Saturday, May 26, 2007

Weekend update

We are having a glorious weekend, summer has arrived even though it’s a month early. Friday seems like such a long time ago (and a good thing too with the way it went) and Monday is still far enough away to ignore. The weather forecast is for possible precipitation on Monday, which is really needed, and makes going back to work that much easier.

Returning to the working arena is not something I fancy with the M word still frequently used. I started my day out Friday morning by immunizing two drowsy night staffers who casually informed me that they’d admitted someone who had swollen glands, low grade temp, etc etc. It occurred to them all at about 4 a.m. that this might be mumps but the Dr. didn’t think so. Did you wear masks when in contact? Well…no. What about isolation? Um…no. Not that there haven’t been enough trees killed in the past month attempting to put this message in the face of front line staff. This is AFTER I’ve given them their vaccinations, meaning if it turns out to be a contact their blood work will have been affected by the shot should they need to be monitored. I send them home, sigh and head for the floor.

When I ask about the suspect case, one of the staff points at someone using the phone in the nursing station. Hardly isolated! So I get on the other phone and call Public Health to discuss the particulars. “Well we have to go with what the Doc thinks” she says. One of the staff points out that the ENT specialist (who just happens to be having a clinic today in house) has been consulted and although his writing is for the most part undecipherable there is no mention of the M word. It is suggested that I check with the consultant. Depending on the mood (usually gruff) this exercise can be like poking the bear. I sigh again and head downstairs after suggesting a disinfectant wipe for the phone. The ENT specialist is a large unsmiling specimen, partial to outbursts, originally from an Eastern Bloc country with accent still intact. However, the clinical judgment is not in question and an emphatic “I don’t think this is mumps” was all I needed to reassure me and send me scurrying back upstairs to start my daily routine only 90 minutes later than usual.

The ‘new normal’ routine of attempting to get some regular work done interspersed with immunizations made the time fly by. By mid afternoon after again having eaten my lunch at the computer I decided a change of scenery was in order. I strolled over to the nursing home to visit with Mom. As I entered the Alzheimer’s Unit I noticed her at the end of the hall scuffing back and forth between rooms. She had a social conversation with me as if I were one of the staff with no glimmer of recognition. She did ask if I was getting married and I told her I’d been married for 30 years. “That’s a long time” she says then thinking it over she asks “who did you marry?” I tell her “Tim” and she says “really” and wanders off again. Time to go I say to myself and head back.

Now some stories about the badly behaved fur children and their escapades. I did a grocery shop after work and arrive home by 6 p.m. with a trunk full of food. As I get out of the car I notice that Gary is running across the steps and over the side of the hill. I make an effort to catch him while attempting to summon reinforcements to assist in the capture. No luck on either count. Next appears Klyde who has changed his mind about the whole escape adventure and is waiting by the door so I open the back door and throw him inside. Now I am really yelling and finally the youngest daughter and her beau appear in the mud room and are dispatched to carry bags in. I lure Gary to the steps by shaking a large bag of potato chips from the groceries. He thinking they are the worlds biggest bag of cat treats launches himself like a flying squirrel at the chips and is apprehended and dumped unceremoniously in the house. When I’m inside I notice Stanley attempting to gain entry to the house (he too has changed his mind about the field trip) from the veranda. So we were three for three. Questioning as to how all the inside cats are outdoors when I arrive and how long they’ve been out there do not result in any answers.

With supper finished I decided it was time to take the dog for a walk but she’d already started without me. There's the leash lying on the ground beside her run. I hear a rustle in the bushes and notice a reddish brown dog happily sniffing along the property line. Calling is fruitless. I walk down to the water - where else would a water dog go? No sign of her. The door opens and it’s the youngest daughter and boyfriend saying a neighbour has called (everyone knows the drill by now as she’s a fairly consistent canine escape artist) who has her across the road. I hand over the leash and after a few moments they reappear with a very muddy, bedraggled, unrepentant dog and smudges of muck on them. Didn’t I hear the noise they say. What happened? Well, of course by the time they arrived, Houdini had bolted from the neighbours and headed across the road which resulted in a top volume dog fight with the black lab who taunts her when we walk. It was a good thing that the boyfriend is unafraid of dogs and intervened, then the black lab owner arrived home and settled the dispute allowing their exit. When we walked I had to let her in the salt water and spend about 10 minutes pulling briars out of her coat from the swamp romp.

June bugs are out - disgusting things - and it’s not even June. The cats have taken to napping after supper so they are ready for the IMAX presentation of ‘Return of the June Bugs’ tapping on the windows and doors. Tonight there are 11 stuck to the window in the door of the mud room alone. Last night as the son and his girlfriend came in the door one of the creatures gained entry and that led to some frantic feline big game hunting and squeals from the girlfriend. I know all organisms have a place in the food chain but I can’t imagine what purpose June bugs serve.

Today was a day to be outdoors. It was beach house living at its best. The youngest daughter and her boyfriend went for a walk along the shore and actually went swimming in the icy water. I’m reminded when I watch them of the summer of 74 when I was graduating myself and enjoying the company of a teenaged male with stars in my eyes. And all they see in an old fogie. Ha!