This and That

We did the ER thang this week with my Dad. He experienced weakness and shortness of breath, and his assisted living staff felt he needed to be checked. We spent from 9:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. in the Emergency Room having tests run. He has early Congestive Heart Failure, which really isn't anything new. He's agreed to use a walker to insure stability when he's getting around, and this is a good thing. By the time I got him settled back in his apartment, drove back home, and typed and faxed my report to his primary physician, it was 3:30 a.m. I've been playing catch-up all week.

I was pleased with the care he got in the ER, despite the length of time we spent there. I still wonder, though, what happens to elderly patients who don't have anyone like me along with them to keep track of tests performed and test results and instructions and communications with other physicians. It can be mind boggling enough for someone who isn't sick!

I heard a great success story from one of the nurses I met. She's 51, divorced, most attactive, and has a great personality. As we chatted, I asked how she wound up in this particular town with only herself and her dog. She said, "His name is Dennis," and went on to explain how she and this fella met through an Internet matching service, and it was love at first email! In spite of her friends' admonitions and caution, she met him face to face after 3 months of emailing and discovered her "soul mate." She packed her bags, and here she is - and couldn't be happier! I told her she'd made my day. What a great Valentine tale!

We had two more doctors' appointments after the ER visit. We have two more next week. At least my dad's spirits are good, and he really doesn't feel bad. At 81, I reckon this is a blessing!

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I've been perusing other Blogs, and I've come to realize that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did. Compared to these others, my graphics, etc. are really boring. So I'm going out today to buy HTML for Dummies or something similar to teach myself how to design these things. Or at least figure out how to convert a graphic to HTML so I can paste it into my template. I have no idea what some of the seemingly "everybody knows this" terminology means! A new project. My Blog may look weird at times until I master some basics, so bear with me.

Where do all these people learn this stuff? Some of the blogs are written by young moms with loads of young kids, and their pages are so cute! Am I the only blogger who hasn't studied computer science in college? The more I read, the more I realize that Blogging is big business! People are pouring out their souls on the Internet - for all the world to read! and they're getting comments from strangers from everhwhere! Advertisers pay you to use their ads on your blog; there are services ready to design your blog for you; bloggers aim for high listings in the big Search Engines; people rate your blog for content, design, technical errors, and more. Blogging is another dimension out there of which I'm only on the fringe. and who knew?

Investors would do well to buy some stock in this stuff - it's going to explode.

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I have some more bird photos to upload for you. Robins, blue jays, chickadees, titmice, and woodpeckers. I received some nice responses to the previous ones. My yard is indeed a mecca for ornithologists!

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I'm chewing on a few ideas for future posts that will hopefully come to fruition next week in between my Dad's appointments. My husband and I will be making a trip to San Diego this month to go whale watching and to the zoo, so I hope I'll have a few good pictures of a whale tail or koala or something interesting to post.

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Thanks to all of you who are indulging my latent desire to write. I really appreciate that you're plodding through all these ramblings.