A Few Observations

The only limitations in life are the ones that are self-imposed.

It’s interesting how I spent much of my life trying to destroy myself, and will spend whatever time I have left preserving and restoring the remnants.

When I was on hemodialysis, i had to work dialysis into my life.  Now that I am in the initial stage of PD where I'm doing four or five manual exchanges a day, I have to work my life into dialysis. and it isn't easy.  But it’s worth it!

City Boy Haiku

is that a pigeon?

biggest one I've ever seen

no, wait -- it's a duck!

Moonlight Haiku

It peeks out shyly

from behind a cloud curtain

Moonlight pierces through

Winter Haiku

Snowflakes fall gently

and transform a grey landscape

into my daydream

RAMBLINGS VOL XVI

Exercising has come full circle.  18 months ago, I had to push myself to work out as much as I could.  Recently, I had to force myself to take days off!  My schedule is down to 3 days a week, and my body seems to like it.

This Monday I spend the day at Georgetown Hospital Transplant Center getting evaluated for a kidney transplant.  I have prepared as well as I can for this moment; my fingers are crossed.

I would have had a lot more fun in life if I didn’t spend so much time worrying about what other people thought.

Okay, so I spent yesterday at G’town Hospital Transplant Center doing the kidney evaluation thing.  It was the usual outpatient hospital stay with a lot of “first-time orientation” thrown in for good measure.  At a couple of key junctures (the group presentation and my meeting with the nephrologist) I said to myself “this smells a lot like Orientation Day at Mayer Brown” (the law firm where I cut my corporate teeth and managed networks for a decade or so).  I couldn’t help but note that I used to be the person doing the spiel in the other seat, especially with the nephrologist, who was a pretty young foreigner (Brazilian? Could I be so lucky? I couldn’t nail her accent).  She furiously took notes and drove her points home.  I did the same thing every Monday with new hires for years (without taking notes).

I am daunted and energized, doubtful and confident, discouraged yet grateful that I am healthy enough to consider this option.  Whether or not I go forward with the transplant, just being able to consider it is empowering and makes me feel better.

Keep studying.  Keep exercising.  Keep praying.  It is working!

I’m watching “Are You Being Served” again!  My favorite actor/character is Mollie Sugden/Mrs. Slocombe!  Second favorite is Mr. Humphries and his outrageous costumes!

There are 88 constellations out there.  (Obviously there are zillions of constellations out there, but only 88 on record.)  The Southern Cross is the smallest.  It is only seen in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia?).

Being good at EVERYTHING is tough!

Stop wasting time watching stuff that isn’t funny or educational.  Or sports-oriented.  Or zombie-oriented.

RAMBLINGS VOL. XV

Don’t wait for your ship to come in.  Go out and meet it.

The six official U.N. languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Last week I met with a representative from the Maryland Department of Education to create my Individualized Plan of Employment.  My job goal is Computer Support – Help Desk – a less-than-exciting objective.  I was hoping for a more ambitious objective like Programmer.  My next step is to meet with a job developer who can get me in the door for some job interviews, which should be all that I need.  In the meantime, I continue studying for Windows 7 certification.  I just finished the chapter on TCP/IP, which is how the world will communicate in the future.  I know a lot more about the topic than I did six weeks ago – ‘nuff said.

Update -- I missed my appointment with the job developer because the paratransit van could not/did not/would not wait for me to walk down and meet it.  I actually saw it pull away.  Needless to say, I was way beyond pissed off at the time.  I went back up to the apartment and registered a complaint, then called the job developer to cancel and apologize.  It’s been a week since this occurred, and I haven’t yet called back to reschedule.  I’ll do this tomorrow.  Man’s inhumanity to man is starting to get to me.

Second update – I’ve called the job developer back a couple of times and left messages, and have not yet received a response.  On my next call I will politely question their professionalism.

A couple months ago I did a two-mile run on the Southwest Waterfront on a particularly hazy/hot day – not the best day to go running, but it had to be done.  While I was stretching after the run, I was approached by a young white kid (no more than seven) who was delightfully open-minded and curious.  He asked me where I lived, how I got to the Waterfront, and stuff like that there.  His older brother (a couple years older, no more) was about 30 feet away behind a monument to the people who perished when the Titanic sank, totally engrossed in whatever – I mean, dirt, air and water:  what else does a nine-year-old kid need for entertainment?  I was somewhat concerned about where their parents or guardians were, but I was much more concerned about what any other adult who witnessed this conversation would have thought.  I didn’t even ask the kid his name or where his parents were; I just finished my stretches and high-tailed it out of there.

Hope and pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.

I’m casually preparing my next online grocery order, and I notice that so far two categories have far more entries than any other – cookies and candy.  To be fair, I haven’t gone to the meat section yet, and I’m sure that dairy has a huge selection as well.  In the meantime, my cookie selections have been weaned down to ginger snaps and vanilla wafers (the off-brand wafers, not the pricey ones).

I was accosted by a member of the church across the way while I was stretching for my run.  He was kind enough to correct my stretching technique, and then launched into his spiel.  I happily answered his questions until he basically told me that I wasn’t going to get into heaven if I didn’t go to church.  Sorry, but that is precisely where I draw the line.  Looking back, I thank the gentleman for helping me to figure this out.

