The Ghetto Car

That is what we’ve nicknamed my newest set of wheels.  With the price of gas going up as it is, and as far away as I work, and lets face it…as little as I make, I needed something a little more fuel efficient. Enter….the Ghetto Car.

It isn’t all that pretty, the ac doesn’t work and it needs a few other tweaks, but it rides well and it gets about 40mpg. I made it to work all week last week on roughly half of what it usually costs me.   I’ve had to learn a few things about it, like learning the hard way that when it says 1/8th of a tank, that actually means EMPTY, which I only found out after I ran out of gas on Hwy 21.  And…there is that little bit about how you have to yank the parking brake up REALLY hard in order to get it to engage, even the guy at the Wal Mart tire center couldn’t figure that one out.

Although it is quite a change from my truck, I’m looking forward to saving a little money in the gas budget every month!

 

Boat Story #3

Sometimes I think my life is a ‘made for tv’ movie!  Sorry, no pictures on this one.

Marie and the kids and I took the boat out yesterday, first day of summer, about 102 degrees out. The boat seems to be running well, we took it out Friday night and had an uneventful time with it, for what I think was the first time ever.  Yesterday, we went out, tied up at a dock, let the kids swim for a while, ate, then headed back in to drop Gabe off with his dad. After that, we headed out to Arrowrock Dam, dropped anchor and jumped in to cool off for a while. Arrowrock, by the way, is the furthest out on the reservoir that you can go. All was well until Marie and I looked up to see dust and 3 ft waves in the distance.

We immediately yelled for the girls to get back in the boat, they were about 30 feet out, Clayton was standing on the little bit of shoreline that there was, so I told him to stay put until we got the girls in the boat, then once they were safely inside, I turned to go get Clayton. Marie was yelling to put a life jacket on but I didn’t feel there was time and jumped in and swam over, grabbed him and we swam back and I had him on the ladder just as the waves hit. I’m NOT a strong swimmer and it took every bit of strength I had to get to the ladder and climb up it in the waves.

With everyone finally in, we knew we needed to try to work our way back to the Marina, because there was no one else out where we were. The boat picked this exact moment to not start. After about 5 minutes of trying, I finally made my way to the back, took the cap off the motor, forced the bendix up into the flywheel (no idea where I got the idea to try this), went back, turned the key and it roared to life.

It took a while and it was a rough ride, but we made our way through the waves back to the marina. By the time we got there, everyone else was out of the water already. We sent the kids up while Marie and I wrestled the boat out of the water and into the trailer.

We finally made it home, where we watched the rest of the storm from inside the house.  For those of you who don’t live in Idaho, these storms are kind of a standard, though they rarely happen in early summer! We usually have 2-3 a year in late summer, early fall, they just come out of the middle of nowhere.  The dust will blow so hard that there will be no visibility at all and this is the first time I’ve been caught out on the water in one.

Ironically, the boys were the ones who were scared and the girls thought the whole experience was a lot of fun!  As always, I’m just glad to be able to teach the kids that every experience isn’t a crisis and that if you keep a level head, there is a way out of almost every situation.

Politics

I’m not generally a person who would discuss politics.  I have my own opinions, I generally believe:

1. They are all full of shit in one way or another.
2. There will never be a candidate that has the same values/ideas that I have.
3. I don’t have to LIKE the President (or any other politician) but I do have to respect him/her.
4. I don’t believe that a President (or any other politician) that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, that might run huge oil companies or other massive conglomerates, can make a sound decision for MY family, a middle class family that has had to deal with things like not being able to afford medical care, insurance, etc.  Until you’ve lived it, you can’t understand it.

That said, I’ve read some interesting things lately.  I’ve never been a huge Obama fan, and I liked Hillary Clinton even less. I’m all for a woman President, but not THAT one. Apparently most Americans echo that sentiment.  I honestly don’t know that much about McCain, generally I’m all for someone with military experience.  Because elections are quickly approaching, I’ve been trying to take a harder look at who our candidates are.  I didn’t get the opportunity to catch Mrs. Obama’s interview on “The View” (some of us have to work!) but I did get to read the article on MSNBC.

Michelle Obama was raised in South Side Chicago.  My interpretation was not that it was necessarily the slums, but not a well-to-do neighborhood either. She put herself through school, went to work for a law firm and felt a pull back to her roots, so she helped to found various organizations for the poor. She eventually went to work for the hospital and it sounds like she was very successful in implementing changes to benefit the working poor.

The financial records of both candidates were released this week. The McCain’s reported income of nearly $7 million dollars last year. $6 million of that was Mrs McCain’s, a much smaller portion of that was his salary as a Senator and also pension from his military days. They carry over $200,000 in credit card debt.  The Obamas? She made just under $200,000 working for the hospital, he made just over $100,000 as a Senator.  He did have royalties from his books from last year, the money from which went into investment accounts and $200,000 into education funds for their elementary age daughters. No disclosed credit card debt.

