Week 39: Why I went to the doctor.

This week I had to go to a “health check” at work.  To be completely honest, I really didn’t HAVE to go, but if I go to these things once a year, they give me a large discount on the health insurance that’s taken out of my pay check.  So I think the discount is worth the trouble.  Usually each year they tell me that I’m fat, and my blood pressure is a bit high.  Actually for the fat part one lady said “Your body mass index is not where the company would like it to be.”.  

I really wasn’t looking forward to the health check, but I was a good boy all night and fasted and didn’t eat or drink anything besides water.  I get there and they prick my finger to take some blood.  That always hurts, but at least they aren’t taking a tube full of blood from me.  (I’ll be giving that up anyway, but more on that later.) 

And then this old man says it’s time to take my blood pressure.  I wasn’t looking forward to that.  So he fits the cuff on my arm and starts to pump.  I don’t remember people having to make the cuff that tight.  It felt like he was trying to pump the cuff up enough to snap my damned arm off!  He finishes and then tells me he has to do it two more times. 

After taking my blood pressure two more times he goes and gets another woman.  She proceeds to tell me how bad my blood pressure is.  Normally when they see blood pressure that high, they immediately call the paramedics!  Did I want to go to the hospital?  Did I want an ambulance?  This was serious!  I might die at any second!  This was a genuine medical emergency!  The lady went on and on and then made me sign a form saying whether or not I wanted paramedics.  Obviously I did not want paramedics.

And so I went home.  Now I was upset and even though I hadn’t eaten in about 24 hours, I was no longer hungry.  I was worried and wondered if I should go to an emergency room.  I had been fine up until then, but the lady kept telling me how serious it was and how I needed treatment IMMEDIATELY!

I waited until office hours started and called my doctor’s office.  I asked about an appointment and was told he had an opening at 10:40 that morning!  Fantastic!  Maybe I could get in before I had a stroke, or heart attack, or just died outright!  And so I waited and worried.

Finally, I headed to the doctor’s office.  There was a bunch of people in the waiting room waiting to see different doctors.  Most of them putting on these dramas trying to show everyone how really sick they were.  I ignored everyone.  I was called back to an examining room and the nurse took my blood pressure.  I asked if it was high and she said yes, but she didn’t seem all shook up like the pushy lady at the health check did.  The nurse left and I waited for the doctor.

Finally my doctor came in and we spoke about my blood pressure.  He then told me he hates stupid people who try and frighten people telling them they need to go to the hospital immediately for high blood pressure.  He told me that yes, I might have a stroke if my blood pressure stayed at its current level for 30 more years!  He said it wasn’t as huge an emergency as the idiot lady was making out.  That made me feel better. 

After chatting a bit more my doctor said he wanted to check on a bunch of things and he would be prescribing me some blood pressure medication.  I like my doctor because he’s very thorough.  Whether you want him to or not, he checks everything!  And so after he left, the nurse came back into the room with a big electronic thing to check my heart.  She connected all these wires to me and told me not to move.  That only took a few minutes.  Then she told me the prescription had already been sent to my local drugstore/pharmacy and that the doctor wanted blood and urine samples from me.  I couldn’t seem to urinate right then, so I decided to put that off for a bit.  I can get that done somewhere close to home later on. 

I didn’t get a written prescription.  It was just “called in” for me.  It turns out that the prescription was sent to the drugstore/pharmacy that’s right across the street from where I live!  A perfect location!  So I picked up my blood pressure pills and finally went home for some sleep.  I’d been up and awake worrying about all of this for quite a while!

After taking my pill, I can say I do feel better.  I don’t seem to get out of breath as much as I used to, and I do feel like I have a bit more energy.  I just kind of feel better overall.  So actually maybe it was a good idea for me to go see the doctor.  I probably didn’t need to be frightened into it, but still it was a worthwhile trip.  And the doctor expects to see me again in a month to check on how my prescription is working (and probably discuss my urine and blood so I’d better actually get that done!)

So why did I go to the doctor this week?  Blood pressure, simple answer.

Before I end this week’s blog, one quick thought.  I was thinking about things and it’s a good writing exercise to do these blogs each week.  And then years later I can look back and remember what I was doing, and how I was feeling during each week in 2017.  We need to move forward, though.  Evolve and move forward.  So what would be the next step?  Maybe videos?  I have a number of cameras and I don’t use them as much as I’d really like.  So I was thinking that after finishing up my 52 Weeks of Why, maybe for 2018 I should do 52 Weeks of life and post a video of what I do and think each week?  I wonder how many people would watch that?  Just a thought.  Until next week, keep asking why.

