To day I had an electroncephalogram. Hello? Anyone? Yoohoo!!

Today was interesting. I had an appointment for an EEG. This is all part of my local doctors work up for my self diagnosed petit mal. I had an MRI a couple of weeks ago and the findings were some white matter changes which is normal for my age. Normal is good! So, got checked into Bay Area Hospital via ER entrance. There was very little parking available. Holy hospital patient's! Busy, busy, busy. The procedure was a bit more complicated than I had imagined. A nice technician named Morgan, came to get us. The room had a large comfy bed, TV, and a largish chair. I sat in the chair. I was given two heated blankies, lovely!! Morgan explained that she was going to put 25 EEG leads plus one on each wrist. I must have looked like Doc Brown when he answered Marty's knocking on his front door minus the colander. She put green washable marker all over my head after carefully measuring circumference etc. Then using a combination glue stick she marked those spots and then applied the leads. After that, the TV got turned off and I was told to close my eyes. She said the last two minutes would be bright lights flashing and advised that I consume caffeine soon therafter to avoid a migraine headache. OK. The entire procedure took about 90 minutes. After all of the leads were removed she did some scrubbing and put a heated shower cap on my head. That was lovely. I put on my black hat to disguise the Elton John Wind Beneath My Wings hair. We left and stopped at Micky D's for lunch and caffeine in the form of iced hazel nut coffee. Yummm! Then to home. No idea what the results will be, doubtful anything interesting. The theory is that you need to be exhausted before the test, so I got about three hours of sleep. Oh well. We shall see maybe. I was hoping for curly hair but that did not happen.

I forgot about THIS episode

I just remembered this episode from Barrow days. While I worked most often in the medical record department at SSMH in Barrow, we would rotate out to the front desk to provide coverage so the other ladies could go to lunch. One day, it was my turn. From noon on it was customary for people to walk in to be seen in the ER. I was typing away one day and I heard a dulcet voice tell me that the name was Michelle K. I did a quick search and said that I could not find that name, could I have the date of birth. Oh, yes, here you are, Michael K. I asked him if he wished me to add Michelle to the Also Known As file. Yes, he/she beamed. I looked up then and realized that I sort of knew who this person was. He was kind of famous for wandering around towb dressed up in black Ninja clothes. He/She was seen and I didn't think anything else about it. A few weeks later, Ninja Boy kidnapped a married couple of teachers. He held them hostage in their own apartment. He was demanding that ACRC give him money for his sex change operation. Occasionally, Artic Slope Regional Corporation would issue dividends to their members. Ninja Boy was impatient and unwilling to wait until the next check. This went on all day and he decided to give up his demands for he ransom about the time that the SWAT team from Anchorage landed. I am umsure about the fate of this young man but am fairly sure that some time spent in lockup and hopefully counseling ensured. Only in Barrow.