Now, I realize that it is all relative, $6mil income/$200k+ debt, vs $400,00 income/no debt, but my gut instinct on this one tells me I’d much rather have a savvy spender running our country. Couple that with the fact that the Obamas come from humble roots, rather than a dynasty created for them by ancestors.

Now, I’m no political expert by any means, I’m really just a baby in these matters. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is formed not by the opinions of other people, but by the information that I’ve accumulated and processed in my own mind.

So there you have it, the 1st (and probably the LAST) political blog written by me!

So Bored…

I used to live by the motto that there was never a reason to be ‘bored’. There are so many things to do, to try, to explore and absolutely no reason not to do them. We’re in charge of our own destinies and if we are bored at work….we need to find ways to make changes, promote new ideas, add a little spice. I have to admit though, I’m a little bored! I’m pretty much chained to my desk, we get the regularly scheduled breaks/lunch hours, etc, but for the most part, I have to be here.  I’ve run out of ‘busy work’, obviously there is a limit to the type of things I can do.  Our office manager is out of the office with her yearly Air National Guard duty (go Heather!), so there is really no one to ask for more projects. I’ve tried to ‘create’ things to do.  Bottom line….I feel limited.  I’ve done nothing in the last several days except the usual job duties and browse news website. It is getting old!

Ok…done griping.  Tonight is the full moon. Today has been fairly calm, but yesterday was crazy. Most of our patients are a little on the crazy side to begin with though. I’ve definately had some interesting calls in the last few weeks, some very very funny, some heartbreaking. Even though I have never met most of our patients, I talk to many of them regularly and those days where I am the one to take the call that they’ve passed on are tough. Most of them are older though and have lived full lives, it is just strange to know that the vibrant voice on the other end of the phone is no more. 

In other news, the boat is done, it was a cheap fix, I go to pick it up Saturday morning and we’ll probably put it in the water after that.  It seems strange to think that we could actually go out on the water and come back with nothing happening, I don’t think that has actually ever happened! We’re all looking forward to it though.  The kids have been doing a fantastic job of keeping the house clean, or maybe rather cleaning it quickly before we get home. In any event, it is a huge relief to not go home to a filthy, cluttered house at the end of the day!

Well, my day here is almost over, so I’ll sign off for now!

This Crazy Life….

We definately have a houseful! A few weeks ago, Marie and I decided that she and her kids would stay with us for the summer, we are both starting new jobs and could use the opportunity to catch up on things a little bit and the kids can hang out together. The Saturday after they moved in is when Fiona had puppies, so we have 2 adults, 6 kids, 9 dogs, a cat and 2 fish. As you can imagine, this tends to make things a little chaotic. It seems like everywhere I go, someone/something is there! I’m enjoying a rare quiet moment, the kids are worn out from the sun and are watching a movie, I think the puppies are all sleeping, it is that moment just after the sun has set, in between light and darkness. The crickets are chirping and the world is at peace.  I’m sure that will all change shortly, so I’ll take the opportunity to post some pictures while I can!

The puppies are growing fast, at 2 weeks old, they have quadrupled in size, their eyes are barely open and they are beginning to waddle around. They love to cuddle and they seem to eat non-stop!

 

They’ll sleep just about anywhere….including on Teddy…

Or on me…

Today, after church, we went to the little beach by our boat launch, soaked up some sun, chatted with Talitha, kayaked and swam. It was a beautiful day out!

And then after we came home and dropped the kayak off, we drove and 4wheeled up through Clear Creek, scared the kids silly, I think even Marie squeaked a time or two come off of some of the hills . We made our way up to Idaho City and had dinner at the Gold Mine restaurant, before finally coming home. I think we are all pretty tired.

Marie and I were talking about how glad we are that our kids will have memories of stuff other than soccer games and tv and ‘normal’ stuff, not that those things aren’t great, but we are both the type of moms who love to venture out and find new stuff, try new things, go new places and push the limits a little. They may think it is weird now, but I think someday they’ll realize the value of those things. 

So tomorrow is back to the grind at work! The job is going great, I find myself a little frustrated at times, we often deal with situations that can be very intense. In some ways, we become the lifeline between patients and the Dr. I’m forced to make critical decisions every day, listening to symtoms on the phone and making the best determination that I can as to whether I should put a message through to a nurse or if it is serious enough to track a nurse down.

Most of our patients are elderly and are at risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and a multitude of other maladies. Something like a 102 degree fever is not serious for most of us, but in the elderly it can become life threatening very quickly.  It is interesting how I’m ‘just’ the person who answers the phones, I set appointments and pass messages on, but I also have to have the skill and intuition to know when someone is in trouble and be able to find the help that they need. My decision, in that moment, could be the difference between life and death. It definately brings a note of seriousness to a job not taken very seriously by some.

