On the way out this morning we checked our mail and Sharon's pills and my phone cable were both there. That cable sure took its sweet ass time getting there. I'll get it out to Phil the first chance I get. The $15 it cost me is well worth him getting our phone back online again.
The "stone" was still there this morning and I had to take medication again but I was running out of pills. I'll have to get a refill in Casa Grande and also get in to see a Urologist while I'm there. I was feeling pretty decent and hungry as hell when we passed Carl's Jr. In Coachella, so we stopped and had a Breakfast Sandwich before we moved on. The last thing I had eaten was an apple for lunch and 2 pieces of toast for Breakfast the day before.
We were back on the road and headed for Quartzsite immediately afterward. We figured we had enough gas to get to Ehrenberg, AZ in order to hit the Flying J there. We pulled in with the "low fuel" light on for about 10 miles. I also wanted to drive through Quartzsite to see what they did with the Wendy's they were remodeling. They actually turned it into a Carl's Jr. We very seldom stop at Wendy's but we do like Carl's Jr. We didn't stop but continued on. The place looks like a ghost town as it always does at this time of the year. Of course all the new motorhomes and trailers that line the streets are gone, the season is over.
As soon as we got back on the road I pulled over and asked Sharon to drive. And she did, all the way to our site at Desert Shadows RV Park in Casa Grande. What a girl! I tried to nap but it wasn't to be.
As soon as we got in we went to the Emergency Room to see a doctor and get a referral for a Urologist. Three and a half hours later I got my prescriptions renewed but forgot the referral which my medical requires to see a specialist, a change since last summer. By the time we got home, I was just in time for the late version of "24" on satellite. So the day really had turned out all right after all.
By 10 I was so tired from the day that I had already slept through part of Prison Break and barely made it through 24. I was ready for the sleep induced coma.
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
I was up early this morning and while typing my Journal I got a very pleasant visit from one of my "readers of the Journal," Carl (Corky) Zimmermann and his wife Debbie, A retired Battalion Chief, from West Bend, WI Fire Department. He had explained that he suspected we'd be in Casa Grande from reading our Journal, and that they knew which campground we'd be at. We had a very nice 20 minute conversation about my website, and even discussed theirs which came as a result of seeing ours. We parted company vowing to stop in and see them or have them over for a Happy Hour before Saturday when they leave, headed for the Grand Canyon.
Later in the morning we saw Len come in with the motorhome without the car and we figured Rose was probably shopping to get the coupon for the 6 cents off on a gas fill. We'll do that later next week. You have to take every advantage with the prices of fuel as high as they are.
I started calling Urologists this morning and the closest one was booked until the end of May, but by that time I should be home and not in need of one. I found one in Ahwatukee which is up near Phoenix, but they can't get me in until Monday afternoon. I don't have enough medication to make it that far so I'll have to make another visit to Casa Grande Regional Hospital. (Lord help me)
In the afternoon we got in the car and went looking for Len and Rose Schultz (friends from home that we'll be leaving with in a couple of weeks) and found them without much fuss. We stopped and caught up on our last 3 weeks since we had seen them in Desert Hot Springs. We sat long enough to have a couple of beers, (me Diet Pepsi because of medication) before we left and went looking for Corky and Debbie Zimmermann. We stopped but didn't expect them to be home, since they could have been at the pool because their door was shut. When I knocked, they came right to the door.
We sat talking with them for an hour or so, and caught up on "old Fire Department scuttlebutt." Sharon and I had a couple of wines. By this time I had been without pain medication since 8 this morning. I was doing good in the department. Let's hope it holds. Corky and Debbie are Traveling in a 5th Wheel decorated in Fire Department memorabilia. Just enough to be tasteful and not enough to be gaudy. It's a beautiful McKenzie/Lakota that Corky keeps immaculate. (Fire Department Training) The training slowly wears off at about 60. (My age)
After our Spaghetti and Meatball Dinner the pain hit again. I was back on painkillers again. I actually got to see all our favorite shows on TV tonight before I crashed at 10. I was up again at 4 choking down pain medication again. Man this has been a fun week of endurance and pill rationing. I almost can't wait to see what next week will bring.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
As long as I was up anyway I decided to surf through Corky and Deb's Website at www.geocities.com/corky506/homepage.htm this morning. I spent the next two hours just looking at their material on the pages. Besides it was free minutes on the phone from 4-6 am and I wasn't going anywhere. I had a good time and there were scads of pictures of Alaska, a place where we've never been. The site lacked a little polish but that will come with experience as they add stuff over the years. The content was certainly interesting and kept me entertained.
By 6 AM I was off the net and into the pills again. This looks like it will be another fun day for sure starting on the meds this early. Man I just can't shake this thing this time.