FRUIT

I first became aware of fruit picking as a child. We lived in the Evergreen Trailer Park east on Main Street. There were five or six small cabins which were routinely rented out to fruit tramps. We knew of one family who followed the fruit circuit. They lived in New Mexico and came to Emmett in the summer to pick fruit. The family consisted of father, mother and a teenaged boy. They parked their little trailer in the same park as we. The orchard owners financed and built a labor camp. The building were made of cinderblock. I think they were hot to live in and pretty bare essentials. The Mexican laborers lived in these buildings. The orchards consisted of cherry, apple, prune, peach, apricot, nectarines, strawberries and watermelon. Watermelon was not picked commercially. I picked strawberries for 80 cents a flat which consisted of a dozen baskets. The berries were weedy and you had to fight the Daddy Longlegs for the berries. Fortunately there was a strong teenaged boy to pick up the flats and give you a new one. One summer, I earned about $35 which which I purchased one reversible black and whiteplaid wool skirt. Mom asked me if I was sure I obly wanted to buy one item, yep it was what the popular girls were wearing only about four sizes smaller. One very cool thing about living by orrchards was that Mom was call to ask if they had sprayed yet. If not we went to pick asparagus which grew in the irrigation ditches. It was wonderful My brother, Jim, called in green carrots. A memorable experience I had was picking cherries. I ate almost as many cherries as I picked the first day. By the next day, I was at the top of the ladder picking away and needed to have a bowel movement. I didn't make to the bottom the ladder. I walked home, went into the outhouse to clean up as much as possible and tossed by blue jeans down the shaft. Then I went in the house to get cleaned up and some new clothes. I returned the next day without eating any cherries. We were payed by the pound and the goal was to leave the stems on, do not remove the spur from which they grew. I think they paid from10 to 15 cents per pound. The Mexican teams were very fast, very efficient. Richard and I were picking prunes, we had four trees with a big bin in thd middle. The bins held about five hundred pounds. The Mexicans would pick the four trees clean in about an hour and move to the next. Once a orchard boss came around and said, you are slow but steady. One season, Richard and I were at Grandma Berglunds and we walked to an orchard. She had made lunch for us and of course about nine a.m. we were hungry. The sandwiches turned out to be buttered bread. We felt cheated but ate them anyway. I never got the chance to pick apples becauses the season started after school started. Kids could get an excuse to pick apples but Mom never allowed it. Mostly because she knew we were safely occupied at school. One time Mom and I worked in a nectarine packing shed. We dressed rather nicely, she let me wear a pair of her wool pants. At that time we were miraculously about the same size. After that, however, I grew a bit. She told me that she used to wear Uncle Taters hat band as a belt. She could not pronounce Clayton, it came out Tayton and evolved into Tater. At any rate she was offended that I was not as dainty as she. So she purchased a flat of Metracal. This was a chocolate diet aid. I drank that stuff down and enjoyed every can. Dad reported that a guy he worked with drank so much that he became constipated. The Metracal ceased as it was a tad expensive to waste on a chubby teenager. When I returned to Emmett as a displaced housewife, both Ellen and I worked on the South Slope at an apple packing shed. We met many people. The head guy came around to introduce two men, these are our friends from behind the Iron Curtain. The Mormon housewives shivered in their shoes. The two men were Romanian. One was a cattle rancher and the othebr was a wheat farmer. I got to know them. I askedn​one man what he was taking home for a Christmas gift for his wife. He replied, "Ool." ??? bah, bah...oh WOOL. I asked him to say good evening in Romanian he said Buna Sera. Wow, that sounds like Italian. He then gave me a brief history lesson of invasion by Imperial Rome. Huh. There was also a crew of Japanese men working there. I was driving the loaded truck of apples to the rail head in town, where they would unload the truck and load onto the freight train. I was gently warned to be careful because the men were lonely. Okaaaaaaaay. We used to go pick a tiny black cherry called Tararian. It was used as a pollinator only. We would pick and Mom would make black Tartarian cherry dumplings. Delicious! Which reminds me, have a quantity of pitted black cherries in the fridge and I have some bicquits in a can which I will peel into thin sections and bake for 30 minutes at 350. Maybe next weekend.!!

