Thursday March 17th 2022 St Patrick's Day

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2022

Joe, those dreams can be perplexing. They seem so real at the time.

Stars, I stay up way too late to read more often than I should.

amo, the last time I had a mouse in the house, we had moved to a small subdivision in the middle of a bunch of cornfields a few months after our cat died. We went cat-less until we'd lived there about 3 years, at which point the mouse problem was becoming quite apparent. There was even evidence of a mouse gnawing inside my piano. My stepson liked to snack on cereal, and left an open cereal box on the floor one evening and we heard scrabbling and found a young ?inside the box. So we got our ? Minnie, who was the kitten of my stepdaughter's cat (stepdaughter was living with their mom by then). She was an indoor/outdoor cat until she was about 10 years old and then I made her indoor-only. She lived with us until shortly after her 19th birthday, when we had her euthanized due to oral cancer. Anyway, after she came to live with us we didn't have mouse problems again. She would leave voles outside the door. Your mileage may vary. ?

J22, Tweety, I'm learning to appreciate the now. Realistically, things are probably as good as they're gonna get. And they're really pretty good. We're healthy, we can afford our healthcare, we get along well with the grown-up kids, we aren't being bombed... Life is reasonably low-stress. So, yeah, I may *itch at times but do try to be aware of how good things are.

It's warm outside but getting overcast with a threat of thunderstorms and possibly hail this evening.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2022

Updating to say that when I came to work this morning there was a smell of fire in the air. Now one of our dietary staff just stopped in to say she was leaving to go check on her house because there is a large fire down around the river -- which is on the OKC news so it must be fairly big.

amoLucia · Mar 17, 2022

Ado - we had cats last house until NOT. I would just love to have a cat now for the companionship. But I use a walker, totally dependent on its use. So I decline the cat for safety - I wouldn't want to tangle up with it and injure it or MYSELF. Don't know if it would be a good mouser cat.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Mar 17, 2022

amo, I can't argue with that logic. The hospital sets out traps for the mice. We had a locked drawer in the med room that we would put patients' home narcotics in. Once when we had a nursing home patient with xanax tabs in one of those blister packs, we found 3 tabs missing and little shreds of foil. The MD had a hard time convincing the retail pharmacist that a mouse had stolen the patient's meds. Now we have a sealable plastic container that we put those bad boys in before they go in the locked drawer. No more mouse parties.

No Stars In My Eyes · Mar 17, 2022

Oh, woe is us! Just read that our 'favorite' Braves player, 1st baseman Freddie Freeman, has signed with the LA Dodgers!! AUGH! I guess money ($162 million for a 6 or 8 year contract?) wins out over loyalty to the team he played with for gawd-knows how many years. OOOOOH WELL! The guy the Braves have hired to be 1st baseman now will, I think, be getting $168 million for (?) four or maybe 6 years.... I am no ballplayer or mathematician, and I don't know what they offered Freddie to stay with the Braves, but maybe he wanted to move his family to L.A.? At least, that's what I hear.

Nannie's profundity of the day: "Boy, that sun is awfully bright!" ...proclaimed 7 times in less than an hour. ? It isn't shining ON her, though. I asked her if she wanted some sunglasses and she declined the offer. "But," she said, "It IS very bright!" So, I said, "That's what sun does." At least it isn't all cloudy, which she heartily c/o every time we have overcast skies.

Hubby's dgt just called and said she needs her daddy's help in paying for the vendor's tax and something else. OY. The groom's mother has pushed for a chapel wedding and a big reception (200 people, I think) instead of the plan the couple had originally, which would've been the wedding at the Courthouse, and a BBQ at their house and on their large back deck. I guess dgt and her husband will be pitching in the $$ we are giving them as a delayed Xmas present to help pay for all this. Too bad, so sad. Someone shoulda just said no to the groom's mom, IMHO.

