My 83-year-old Mother fell in the tub on Sunday, the neighbor Roger found her on Monday night. He called 911 and the paramedics took her to Harrison Hospital. Note: Roger is an Angel. She had been lying in the tub bruised and bloody for almost 24 hours. Why she didnt have her LifeAlert button near the tub is a frustrating mystery. But shes been making steady progress all week and should be transferred to a skilled nursing facility tomorrow. I toured the facility today and the physical therapy equipment and staff is impressive. They even have this treadmill that can reduce the gravity on your knees. The NFL uses them Im told. Her prognosis looks good for the next couple of weeks: daily physical therapy and she should be back home soon. My sister and I have been taking shifts at the hospital and will get her bathroom a bit more accessible during her rehab stint. Visited Mom at the hospital today via bicycle, left North Tacoma at 8:30 a.m. and returned 7:45 p.m. After deducting my hospital visit time and meal stop, I figure I spent 8 hours in the saddle! My first Century Ride - over 100 miles. On the return, I took the Bremerton foot ferry home and was right in the middle of the shipyard rush hour. Today there were two runs, one to Annapolis one to downtown Port Orchard. Back in high school, I would take the ferry to my Bremerton restaurant job every day. I remember the exodus of that 1980 shipyard herd. Hundreds of flannel-shirted workers, many carrying a little brown bag cloaking a beer can. When they arrived at Port Orchard it looked like a refuge boat overloaded at the seams. The first 50 or so would sprint - literally sprint - to their cars parked at the Marina. Todays rush hour herd was much smaller as most seemed to siphon off into the bigger Annapolis boat. Of course Im older, but the workers seem much younger. More ethnically diverse, more females, more tattoos, more bicycles - #yay - more calm. Lots of electronics devices. But no more little brown bags. And no more parking lot sprinters. One of my favorite things about bicycling: the iPod on Shuffle setting. Todays random playlist included: Johnny Cash, Black Flag, Black Sabbath, Black Uhuru, Max Roach, Merle Haggard, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Frank Zappa, Grand Funk Railroad, Slayer, Chicago Cast Recording, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Helms Alee (!) Russian Circles, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Jefferson Airplane, Kiss, The Kinks, Rolling Stones, George Jones, The Super Suckers, The Psychedelic Furs, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Social Distortion, Hank Williams, Jimmy Rogers, Elvin Jones, Tom Waits....its just so cool to have a soundtrack while Im traveling with 3D surroundings. But sometimes I still hear Maari riding behind me. Daddy I want to go fast. Go faster! I am sweetie, I am.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 04:25:04 +0000