VISITORS

It has been a couple of busy weeks since my sister and her MIL, Joann came to visit. Monday, September first, about 5 pm, I heard a firm knock on the door. I opened the door and there was a young dog, frisking away. I bent to pet and ohh and ahh and looked up to see Gale. For some demented reason, I was not expecting her until Wednesay. Welcome! We chatted for a while and later on when everyone was ready to go to the motel room, Gale discovered that she had locked the keys in her car. Everyone was outside kind of milling about. Joann asked our neighbor, Gail A, if there was a locksmith anywhere. She answered, yes, its called Triple A. So we got the guy called who came in about an hour, unlocked the car and we were all set. In the meantime, neighbor Gail had fallen in love with Betty and four month old Golden Retriever. She promptly offered dog sitting services for however long my sister and MIL would be in town. Swell! That pretty much took care of the first evening. The next morning Gale came about 7 am, Joann was still sleeping in, and we went to a small cafe where Gail had told me had wonderful biscuits and gravy. They also had quite sturdy maple bars with yummy frosting. We purchased the bickies and returned to the house. We only ate two biscuits so we pooled the left o overs and gave them and Betty to our neighbor. Then we returned to my house and we both went upstairs to empty the closet from the north bedroom. They were all clothes which I had shrunk out of. YAY! I already had two very large black plastic bags full of clothing. So, we filled about seven of those sturdy plastic store bags with clothing. Gale did select a few blouses from the closet for herself. Then we loaded them into her car, took them downtown to Bree's, a charity shop who provides funding for women who need mammograms. They were not open so we jeft the bags in the doorway. We then went to pick up Joann and we shared the maple bar. Yummy! We decided to go to Bandon. Took the back road, very picturesque and curvy. We parked in downtown Old Bandon and toured about with masks. We firt walked to the Washed Ashore display. This is an art instillation of several of the sculptures made by local artists made of plastic trashed picked up from the beach. Very impressive, large seat turtle, a large fish with a mask on, heh heh. and a armature showing the copper wire inside the fish that holds the plastic. Almost everyone wore a mask. We did see a Karen and her five children, Greg must have stayed home. We went to the Cranberry Candy place. Joann found some salt water taffee for her husband. I found some jellies. Flavored lemon through blackberry and Licorice! I also purchased a half pound of chocolate toffee. Lordy! We decided to drive around a bit, we took the shore line drive and stopped at a place and admired the waves, sunshine, impressive rocks covered with seagull poop. Then we went looking for Lord Bennett, not open. Went back to Old Town Bandon, The Loft was not open. Okay, lets drive to Charleston to eat at the HighTide. They were not open! Um, how about Shark Bites? Yay, they are on 101 in downtown Coos Bay. We parked went in and ordered black cod fish and chips halibut fish and chips. They came with french fries and cole slaw. I have had better coleslaw, but ok. Went home, collected Miss Better and yakked until time to hit the hay. The next day, the ladies took me to Davita. They spent the morning going to Antiques 101 which is next to Shark Bites. When I got off the chair, I walked outside and could not see the car. I called Gale on her phone. I heard a horn hink and about that time she answered the phone and said , "We are in the shade." Okay. We decided to go to High Tide. We sat outside on the back deck and ordered Clam chowder for the ladies and I ordered the prawns, scallops, mushrooms sumpin' It was delicious. Then we went home and yakked some more. The ladies decided to go home early the next morning, so we said out good byes and they left. I had a lot of fun. Miss Gale says she will come next year. Betty will be full grown and well trained by then. The neighbors have already volunteered to dog sit. Thank you everyone!

CATARACTECTOMY

 Yesterday was very interesting.  My right eye was scheduled for cataract removal promptly at 7 a.m.  Yay! First appointment, the doctor is fresh.

We checked in at the Covid desk, then I checked into the front desk.  We sat on chairs with clean cards on them.

In a very few minutes, we were taken bac".k to the surgery suite.  As we were walking down the hallway, on the nurses, Lora, stopped me and said, "I would recognize that walk anywhere!"  I got a WALK? Um, I have never felt as if I had a "walk".  In the old working days I always adopted the motto well documented in the book "Little Women" of walk fast, frown and rattle papers importantly.  I would guess that manner in which I walk more closely resembles a slower stroll with hints of bewildered.

We were both escorted into the prep/recovery room where there was a chair for husband.  I was instructed to take everything off from the waist up. Sigh....so off with the clothes. I lay back on the bed and the ladies accomplished all of the prep. EKG, temp, O2 sats, cute red surgical socks with non slip feeties! Oh, yeah, and an IV access.

Whistled into the surgical suite. Escorted to narrow table.  Pillow under knees, scootched back a bit, forehead affixed with tape so head won't move.