Back at St. Catherine of Siena in St. Albans, Queens, the rainy day PA announcement that “recess will be held in the cafeteria due to inclement weather” always made me wonder (a) who “Clement” was and (b) how did he get so much sway over the weather….

Crazy thing to try:  Smile at the first person you see when you leave the house.  And, of course, where you’re in the house!  J_

RAMBLINGS VOL. XIV - BLACKOUT RAMBLINGS

Saturday, June 30, 2012 5:05PM:  I am nicely wired!  Just finished my second meal of the day – Chobani blueberry yogurt with an entire pint of fresh raspberries, a cup of Kool-Aid mixed with apple juice, and an orange sherbet vodka chaser.  I “chased” the sherbet because it is melted; I could have sipped it through a straw.  As it was, I used a little tea party-style teacup to ingest the vodka-sherbet concoction.  Oh I almost forgot to mention the handful of Skittles for dessert.  Wired for sure!

Power has been out since about 11PM Friday night, thanks to the monster storm that caught many people by surprise.  The good news is that Hilva and I have been through this before, so we’re not freaking out.  More good news – even as the temperature soars to over 100 degrees today, we’re comfy in our home right now.  Our dwelling catches the sun in the morning and the shade during the hottest part of the day.  Also, we still have gas and running water (not to mention shelter).

This is the biggest storm and outage in these parts since – well, since last year.  Two million or so homes and businesses in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia metropolitan area) have no power.  The powers that be (!) at the power companies had the good sense to tell all affected that this outage might last for days, even as long as a week.

While I was writing that last sentence, that little jackass on his scooter rode by our building.  Why does something so tiny have to make so much noise?  (Infants get a pass.)  The scooter bothers me even more when I’m trying to watch television.  Well, that’s not a problem today, is it?  No TV, no computer, no Internet, and no smartphone.  My smartphone isn’t dead, but it will be if I use it again, so I’ve powered it off in case we need it for an emergency.  I left Mom a message in NYC telling her that I’d be out of pocket until Sunday evening when I’m at dialysis or the power returns, whichever comes first.

@$%$#@$ Scooter Boy just rode through again.

Last night’s storm caused at least three fatalities in the MVA and dozens of casualties.  We are grateful to be here and healthy and in relatively good shape when many around us are not able to say the same.  That said, it’s still frustrating as hell.  I’ve been running the logistics in my head all day, and staying put until it’s unsafe to do so seems to make the most sense.

A fridge and freezer full of food are about to go south.  If power isn’t restored soon, my plan is to polish off leftovers and perishables first, and then start cooking everything in the freezer – first the chicken thighs and salmon, then the steak, then the chopped turkey and ground beef (3 pounds!), then the Italian sausage.  My logic is that the frozen food has some chance of being useful if we cook it, but no chance of being useful if left to thaw and spoil.  The Great Cook-Off starts early tomorrow.

Saturday, 7:52PM:  Daylight is dwindling.  This should actually be a rather comfy sleeping night, especially if another storm passes through.  No updates to pass along; we’ve elected to ride it out sans any new information.  We both have “power-ful” options on Sunday if there is still no power:  Hilva can travel to the office, and I have to go to dialysis in the evening.  Metro trains are running (I can see and hear them from my bedroom window), so getting downtown is no more difficult than the usual schlep.

“What about staying with friends?” you may ask.  With over two million homes and businesses without power in the area, many are in the same quandary.  I’m hoping for the evening to pass quickly and uneventfully, as things will doubtless sort themselves out on Sunday….

Oh yeah – Scooter Boy has been quiet for hours.  I’m guessing he ran out of gas.

Our neighbor just stopped by for some assistance in getting a flashlight to work.  The contacts were rusty and she had the wrong size batteries, but we were able to resolve both issues.  She in turn lent us a couple of candles (we can’t find ours).  Neighbors in need are friends indeed!

The blackout hasn’t kept me from working out.  I ran a couple of miles this morning before the heat became a health issue, and plan to do the same Sunday morning.

Thank goodness I keep my Kindle Fire fully charged at all times!  I have all night to read (Windows 7 Configuration, SQL Server 2012, and the Bible) and play Scrabble.  I also just downloaded the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe – perfect reading for an odd evening! 

As the last daylight rays bid farewell, so do I….

Sunday, 1:14AM:  Power restored!  I was blissfully dreaming about french fries drenched in ketchup when I was rudely awakened by the TV.  POWER!!  YAY!!

CHARGE!  Charge the smartphone!  Charge the battery-powered TV (just in case)!  Power on the PC!  Charge the iPod!  Must have Internet!  Is there any ice left?  The food has been saved!  I hear the Windows 7 Welcome sound!  Was that french fry dream in color?  Not sure.  Can the sherbet be saved?  All signs point to no.  Last but not least, I downloaded Poe to my Kindle.  Silly Dave forgot to download it from the cloud when he ordered it.

The day without power will make for a very healthy Dave, as I ate a week’s worth of yogurt and fresh berries in one day!  I also downed a couple of days’ worth of orange sherbet.

In review, I don’t think we could have handled the situation any better than we did; good for us!  J

A final note:  Power outages would be an excellent time to stage an invasion, if one were the invading sort.  Reasons:  inability to communicate electronically; population is focused on basest needs; police are tied up responding to calls; no television.  When power is restored, population is again focused on basest needs.  Ideally, one would position troops during a first outage, and strike during the second.

On that happy note, I’m off to get something to eat!