Friday, January 15, 2010

One Visit to Kaiser and Life Goes On...

I'm NOT a happy Kaiser Kamper after this last week. A rather simple incident of being low on a heart drug (Metoprolol) turned into a complete medical mess for me and several Kaiser staff at Kaiser Vacaville. I was low on Metoprolol 10 days ago, a rainy Tuesday as I recall. It had been decided that I would get my medicines from Kaiser and abandon the Wal-Mart low-cost $4.00/mo per drug refill as they (Wal-Mart's prescription department) had fallen into long-lines, lost prescriptions and terrible counter service. So I emailed my Kaiser physician's office ( who, as he is blameless in this event, will remain annonomous ) to request the prescription be filled at the local Kaiser facility in Fairfield. I waited two days and then on that Friday went to the pharmacy to obtain my Metoprolol. Once in line I waited patiently watching the little kids scream and mother's attempts at quieting them which ranged from near hysteria to complete lack of caring. Once called to the window the nice Pharmacy tech took my old pill bottle saying "this is out of date", I relied that I had notified Dr. ______'s office and the new refill should be here.
It wasn't. She gave the excuse that "sometimes it takes a while you know". I do know. So I asked "When then?", she replied "Probably Monday". So I watched the level of the pills deplete over the weekend and drove the Kaiser about 10am to seek my pills. Upon getting to the counter through a line of about a dozen people I was nicely informed that it STILL wasn't filled and that I should check back later in the afternoon. I said that I was out ( I now had but 1 pills left, enough for that day and but I wasn't taking any chances ) and could she give me a couple to carry me over to my appointment with my doctor on Thursday? She said "No...the prescription is out of date and she needed a new one". So I nodded in understanding and walked to my truck to drive home without my pills. Yesterday morning I drove to the Vacaville Kaiser to have my visit with my doctor, the time of the appointment was 10am. Upon enterring the office I was given a blood pressure test and the results came back as 166/91, NOT GOOD! I told the nurse about my not having my Metoprolol for the last 2 days ( Tuesday and Wednesday ), she retook my BP and this time it was worse! 156/101! Oh boy. So into the examination room I went and soon my wonderful Dr. came through the door with "What's going on?!". I told him of not having the drug and that I had not taken it for the last 2 days. He orderred an EKG and sent me to get it completed. It was "normal" and boring apparently and I made my way back to his office for a review AFTER having waiting in the Pharmacy for an hour and a half to get the new prescriptions and TAKE ONE Metoprolol 50mg. It seems that somehow the prescriptions had been sent to Fairfield instead of at the one 100 feet away...once that was straightened out I got the much needed drug-of-my-desires.
The good Dr. took my BP and it had dropped to 135/85 in about 20 minutes after the pill taking. Currently it is 152/85...not as good as it has been in the past but I suspect that there is a bit of drug "catch up" that has to get done before there is enough residual drug in my system to have the desired effect. We shall see.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Nansulate To The Rescue

We purchased our 2nd batch of this miraculous substance and it was delivered to our door within a week, terrific! This time it came in one 5 gallon bucket instead of the previous single gallons. The target is The Big House across town where we plan on living for the next few years (if not for the rest of our lives..ahem!). I've rollered on about 3 of the gallons so far and completed the Living Room, Dining Room and will finish the Kitchen-To-Be, the laundry, back bedroom, front bedroom and the upstairs either today or by the end of the week depending...I have medical tests (routine annual-type) and dental appointments scattered throughout the time and that will serve to slow me down a bit. Nansulate goes on easily with a roller and spreads evenly by overlapping somewhat as you apply it. The odor is that of ammonia but is not objectionable and fades quickly. Even in the cool of the house at 60 degrees F it dries in about 2 hours. I allow a full day between coats as that is the way I work, not the way I could work as multiple coats in a day are certainly possible. Today I'll apply the 3rd coat to the remaining rooms that need it downstairs and move to begin the upstairs room.

Tai Chi last night was an easy session, I don't feel so very foolish anymore as I now can "Parting The Wild Horse Mane" across the room if need be , that and the Crane move can be roughly accomplished as well. So some degree of limited proficiency is coming forth to be modified shortly by our Master Practicioner's instructions. I do like the activity. It's good exercize, my failing balance as I age past 100+ years has improved and the damned "hitch" (muscle cramp in the side) has decided to take a break for a while. So...I'm doing well I guess, as well as can be expected.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

So Much To Do

The last WHILE has been busy as all get out. My friend of some 42 years came to help me pull the BMW diesel from Zulu's hull last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Heavy and dirty and, at times, dangerous work. The engine weighed some 300 kg/660 lbs and was NOT an easy thing to get off its mounts. Once loosened by disconnecting electrical, hydralic, steering, fuel lines, it had to lifted off using a hoist, only three inches to get it off the mounts but it took us over an hour to do the job. Then we waited for the owner of the yard to clearify how we were going to lift the engine from the engine room and place it on the bed of my truck. Smallish problem, he wasn't there. Yes, we worked in the yard alone. Not enough business to keep a staff either, times are hard in the boat maintenance business. People are more likely to want their boat pulled from the water but then to do the repairs, maintenance themselves instead of having Mr. Walton and his able crew do the work for them. Tough times indeed! Mr. C and I accomplished our deed in the same manner except that I've had Zulu up on blocks with a major hull repair for three years now. Eventually we completed the engine placement below the large deck openning and decided to call Tuesday a day, then as we drove north out of Rio Vista S saw a grouping of CRANES, not the birds, the giant winches (not wenches either!) and had me pull into the yard and stop in front of the office. Once inside we addressed our little job to the secretary who promptly forwarded our request for a price to another individual over the phone who quoted $650 at first then after S balked at the price, asked S how long did he think it would take...S replied 20 minutes and then the price went down to $50!!! Wow, what a deal! So back to Zulu we went to remove the rear roof and prep for the giant lift exercize. We completed the removal and positioned ourselves opposite Zulu on the other side of the fence. About 1/2 an hour later here came The Beast...a HUGE 35 foot long firetruck-like vehicle with a long hydralic powerred crane mounted thereon. This thing was huge! Capable of lifting Zulu herself if need be! Within 20 minutes it had lifted the diesel and placed it gently on my truck's bed. Then the travesty, upon going to pay the driver for the lift of the engine S gave him the 50 dollars, the driver BALKED...he wanted MORE, much more...550 USD! S Balked, the driver babbled about how much the rig normally charged for such a job then said $350. S balked again, "The guy said $50 dollars", another exchange and he called the BOSS. He reiterated the 550 dollar amount and finally S offered all he had on him...$120. They accepted and the deed was done. It was still a bargain. Steve and I spent Wednesday morning cleaning up around Zulu then came back to put both of the diesels in his van in preparation for his trip to NC in a couple of weeks. The van nearly touched the ground with the Farymann and BMW tied within. What a job that was. What a job. Thanks S!!