Got face appropriately draped.  Given Versed, cool. I could only see white and an occasional blob of black.  The whole procedure took about ten minutes.  I could hear a sound like a train whistle.  I asked and Dr. Grigo said it was the cataract device doing it's job.

The people put on a clear shield over the eye so I wouldn't damage the cornea if I slept on my face. I was wheel chaired back to recovery, where all the stuff was removed.  I was given a pair of black sunglasses things to wear for three days.

I dressed and we waltzed out the door.

I was hungry and persuaded husband to take me to Myrtle Point at our favorite breakfast place.  I had crispy hashbrowns with a side of gravy.  Husband had his usual very large chicken fried steak, scrambled eggs and hashbrowns with a side of gravy.  Delish!

As for vision, I would estimate that I have about 75% improvement.  Looking forward to new glasses, probably sometime after October 15.  Yay!!!

Cooking yet again

 Tuesday morning, we went shopping.  As we were strolling through McKay's, I was telling husband that I was going to purchase ingredients for spaghetti carbonara puttanesca.  My list consisted of spahgettig and hard parmesan.  I already had the bacon and home.

He asked what puttanesca meant.  I told him it was Italian for whore.

There was a time when ladies of the evening, etc. were not allowed to eat in public.  Therefore they dined at home.

The dish they made most often, because it was inexpensive and delicious was the carbonara.

Begin by slicing a good four strips of thick cut bacon into lardon.  Put large pot onto boil with salt and oil.  Fry bacon.  Mix three eggs and grate lots of Parmesan in a separate bowl.  Pop in the pasta when the water boils.  Drain.  Add scoop of pasta water to bacon, Turn off heat.  Drop in pasta.  Stir in eggs Parmesan mix.  Grate more Parmesan on top, add freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Prego!  Manga! Manga!  

I did not have garlic bread...next time. Or vino.

DREAMS

 I woke from three dreams this morning.

The first dream was where I was back in Barrow, Alaska.  It was summer and I had driven to the beach with a girlfriend.  We saw the very large moon setting in the east.  We decided it was time to head back to town.  I have seen beautiful pink moons in Barrow, sometime in November.  The moon floats around the horizon and is absolutely gorgeous.

We were driving to Barrow and I realized that we were lost.  I decided to consult a map.  We were headed to a town called Oro. We decided to stop at the first place and inquire for directions.  I noticed that we were in a very deep U-shaped canyon. I stopped at a little store.  We went inside and three little Inupiaq woman were stocking the shelves with candy.  There were some jellies in a packet of six marked six dollars. I have the lady seven dollars.  I asked her how to get back to Barrow.  She said, "Just turn left at my house."  How many houses away is that?  "Three or seven." How will I know it is your house? "There is a weather station on my porch."  The problem then was trying to figure out what a weather station looked like.

The next dream involved puzzles.  I had returned with some odd shaped puzzle blocks and did not know what to do with them.  They were brightly colored and made of plastic.  I spotted a large board and decided I needed to use the puzzle on that game board and make up a new game.  I looked at the puzzle and tried bending it.  It snapped apart at the color lines.  Nice!

My third dream was of my Mom.  I was visiting and looking for books.  I did not care for any of the new books she had but she did have some her older books arranged in what looked like a shoe carousel.

This brings us to interpretation.  The general theme for the Barrow dream was lost.  Interpretation of lost is that you are still adjusting to new aspects of your life.  True dat.

The interpretation of puzzles is you have a mental challenge or a problem to solve.  Okaaaaaay.

To dream of your mother is all about the nurturing aspect of your own character.  I talked with her and that interprets as preoccupation  with some aspect of your daily life and you are not sure how to address that aspect.

Then I woke to NPR and a sore hip.   Oh, and the dreams were in full color and glorious sound.  That rarely happens.  My dreams are usually color only and no sound.