We got a call from Jayce Dale (here from home) this morning after Sharon got up, letting us know what time to stop over today to pick up her stuff. She had some stuff to do so she wanted to make sure we'd catch her at home. I also had to go to Casa Grande Regional Hospital today and pick up x-rays and additional meds. So after we picked up Jaycee's stuff, and said our good-byes, we stopped at the hospital on our way home. I knew the x-rays would be no problem but the meds were going to be difficult. And as suspected they were giving me the run-around about renewing the pain medication. They wanted me to re-register at the ER and be seen by a doctor again. I really didn't want any of that so I left and stopped at Dr. Gonda's office right next door to see if he could see me. They scheduled me for a walk-in at 9:30 tomorrow morning. I hope this works out better than the ER.
Jayce had emptied out her refrigerator and gave the stuff to us when we were over there. She had a frozen pizza in the works that we came home and cooked up for our lunch. Len and Rose stopped over to check on my failing condition. It was still failing and the prospects weren't good for anytime soon.
After lunch, after failing to take a much needed nap, we decided to go to the pool and check that out. When we got there it was empty. Not a good sign but the wind was blowing a bit today. We tested the water and decided that we could probably make it in, so we did. It was a little nippy and we wouldn't be here long. After about 10 minutes we headed for the hot tub. We made it in there for a few more minutes than the pool but even that wasn't all that pleasant today. Maybe it's the stone.
We came home and started in on our cocktail hour(s). It was still well before supper so we had plenty of time to enjoy it. Sharon was making up Fried Chicken Breasts, salad and creamed corn for supper tonight. It smelled really good while it was cooking, and tasted excellent, for a change. I really haven't been enjoying the taste of food for the past few days either, but this was indeed good. She knows how to perk me up.
We settled in front of the tube for the night. I hadn't had any pain medication since 8 this morning but I've been through this before. I've gone without pain for over 24 hours and then gone right back to it so I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen. Without a nap today I was ready for the "crash and burn" early but hung in there until about 10:30. I waited until Sharon was done on the computer.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
I was up early again this morning, but no medication since yesterday at 8 AM. I'm hoping that will hold true for the whole day today. I got my Journal finished before my doctor's "walk-in" this morning at 9:30. By noon after sitting in the doctor's office for 2½ hours I was no closer to seeing the doctor than I was yesterday morning in the Emergency Room. I left telling them what a poor system this was. They didn't care, it was "standing room only" in the waiting room at one point this morning. People were waiting out on the balcony outside the office.
Sharon took off with a couple loads of wash while I was gone, and was finished long before I ever got back.
After lunch we stopped over to Corky and Debbie's for awhile and had a couple of beers worth of conversation, mostly about Fire Department antics. They had their new awning installed and it looked good. We sat and just jawboned for an hour or so and before we left invited them over for a cocktail hour tomorrow. They would be leaving for the Grand Canyon and points north on Saturday, while we'll still be staying until the 17th before we head out.
Sharon hadn't made anything for supper tonight so we decided to go to Long John Silver's for their new Lobster Roll. Not until we got there did we realize that they were a mini-store and didn't have the roll. Damn! We ordered a couple of Fish Dinners, which were very good, but not really what we wanted.
We tried calling my mother after receiving a call from her inquiring about my health. We called a few times without success, before calling our daughter Jessica to go over and check on her. Jess though she would give her a call before chasing over there and got Grandma on the phone. "We" had programmed the wrong number into our new phone. We meaning Me cause I'm in charge of all things technical in this motorhome atmosphere.
After supper we came home and just settled in front of the tube for the night. It was Thursday and a couple of our regular shows were on tonight. Besides Sharon was actually reading the "book" for the new telephone, learning things and taking pictures and everything. She said she wasn't reading the book until the new phone was up and running for good. Yeah right! She never did read the book for the last phone that we had for two years.
By 10 I was ready for bed and besides our regular TV was already over with and I had no reason to stay up any later. I did what I had to do on the Internet and I left the computer and phone in capable hands and headed for the feathers. Sharon actually made it to bed before I fell asleep tonight, which is a feat in itself. Of course by 11:30 I was up again to take a few pills for the stone pain. That damn thing still hasn't given up the ghost yet. After about a half hour the pain was gone and I drifted into a gentle slumber for the rest of the night. May be I'll get some final relief tomorrow. We'll see.
Friday, April 7, 2006
After having gotten up last night and taken medication for the famous "rock", I truly did sleep the rest of the night without problems. Of course if you think that "the rest of the night" means 5 AM, than I did sleep all night.
I had a mission later on this morning to have the windshield wipers changed on the car for the trip home. After fiddling with them for about 20 minutes I decided to go over to Len's and see if he knew how to change them. He was no help as he had his changed at the tire shop when he rotated his tires. I may just have top go to Wal-Mart and have them do it.
