my day - april 26, 2012

where shall i start? the cold? yeah, that's it. the cold.

the cold started in earnest monday afternoon. i tried to write it off as allergies at first. and at second. and even at third. to say that i was in denial was an understatement.

by middle of the night monday/tuesday, it was a cold. my face ached. my whole head felt heavy, drowsy and plugged up. and i got little, if any, sleep. so i did what anyone else would do. i called in sick tuesday morning and stayed home. and tried to sleep. but still had the same issues and slept very little. but that's the nature of the cold. i'll deal with it.

i was able to sleep fairly well tuesday night, so felt certain working wednesday would be no big deal. and it wasn't. well, it was trying. i was pretty tired. not really alert. but i got through the day. and i came home wednesday night and rested, slept some more, and expected myself to be back nearly to normal this morning.

sometimes things just don't work out as expected. i got up this morning sneezing, coughing, sneezing, coughing. and then i sneezed and coughed some more. and this was before i had my coffee and oatmeal. after that dandy breakfast? more of the same.

but dedicated to the task, i went to work. early. and surprisingly i coughed and sneezed a lot. in fact, i have a great idea here for those who may be fitness committed. if you want to develop six-pack abs, come on over and breath some of my air. i guarantee this coughing will, after a few days, develop better abs than any workout regimine. enough of that. oh, yeah, i stopped at a drug store on the way to work to see if i could find some nose tampons. they didn't know what i was talking about. was i dreaming that? such a great idea for times like these.

so i'm working away. pretty busy. and bev, a co-worker, is moving from one cubicle to another, and bev, as has been the case the last 8 times she's moved, ask me to move her "personal bulletin board". this is not a cork board as we know them, but a semi carpet covered board, perhaps 18 inches by 5 feet, that we all have. you can tack notes on them, or, as bev does, tack on pictures of every child, grandchild, great grandchild, husband, dog, boyfriend, and yes, even friend, she has ever had. that said to support the fact that bev's bulletin board will weigh at least 2-3 pounds more than an unburdened bulletin board.

but bev's a good ol' gal. she's brought in brownies before, and cookies, and makes this fabulous dish she calls scalloped corn that i have to try sometime. so i'm nothing but happy to help her move her bulletin board. normally.

let me tell you about my back. i first destroyed my back lifting something in 1983. since that time it seems that every 3-4 years i do something that, while it doesn't seem stupid at the time, feels that way afterward. and even though it's been a few years since i've had any major back issues, well, today was my day. and i blame it partly on bev, partly on kd.

now kd's a supervisor in another area of our building. she's a friend. and while transporting bev's bulletin board i stopped by kd's desk and visited for a minute. then i did something wrong. i picked up the bulletin board again, while it's standing, mind you, upright. i don't have to bend. and it doesn't weigh enough to really be lifting. but something in the lower right side of my back sent an immediate message to brain, "oh, %^^&, something just went wrong."

it wasn't terrible. it hurt sharply for a bit, then the pain diminished and i carried the board to bev's cube, hung the blasted thing, and went back to work. on the way, however, i stopped and told a couple of witnesses that i'd hurt my back, just so someone would know if i woke up in the morning unable to move.

well, i guess big companies don't work that way. one supervisor said you need to go to e.r. (not the emergency room, i later discovered, but employee relations.) oops.

so i go to e.r. talk to the e.r. director. and he calls our workers' compensation insurance carrier, reports the injury, then fills out this form and tells me i have to go to this urgent care joint, concentra, today to be checked out. really? today? ok.

i went back to my desk and worked a lot. real hard work. i worked really hard today. and about 2 p.m., when i finally stood up, well, back hurt worse than i'd expected it would. so i checked out and headed toward this concentra urgent care joint.

it was close. and that's convenient. in a strip mall that's been on the decline since 1979. no matter. i'll see a doc, get assessed, probably a prescription or two, be on my way. and that's sort of what happened.

i should state here that the names that follow have been changed to protect the identify of a couple of . . . . people.

so miss vickie, who obviously majored at smiling at the university of medical reception talents, greeted me, handed me two clipboards with documents to complete. and i did. and i took them back to vickie. and had a seat. and shortly miss vickie summoned me to the counter once again. what's your company name. i told her again. she can't find it. well, perhaps she couldn't spell west. or more realistically, i assume she was typing in the full corporate name rather than simply searching out all the "west" listings. ultimately she found it. and i sat again

a couple minutes later, miss vickie summoned me to the counter again. did i tell you my back was hurting pretty bad by now? again i hobbled over to her. and she said she'd forgotten to ask for my i.d. presented, back to my seat. and vickie summoned me again. "here's your i.d." does she understand what a bad back is?