Hubby is supposed to leave for Asheville on Saturday. He gets so bent out of shape about planning for stuff like this, but I know he will be glad that he went to see his dgt and grand-dgt's, and then will actually be glad to come back here, even though we have our own bumps in the road of life to deal with. I think he said it has been 2 years since he's seen them, but I think it was a year and a half ago that his dgt and the youngest grand came here to visit (on Nannie's 91st b'day). He has no fondness for his son-in-law, but is friendly and civil to him because it is his dgt's husband. Also their dog is a big, gallumpy ol' fool, and uses his paws a lot, which gives hubby a lot of skin-tears and blood blisters. Hubby's skin is DELICATE, just like his Dad's was. Hubby is always calling out, "I need a nurse!" when he bumps his hand or arm and needs a bandaid applied.

Ado, I hope that fire didn't involve the dietary worker's house! That is scary! And as for cats delivering their caught prey home...once I had two cats who (two different times) managed to bring in a live chipmunk! Once I managed to roll one up in a towel and bring it out to the back yard. The other chipmunk, well, while it was in my kitchen, I managed to block off access to the living-room and opened the apt. door, which gave it a 'tunnel' to follow outside...it ran out and right off the 2nd-story porch! AND then ran into the shrubs around the garden. One time, unbeknowst to me, one of the cats had brought in a dead bird, and while playing with it on the kitchen floor, managed to get the bird's carcass UNDER the large braided rug. My friend and her dgt stopped by for a brief visit, and at some point my friend stepped on the carpet and it squeaked. She said "Listen!" and stepped on it a few more times, then said, "It must be one of the cat's toys." But...Uh...my cat's had NO squeak-toys. I picked up the edge of the carpet to reveal the dead bird. My friend TOTALLY freaked out, and her daughter collapsed from laughing so hard at her mother's response.

St. Patrick's Day? I didn't know. I wore a maroon jersey and bluejeans. That's OK, though, as when I did the DNA spit-test, I found out I had mostly Finn and a little bit of English (Brit). But, at least I didn't wear Orange. Of course, down here they pay less attention to wearing green on St Pat's Day, so nobody thumped me.

Whaddya think about yet another variant of the Omicron virus hitting Europe and China? Guess I'll keep my mask close at hand, and in two weeks we can go get yet another J&J vaccine to BOOST us. EGADS!

I hate Putin more every day.

nursej22, MSN, RN · Mar 17, 2022

Ugh, mice! No thank you. The last time we had one was in our home in Idaho. There had been evidence in the kitchen, but we hadn't seen one until one night, it ran out from under the couch I was sitting and disappeared into the kitchen. As is my habit, I jumped up and started screaming. I don't think I slept that night, and was at the hardware store first thing in the morning for D-Con. Never heard from the little bugger(s) again. Shudder.

It's raining, splish, splash. Had my neurosurgery consult, and it was as disappointing as I thought it would be. He doesn't think the disc is bulging enough to cause my symptoms. He thinks is piriformis syndrome, even though I've been doing stretches for it for over a year. So he is going to call in an RX for a muscle relaxant. When I pushed back that PT didn't think it was piriformis and that the muscle was weaker on my right, he agreed to order an nerve conduction study, but that will take up to a month to get done. I wasn't impressed by that consultant.

I did wear some green today, well sort of green. It's more of a teal. I'm not of Irish descent, that I know of. And I've never had corned beef and cabbage. I do enjoy a nice glass of Guinness from time to time, so maybe I'll treat myself tonight.

See ya later, kids.

amoLucia · Mar 17, 2022

Everybody is Irish on St Patrick's Day!

No Stars In My Eyes · Mar 17, 2022

I liked to eat home-made corned beef and cabbage! My grandfather used to cure the beef himself, and Mom was a terrific cook! YUM! Other CB&C from other cooks, especially from a restaurant? meh! All I can say is that it isn't supposed to be mushy!