Sharon went for a grocery shop this morning so we could have BLT's for lunch and Boiled Cod for Supper with Garlic Bread. I didn't know exactly what she needed but I didn't feel like running so I just stayed home. I don't feel much like doing anything since this stone is still working it's magic on me.
After lunch we just sat around waiting for our Cocktail Hour around three. Corky and Deb arrived just before 3 and Len and Rose were not far behind them. We sat around exchanging stories for about 3 hours before the "party" broke up. Len and Rose and Corky and Deb had pretty much in common with some of the trips they both had made. Alaska was a main topic of conversation for them and they reminisced about the places they had stopped along the way and back. Sharon and I had gotten an education on how to make the trip. You can always use tips on a trip like that and they had a bunch of them.
By the time they all left we were grateful that Corky and Deb had stopped on Tuesday and introduced themselves. They are both a very friendly couple who are very easy to talk to and I'm sure we'll make an effort in the future to meet up again somewhere. We even mentioned this summer when they will be in Eagle River or Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. They'll be close enough to just zip over there and visit for a couple of hours or vice versa. They'll be leaving in the morning and we'll keep in touch with e-mail.
Our Boiled Cod for supper tonight had been on hold for a couple of weeks since the stone made it's appearance. But it was frozen anyway so it really didn't matter. Sharon defrosted it, boiled it, made up some Garlic Bread and we munched that down to our delight. It was excellent and simply just hit the spot.
By TV time tonight I was already fighting the feeling to just close my eyes and nap. I think I actually took a couple of short ones watching TV. I know by 10 there was nothing to pique my interest anywhere so I just headed for the slumber chamber to jam my eyes shut for good.
Saturday, April 8, 2006
I got up this morning feeling pretty good and with no pain. That didn't last long and by 10 I was into the pain pills again. I caught Len as he was on his walk this morning. I called him over and we sat and talked for awhile. Sharon was taking her shower by this time, and when she was done, came outside also. This was a perfect morning to sit outside and visit. When Len left I came inside and did my shower.
Sharon had talked about going to the Craft Show at museum downtown today and I didn't show any interest in going. Later in the morning she took off and decided to go to the museum by herself. She was only gone for an hour or so and couldn't find a gift for Brady's confirmation, which she had intended.
Corky and Deb were on they're way north this morning and we didn't see them leave even though they had to drive almost past us on their way out.
After lunch we just sat around, watched TV and Sharon did her Soduku puzzle. This was a very "do nothing" day. For the most part today we just sat around and watched TV on a day when the History Channel was the only thing to watch. Len and Rose stopped over and picked up Sharon for church right before supper time. By the time they got back it was about 6:30 and time to eat.
We had Tacos for supper tonight and they went down nicely with a couple of beers. It had been quite some time since we actually had Tacos for lunch or Dinner.
TV was on the agenda for tonight. It was the usual Saturday night re-runs and none of them were any good. We just bided our time til it was time to go to bed and then we finished up the night by just going to bed.
Sunday, April 9, 2006
We got together with Len and Rose this morning and headed out to Cracker Barrel for Breakfast. We couldn't decided if we wanted to go to JB's or Cracker Barrel and finally decided on the latter. When Sharon and I suggested JB's on Tuesday when they have the Double Senior Discount, that also went over fairly well.
After Breakfast we went to the museum and craft show that Sharon went to yesterday and there was enough there to keep everyone busy. They actually had 4 vintage Fire Trucks in the museum along with a military diorama that covered the Civil war up to now. They also had a ton of farm machinery that nudged at Leonard's heart strings. We were there for about an hour before we moved on.
We took the back way out from the museum and found ourselves on a short trip touring the city of Casa Grande. We drove past some new construction out west of town where they were putting up new houses in a subdivision. After the mini-tour we came home and found a note from Jerry and Mary Milan on our door to give them a call. They've been having company all week so we haven't tried to get together with them. When we called them back we told them that we were going to meet with Len and Rose this afternoon at three and they invited them along.
By mid-afternoon I was back on my pain medication again when "stoney" gave me a couple of twangs. We picked up Len and Rose at three and headed over to Jerry and Mary's for a couple of hours. We just sat around talking until they ran out of beer and then it was time to go home.
At home we sat with Len and Rose for a couple more beers and then they walked home. (Their choice) They were probably afraid to ride with me.
We fended for ourselves for supper tonight and it wasn't much. We were still carrying a load from Breakfast.
We settled in for TV and we started having trouble with our computer. It wouldn't boot up and wouldn't shut off until just before I went to bed. I finally got it going just before I finally gave up on it. How it's going to operate tomorrow, who knows? I was swearing at it by the time I went to bed so it' probably pretty angry with me.
On the way out this morning we checked our mail and Sharon's pills and my phone cable were both there. That cable sure took its sweet ass time getting there. I'll get it out to Phil the first chance I get. The $15 it cost me is well worth him getting our phone back online again.