plan was to have a picture for every hour that I saw the sun. Which is easy for the first hour so here is my am pics at home and my commuter pic (taken while sitting at the red light). It’s so much easier to get up when it’s light and bright out.
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Then of course things go down hill for a few hours. The following picture is what’s left of our windows after they started building the Children’s Hospital. The dungeon became even darker and harder to handle. There are many of my colleagues who probably think I am stuck up because I leave the OR for my breaks. I will stay if the patient and the room require me to be close by but getting real life is very important to my psyche. You can see why I chose to leave when you see our “view”.
0805Then it’s a couple of busy hours where time zips by. First break of the day — outside view away from the smokers but right by the gophers. Can’t seem to win!
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The middle stretch of the day is insanely busy but finally it’s time for a lunch break in the Queen’s Garden. I wish it was still a secret treasure with crappy furniture as it’s always so busy but a late lunch allows for more quiet time.
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Usually that just leaves a couple of hours until the professional day winds down and I get to enjoy the sunshine. But alas I am on call his summer soltise and you guessed it. Staying late so I grab a 5 minute sunshine break before the next stretch.
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Three hours later a quick supper break of chili and cheese with a carrot muffin. Well at least it’s kind of decent food and didn’t come from a vending machine.
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And then the long stretch at the end of the day when you are feeling a bit tired. But I just kept thinking, maybe I will be out in time to see the sunset or even the never ending twilight.
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Turns out that twilight is a lovely time to change your tire. Even stopped in the most scenic part of the road so the church was in the twilight. I have shit for luck when it comes to tires. Not sure if I hit something or if it was a blow out not that it matters. Fortunately I’m pretty handy with a tire iron and my road side assistance guy was like 3 km’s away so it wasn’t the worst flat I’ve ever had. Now that could be a blog post all on its own.
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So that’s a wrap for today. I am thinking that next year on this day perhaps would be a perfect time to finally take that trip to the Yukon.
I’m very fond of January which isn’t a statement most people make but perhaps June is my favorite. I’m all about the sunlight and June just can’t be topped for that. It’s like the light goes on and on and on! I’m like a school age child and never want to go to bed because it is still light out.
These next two are from a walk that we finished after 10 one evening this week. The moon has been stellar this week, the twilight lingers on and on and then the morning sun starts peeking out so early.
The plus to all that sun is that everything is growing like crazy! We could certainly use some serious rain but even so it’s all very green except for the trees. They are just plain ugly. Fortunately the worst of the caterpillars seems to be over.
But the flowers and plants are a looking worth a few photos. I’m not sure what a couple of them are but the colours and textures are wonderful! The last one has only been growing for a few months but we will enjoy watching this little beauty pop up.
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The enthusiasm had long drained away, the energy stores seemed depleted and yet I carried on. Fuelled by determination that I was going to complete the task.
This is not a post about my vehicle or the state of our local roads. Rather it’s about what we ask our bodies to do and how we usually push ourselves because at this moment I feel like a FORD (found off road daily).
It’s hard to admit but sometimes my body is starting to feel it’s age. Perhaps it’s because I had 10 days off and felt amazing. No early mornings, heavy patients, OR tables and equipment to move around. No run run run for 8 hours a day. Plus sunshine and beer at lunch. My body felt amazing despite 5 (yes 5!!!!) full days on the slopes. But the return to reality has been harsh.
I didn’t sleep well when we were away but still managed. Since returning home I’ve slept really badly. Like really badly. Mostly because my back has gone south in a huge hurry. I’ve tried all my usual tricks like meds, heat, shower, stretches and not much has worked.
So by mid morning I knew my back had gone into crisis mode although to put it into perspective it’s not life threatening and it’s 95% external factors. The spasms in the night lead to such tightness that I could hardly bend over. About the only thing that works is to keep walking.
Thank heavens for a well timed phone call and the cancellation list. In to see my favourite physio man at the end of my work day. The one with hands like a Mack Truck. It’s usually not fun and I often swear at him a little (or perhaps a lot). We share a long history of him keeping me “on the road” so to speak but we were talked frankly about aging and respecting what the body is trying to say. We also discussed the tough hours my job puts on my body. This was followed by a brutally honest conversation about my lack of a regular stretching and strengthening routine. The up side he showed me this super cool 3D image of the my trouble area. This is not that image but it shows the two muscles that are acting together to haunt me.
Now the issue is the one I always face when my back is brutal. I know, without any hesitation, that it will recover faster if I don’t push it. So lots of ice, stretching, walking and light activities. Add too much heavy stuff and the various muscles all start to complain loudly together. Then it takes forever to get better. So I opted for a heavy duty muscle relaxant, a hot bath and a sick day from work. That’s tough for me. I feel immense guilt when I’m forced to put my feet up and rest but sometimes you have to listen to your body. I always feel like I’ve let my team and my patients down.