Week 38: Why was there no WIFI?

My blog post is a bit late this week.  That would be because I traveled back to Blackfoot, Idaho for a memorial service for my father.  He grew up in Blackfoot and most of his family is still around there.  And so I went back.

Blackfoot is about 605 miles away from Las Vegas.  That’s quite a drive. A very long, boring drive.  I thought maybe I could make it a fun trip and shoot some video on my way.  I could take a few photos and make everything an adventure.  It didn’t turn out quite like that.

Now you might wonder why I didn’t post things on Facebook, or Twitter, or maybe a photo or two on Instagram while I was away.  That would be because if people know you’re out of town in Las Vegas, they sometimes like to visit your home and run off with all your stuff.  I didn’t want to advertise that I wasn’t around.

And so off I went. I didn’t have to drive, instead it was a long, boring ride for me.  I did write in another blog that I would want to tell the driver to stop every ten minutes or so to fish because that was something my dad would have liked to do, but it was such a long drive I just wanted to get it over with.  And we did make plenty of stops along the way.

Once in Blackfoot, I had quite a view.  It looked like this:

Well lookie there!  It’s some sheep!  No WIFI, but sheep, and right out my window, too!  Fantastic.  My sleeping arrangements were in a small room on an air mattress.  My first night I discovered the mattress I was given had some kind of leak and so after sleeping for a few hours I would wake up on a large pile of mush.  Have you ever tried to get off of mush?  It’s quite a difficult thing to do. By the second night I learned to just wake up and fill the mattress back up every few hours.  That was an absolutely horrifying experience, let me tell you!  I was not happy!

We arrived on Friday night and Saturday would be dad’s memorial service.  It was one of the oddest things I’ve ever attended.  People stood up at a podium and talked about dad.  One couple I guess knew him from his high school days.  They had to be in their late seventies.  They spoke about how my dad had stolen some hubcaps when he was younger, and how he had helped another kid drive his car into a canal for some insurance money.  Who talks about things like that at a memorial service? 

I met a guy who played baseball in high school with my dad.  I don’t remember his name, but he shook my hand and told me my father had a “great arm” back then.  At least he talked a bit about baseball and not some crazy, illegal thing dad had done!

While I was in Blackfoot there was no WIFI.  I could use the data on my cell phone, but you never realize how much you really miss something like WIFI until you don’t have it.  The uncle I was staying with didn’t have a computer, and so didn’t need WIFI. 

Well, that was my weekend for this week.  I’m glad I went for the service, but also very glad it’s over.  I need to get back into my regular routine now.  Things have to move forward.

So why was there no WIFI?  Because the old people don’t use it, I guess.  Until next time, keep asking why.

Week 37: Why IT is both good and bad.

Long before I became a writer, I was a reader.  When I was young I loved books.  I’ve read all kinds of books, too.  I’ve read Fantasy series that I loved, a bit of romance, some sci-fi, and even a bit of horror.  One of my favorite series was The Lord of the Rings.  Only the nerds read that stuff when I was in high school, and so I was a nerd.  I loved the books anyway.  Flash forward from the 1980’s and The Lord of the Rings was made into three movies.  Suddenly a lot of other people decided they liked The Lord of the Rings.  A lot of people just like the movies though, and have never read the books.

Back in 1986 I was stationed at a small place called San Vito De Normani Air Station.  It was a really small base and one of the few highlights there for me was a tiny book store that they had.  I was in there all the time looking at things.  One day a hardback copy of a book called IT showed up in the store.  I don’t even remember how much it cost, but after looking it over, I bought it.  This was no small book, either.  It was absolutely huge!  But then I loved books and liked to read and the book would give me something to do.

I’ll be honest, parts of the book frightened me.  I can’t remember which specific parts because we’re talking about a book I bought and read about 31 years ago, but I do remember being frightened by a few parts.  I loved the story.  The character of Pennywise was more than just some killer clown.  He infested the town of Derry.  It’s a bit hard to describe the book. 

