Oh, well

Today was most uneventful although it was pretty full. Besides the daily 4:00 a.m wake up by Crazy Alice:

Crazy Alice: Help! There's a man in my room. I'm gonna to get ma gun!

Phlebotomist: Ma'am, we go through this every week. I'm Chico. I'm from Paclab. I'm the phlebotomist. I've come to get some blood.

Crazy Alice: You're gonna get my blood? Get away from me vampire! I've got me silver bullets!

Before I could warn Crazy Alice that silver bullets only work on werewolves, and not vampires, Madeline, a stern but very nice nurse from Ghana came into Crazy Alice (and Alice's room and started scolding Crazy Alice. Madeline asked Crazy Alice what her name was, when was her birth date, and where did she think she was, and on and on, and suddenly it was 5:30 a.m. and Mr. S., whose room shares a bathroom with the room I share with Danny, started hacking up something. It sounded like he was trying to tear a phone book in half a few pages at a time. Then he turned on his TV, loud, because he's deaf, and I never managed to fall asleep. The sound of KIRO's cheery morning news crew pleasantly recounted some story about a car crash and fatalities. Oh, well.

Danny seems to be a little cheerier today. He is resigned that he will have to stay here at least a week. I think I calmed him down. I still worry that when he gets out that he will off himself. I don't know how much responsibility I have. Should I try to stop him by telling a nurse? I did talk to a friend of his and she thinks the same thing. She is closer to him so I will leave it up to her. She is going to talk to Danny's brother about it before he leaves in a one week business trip up to Alaska. She and I suspect he already knows how Danny is feeling. I have always thought that someone in Danny's state, that is, terminally ill and in great pain and all, should be able to leave this world any way they want to, but there is this tiny part of me that has been influenced by Christians, Muslims, and (I think) Hindus who say that suicide is a sin. That suicide is the one sure way not to get into "heaven." Oh, well.

I worked with yet another new occupational therapist. She is nice but like the one I have been working with this past week, only a temp. We worked on some new stuff that should strengthen some back muscles. I will add it to my daily routine. I tried to move up from the six pound weights to the sevens, but that extra pound almost killed me. I'll stick with the sixes until they feel like nothing.

The therapy department (in actuality it is a separate company owned by a different Mormon family than the Mormon family that owns the nursing home...fucking Mormons) has hired one new O.T. person, but I made a lousy first impression the other day when she came in our toom for Danny and I said "Jesus Fucking Christ! It's 6:30 in the morning!" When she saw me today she just frowned. I don't think she wants to work with me. Oh, well. I guess it will be someone new next week.

It's pretty wierd that in a 30 day span the therapy department has lost two (out of five) physical therapists and three out of five occupational therapists, including, Mira, the boss. And all of them work have worked with me. Oh, well. At least Tobey and Z (Mohammed Zahir), two physical therapist assistants, are still here to work with me. They are both very cool and under different circumstances I could see us hanging out and watching a movie. If I ever walk again, maybe I'll buy a motorcycle and go on a short road trip with them. This wouldn't feel like such a waste of time if I got a couple friends out of here (no matter how unrealistic that might be).

After I was done with the occupational (upper body) part of therapy. I watched the verdict O. J. Simpson robbery trial. Guilty on eight counts for 15-33 years, out in 9 if he behaves. He will be at least 70 when he gets out. ESPN says the prison he is going to is the home of a large concentration of the Aryan Warriors, so he needs to watch his ass! I don't take any personal pleasure at O. J.'s going to prison for this. But I hope the Brown and Goldman families find some peace. It might not be justice, exactly, but it is something.

After the verdict I took almost the rest of my money and spent it on groceries. I bought a loaf of white bread. I hoped it would be fluffy but it's a tad mealy. Did Wonder Bread and Home Pride go out of business? Sometimes I want something with no nutritional value but nice texture). Oh, well. I also bought some Oscar Meyer Weiners, some Miracle Whip, and some paprika and black pepper.

When I got back to the home I immediately steamed two hot dogs in the microwave served it on white bread with Miracle Whip. It was great It was the first Miracle Whip I've had in 15 months. A sandwich just isn't a sandwich without the TANGY ZIP of Miracle Whip!

I told the kitchen all I wanted for dinner was four hard-boiled eggs. I chopped them up, added the Miracle Whip, some French's Mustard, paprika and black pepper and had two egg salad sandwiches for dinner. I have no illusions that my version of egg salad, the way my mother taught me, would horrify Alton Brown (his description of the wrong way to make Macaroni and Cheese is also the way my mother taught me) but I loved it. The bacteria still makes what I eat or drink taste like crap. But that tangy albino goodness cut right through the crud and I was happy.

Afterward I worked with Bridget in physical therapy. We worked on transfers and I am going to stop using the Hoyer Lift on Sunday, and start using the sliding board to transfer into my chair Monday morning. Bridget is one of the people who is quitting the nursing home to go off to do bigger and better things. I am fortunate that I will get to work with her for two more weeks, but I will really be sad to see her go. Oh, well.

I found out two more people died in the past couple days, including the person who has my old bed, the one I had for almost a year until I had my heart attack. I could probably move back but a) I finally have most of my stuff put away. And b) a guy fucking died in my old bed. One of the nurses said the guy was so quiet he might have been dead ween the ambulance brought him to the nursing home, he died that soon after he arrived.

I got two big envelopes from the UW today and am scared to open them. I will wait at least until Sunday. I m meeting my friend Paul tomorrow for coffee and he will be bringing me a couple weeks worth of mail. I'll add it the pile of mail he brought me the last two times I saw him and finally go through it Sunday afternoon, saving the UW stuff for last. The envelopes are heavy and they are big. The postage between the two was almost ten bucks. I just hope they don't make me take all of my retirement money now. Unless I can spend it so fast that Medicaid doesn't notice and stop paying my rent here, the nursing home will jack up my "participation fee" and take it all. I have been giving the home all but $50 of my monthly $1700 disability check, and Medicaid picks up the rest. Someone just paying out of pocket gets charged $6,000 a month for an uncomfortable bed, a roommate they may loathe, three bland meals a day, recreational activities for the aged and mentally stunted, and cable TV (until Feb. 17, 2009, when all of America switches to digital, and since the residents don't have cable boxes, the residents are going to lose their fucking minds...what's left of them). Oh, well.

There is not much to look forward to this weekend except coffee with Paul in about 12 hours, a couple 15 minute restorative sessions with Lamin in the afternoons, and watch the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, which I borrowed from Toby. I might play some more Call Of Duty (I am still waiting for NHL09 to show up).

There won't be much Slogging until Monday morning, beginning with Monday's "Morning News." I am hoping that President-Elect Obama will announce his Domestic cabinet next week (Secretary of the Interior, Head of the E.P.A., Secretary of Education, etc.) and that the liberals will finally get the kind of people they've been hopeing for. As much as the far lefties are concerned (I'm a liberal but some people are just "out there") Obama has already "sold out." "Same boss as the old boss," is a familiar refrain in Slog comments. But the far right is just as bad. I got stuck behind an auto mechanic at the Coffee Shack (out in the parking lot) who was saying that he was stocking up on ammo because he thought Obama was going to make it impossible for private citizens to buy ammunition. He also is stocking up on food and water because he anticipates all those laid off people (you know the ones from WaMu, Safeco, Macy's, etc.) will start looting and raping any day now. Jesus Fucking Christ! Oh, well.