For the most part, I’m able to make a real connection with our patients, soothe anxiety over illnesses, lost prescriptions, family members that are concerned, and I get to be someone to listen to them when they may not have anyone else to talk to.  I haven’t been cussed at yet (some of the others have!), I haven’t been hung up on yet. I’ve been brought to tears by the stories of those who aren’t getting the help that they need, and I’ve laughed till I cried right along with the voice on the other end! The other day, a lady called and was concered because the bottom of her appointment card said “2 week F/U”. She was concerned, she didn’t know what f/u stood for. She asked “exactly what is my Doctor trying to tell me?” I cracked up laughing and told her that sometimes it might feel like the Doctor is telling you off, but F/U actually stands for “Follow Up”. She started laughing and neither of us could stop, it was just so funny!

As far as co-workers go, after a few minor hiccups, we seem to get along fine. There are some minor annoyances, and some that I could see have the potential to drive me crazy, but I keep reminding myself that I’m there to help patients, not be friends with my co-workers.

 

 

And then there were 7…..

Patchwork Puppies!

We had puppies tonight! Poor Fiona is just exhausted. We noticed all day that she was fidgety and nesting in different areas of the house, we had to leave to run errands for a little bit and came back and she was just pacing.  We settled her on the doggie bed and within an hour, she was in hard labor! The first one took a while (this is her first, and last litter) and when that first one came, she just put her head in my lap and cried and whined…and when it finally came, it was easy to see why! For a small dog like her, that puppy was huge!  A half hour or so later, the second one was there, and then in another half hour or so, a third. Those three, she would lick but wouldn’t tear the membrane away from them, so I helped her do that and then she took over, but after the third, she was a pro at it and cleaned them right off! I was really glad I could be there though to help her with it. As of now, we have 5 puppies and I suspect there may be one more coming. They are all different colors. I thought the father was a beagle, but these puppies do not look like beagles! More like maybe Australian Shepperd or something. 

Fiona is being a perfect little mother, licking the puppies and nursing and taking great care of them!

The Second Boat Story….

Here it is! I finally have a moment to write it out, but I know it has been a few weeks, so hopefully I don’t miss any of the important details!

The Saturday we took the boat out was an absolutely beautiful day! It was in the 90’s, our first really hot day of the year. I’d taken the boat in that week to have a few things looked at and it was running great.  We got to the boat launch, put it in the water, Marie and her kids showed up, so we took off through the canyon and zipped out into open water. After a while, we decided to go ahead and put the tube in the water and get the kids on it, and they had a lot of fun with it!

We had to meet Karen and the kids at the boat launch, so we dropped Marie and the kids at a dock and Jeremy and I went and got them and took them out too.

I finally got Karen on the tube and was doing my best to dump her off into the icy cold water, when the boat started dying. At first it was just frustrating, get all the way up to full speed and it would just stall….so we headed in to let it cool down for a while and make some hot dogs.  Let me stop for a moment and add the fact that someone (me) forgot to bring a grill rack for the camp stove, so Marie cut open soda cans and put the hot dogs in that to cook!

We ate, swam for a while, a few people got pushed off the dock (myself included) and I finally decided to take a couple of the kids back out. The boat seemed to be running fine and then it died and I couldn’t get it restarted. Finally after about 10 minutes, I got it going again and we headed back towards the dock, but it died again just short of the dock. Another 10 minutes and I finally got it going again. 

We decided at this point that rather than risk taking some of them back to the boat launch and not making it back for the others, we should just try to get everyone and everything back in one trip. At least if we break down, we are still all together!  We stuffed 16 people in my 6 person boat, along with coolers and supplies, and Jeremy in the tube behind the boat.  It looked a little something like this…

So off we went…..and it was all I could do to keep the boat going. We came around into what should be the “no wake zone” except the bouys weren’t out yet, and every time I tried to slow to the required 5mph, the boat would start to sputter and die, so I finally decided just to leave it and just get in. We came around the corner into the general area where the boat launch is and there was an Army Corp of Engineers boat right there. They waved us down and asked me to kill the engine, I explained that we were having trouble and I might not be able to get it restarted but they said that was ok, so I shut it down.   Marie asked me if I thought I was gonna get in trouble and my response was pretty much “it is just the Army Corp of Engineers, they build dams, not write tickets!”. Uh yeah….turns out they DO write tickets. However, I explained the situation, why we were way over capacity and going so fast, got a lecture about it, the kids got coupons for ice cream since they were all in life jackets (though Jeremy wasn’t too thrilled to be asked his age when they were handing out ice cream coupons to those under 13), and the guys took them on board their boat and escorted us back to the dock. 

Thanks guys!

So…the boat is back in the shop….hopefully it is something simple.  Until the next adventure, I wish you ‘Fair Winds and Following Seas!’