Now we move forward and IT has been made into a movie just like The Lord of the Rings.  If you’re thinking of seeing this film, I’ll warn you now, this is only “part one”.  Obviously there will be another part eventually.  And with a book as large as IT is, you would have to expect several parts, I guess.  Otherwise the film might end up being about eight hours long.  And I’m sure eight hours of movie would still leave out a lot of things!  But then movies based on books are always like that, aren’t they?  The books are almost always much better than the films.

Before I get into the movie, I had decided the read the book again now.  I’ve pretty much lost my hardcopy, but managed to buy myself a replacement paperback.  IT is huge, a whopping 1157 pages long.  It may take me a while to get through it, but I think it will be well worth my time to read again.  I was going to read the book again and then see the movie, but after reading just the start of the book, I decided what the hell, let’s go see the movie.  After all, I’ve already read the book years ago, so the story shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

I’m not sure the movie follows the book too closely.  For one thing, the kids in the book are growing up in 1957, in the movie it’s something like 1988.  I guess someone wanted a modern twist to the movie.  As a movie, IT was actually very good!  And I’ll tell you now, if you’re afraid of clowns, or jump scares, don’t go see this.  There were a few parts that scared the hell out of me and I don’t scare easily!  Sadly though, jump scares can only work for so long.  Toward the end of the movie they just weren’t frightening me as much as they were at the beginning.  If you want to see a really good horror film for this Halloween season, this would be a fantastic choice!  Take a date who scares easily and you’ll have a ball!  *chuckle*

Does IT work as a book adaptation?  Not real well for me.  There’s just too much to the book version of IT to put into a movie, I think.  There were so many more murders and disappearances and things that happened.  There was also a movie adaptation made of this book back in 1990.  That one sucked.  It was horrible and had horrible acting.  I like the actor Tim Curry, but he wasn’t a good Pennywise.  The new Pennywise is much more terrifying played by Bill Skarsgard.  So see the movie and read the book. 

So why is IT both good and bad?  Because the book and the 2017 film version are fantastic, but the 1990 film version was pretty bad.  Until next week, keep asking why and run away from clowns who want to give you balloons and have you “float”.

Week 36: Why did he fish?

This was a sad week for me and it would have been easy to just skip the blog and not write anything.  I don’t think my father would have liked that, though.  My father passed away this week on September 5^th.  His memory does live on.  This week’s blog honors some of that memory.

My father loved to fish.  He was also named Robert, but went by the name Bob.  And boy did Bob love to fish!  I don’t know what it was about fishing that made him love it so much, but it seemed like it was his favorite thing to do.  Well, that and horse racing.  A perfect weekend for him would have been a trip to a casino on a Friday afternoon to place some bets for the Saturday horse races, and then packing up a motorhome or trailer (I believe they are called caravans in the UK) and driving back to Idaho for a bit of fishing.

Now a fishing trip with Bob wasn’t just the usual drive to your destination and fish type of trip.  Bob wanted to fish everywhere.  So you would start down the road on the way to Idaho from Nevada and after you got out of town and into a few remote areas, he would pull off to the side of the highway.  Maybe at some rest area, or something like that.

He would tell everyone to go to the bathroom if you needed it, or to maybe just stretch your legs.  We would use the facilities and then head back to the motorhome.  Bob would be nowhere to be found.  After waiting a few minutes, we would walk around to find him.  He would usually be out behind the rest stop at some small hole with water in it, trying to catch fish.

You could try and tell him it wasn’t a stream and there were no fish there, but he wouldn’t believe you.  He just wanted to try his luck.  And so we would give him a few minutes.  Soon, we would be back in the motorhome and on our way.  About ten miles down the highway, he would pull over again wanting to “check on something”.  He would be out of the motorhome and off to some tiny stream that he saw again trying to fish.

And this would be your drive on the way to Idaho, stopping every ten miles or so because he saw a bit of water.  There might be fish in there so we would have to stop.  You can’t blame a guy for doing what he loved, though.

Getting to Idaho, his plans would include fishing, fishing, and more fishing.  He loved to go to places with small creeks running here and there and catch rainbow trout.  To this day, I hate the smell and taste of trout.  That fish will always bring back fond memories of my father now.  He would fish until it was dark out.  And out where he fished, there were no street lights, or any lights for that matter, so you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.  But he would always still want to “try one more spot” before we left.

Soon I’ll be traveling to Idaho for family trip to celebrate my father’s memory.  And as we drive along, I think I’m going to ask to stop every single time I see a bit o water.  I’ll want to fish.  Actually, I hate fishing and will probably just stare fondly at whatever little pond I find, but I’ll still want to stop.  My dad will need to fish.