in rather short order i'm taken back to the exam room. now the e.r. director had told me this visit would take 30-45 minutes. well, by now it's been 35 minutes, and i'm just getting there. and nurse peggy, a nice girl only 23 years old, greets me, checks my b.p. (that's blood pressure for you non medical types), (120/68), my temp (99.2 - i've got a cold, remember) and pulse rate (87). i seem all good. and she asked my age. and i told her. and she looked back at me over her shouder in shock. she said "i thought you were 50!" i sure enjoyed this part of the visit.

so nurse peggy hands me something paper with elastic on one side, two holes on the opposute, and said "take off your pants and put these on." they're not very fashionable. "but we might have to x-ray. or, the doc may need to examine your groin." ah, maybe not. but i shed my britches and donned the paper shorts nonetheless.

shortly there's a knock on the door (why do they knock. even if you're undressed, they're doctors. they've seen naked humans before.) and in walks doctor han. suddenly this idea of a groin examination is somewhat intriguing. she's not a bad looking gal, maybe 30. but really, at my age i feel like i'm looking at the female doogie howser. but she did a credible job examining me. asked the right questions - i've had back injuries before, remember. and overall does a nice bit of work. then the diagnosis . . . pulled muscle this time, not spinal. wow. after her explanation i agree with that. on to the treatment . . . 800 mg ibuprofen, 3 times a day. and flexoril "have you ever taken flexoril?" yes, i have. muscle relaxor that makes me very drowsy, for 24-36 hours. "well, it sometimes makes you drowsy. take 3 times a day as needed." huh? makes me drowsy? 3 times a day? and . . . work? hey steve, if i'm napping . . . . . it's workers' comp, remember?

and then the curve . . . "and physical therapy". now i've been through physical therapy, several different people, places, protocols, many times. and no, i'm not gonna do that. i can do these exercises at home and not waste an hour 3 times a week for six weeks. and, if it were skeletal, maybe. but muscle pull? don't think you wanna stretch that so much, do ya? i asked where? she said, "here." ah, another profit ploy. i declined. she said that i needed to see him once to be evaluated, workers' comp almost requires that. almost?

she further stated that he can probably see me right now. ok, we'll do that. so out i go to the counter where miss vickie checks with the pt dude and says "he says he'll be with you in 30-45 minutes." and i say, "you got the wrong guy. do you know what it's like to have a hurt back. i hurt. i'm not sitting here waiting for your guy to free up, in pain, so no. so i ended up agreeing to an appointment next week. that i think i'll cancel.

then miss vickie hands me two prescriptions. now i've been down this workers' comp road before. and i know that when i go to the pharmacy and present these prescriptions, the counter lady is gonna say "nothing here about workers' comp." so i mentioned that to miss vickie, and told her i needed something to evidence that claim. she said the rx sheet was all i need. i studied it, saw that i was probably right, so set out to the pharmacy.

alas, just as i suspected, my friend at walgreen's said "i have no evidence of workers comp for this." i know. can we call this concentra joint? "yep." and she calls, gets miss vickie, and miss vickie says she had nothing to offer besides the prescription. i'm getting a bit irritable.

so i called the office. talked to mister e.r. director, and he provided me with the name and phone number of someone to call at the insurance company. my friend, the pharm tech, called, talked to the guy, he gave her a different number, she called there, they said "we'll have to call you back."

if i could have kept from laughing at the absurdity of the entire matter, i'd have been really incenced. but i told my friend that i'd just come back tomorrow and settle it. but before i hit the door she paged me and had gotten the call back. prescripton authorized. i should ask her name. she's always very nice.

so here i sit. drugged on flexoril, in mild pain, planning what i'm gonna say when i call concentra tomorrow. open for suggestions.

ode to facebook

after resisting the suggestion for several months, i finally succumbed to facebook something like two years ago. and i was immediately stricken. it was fun to have easy access to chats with friends, family. just as neat was getting reacquainted with old friends. classmates. folks from your past. and if you're not careful, facebook can captivate you. you can spend entirely too much time there.

i think that's probably something that happens to all of us. we have fun, we spend hours at a time. then the interest starts to wane and we ultimately get back to a normal existence.

but that doesn't mean we give up facebook entirely. it's still entertaining. but mostly these days i spend maybe half hour in the morning, half hour, maybe longer, in an evening, kabitzing with "friends" on facebook. it can be fun.

and facebook has provided an entirely different meaning to the word "friends". heck, i have "friends" i don't even know. some of them i'd really like to know. they're really nice people. they're witty and entertaining. and i often think that one day i'll run into some of them in real life.

case in point: while not entirely unknown to me, hubert lives in northern california. we knew each other as kids. his brother and i were great friends, and hubert was the little punk that we couldn't shake. well, we found each other on facebook somehow, had some fun exchanges, and ultimately other "friends", as well as family members, became such great friends with hubert that our daughter asked him to perform her wedding ceremony. so, after 40 some years, hubert and i met again. and he and his wife, brenda, are two of the nicest people i know. what a treat it was having him with our family during that incredible occasion.