Just decided I'm going to start wearing my face-mask again; going to arrange an appt w/ pharmacy to get our shots ASAP. Don't want to be a walking laboratory for yet even more Covid mutations. Nannie, who very rarely goes out of the house, said she wants to get the next shot "because the last shot we got worked REALLY well. I've felt GREAT ever since then!." HUH! Must have been mixed with Magic Vit.B-12 or something! She is convinced that the shots are to improve the way she feels. Sure, why not?

Have wondered why the gypsies have returned today....oooh, BOTH knees, shoulders, elbows, fingers. Just have felt increasingly awful, mood-wise, also. Well, yah...guess who: 1.) remembered to refill the mediset, but 2.) Forgot to take the meds this morning. GOOD GRIEF!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2022

Good evening.

Ado, hope the homes are okay in your area.

I hate mice. I had them come in the doggie door, but haven't seen any in a good long while.

Work was a bit rough. I had mother with fetal demise. She'd already had a few days to deal with it and had seen the baby once. She had a hysterectomy and lost a lot of blood and went into hypovolemic shock. Anyway they brought her baby in to for her to see one more time and get footprints for her to have. She also had to plan the funeral and talk to a funeral home. It was tough seeing her there with that tiny red corpse. So sad.

I'll be for work for a couple of weeks. Taking a break and using up some vacation time before I lose it. Still bummed I canceled my Costa Rica trip.

Yep, it's just a matter of time before the next wave of covid. I see they are throwing the idea around of yet another booster, and it will probably I'm sure like the flu shot, covid shots are going to be a part of our lives. I'm not wearing a mask yet though.

Editorial Team / Admin · Mar 18, 2022

Hello all!

I'm sure I have some Irish blood in me somewhere. But I didn't wear green today. One of my patients wore lovely shades of green fingernail polish! I made Ruben sandwiches (vegetarian corned beef) for dinner: Jewish Rye bread, Monterey Jack cheese, the corned "beef," Thousand Island dressing, and some sauerkraut from Trader Joe's. Must admit they were pretty yummy! Dh loved them!

I am off tomorrow. I have a few errands to do, and dh and I are meeting oldest ds for lunch. Sunday we may drive up to Hesperia to meet our friend J and deliver my guitar to her. She will then transport it to southern Utah, to a luthier who has been repairing HER guitar. She will pick hers up and drop mine off, and it will then receive some much-needed repairs and re-alignings. Oh, and when we drop off the guitar, we will meet at a restaurant and have some yummies with her. ?

I got out my stand-by guitar last night. Dh bought it for me, new, in 2004. I have preferred playing the other, older guitar but while it is out of the house, will use this one. I will probably change its strings this weekend. I will use it while the other is "in the shop."

Dh reminded me of a friend's jam, held Wednesday mornings. After I retire we can go to that -- once a month, every two weeks, whatever. That will be nice.

Ado, any news about the fire???

Tweety, so sad for that mother. One of the potentially happiest of times in one's life is completely turned around to one of the biggest, saddest disappointments... // I hope you enjoy your time off! Are you thinking of taking a trip soon? Either to Costa Rica (as planned before) or ????

nursej22, what a let-down re: dx. It seems, though, you were not completely surprised by the outcome. Gosh, didn't he know piriformis had already been considered and was being treated empirically?? Keeping you in prayer.

In a house with seven cats, we have no mice. ?

Have a good evening.

No Stars In My Eyes · Mar 18, 2022

Tweety, What a horrible shift with such a tragic patient. It's really good you are taking some much needed time off. (Wish I could!)

j22, I'm going to come see your doctors and give them my traditional really HARD whack/slap on each cheek (facial) and shake them by the shoulders, while yelling, "WHAT THE H___ IS THE MATTER WITH YOU???!!" It bugs the pee-water out of me when patients (you!) seem to get railroaded, and once again have to WAIT for too damn long to have a physically wearing predicament dealt with. AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!