Until next week, keep fishing.  And also ask why occasionally. 

Week 35: Why I'll be laboring for Labor Day

It’s Labor Day weekend this week.  I’m not sure if this is some kind of international holiday, or if it’s uniquely American, but it supposedly signals the end of summer.  And thank God for that because I’m so sick and tired of the heat!  It’s still probably going to be over 100 degrees F for the rest of September (That’s 37.7 Celsius for you people who use that measurement), but at least winter is finally on the way.

So how will I be celebrating Labor Day weekend this week?  I’ll be laboring at work.  No fabulous barbeque with the American flag waving overhead, no trips to the park for fireworks, no hotdogs and sunsets for me.  I’ll be dispatching security in a casino!  Hooray!  Though not my first choice to celebrate the holiday, it does mean that I’m still employed full time and I’m at least grateful for that.

Labor Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend, and New Year’s Eve are the three holidays I’m usually required to add a sixth day to my work week.  Why is that do you suppose?  Because of the amount of stupid people who feel they have to come to Las Vegas during these holidays. 

I think for the most part I’ll probably be answering phones, or maybe relieving a dispatcher for an hour while they go to lunch.  I’ll take calls from people saying they’re angry for being thrown out of one of the dance clubs just because they tried to steal another person’s cell phone.  Or maybe someone will want the paramedics because they drank too much, or they ate a marijuana brownie and now don’t feel so good.  These are the type of phone calls that will make up my weekend.

Me: Security, how can I help you?

Male voice: Some girl just stole my money from my room!

Me: Did you invite this woman up to your room, sir?

Male voice:  Yes, but she’s not a hooker!

Not a hooker, maybe just a thief?  Sometimes we’ll even catch these thieving women.  But then when you ask the guy, “Would you like to press charges?” they tell you no.  Maybe their wife won’t be happy they brought a “woman” back to their room?  Maybe their boss won’t be happy?  Doesn’t matter to me, I don’t have much sympathy for these idiots.

Me: Security, how can I help you?

Screaming voice:  AAAAAAgh!  Gag, bloog, choo say, noooooo! *click*

Me:  Hello?

Ah, one of these calls!  Fantastic!  To me that means a possible fight inside one of the hotel rooms.  Or actually sometimes these calls come from a restaurant, or store, too!  We send officers over to see what’s going on.  Someone might have looked at someone’s girlfriend!  Or maybe a guy was pushed and didn’t like it!  I worry about it when an officer actually gets there and tells me what’s going on.

Me:  Security, how can I help you?

Female voice: This is the little shop near registration.  Can you send a guard because I think a guy might steal something.

Me: You have someone who is stealing items?

Female voice: Well, he hasn’t stolen anything yet, but I think he might.

Me: How do you know he’s going to steal something?

Female voice: Because he looks like it.

These calls are always fun.  Some guy “looks like” he’s going to steal something.  What does that look like?  I need to rush a bunch of officers over there because this suspicious guy might walk off with some $7.99 suntan lotion!  Oh no!  As a call taker I’ll pass this on to the dispatcher even though I think it’s stupid.  And if there’s an available officer, someone might even be sent to the shop.  Then the clerk usually wants the officer to follow the guy around and stare at him while he shops.  That would be a no, especially on a busy holiday weekend.

I’m sure you can imagine a whole carnival of other things I’ll be asked to deal with.  I think before work I’ll go and play a bit of Madden 18 football.  I did send the bad copy back to Amazon and they mailed me a replacement that does actually finally work.  Best to get myself in a pleasant frame of mind before work.

As one act of rebellion I bought myself a bag of peanuts in the shell to take to work tonight.  I’ll probably have peanut shells all over the place as they can sometimes be messy.  I thought that would at least help me celebrate a bit of Labor Day weekend.  And of course I’ll be happy to share with other dispatchers!  We can all make a mess!

So why am I laboring on Labor Day?  Because that’s just how it is.  Until I get two days off again, keep asking why.

Oh, and by the way, if you thought these short casino thoughts were funny, feel free to take a look at an older book of mine called Vegas Ramblings.  It’s a collection of blogs from quite a while back when I worked in a different casino.  A very amusing, unread book!

Vegas Ramblings on Amazon.com