there's frankie in florida, cheryl in washington, kim in new york, and many others that i would really consider actual friends - if we ever met. there's jeff, an old (oops, shouldn't say "old" in reference to jeff, but i'm sure he'll understand) high school classmate who's great to chat with. and many others. then add in a good group of people that are real friends, those i really know, that also enjoy facebook diatribes and it can get to be way too much fun.

there are a few. fortunately, a limited few, that get annoying. and i've just figured out that i can "unsubscribe" to them. i don't see their posts, and they don't even know i'm not viewing. sad to say i've done this to a few. i get a little tired of those that post tons of political rhetoric. even those that pretty much share my political opinions. i just don't need to see it all. then there are those that are just bitter at the world. i got tired of seeing all that as well. i just enjoy the light-hearted conversations. you're not gonna persuade me to believe your political stance is better than mine, your religious beliefs are better than mine, your nascar driver is faster than mine, by arguing your case on facebook.

and arguing? yeah, i've done a bit of that. and i regret doing so. arguing your point on facebook, even when you're right (of course i am), gains nothing but ill will. i've stopped that. again, it's the light-hearted i enjoy.

now we have the impending "timeline" threat. like it or not, come january 5th your profile page will be changed to the timeline format, so may as well change to it now. wait, on january 20 you'll automatically be changed to timeline. and if you don't do it yourself before that, facebook will select your picture arrangement, or some such nonsense. no, it'a gonna happen on february 5. oh, now it's february 15. and guess what. it still hasn't happened.

and there are tons who've said that if facebook forces them to switch to timeline, they'll switch to . . . google plus? is that it? or some other social media venue. of course, those threats have been voiced every time facebook has changed anything. fortunately, they all seem to re-think their position and most, if not all, have stayed. and i'd guess that when, or if, the timeline transition occurs, most or all will accept it and move on.

so to my facebook "friends" who might read this . . . thanks, it's fun. hope we can enjoy each other for a long time to come. oh, and to the 2-3 who unfriended me . . . it's ok. no hard feelings. i am curious as to why (well, i can guess why one of you did), but it's ok. i'm just having fun.

it's that time again

february 26. the 2012 edition of the daytona 500, the great american race. and i, for one, one of many, in fact, anxiously await this event every year at this time.

the daytona 500 is like no other race. well, passive race fans will say the july daytona race is pretty much the same, the two races at talladega. but none of those carries the tradition, the pomp, circumstance and excitement of the daytona 500.

then some will claim that the indianapolis 500 is far more exciting. well, no doubt it commands more attention. the daytona 500 is popular with a much smaller segment of the american public. it wasn't even mainstream til 1979. and still and yet, pretty much only nascar fans will tune in and watch flag to flag coverage.

well let me tell ya, if you're one of those that doesn't watch, you should. if you've ever enjoyed indy car racing, formula 1 racing, in fact, any kind of racing (even drag racing, jones) the daytona 500 will blow you away the first time you watch.

indy cars cruise around the brickyard at an average speed of 220 miles/hour. that's fast. but are those really cars? they more closely resemble airplanes without the big wing. the wheels are exposed, the cockpit has no lid, and for these and many other reasons the cars just can't race close. fast, yes. but with no fenders, if two of them brush sides? destruction.

nascar's daytona 500 is totally different. 43 cars racing 220 mph going into a turn with a front to back separation of . . . . . well, nothing. they bump. they touch. they even push. the aerodynamics of that much speed mean the two cars essentially hooked together in a "draft" will go faster than one car. so the trick is the car behind races barely touching the bumper of the car ahead. of course, therein lies the trick. barely. because if they touch too much, off center, or not just exactly right . . . bad results.

and these two cars, plus 20 or more other pairs, are racing attached to one another while off to the right side, or left side, or sometimes even both, another pair of cars is racing 3-4 inches away from their fenders. hopefully. frequently that 3-4 inches of open space disappears. that generally leads to a wreck. not always. but when it does, and if those cars are racing near the front of a 43 car field, the cars behind have to be able to stop, turn, veer, spin, or take some evasive action pretty darn quick. at 220 mph you cover a lot of ground in a very short time. and if they don't stop, turn, veer, spin, or take some evasive action, the end result is apt to be a pile up involving 20 cars. or more. it happens.

i've done a little stock car racing. not at 220 mph. not in a $200,000 specially constructed speedster. but even in my type of racing it was pretty stressful racing and rubbing. and while, to us, bumping and shoving wasn't likely to cause a big crash, it caused anger. which caused retaliation. which was likely to cause a big crash. it's sure gonna stimulate the flow of adrenaline. and excitement. and it's tons of fun.


TONY STEWART CATCHES SOME AIR IN THE DAYTONA 500

but these guys at daytona?

go to youtube. search something like "daytona 500 finishes". watch a few. specifically the 79 race. then tune in on february 26. allow yourself at least 45 minutes to watch the thrill of the speed, the danger of the closeness, and the beauty of the pageantry. unless you're weak of heart, or just not a sporting fan, you're gonna enjoy.