Saturday Work

I spent Saturday sitting around in my comfy chair, left leg propped up on a stool, just reading a book.

I thought about Bill Murray and how I just wished I could be outdoors helping him pick up pine cones in his yard ... but it just wasn't to be.  So, I sat indoors in the A/C while he sweated and toiled in his yard.  It was only 88° F and 80% humidity ... just mild weather.

Did you know they are having a heat wave right now in southern Idaho ... been getting up to 68 degrees during the day, and only dropping down to 35 degrees at night.  Shoot, they are expecting a high of 72 degrees today.  I better call my cousin and warn him to stay indoors -- so he won't get heat stroke.

Got another book to read today ...

Now that the Swelling has gone down ...

You can see what I have been complaining about is real ... 
there IS a painful LUMP on the outside of my left knee.

Is the bone possibly out of joint?

We need to do the emergency room, x-ray, and 
orthopedics again.

Ortho Follow-up

Saw the Doc on Thursday ... he showed me the x-rays ... way cool how they can zoom in on them on the computer!  Anyway, he showed me the break ... vertical and about 6 inches long ... in the mid-section of the break, there is a crack-out to one side.  The Doc said: 1) forget the ace bandage -- it does nothing 2) stay on the crutches, and off the foot 3) come back in 4 weeks, get more x-rays, and come see me again 5) the extreme pain in the knee is when you do something stupid and the bone is screaming!

So my wife bought me a magnetic anklet today to wear on my left leg ... why not.

Before We Continue With Last Weekend ...

Later, I'll get back to the flooded freeways and our circuitous route through Nashville ... and the 50th High School Reunion ...

We had heavy rains here at home yesterday ...
and I just really didn't want to go out in them ...
BUT there was work that needed to be done ...
Paperwork that needed to be turned in ...
Kids to be seen and talked with ...

So I went out and started to make the rounds ...
and only saw 3 kids ...

BECAUSE, at the 2nd place as I was coming down down the steps from the double-wide trailer and stepping out onto the grass -- with the impetus of my 240 lbs ... my left foot slid forward and away on the wet grass ... and the fat guy in the red shirt with the gray beard landed hard upon his left hip and leg on the ground.  The umbrella in the left hand went one direction and the bag of books in the right hand went the other direction.

This is the current temporary result.  I went and saw the 3rd kid (I parked almost at his door) ... and when I thought of having to climb to a 2nd floor apartment for the 4th kid ... I drove home instead.

After the 180 mile roundtrip to the V.A. hospital emergency room ... here's what the doc said:  about 6 inches above the ankle I broke one of the bones in my leg.  And if I didn't keep my left foot up off the ground, it could turn into a spiral fracture and a major mess ...

The end results: 1) the hip is fine.  2) no broken bones in the knee area, BUT IT HURTS WORSE than 3) the broken bone in the lower leg.  4) They gave me pain meds and 5) an appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon.

The End.

:-p

Goin to St Louis

We got up at 4:00 a.m. Friday morning ... but didn't manage to hit the road until 6:00 a.m.  13-1/2 hours later (that's 703.8 miles) we arrived in St Louis ... and on the doorstep of relatives ... who kindly gave us a place to sleep for the night.

The little dogs rode in their kennel (wire cage) the entire trip.

however, they spent the night in the garage ...

where they managed to shred these newspapers and a stick.

No, they didn't poop or pee in the garage.

They were walked around the block several times.

And Sheba tried to catch cottontail rabbit for breakfast ...

Here are Grace & Sienna trying to hang onto the dogs.

That black tail-end belongs to the pug: Shadow.

Sienna with Sheba.

The neighbor lady was walking her tiny dog and the kids all wanted to say hello ... after we disentangled shadow and sheba from her.  That's Gandma on the right.

A continuation of the previous scene ... here is 

"Mr. Handsome" watching his kids and the little dog.

"Mr. Handsome" smiling for the camera.

"Mr. Handsome" agreed to have his foto taken with some fat old fart that was walking by ...

No fotos were actually taken of the lovely lady of the house ... surely an oversight on my part.  The lady and Grandma went out and got pedicures (no fotos of these either)